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C-DREEM: A framework for estimating the cost of earthquake-damaged buildings – A New Zealand study
(2025-09-01) Kahandawa Appuhamillage R; Domingo N; Chawynski G; Uma SR
Natural hazards created by earthquakes require an accurate post-earthquake cost estimation mechanism on the road to recovery. However, there are no identifiable accurate post-earthquake cost estimation mechanisms. This has led to major deviations between the initial and final construction costs. For example, the estimated cost of repair of the 2010–2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence changed from 41 billion NZD to $53 billion NZD (adjusted for inflation). Previous research identified eleven factors that specifically impact post-earthquake cost estimation. The recognisable literature was unable to identify a post-earthquake cost estimation model that considers these factors. Therefore, this research aims to fill this gap by developing and validating the cost of damage repair (including refurbishment) and the Earthquake Estimation Model (C-DREEM) framework. The C-DREEM framework was developed based on previous literature and inputs from a development team that included eleven industry professionals. The developed framework was then verified through a focus group interview consisting of nine professionals. The research developed and verified a framework for cost estimation for earthquake damage repair work, C-DREEM, that impacts earthquake damage repair work. C-DREEM incorporates the factors affecting post-earthquake cost estimation and improves the speed and accuracy of post-earthquake cost estimations for damage repair work.
Towards zero carbon refurbishment of existing buildings in Aotearoa New Zealand : a decision support framework : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2023) Bui, Thao Thi Phuong
Refurbishing the existing building stock is considered a fundamental element of reducing carbon emissions towards sustainable development. The renewal of the existing buildings is not only supposed to provide a better, healthier, more comfortable environment for people in which to live and work but also limit global warming, contributing to climate change mitigation. Due to existing buildings comprising the largest segment of New Zealand’s building stock, encouraging the low-carbon performance of existing buildings will contribute to achieve the net-zero carbon target by 2050. As a result, it is crucial to ensure that existing buildings are well-refurbished to reduce whole-of-life carbon emissions. Strategic decision-making in building refurbishment can increase building adaptability, durability, and resiliency, as well as achieve zero-carbon goals. However, it is complex and challenging as the consideration of lifecycle carbon performance must be integrated with other requirements, such as building regulations, client’s expectations, and stakeholders’ values. Before this thesis, limited research has explored the main factors and actors that affect decision-making in reducing carbon emissions and how to better make decarbonisation decisions for building refurbishment comprehensively. This thesis was undertaken to create a critical understanding of the decision-making process that incorporates carbon reduction initiatives in building refurbishment. This thesis aims to improve the decision-making towards zero carbon refurbishment of existing buildings in New Zealand. Following a sequence of multiple qualitative enquiry modes, a multi-method qualitative research design was applied to address the research aim, including literature review, preliminary study using semi-structured interviews, case studies and focus group discussions. Through examining the current practices of building refurbishment and the decision-making process for reducing whole-of-life carbon emissions in building refurbishment, a novel decision support framework towards zero carbon refurbishment of existing buildings in New Zealand was proposed as the main result of this thesis. Findings from this research have revealed that New Zealand’s building and construction industry is in the early stage of transiting to a net-zero carbon built environment, with many barriers to reducing carbon emissions in the design and construction of buildings, such as are financial issues, the shortage of knowledge, capacity and capability, the lack of legislation, and organisational culture barriers. Moreover, stakeholders involved in building refurbishment have faced many challenges in integrating carbon reduction in their decision-making practices in different areas of the pre-design and design stages of the refurbishment process, including (1) inexplicit carbon goal setting, (2) ineffective building condition assessment, (3) deficient and incomprehensive relevant whole-of-life carbon information to support the decision-making, and (4) inconsistent and ambiguous carbon-calculation guidelines and benchmark. The results also emphasise that considering both embodied and operational carbon impacts is critical to maximising carbon reduction in a building throughout its life cycle. Especially, for building refurbishment, the priority should move from reducing operational to whole-of-life carbon emissions. The results from this thesis also provide an in-depth understanding of the characteristics of the decision-making process in practice, lessons learnt for improved implementation of building refurbishment and the effectiveness of collaborative rationality among the diverse stakeholders. Based on theoretical propositions found in the literature and practical knowledge from empirical findings, a comprehensive decision support framework was developed that provides a detailed guideline to better-delivering building refurbishment towards zero carbon. The framework supports the stakeholders involved in building refurbishment to understand the refurbishment decision-making process and requirements for reducing carbon emissions in certain activities, identify areas for addressing carbon issues in the early stages of the refurbishment process, determine relevant information key factors and actors in driving carbon-reduction solutions, and promote stakeholder collaboration and integration in carbon-reduction building refurbishment. This thesis updates both the practical and theoretical understanding of challenges and improvement measures to establish a greater way to support decarbonisation decisions for building refurbishment. The decision-support framework from this thesis offers building stakeholders a more holistic and streamlined interdisciplinary guide to recognise the decarbonisation decision with its required information, expertise, and mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions for the refurbished building throughout the decision-making process in practice. Findings from this thesis are also of relevance to the theoretical and practical knowledge of how the decisions are made to maximise carbon reduction in building refurbishment as a guide for other researchers who are pursuing closely related research topics to that of this thesis.
