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This paper aims to assess the level of occupants’ satisfaction, comparing older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings in Sydney, Australia, aiming to identify their comfort factors deficiencies in terms of design and construction solutions/strategies (e.g. spatial arrangements, materials, thermal comfort).

A post occupancy evaluation survey was used to assess the occupant satisfaction with three on-campus accommodation buildings in The University of New South Wales (UNSW) Sydney. One of the selected buildings is an older building opened for occupation in 1996, and the other two are more recent on campus accommodations buildings. The survey included 11 post occupancy evaluation elements identified through literature review which were categorised into three dimensions: technical, functional and behavioural.

The results show that the satisfaction levels with thermal and acoustic comfort were below standards for both older and newer buildings. In addition, the older building used in this study was rated low in terms of: indoor air quality, lighting, maintenance and management, vertical transportation facility, room layout and furniture quality, building layout and aesthetics and level of privacy. Such factors related to both functional and behavioural dimensions were of greater satisfaction in newer buildings.

Findings suggest the high priority of strategies that address and improve the thermal and acoustic comfort of older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings if the intention is to enhance students’ satisfaction, especially considering the impact that these facilities have on students’ performance. Thermal performance in different seasons and adaptive thermal comfort activities should be considered in the design of new on-campus accommodation buildings and the retrofit of existing old buildings.

On-campus accommodation is an important facility that supports student learning outcomes and helps students adapt in a new learning environment. A post occupancy evaluation study to assess the adequacy of this facility is still lacking because previous studies have generally focussed on class rooms and work spaces in the education sector. This research compares the user satisfaction of older and newer on-campus accommodation buildings in Australia, to highlight deficiencies and areas for improvement in the design of existing and future buildings.

The world was facing significant aging challenges. Aging in place has long been advocated which reflected the preference of older people to stay in their own home as long as possible. A huge amount of older people resided in private buildings that consist of both indoor settings (i.e. individual unit flats) and outdoor settings (i.e. common areas like lobby and corridor). The effect of indoor environment on the quality of life of the older people has been investigated, while this paper aims to examine the different effect of common areas environment for the older people.

A questionnaire survey was administered among over 300 older people living in private buildings. Multiple statistical techniques, including reliability test, correlation coefficient and multiple regression models, were used to analyze the collected data to determine the interactions between facilities management of the common areas in private buildings and the environment domain of quality of life for older people.

The final results were concluded based on the congruence of all the statistical results, which covered the identification of facilities management factors in common areas of private buildings that could influence the environment domain of quality of life for older people, including overall environment, health-care accessibility, information acquisition and transportation aspects; the overall environment was positively predicted by space and security in common areas of private building; health-care accessibility was positively affected by space, barrier-free facilities and recreational facilities; the information acquisition was only positively predicted by security; transportation was positively predicted by distance and recreational facilities; and building services of common areas in private buildings had no effect on the environment domain of quality of life for older people.

Practical recommendations have been made to improve the facilities management of common areas in private buildings to ensure the quality of life for older people, including provision of walking assistance, motion or infrared controlled systems and so on. This study contributed to enhance current understanding of the interactions between the older people and their living environment.

The purpose of this paper is to study the sustainable impact of adaptive reuse of shopping malls built during communism in Kosovo.

The present study uses qualitative research using semi-structured interviews with architects, civil engineers, real estate developers and facility managers.

The study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that the economic impact of adaptive reuse of old shopping malls in Kosovo is reflected through extension of useful life of the malls, lower cost of reuse vs demolition, economic and tourism development of the neighborhood, job creation and increase of property prices in the surrounding area. In addition, the study found that it is the predominant opinion of respondents that by adaptive reuse of old shopping malls, the revitalization and social dynamism of the surrounding area will be improved and collective memory and identity of these shopping malls will be extended, including the increased traffic, space utilization and security. The study concludes that operational CO₂ emission of the old shopping malls will be reduced after their sustainable adaptation and also the embodied energy of the building materials will be reused.

