Osama E. Mansour - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Papers by Osama E. Mansour

Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona, the sc... more Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona, the school has been designed and built as a green setting based on the goals of the architect, teachers, parents and a community that has long suffered from the moldy old Davidson school building. Yet by looking at the new building and comparing it with conventional schools with similar function and size in Tucson, Arizona, one questions whether the users can distinguish differences which might be related to the building’s greenness? Is the same true for many other LEED rated green school buildings in other parts of United States? The present paper asks whether the image of a building, and even an integrated pedagogy in the case of schools, shouldn’t more actively promote the meaning of sustainability. The present case is an ethnographic study has been done at Davidson Elementary School during the author’s sabbatical at University of Arizona in 2010. The study included analysis for the images ...

This exploration is motivated by some of the author’s observations and building users’ comments i... more This exploration is motivated by some of the author’s observations and building users’ comments in some of the highly rated green buildings in North America. The observations and users’ comments were collected earlier from buildings in Tucson (Arizona), San Francisco (California), Seattle (Washington), and Las Vegas (Nevada). Green buildings are very efficient in their consumption of energy, water, and natural resources; they also provide their occupants with a healthier and productive environment. However, the author’s observations and users’ comments are in accordance with the claims of some other studies: that the performance of highly rated green buildings is less than what is targeted by the concept of sustainability. The book presents the findings of two studies, which took place in two Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) buildings in Calgary, Canada. The studies examine green buildings from a human experiential perspective to explore factors involved in the p...

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

Sustainability

It has been over three decades since the term “sustainable development” was coined in Brundtland’... more It has been over three decades since the term “sustainable development” was coined in Brundtland’s report in 1987, and 28 years have passed since the world’s first sustainability assessment method for buildings was founded by the Building Research Establishment in UK in 1990. During these three decades, many sustainability standards, codes, and rating systems were created and used to help in designing, constructing, maintaining, rating, and labeling buildings with attaining the principles of sustainability. Yet by looking at the Arab world at the beginning of 2019, one can argue that, although the Arab countries have dedicated the effort and budget to save energy, water, and natural resources, the region as a whole is still struggling to shift the paradigm of the building industry from conventional to sustainable. This struggle raises some questions; are there any challenges that Arab countries must overcome to leap forward to a prosperous sustainable building design and constructio...

Energy and Environment Research

In this study, the authors explore the impact of the enhanced commissioning process required by L... more In this study, the authors explore the impact of the enhanced commissioning process required by LEED certification on the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) professionals through a case study of a (LEED) New Construction in New Cairo, Egypt. While research has consistently shown the positive impact of green-rated buildings on building occupants, little research discusses the impact of green building rating on AEC professionals. Observation, document analysis, and interview of AEC professionals were used throughout the course of design and construction to identify the impact of the enhanced commissioning process on the quality of Project delivery and experience of AEC professionals. All technical and managerial issues of the entire enhanced commissioning process were recorded and thoroughly analyzed. As a result, a comprehensive comparison between mainstream projects and the current LEED-certified building is established. The study introduces a novel insight on green bu...

Environment and Natural Resources Research, 2017

Proceedings of the 6th Annual Architectural Research Symposium in Finland 2014, Oct 23, 2014

Building and Environment, 2015

Abstract Although extensive research has investigated the benefits of green buildings very little... more Abstract Although extensive research has investigated the benefits of green buildings very little is known about user perception and satisfaction. Most of the studies involving users in green buildings are in the form of post-occupancy evaluations that gather satisfaction scores and qualitative feedback from building occupants. However it is difficult to generalize these individual case studies to a wider discussion of preferences for green building attributes. The current research uses a more generalizable technique to examine occupants' experiences in green buildings. This study identifies the relative importance of environmental and experiential design categories by occupants based on lived experiences in the space. The article provides the results of a Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) study that compares responses from green and non-green building occupants. The results provide novel insights into the degree of importance of experiential categories of design, such as social territories, visual, and non-visual aesthetics, compared with environmental categories of design, such as energy efficiency, water savings, and indoor environmental quality. The article contributes to the green building design literature by evaluating green buildings from a new perspective that is based on users' preferences. This perspective can be influential in developing green building rating systems for enhancing green building performance.