Cost estimation model for earthquake damage repair in New Zealand : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Construction at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2021) Kahandawa Appuhamillage, Ravindu Visal Dharmasena Kahandawa
Earthquakes are natural hazards that can devastate nations, their people and the surrounding built environments. Designing a suitable strategy for rapid recovery requires an accurate damage assessment process for the built environment. Loss estimation models were developed to predict the cost of repair, but these models were not used to estimate the costs of post-earthquake repair. This could be due to the fact that these probability-based models tend to provide less accurate outputs. In fact, there is no existing literature on post-earthquake repair cost estimation models that can rapidly produce repair cost estimates. This research developed a post-earthquake cost estimation model for earthquake damage repair work (referred to as a cost of damage repair, earthquake estimation model or C-DREEM). The research used an exploratory sequential research design that used semi-structured interviews (N=19) with engineers, quantity surveyors and builders with experience in earthquake damage repair work as the primary data collection. Then a web-based survey questionnaire (N=310 distributed, N=92 received) of professionals with experience in cost estimation for earthquake damage repair work was the second data collection. The collected data was analysed using thematic analysis, descriptive statistics and non-parametric tests. Based on the findings in the literature, document review and research data analysis, a cost of damage repair earthquake estimation model (C-DREEM) was developed. The C-DREEM model was then validated through a focus group interview session with participants who had experience in the cost estimation for earthquake damage repair work in New Zealand (N=9). Key findings identified from the research were: (i) 11 factors have a critical impact on the accuracy of cost estimation of earthquake damage repair work (CEEDRW) which includes consequential damage, initially unforeseen damage, and changes to the final repair state; (ii) Use of a unit rate and lump sum amount methods were some of the most suitable ways incorporate these factors to CEEDRW; (iii) detailed damage evaluation reports are the most likely information sources post-earthquake for CEEDRW; and (iv) the standardised and automated cost estimation model, C-DREEM, developed by this research can improve both pre and post-earthquake CEEDRW process with include the benefits of sharing consequence functions and probable damage information with probability-based methods. The key contribution to knowledge from this research is identifying the factors affecting CEEDRW, evaluating the significance, selecting methods to incorporate the factors into the costing process, and creating the C-DREEM costing process that combines the pre-and post-earthquake loss estimation processes. The research also supports the professional practice by providing: a standardised and automated cost estimation process; specifying the areas that should be improved, such as the damage reporting process; and a better cost control and monitoring process through standardised rates. Through the findings of the research, government and insurance companies: can standardise and improve the accuracy and speed CEEDRW process, and makes informed decisions to manage the impact of the eleven factors affecting CEEDRW identified by this research.