The study has several implications. For real estate developers, it shows that is less costly to adapt and refurbish rather than redevelop. For authorities, it shows that by adapting old communist shopping malls, they would extend the collective memory of those locations, improve the social life and utilization of public spaces in the surrounding areas. The final implication is for municipal authorities and environmentalists that but allowing adaptation rather than demolition and redevelopment the embodied CO₂ emission will be significantly reduced.

The study is the first qualitative study about the impact of adaptive reuse of old communist style commercial centers in Kosovo.

A field survey on 36 old high‐rise buildings in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR, formerly Hong Kong) was conducted to study the problems of the retrofit installation of sprinkler systems in those buildings. The floor plan, occupancy type, number of occupants, fire load distribution, hazard class, number of sprinklers to protection area ratio and the number of sprinkler heads were studied along with the characteristics of the buildings identified. A detailed investigation was carried out in an old high‐rise non‐residential building with sprinkler system installed. It was observed that the retrofit sprinkler systems might not perform satisfactorily in case of fire. Further, water discharged might not reach the ground level because the sprinkler sprays pattern was not considered. Technical and financial difficulties of installing sprinkler systems in old high‐rise buildings were studied. In addition, it was ascertained that problems related to structural loading for the system, variation in the occupancy level, allocating spaces for the sprinkler system components such as water tank, pumps and pipes compound the complexity of installing sprinkler systems in old high‐rise buildings. Finally, the cost for retrofit sprinkler installation has been estimated.

Built heritage is a unique resource, an irreplaceable expression of the richness and diversity of our past and of the generations who have gone before us. Old Dhaka has an outstanding built heritage that is of significance not only in the local, but also in a national and regional context. But senseless urbanization and ignorance of such an important issue in the existing detailed area plan is destroying the built heritages of Dhaka. As a result, many heritage buildings of Dhaka have been destroyed and the destruction is going on unabated. Therefore, there is a need to re-examine how such destruction can be prevented. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

This research aims at the identification of heritages, their assessment and classification which is utterly significant for preserving the invaluable heritages. Heritages are classified according to their present condition which will show which type of heritage needs which type of attention.

The research indicates the way how a conservation planning for heritages can be done in a systematic and logical way. It reveals the present condition of the heritage buildings which will point out the way of preservation. There is no such document available which will tell general people about the most important or rare or significant heritages, the location of these heritages, or their background information. This research addresses these all issues.

To date, no conservation plans were implemented for Dhaka and there are no attempts to improve Old Dhaka through an urban design. The methodological approach in this research is new and effective for conserving heritages.

Eight years of civil war in Syria severely impacted the historic core of Aleppo, with about 30 percent of its buildings completely destroyed and huge amounts of debris generated. This paper proposes recovery strategies for some of the most badly damaged sites in the city through material reuse and transformation, one of the goals of which is to ensure the continuity of the city’s urban cultural heritage. The purpose of this paper is to presents not only risks but also opportunities with respect to the integration of technologies to support recovery and reconstruction.

The paper analyzes the current situation in the Old City of Aleppo by identifying the most seriously damaged sites, namely those that have sustained damage to between 80 and 100 percent of the site. It reviews comparable international post-disaster examples and investigates appropriate options for dealing with the damage caused by the war and the management of debris, with consideration given to minimal intervention, the retention of structural integrity, technology and the integration of historic materials within new components and buildings. The methodology has relied on research through field work, including interviews with stakeholders in Aleppo.

The paper proposes two strategies to guide post-war rebuilding and conservation efforts in the Old City of Aleppo through: the creation of new multi-purpose, public open spaces and the use of debris in the repair of buildings and construction of new components and buildings, including infrastructure for solar panels within the new public spaces.

This paper contributes to the development of a post-civil war sustainable material recovery approach for the Old City of Aleppo and for Syria more generally, where a disaster waste management strategy is still in development.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Index by subjects, compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.

Compiled by K.G.B. Bakewell covering the following journals published by MCB University Press: Facilities Volumes 8‐18; Journal of Property Investment & Finance Volumes 8‐18; Property Management Volumes 8‐18; Structural Survey Volumes 8‐18.