Proceedings of the 6th Annual Architectural Research Symposium in Finland 2014, Oct 23, 2014

Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona. The sc... more Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona. The school has been designed and built as a green setting based on the goals of the architect, teachers, parents and a community that has long suffered from the moldy old Davidson school building. Yet by looking at the new building and comparing it with conventional schools that have similar function and size in Tucson, one questions whether the users can distinguish differences which might be related to the building's greenness? Is the same true for many other LEED rated green school buildings in other parts of the United States? The present paper asks whether the image of a building, and even an integrated pedagogy in the case of schools, shouldn't more actively promote the meaning of sustainability. The present case is an ethnographic study, which has been done at Davidson Elementary School during the author's sabbatical at University of Arizona in 2010. The study includes analysis for the building's images, and interviews with different building's occupants and visitors. The author interviewed the school's principal, teachers, administrative staff, 4th and 5th grade students and some parents. The analysis shows that Davidson Elementary Buildings offer limited use of symbolic meanings to foster belief about sustainability; at the same time it conveys some negative meanings that might affect the wellbeing of laypeople, and obviously hindering a possible sustainable relationship between people and environment. The examination of the cultural expression of buildings' green features and the meanings acquired from them at Davidson School provides a novel ethnographic evaluation of green building design intentions.

Eco-Architecture V, 2014

A healthy building seems to be desirable even if one does not know about its true implication on ... more A healthy building seems to be desirable even if one does not know about its true implication on building occupants, performance, efficiency, productivity, cost, and maintenance. However, convincing a project's developer or building's owner about the merits of taking care of the indoor air quality is not as easy as most buildings' users think. This hardship is because the justification of the extra effort, time and resources needed for establishing a building with a higher level of indoor air quality is not as easy as many other building aspects. Architects and engineers can justify a higher price for stylish furniture, or better lighting design for a building's owner easier than justifying the cost of a system's add-ons needed for better indoor air quality. Studies show that some cultural dimensions are involved in the perception of the environmental risk, and hence impact the decision of having healthy buildings at the design stage. This paper analyzes the perception of the foreseeable extra cost and effort required for having a healthy building with a higher level of indoor air quality in light of the perception of the environmental risk and some other cultural factors. This empirical analysis is helpful for prospective developers and owners as it might be a great motivation for them to spend on enhancing the indoor air quality of their buildings. The argument is also critical for understanding the factors that lie behind the levels of indoor air quality in the built environment across cultures.

The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design

It has been over three decades since the term "sustainable development" was coined in Brundtland'... more It has been over three decades since the term "sustainable development" was coined in Brundtland's report in 1987, and 28 years have passed since the world's first sustainability assessment method for buildings was founded by the Building Research Establishment in UK in 1990. During these three decades, many sustainability standards, codes, and rating systems were created and used to help in designing, constructing, maintaining, rating, and labeling buildings with attaining the principles of sustainability. Yet by looking at the Arab world at the beginning of 2019, one can argue that, although the Arab countries have dedicated the effort and budget to save energy, water, and natural resources, the region as a whole is still struggling to shift the paradigm of the building industry from conventional to sustainable. This struggle raises some questions; are there any challenges that Arab countries must overcome to leap forward to a prosperous sustainable building design and construction practices? Why are existing green building rating systems such as Estidama in United Arab Emirates, global sustainability assessment system (GSAS) in Qatar, and ARZ in Lebanon lagging behind the trends of green building rating systems in the developed countries? What are the coordinated steps needed to expedite this movement across the region? The current study explores the limits and potentials of the green building industry in the Arab world through analysis of the green building initiatives, academic scholarship activities in architecture and engineering sectors, and feedback from green building professionals across the Arab world. This article introduces a theoretical framework to expedite the green building movement in the Arab region; the framework is shaped by the environmental, social, and economic factors that are crucial to the transformation of the building industry from conventional to sustainable. The study seeks to support a line of research that could help governments in the Arab world catch up with the global green building trends.