Impacts of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 on the retention of historical buildings in New Zealand's provincial city-centres : towards promoting seismic resilience through adaptive reuse : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Engineering, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2020) Aigwi, Itohan Esther
The impacts of the increasing scale of earthquake disasters on New Zealand's historical buildings are becoming so prevalent to the extent of threatening the stability and existence of provincial urban areas, hence, resulting in local resilience emergencies. This thesis is designed to promote seismic resilience and city-centre regeneration through the retention of earthquake-prone historical buildings for New Zealand’s provincial regions that have an abundance of underutilised earthquake-prone commercial historical buildings in their city-centres. No prior research has explored the main factors that contribute to the loss of historical buildings in New Zealand’s provincial city centres as a result of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016, and how the retention of the buildings can be improved. This thesis aims to address such inadequacy by identifying representative New Zealand’s provincial cities and the contributing factors to their inner-city decline with links to the impact of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016. The applicability of the adaptive reuse approach (i.e., the change of use of an existing building) is also explored as a sustainable approach to retain underutilised commercial earthquake-prone historical buildings and promote seismic resilience and city-centre regeneration, by developing a performance-based framework to improve the adaptive reuse decision-making process. Using a sequence of qualitative and quantitative research enquiry modes, the research question was answered to justify the overall aim of the thesis. The findings revealed Whanganui and Invercargill as representative examples of New Zealand’s earliest cities currently experiencing a decline in their city centres, and also identified socio-economic and regulatory factors that may have contributed to their decline. Correspondingly, the impacts of the actions (or inactions) of local councils and building owners regarding compliance with the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016 have also been addressed. Examining the importance of heritage buildings in New Zealand and the allocation of government funding in the form of grants for the retention of these buildings imply that though New Zealand’s government heritage grant systems are the most extensive non-regulatory incentives for the protection of built heritage, most of the grants are allocated to the bigger cities with the least per capita distribution of heritage buildings. The provincial regions with the most per capita ratio may continue to struggle to conserve their oversupply of heritage buildings if a disproportionately lower allocation of heritage protection grants to provincial regions continues to happen. Findings from this thesis also revealed the main parameters (economic sustainability, built-heritage conservation, socio-cultural aspects, building usability, and regulatory aspects) for a performance-based framework to prioritise optimal underutilised commercial earthquake-prone historical buildings for adaptive reuse. The findings established the practicality of the validated framework in balancing the diverse interests of all stakeholders in an adaptive reuse decision-making process. The consensus among the multidisciplinary stakeholder group was acknowledged to be consistent and insensitive to reasonable changes in weighting. An in-depth understanding of the characteristics of adaptive reuse stakeholders (i.e., identified as investors, producers, regulators and users) and the effectiveness of collaborative rationality among the diverse stakeholders was also found to improve: (i) active participation of stakeholders for future adaptive reuse prioritisation exercises; (ii) public consciousness and knowledge regarding adaptive reuse issues; (iii) transparency and accountability among the stakeholders; (iv) trust and organised networking among the stakeholders; and (v) legitimacy and quality of adaptive reuse decisions. Accordingly, the efficacy of adaptive reuse has been justified in this thesis as a sustainable approach to renegotiating seismic resilience and vitality in the city centres of Whanganui and Invercargill. This thesis significance updates both the practical and theoretical understanding of seismic resilience and city-centre regeneration through the adaptive reuse of underutilised historical buildings in New Zealand’s provincial areas to mitigate the impacts of the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Act 2016, hitherto lacking. As a practical significance, the performance-based framework from this thesis guided Whanganui district council, as both a planning and measurement tool to prioritise and conserve underutilised earthquake-prone commercial historical buildings in their city-centre for adaptive reuse, while balancing the diverse interests of all relevant stakeholders. Also, findings from this thesis are of relevance to the theoretical body of knowledge as a guide for other researchers who are pursuing closely related research topics to that of this thesis.
The assessment of indoor environment quality in New Zealand early childhood education centres : a thesis presented in full fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Building Science at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2019) Flood, Tiffany
The review of literature highlighted a knowledge research gap in the understanding of New Zealand early childhood education indoor environment quality, particularly in Auckland. The objective of this thesis was to, therefore, begin to fill this gap. This was achieved by predominantly monitoring the indoor environment quality in four early learning education centres for one year. The results showed a lack of indoor environment quality standards in early childhood education. Mean carbon dioxide levels in 75% of the sleep rooms monitored exceeded ASHRAE and Ministry of Education school guidelines; the mechanical ventilation in one of the centres did not meet the New Zealand mechanical ventilation standard and the thermal comfort range was exceed 14% of the time during operating hours. The maximum relative humidity guideline set by ASHRAE and recommended in New Zealand schools, was exceeded 29% of the time during operating hours and 66% of the time outside operating hours, therefore possibly supporting mould and bacterial growth. Building audits identified poor cleaning routines in most rooms. Only 22% of the classrooms met the New Zealand building code G7 for Natural light and 55% had poor views to outside, as also required under G7. None of the classrooms achieved a daylight factor greater than 2% as set out in the Ministry of Education school guidelines and 33% of the classrooms interior lighting met New Zealand interior and workplace lighting standards. Those classrooms with mostly hard floors and ceilings have potential reverberation issues. This study highlighted that further research is needed to investigate the ventilation requirements in sleep rooms and the natural light, views to outside and interior lighting requirements within early childhood classrooms. The Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health should provide guidance and advice before a centre is built. The inclusion of an indoor environment quality assessment should be considered as part of a centre’s Education Review Office assessment and that the importance of indoor environment quality should be part of the curriculum when training early learning teachers. This study may be applicable to the New Zealand early childhood education industry and researchers of indoor environment quality.
