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Category: Peer-Reviewed Articles

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Koo, Kim, and Hong, 2014

Since the increase in greenhouse gas emissions has increased the global warming potential, an international agreement on carbon emissions reduction target (CERT) has been formulated in Kyoto Protocol (1997). This study aimed to develop a framework for the analysis of the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT. To verify the feasibility of the proposed framework, educational facilities were used for a case study. This study was conducted in six steps: (i) selection of the target school; (ii) establishment of the reference model for the target school; (iii) energy consumption pattern analysis by target school; (iv) establishment of the energy retrofit model for the target school; (v) economic and environmental assessment through the life cycle cost and life cycle CO2 analysis; and (vi) establishment of the low-carbon scenario in 2020 to achieve the national CERT. This study can help facility managers or policymakers establish the optimal retrofit strategy within the limited budget from a short-term perspective and the low-carbon scenario 2020 to achieve the national CERT from the long-term perspective. The proposed framework could be also applied to any other building type or country in the global environment.

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Iyer-Raniga et al., 2015

The impact of climate change and adaptation pose huge challenges to the built environment. Educational institutions in particular, are faced with not just management of their built assets, but also future proofing their assets from a climate change and adaptation perspective as well as a learning and teaching perspective. While there are recent examples of educational institutions joining the wave of building iconic Green Star buildings across Australia, there still remains the question of whether the physical building, facilities management and occupancy patterns provide realistic triple bottom line (TBL) outcomes. Very little post occupancy studies, if any, are undertaken particularly capturing key experiences to further improve future new building development and refurbishment. Using the experience of an iconic building that has won numerous awards in Australia, this paper captures the learning from the perspective of educational institutions as owner-occupiers of built assets. A case study was undertaken using a mixed method research approach. Interviews were undertaken with the project team, both internal and external to the educational institution, complemented by post occupancy evaluation (POE) examining energy and water use of the building. In addition, a Building User Satisfaction survey was also undertaken. While the data set was evaluated using various frameworks, this paper focuses on the role of the management style in ensuring TBL sustainability outcomes. The paper highlights the importance of senior management support in achieving TBL outcomes and presents some guidelines for other educational institutions wanting to future proof their assets.

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Asmar, Chokor, and Sroui, 2014

Balancing energy performance and Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) performance has become a conventional tradeoff in sustainable building design. In recognition of the impact IEQ performance has on the occupants of educational facilities, universities are increasingly interested in tracking the performance of their buildings. This paper highlights and quantifies several key factors that affect the occupant satisfaction of higher education facilities by comparing building performance of two campuses located in two different countries and environments. A total of 320 occupants participated in IEQ occupant satisfaction surveys, split evenly between the two campuses, to investigate their satisfaction with the space layout, space furniture, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, lighting level, acoustic quality, water efficiency, cleanliness and maintenance of the facilities they occupy. The difference in IEQ performance across the two campuses was around 17% which lays the foundation for a future study to explore the reasons behind this noticeable variation.

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Kanters, et al., 2014

BACKGROUND: Partnerships between school districts and community-based organizations to share school facilities during afterschool hours can be an effective strategy for increasing physical activity. However, the perceived cost of shared use has been noted as an important reason for restricting community access to schools. This study examined shared use of middle school facilities, the amount and type of afterschool physical activity programs provided at middle schools together with the costs of operating the facilities.

METHODS: Afterschool programs were assessed for frequency, duration, and type of structured physical activity programs provided and the number of boys and girls in each program. School operating costs were used to calculate a cost per student and cost per building square foot measure. Data were collected at all 30 middle schools in a large school district over 12 months in 2010-2011.

RESULTS: Policies that permitted more use of school facilities for community-sponsored programs increased participation in afterschool programs without a significant increase in operating expenses.

CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest partnerships between schools and other community agencies to share facilities and create new opportunities for afterschool physical activity programs are a promising health promotion strategy. Keywords: school facilities; afterschool physical activity; school facility costs.

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Flores, et al., 2015

It is the major purpose of this study to determine the difference on the attitude between high and low performing Junior Marine Engineering students towards the School facilities and services. Descriptive type of research was utilized in the study. Result showed that the Marine Engineering students are at their best in morning subjects but they don’t care what their schedule is for as long as they finished all subjects on schedule. The low performing students prefer only the teachers do the talking and they like to simply listen to the teachers compared to the high performing students. It is recommended that putting some variety in the usual lecture-demonstration method of teaching into student-centered approach of learning would give better atmosphere of gaining knowledge and comprehension applicable for diverse learning styles of the students.

