Summarised Reflections

The summarised reflections are very personal reflections on:

1) What have I learnt and gained from this course?
2) Has this course helped inspire certain lifestyle changes?
3) What do I plan to do with this knowledge in the future, personally and on a career level?
4) Reflections on individual assignment
5) Reflections on group work
6) Weekly reflections on course lecture and prescribed readings (please refer to blog entries)

1. What have I learnt and gained from this course?

The most valuable thing this course has offered me is introspection on my current lifestyle choice and their implications on the environment. It has offered me an insight and awareness on how small decisions I make on a daily basis, affect existing ecosystems, and really given me a fundamental understanding of how to critically evaluate my life, in relation to sustainability.

2) Has this course helped inspire certain lifestyle changes?

Transport

I have been reflecting and introspecting on my current lifestyle. In Australia, since I live on campus I barely have to travel anywhere. I do not own a car, and because of living on campus, I barely even take public transport. I reckon some positive lifestyle changes that I could make are rather than taking the bus for grocery shopping close by, I should take the bicycle there. 

Diet

I have also been thinking about my dietary choices. I used to be a meat lover but after learning in this semester that red meat has a higher embodied energy, where cows produce methane, which is a far worse greenhouse gas than CO2. Thus, I have changed my diet to a mostly plant-based with occasional fish and chicken. This course has also helped me realise that whatever food I buy from the grocery stores has embodied energy because of logistics. In the future, I would like to grow more of my own food in the garden so the embodied energy could be reduced. 

Waste

Since the beginning of this semester, I have also committed myself to sorting my waste for recycling, where I separate plastics, cans, jars and cardboard. I remember that as a child I used to do this in Germany, where I grew up. Since recycling was much more mandatory there. 

Residential Community Engagement

I currently live in New College Village, UNSW. I feel that this college really does promote social sustainability as the college has a dedicated Environmental Committee which constantly put up signs to remind its residents to recycle, save water, use less energy, etc. This environmental Committee also runs events in the semester which promotes sustainable activities, such as communal gardening and using recycled materials for making crafts. I think it is really important to be with like-minded individuals, which helps in terms of maintaining a more sustainable lifestyle. Mutual encouragement and also learning from each other is vital. 

Travel

I travel by plane very often and I am aware that this has an exceptional high carbon footprint. In the future, I hope to take less transatlantic flights, and if I do take one I hope to be able to visit more countries in one go, thus reducing long-haul flights.

Visit to a sustainable House in Australia

Another experience that is worthwhile mentioning is a personal visit to an existing home that is solely powered by PV panels with battery storage. The visit to that house helped me understand the maintenance process of the whole PV system.


The power generated by these solar panels was enough for the electricity that was needed for the whole house so that the family never had to pay any electricity bills. Another sustainability feature is rainwater harvesting. Gutters can be seen along the roof of every building and shed of the house. These gutters direct the water via tubes into three large water tanks that provide sufficient freshwater for the entire household.

Fig.1 Photovoltaic solar panels installed on the roof of some sheds on the property.





Fig.2 The converter converts the energy generated by the solar panels from DC (low voltage which is used by things such as water pumps) to AC (high voltage which is used by most household appliances).




Fig.3 Switchboard with all the connections of the solar panels for energy conversion and storage.





Fig.4 The energy generator stores the energy in batteries, which require maintenance - 40 litres of distilled water need to be added per month. This gets converted into acid. Typical battery life is 15 years.








Fig. 5 All buildings on the property have gutters along the roof which collect the rainwater via tubes into large water tanks.





Fig.6 One of the three water tanks on the property. This is the largest water tank with another two being underground.

Perhaps it is widely known that organic decomposition is a sustainable measure. However, despite this knowledge many people, especially those living in urban areas, struggle to put this into practice. This is the first time that I had witnessed how beneficial organic decomposition can be to the environment.

Fig.1 All the organic waste is collected in a container.





Fig.2 After a certain stage of the decomposition the waste is dumped into a pool of waste as seen on the right of the picture. It eventually becomes a fertiliser which is then used to nourish plants on the property.






Fig.3 Home grown food plants, pumpkin, herbs and other eatable vegetables.







Fig. 4 Pear tree








Fig. 5 Passionfruit Tree









Fig.6 Ducks and chickens are kept on the property and they lay eggs.








Fig.7 The home does not use electricity or gas for heating but resorts to traditional wood burning.

Sustainability is practiced in this household as a conscious choice of lifestyle. Organic decomposition is strictly practiced where the waste will eventually be used as a fertilizer for the home grown food plants. As the vegetables and fruits are organic home grown it also reduces carbon dioxide emission that is necessary for transporting any food. Furthermore, my friend has kept some ducks and chickens so that their eggs can be consumed. She has not kept any cattle as she finds them less sustainable due to the methane they emit. Overall, I find their home more sustainable compared to urban life. They are able to generate enough solar energy and collect enough rainwater for their consumption. They are also able to grow enough fruits and vegetables that they eat. However, I did raise to them my concern of having to depend on the car for commuting to Windsor City Centre for shopping and getting to the library and the train station. My friend said she was aware of that being the biggest unsustainable problem in her home and she said that she is seriously considering to get a horse that she can at least use to go out with on her private track but would still need to depend on the car as the asphalt roads are not horse friendly.

