Today, “walkability” is considered a critical component of an aging-friendly neighborhood. This study examined the relationships between the neighborhood physical environment, walkability, and physical activity levels of older residents in Singapore. Five neighborhoods notable for their “aging in place” strategies were selected for a site survey. A questionnaire focusing on the evaluation of neighborhood walkability was administered to older adults in these neighborhoods. The questionnaire included three sections: neighborhood satisfaction, walkability, and the daily physical activity of older adults. The results indicated that adequate physical facilities and connectivity to the city were critical to older adults’ satisfaction with their neighborhoods. The mean walking time significantly dropped as the number of nearby facilities increased, and the number of facilities was negatively correlated with the daily activity levels of older adults. Thus, planners should attempt to calibrate the provision of neighborhood facilities to maintain the physical activity levels of older adults.

Construction industrialization is growing rapidly and has received significant attention worldwide in recent years. The industrialization of construction results in several benefits, including the promotion of sustainable construction and the development and application of prefabrication techniques. The Prefabricated Rebar Cage (PRC) is an emerging solution applied to high-rise buildings as a replacement of the In-situ Reinforcing Bar (ISRB) construction method. This paper investigates the cradle-to-site carbon emissions of PRC, and compares the results with those of conventional in-situ rebar construction methods for high-rise buildings. The cradle-to-site cycle is divided into three stages, namely, material preparation, transportation, and on-site construction. For the material preparation stage, it is found that CO₂ emissions are increased by 3% when using PRC due to the operation of machinery during the prefabrication process. In the transportation stage, CO₂ emissions are found to increase by 3.3 times for PRC, as there is more transportation required for PRCs than for conventional construction methods. During the on-site construction stage, the PRC method demonstrates its advantages by reducing CO₂ emissions by 44.7%, which is attributed to decreased hoisting frequency and lower mechanical utilization for fewer joining activities. Overall, CO₂ emissions can be reduced by 1.24% by adopting the PRC method for high-rise buildings, and it is therefore recommended to adopt PRCs for this purpose. This research studies carbon emissions of PRC and contributes to promoting the sustainable development of prefabricated building techniques.

This study aims to understand the relationship between bedroom privacy and well-being of the elderly in aged care facilities with a compact living situation. A majority of studies on this topic were carried out in a low-density population context. The crowded living situation might compromise the well-being of residents. This study proposed five architectural parameters to measure bedroom privacy in aged care facilities: total open surface per unit, openness/solid ratio per bed, height of partition wall, number of people per unit, and personal control over bedroom privacy. SF-12 v.2 Health Survey was used to collect information on physical and mental health status. The study surveyed nine Care & Attention homes and their 213 residents in Hong Kong. The total open surface per unit and the openness/solid ratio per bed were positively associated with the physical health of residents. The height of partition walls was associated negatively with their physical and mental health conditions, and the number of people per unit was negatively associated with their physical health. More than half of respondents preferred a single unit with high partition walls; however, 40% of respondents preferred low partition walls. The provision of privacy for the elderly should be balanced with their needs for social interactions; total open surface per unit, openness/solid ratio per bed and height of partition wall should be taken into consideration. The study provides evidence and design guidelines for improving privacy in aged care facilities with a compact living environment.

This study investigated the process of existing building green retrofits through examining a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Existing Building: Operations and Maintenance (LEED EBOM) Gold project. The project demonstrated a standard green retrofit process for existing buildings, which includes energy auditing, building performance simulation, and measurement and verification. In this project, four energy conservation measures were applied to improve energy performance: light-emitting diode (LED) lighting, window films, green roofs, and chilled water plant upgrading and optimization. The expected energy saving was 30% after the retrofit; while the actual energy saving was 16%. The error of building performance simulation was one of uncertainties in this retrofit project. Occupancy conditions might be the main reason for this uncertainty. Strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats were identified and discussed for the green retrofit. The research results could be used to optimize the existing building retrofit process for better energy performance.

This study explores the waiting space environment of pediatric clinics in general hospitals and the relationships between the use of space, behavioral activities and overall satisfaction. Patients often spend a lot of time waiting for doctors, and child patients waiting to be seen are particularly likely to feel bored, depressed and anxious, which negatively affects their overall experience of seeking medical attention. Since the launch of China’s second-child policy, the number of children born in China has surged. As medical resources for children are in short supply and of uneven quality, it is urgently necessary to carry out research on optimizing the design of children’s waiting space in Chinese hospitals to improve their medical environment and experience. Method: This study identified four first-level indicators and twenty-seven second-level indicators in four dimensions: functional layout (layout and area), flow organization, supporting facilities and environmental details (physical and landscape environment). The research combined subjective and objective methods, including comprehensive observation, a questionnaire survey and interviews, taking three hospitals in Shenzhen as case studies. Results: The study found that the waiting space in pediatric clinics currently fails to meet key patient needs in areas such as mother and infant rooms, children’s play areas and drinking water facilities, and there are widespread problems with the creation of natural environments, such as views of natural scenery from windows and indoor green plants. Six factors were found to significantly positively influence overall satisfaction with waiting space, describing 69.76% of the changes in the respondents’ degree of satisfaction with the waiting environment. Supporting facilities and aspects of the physical environment had the greatest influence on overall satisfaction with the waiting space. Conclusion: Optimizing the design of the waiting space in pediatric clinics, with a focus on functional layout, flow organization, supporting facilities and environmental details, can improve overall satisfaction with pediatric waiting rooms. The results are preliminary; they need to be further tested in practice to complete the process of evidence-based design. This will lead to suggestions for refining the design of pediatric waiting units which can be used by architects and hospital administrators.

In the context of the escalating challenge of climate change, optimizing buildings’ energy performance has become a critical research area, yet studies specifically targeting library buildings are scarce. This study addresses this gap by investigating the impact of multi-objective optimization on energy efficiency and occupant comfort in educational library buildings under future climate scenarios. Utilizing the Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II (NSGA-II), this research optimizes a range of building parameters, including the cooling and heating setpoints, air change rates, shading device depths, window visible transmittance, and window gas types. The optimization aims to balance energy consumption and comfort, using simulations based on future weather data for the years 2020, 2050, and 2080. The results indicate that the optimized solutions can significantly reduce the heating energy by up to 95.34% and the cooling energy by up to 63.74% compared to the baseline models, while maintaining or improving the occupant comfort levels. This study highlights the necessity for dynamic, responsive architectural designs that can adapt to changing environmental conditions, ensuring both sustainability and occupant well-being. Furthermore, integrating these building-level optimizations into a City Information Model (CIM) framework can enhance urban planning and development, contributing to more resilient and energy-efficient cities. These findings underscore the importance of sustainable design practices in the context of climate change and the critical role of advanced optimization techniques in achieving energy-efficient, comfortable educational spaces.