Environmental evaluation of energy efficiency refurbishment in New Zealand's commercial office buildings : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Science in Life Cycle Management at Massey University, Manawatū, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2017) Ghose, Agneta
In New Zealand, 80 % of existing commercial office buildings are more than 20 years old and consume approximately 40 % more energy than newer counterparts. Moreover, nearly 38 % of the energy-related emissions in New Zealand’s cities are due to the heating and cooling requirements of commercial office buildings. Therefore, energy efficiency measures in office buildings are recommended to reduce operational energy related costs, provide better working conditions, and enhance business value. An energy efficiency refurbishment which involves adoption of multiple energy saving measures such as thermal insulation, improved glazing, air conditioning and lighting systems, can reduce the energy consumption of existing buildings by nearly 60 %. However, such a refurbishment also involves substantial construction work associated with the demolition and replacement of several building components, and this is associated with additional environmental impacts. It is therefore important to evaluate if the environmental benefits associated with reductions in energy demand can outweigh the environmental impacts of refurbishment. This research investigated the comprehensive environmental impacts of energy efficiency refurbishments in New Zealand’s office buildings using Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The research used existing data collected for Building Energy End-use Study (BEES) by the Building Research Association of New Zealand (BRANZ). In particular, this research used the information on building design and annual energy consumption of existing and refurbished building prototypes. These building prototypes provided - construction details adopted in buildings of different sizes; and the operational energy performance based on typical climatic conditions found in New Zealand. The environmental performance of the buildings was calculated for Global Warming Potential (GWP), Ozone Depletion Potential (ODP), Photo-chemical Oxidation Potential (PCOP), Acidification Potential (AP), Eutrophication Potential (EP), Abiotic Depletion of resources (ADr), Abiotic Depletion of fossil fuels (ADff), Human toxicity carcinogenic (HT-carc), Human toxicity non-carcinogenic (HT-non carc), Eco-toxicity freshwater (ETfreshwater), Particulate Matter Formation (PMF), and Ionizing Radiation (IR). A series of studies were performed to: (i) assess the environmental impacts and identify the environmental hot-spots of energy efficiency refurbishment, (ii) assess the influence of building’s service life, energy, resource and waste management on the environmental performance of energy efficiency refurbishment, (iii) assess the influence of building size, design and location on the environmental performance of energy efficiency refurbishment, and (iv) to evaluate the contribution of energy efficiency refurbishment to New Zealand’s 2050 climate change mitigation target compared to the environmental performance of existing office building stock. The results showed that at energy efficiency refurbishments can reduce emissions for environmental impact categories affected by energy demand particularly for global warming, acidification and photochemical oxidation. However, the refurbishment is also associated with increase in environmental impacts affected by resource demand such ozone depletion potential, abiotic depletion of resources, human toxicity (carcinogenic) and ionizing radiation. Service life of over 25 years is required to compensate the embodied environmental impacts of refurbishment for most of the impact categories, particularly if the electricity is sourced from renewable energy sources. Refurbished components such as- on-site photovoltaic (PV), aluminium framed windows, façade components and heat pumps were identified as the major environmental hot-spots for most impact categories. The embodied environmental impacts to most categories could be reduced by 20 - 40 % if the waste recovery and recycling at construction site is improved. However, the overall environmental impacts of refurbished office buildings are highly sensitive to the choice of energy supply. Energy supply from grid electricity generated from renewable resources should be prioritised over the use of on- site PV. Benefits from on-site PV is limited if the grid electricity supply is mainly from renewable sources; moreover, the production of photovoltaic panels is energy and resource intensive. It can increase nearly 50 - 100 % of the embodied environmental associated with building refurbishment. If on- site photovoltaic is installed, it should be prioritised in buildings with large roof area located in regions with long sunshine hours. The results also show that in large buildings- efficient heating, ventilation and lighting equipment; and smaller wall to window ratios should be prioritised to reduce environmental impacts. In small buildings, the choice of façade materials with low embodied impacts should be prioritised to reduce environmental impacts. With respect to New Zealand’s 2050 target for the existing office building sector 60 - 90 % greenhouse gas emissions reductions is possible only if the office building stock refurbishment is combined with a renewable energy supply. Nearly 60 – 70 % of the greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced if the refurbishment of the existing office building stock is limited to existing large office building stock (>3500 m2) or to buildings in Auckland and Wellington. The main conclusions based on the results of this research are to prioritise better resource and waste management, to prioritise strategies for maintenance of refurbished buildings to promote longer service life, to support national level policies on increased use of renewable sources for grid electricity generation, and to prioritise refurbishment for a share of the building stock based on size and location which contributes to maximum energy reduction and minimal environmental impacts. The outcomes of this research can support national policy makers and independent building stakeholders (e.g. architects, owners, and engineers) who are keen on promoting energy efficiency refurbishments in New Zealand’s office buildings.