Renovation of my own Apartment in Hong Kong

This also reminds me of two personal experiences. I have had my home in Hong Kong completely refurbished last year. The windows were replaced with more thermally efficient ones, halogen lights were replaced by LED lights, our new fridge and other electrical appliances had an energy rating of 1 (the most energy efficient in Hong Kong's rating system), as well as having the newest air-con model. To our pleasant surprise we found that before the renovation our typical electrical bill during summer months would be around 1800HKD/ month (around 300AUD), but after the refurbishment the bills were slashed to less than half of that at around 700HKD (120AUD).

3) What do I plan to do with this knowledge in the future, personally and on a career level?

I am a master of Architecture student that has chosen to specialize in the High-Performance stream. I have a keen interest in sustainability, which has led to my specialization. In the future I would like to contribute to greener and more sustainable buildings in Hong Kong. Ideally, I would like to work in a practice which values and promotes sustainable architecture. After my bachelor, I have also taken a gap year for industry experience. I worked for DLN Architects & Engineers, a large architectural practice based in Hong Kong, with multiple offices in China and overseas. DLN Architects is an architectural practice that gave a lot of importance on sustainable architecture. It is a member of the USGBC with over 25 LEED accredited professionals in its practices. Apart from that my supervisors were also BEAM Professionals. I had the fortune to be part of the team that delivered the "Waste Electrical and Electronic Treatment Recycling Facility" WEEETRF in Hong Kong. It is the first WEE treatment facility in South-East Asia. I had the chance to work in collaboration with the Environmental Protection Department of Hong Kong, which was also the client of this project. I also the chance to work in collaboration with the sub-contractor, a German Waste Solution specialist, ALBA. I was mainly involved in issuing tender documentation, construction drawings, as well as attending technical meetings on site. The architectural merit of the project was recognised through a nomination by the Green Building Council of Hong Kong. The facility is due to open at the end of 2017. The facility also has an exhibition hall and hosts a public viewing gallery, where the public is encouraged to visit and learn about the recycling process. The government has also planned guided tours for primary and secondary school students, as well as organising a public shuttle bus service from the train station to this facility, in order to make it easier for the public to visit this facility. 

Video that explains the operation of the WEEETRF facility in Hong Kong

The WEEETRF was nominated by the Green Building Council of Hong Kong. I was part of the team that prepared the documentation for submitting it to the green building council for assessment. 

4) Reflections on individual assignment

My research topic for the assignment is a "Manual for Architects, Engineers, Building Operators and other Design Professionals in Making Choices Concerning Energy Efficient Elevator Systems in High-rise Buildings."

I have always been really interested in how lifts work due to my personal background. I grew up in Hong Kong, a city full of skyscrapers, where I imagine there would be more lift rides than car rides per person per day! I have always lived on the 20th floor and taking lift is part of my daily routine, without which I could not even leave my house. However, when I think about lifts, I also have unpleasant memories from my childhood. A memory deeply ingrained - I still remember how I was trapped in an elevator without fresh air or light - not on one occasion but two separate ones. Since then I have a slight paranoia in taking older lifts. This has also prompted my interested in my research topic. I am genuinely curious about how lift systems operate, how we could make them safer and more pleasant for people, as well as what their implications on energy usage are. During my work experience in Hong Kong where I had to take a daily commute to the uppermost floor of Times Square, which was located on the 46th floor, it was always congested during peak hours (around 9am, lunchtime, and around 6pm), where every day I would have to wait at least 10 minutes in the morning to get to the office and lose another 15minutes waiting for lunch to get down and get back to the office. I then also multiplied this number assuming I am wasting around 20min a day just waiting for the lift, that each month I would be wasting 400minutes of my life, which would be 4800minutes a year (80hours). I and a lot of other colleagues would get fed up with this and I honestly kept on wondering if there was anything that could be done about this. After doing the research of this essay, I now understand that there are software solutions (such as destination dispatch system or people flow solutions) that could be applied to alleviate long waiting times.

5) Reflections on group work 

Our group composition was interesting with everyone being from a different cultural background. One of our group members was an experienced senior architect, also a LEED and BEAM certified professional, another urban planner, and three architects.

When deciding on the report topic we narrowed our choices down to building typology, either school, hospital or library. Out of all, library felt most relevant for most group members and we wanted to make it more personal by relating our research to parameters of personal user comfort.
The main challenges of the group work process were that our level of English differed significantly, so it took quite a bit of effort for everyone of us to get comfortable with each other and to communicate our ideas effectively. Some group members, while having great ideas, were also rather adamant on writing the group report with their particular way of thinking. It was, like with any group work, challenging to maintain harmonious group work environment at times. Regardless, everyone maintained respectful, and we successfully developed a working rating tool.