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Integrated STEM Education Conference, 2012

We present an informal learning experience for youth ages four through eleven and their families utilizing the integration of art, design, and technology to deliver STEM concepts. The workshop, titled Scrapyard Challenge Jr. 1.0 (SCJ 1.0), was developed from modifications made to an interaction design workshop oriented towards adults, in which participants build novel and expressive electronic objects using found materials and junk. Tapping into the momentum surrounding the maker and tinkerer movements, the learning experience introduces basic principles of electricity and systems thinking using hands-on activities that encourage personal and creative self-expression. Through detailing our experience we suggest that current trends in art, design, and technology practice can provide fertile ground for developing STEM learning. Indeed we argue that this triangulated space is the logical starting ground for the development of a wide variety of STEAMD initiatives.

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Ghanbari, S., 2015

There has been some debate and research that suggests the arts are well-suited to be combined with science, technology, engineering, and math disciplines making the STEM acronym STEAM. STEM education is an educational and political priority in the United States and is valued as a means of strengthening national security and ensuring global competitiveness. The STEAM paradigm also emphasizes the importance of STEM education, but argues that the arts have the ability to open up new ways of seeing, thinking, and learning. This study aims to share student learning experiences in two established university programs that integrate an arts discipline with a STEM discipline. Student and alumni interviews are compared within a collective case study methodology. Framed by principles of sociocultural theory and experiential learning theory, this inquiry explores the role of arts integration, collaboration, and experience centered learning in knowledge creation.

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Beatty & Shimshack, 2011

School buses contribute disproportionately to ambient air quality, pollute near schools and residential areas, and their emissions collect within passenger cabins. This paper examines the impact of school bus emissions reductions programs on health outcomes. A key contribution relative to the broader literature is that we examine localized pollution reduction programs at a fine level of aggregation. We find that school bus retrofits induced reductions in bronchitis, asthma, and pneumonia incidence for atrisk populations. Back of the envelope calculations suggest conservative benefit-cost ratios between 7:1 and16:1.

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Jeong, Ji, Koo, Hong, & Park, 2014

The environmental impacts of a building are determined in the project planning phase, affecting the whole life cycle of the building. Thus, they should be assessed in the project planning phase so as to reduce the whole environment impacts of the building. This study aims to develop a model for predicting the environmental impacts of a building in the project planning phase, focused on educational facilities. This study was conducted in three steps: (i) collection of several information on educational facilities and cluster formation using the decision tree; (ii) development of the prediction model using the advanced case-based reasoning; and (iii) evaluation of the environmental impacts of educational facilities with six categories. The proposed model was verified compared to the actual data. The error rate for the resource depletion potential was determined to be at 14.14%; global warming potential, 6.80%; ozone-layer depletion potential, 27.29%; acidification potential, 12.94%; eutrophication potential, 18.73%; and photochemical oxidation potential, 43.23%. Due to the limitations of the available information in the project planning phase, it was shown that some impact categories might be estimated with relatively lower accuracy. The proposed model allows an architect or a facility manager to easily and accurately estimate the environmental impacts of the educational facilities. It could also be useful for establishing a national environmental policy such as a carbon emissions reduction target. In addition, it could be extended to any other building type or country in the global environment.

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Sjöblom, Mälkki, Sandström, & Lonkam, 2016

The role of motivation and emotions in learning has been extensively studied in recent years; however, research on the role of the physical environment still remains scarce. This study examined the role of the physical environment in the learning process from the perspective of basic psychological needs. Although self-determination theory stresses the role of the social and cultural environment, as yet the role of the physical environment has been unexplored. The study focused on beginning chemistry university students’ (n=21) experiences in a chemistry laboratory. The data consisted of focus-group interviews and self-report questionnaires. The results indicate that the physical environment can support or thwart the fulfillment of the basic psychological needs. The usability and functionality of spaces and tools contributed to not just the fluency of the intellectual activity but also to the related emotional experience of oneself acting in a particular environment. The physical environment was a source of procedural facilitation: It complemented and challenged the students’ existing skills, contributing to their experiences of autonomy and competence. The everyday successes or struggles in the laboratory built on the students’ developing professional identity as well as their sense of belonging to the professional community. This study demonstrates that the design and functionality of the physical environment has a significant role in users’ intellectual and emotional functioning. It is essential to utilize psychological and pedagogical knowledge when designing or renovating work and learning environments in order to fully make use of the potential of physical environments as part of human performance. 

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