Building related illness : a procedure to detect symptomatic buildings : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in the Department of Agricultural Engineering at Massey University
(Massey University, 1994) Sisk, William Edward
This study examines the topic of building related or building supported illness in the context of a commercial office setting. Numerous reports from the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Holland, Denmark, Canada and the United States of America, indicate that workers in some office buildings suffer a degree of discomfort and physical symptoms related to building occupancy. The problem is examined in the context of a commercial office environment and the term 'Building Related Illness' (BRI) and it's sub-set 'the Sick Building Syndrome' (SBS) are defined. The illnesses or specific syndromes known to be associated with building related illness are identified. There is ongoing debate as to the valid inclusion of some viral diseases. This study takes a symptomatic approach to the identification of the various syndromes of interest. The numerous elements or stressors known to cause particular symptoms are identified and discussed. BRI is identified by an unusual or extraordinary frequency of certain physical symptoms being experienced by the occupancy of a particular building. However, the symptoms of interest are found in the general community at an unknown incidence rate. The exact role a building and it's association with a symptom or cluster of symptoms is, more often than not, difficult to ascertain. There are a number of confounding elements which need to be considered and eliminated before the building itself can be implicated as a causal factor. This is because the general nature of the symptoms associated with BRI can be caused by other factors. Broadly, the other causative factors may be 'Job Related' or 'Ergonomically Related' (eg. poorly designed work stations). It is well documented that workers in menial or less interesting employment report a higher prevalence of BRI type symptoms. The role of chronic diseases in relation to commercial buildings are discussed and the alternative paradigm to dealing with these stressors is examined. Finally, a statistical method for identifying a 'problem building' is piloted on two dissimilar buildings and the results are analyzed. The prevalence of symptom reporting amongst certain cohorts is similar to a number of overseas studies. It was concluded that the proposed model was successful in identifying symptom clusters amongst certain cohorts within the buildings surveyed. In this respect the piloted questionnaire was successful. The questionnaire is critically reviewed and a number of amendments are suggested.
Stakeholder perceived barriers to the use of solar energy in Thailand's buildings : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Environmental Management at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
(Massey University, 2011) Trevarthen, Manda
Energy efficiency and use of renewable energy is currently a key topic given rising fuel prices and concerns regarding future energy security. Governments around the world are looking for ways to reduce the demand for energy from unsustainable sources either through improving energy efficiency or through generating energy using renewable sources. The building industry is one industry where it is considered that energy demand can be reduced. Studies have shown that green building practices, such as the use of solar energy, can substantially reduce the energy demand of residential and commercial buildings. However for green building practices such as solar energy to be incorporated into a building design, industry stakeholders must understand the benefits. Despite Thailand having a tropical climate there is little adoption of either passive solar design strategies or solar energy technologies. In this study 30 interviews were conducted with stakeholders in the Thai building industry and analysed using grounded theory methodology to determine what stakeholders perceive as the barriers to using solar energy in buildings in Thailand. As well as analysis of the interview transcripts, research participants also completed a 20 question Likert scale survey designed to gauge opinions towards known barriers to the use of solar energy in buildings. The research identifies 25 barriers that stakeholders in the building industry perceive to be barriers to the use of solar energy in buildings in Thailand. The core concept of the research is that stakeholders perceive a difference between the concepts of awareness and knowledge and a lack of awareness and a lack of knowledge is the primary reason solar energy is not used more often. Increasing both awareness and knowledge of solar energy is the primary way to encourage consideration of solar energy in Thailand’s building projects.

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