As building design strongly moves to the realm of sustainability, one can argue that the aestheti... more As building design strongly moves to the realm of sustainability, one can argue that the aesthetics of most of rated sustainable buildings today disregard some of the inherited building features that were originally inspired and valued by local cultures. Although the design intents of vernacular buildings in the past were mostly similar to the design intents of green building design today, the vernacular designs achieved these objectives while aesthetically conforming to the social and cultural needs, and making image of buildings an important part of the cultural identity of the place. This raises some questions: does the extensive use of sophisticated engineering systems and systematic rating tools in green buildings today negatively affect the aesthetics of these structures? This article analyzes the aesthetics of two LEED buildings located in different locations with different inherited architectural context while they share the same hot arid climate conditions, BWh according to Koppen climate classification. The interior and exterior images of the buildings were analyzed in light of the inherited gestalt image of buildings across different locations in hot-arid climate. The analysis shows an insight on the visual aesthetics of sustainable buildings today from environmental and cultural perspectives.

Although extensive research has investigated the benefits of green buildings very little is known... more Although extensive research has investigated the benefits of green buildings very little is known about user perception and satisfaction. Most of the studies involving users in green buildings are in the form of post-occupancy evaluations that gather satisfaction scores and qualitative feedback from building occupants. However it is difficult to generalize these individual case studies to a wider discussion of preferences for green building attributes. The current research uses a more generalizable technique to examine occupants' experiences in green buildings. This study identifies the relative importance of environmental and experiential design categories by occupants based on lived experiences in the space. The article provides the results of a Choice-Based Conjoint (CBC) study that compares responses from green and non-green building occupants. The results provide novel insights into the degree of importance of experiential categories of design, such as social territories, visual, and non-visual aesthetics, compared with environmental categories of design, such as energy efficiency, water savings, and indoor environmental quality. The article contributes to the green building design literature by evaluating green buildings from a new perspective that is based on users' preferences. This perspective can be influential in developing green building rating systems for enhancing green building performance.

Research has consistently shown that architects differ from the public in what they prefer in bui... more Research has consistently shown that architects differ from the public in what they prefer in buildings. Today, as building design and construction evolve to more sustainability, some recent studies show that the overall level of satisfaction of occupants of green buildings still does not exceed the level of satisfaction in conventional structures. Satisfaction is typically measured, with Post Occupancy Evaluation, which gathers feedback from building occupants about aspects such as comfort, indoor air quality, and aesthetics. This raises some questions: Do people perceive green building design as consistent with their desire for sustainability? Do ratings of green buildings by systems such as LEED or BREAM affect the level of satisfaction of laypeople? Can owners and occupants of green buildings be considered as green consumers, who are attracted to green products because of their willingness to mitigate the impact of human activities on the environment? This article examines Peattie’s (2001) green purchase perception matrix as a means of understanding occupants’ perceptions of green-labeled buildings. Additionally, two other concepts from consumer behavior studies: Schema Congruity and Stimulus Organism Model have been discussed. An analytical approach has been taken to identify the influential factors. As a result, the authors propose a green building perception Theoretical framework that addresses different situations which leads to a degree of compromise that occupants could accept in green buildings and level of confidence that building systems are indeed making a difference environmentally. Understanding and using this framework may help green building designers to improve the level of satisfaction of building’s owners and occupants. The discussion is critical for future research on how green building design attributes can be used as a catalyst for green consumption behavior.

Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona. The sc... more Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in
Tucson, Arizona. The school has been designed and built as a green setting based on the goals of the architect, teachers, parents and a community that has long suffered from the moldy old Davidson school building. Yet by looking at the new building and comparing it with conventional schools that have similar function and size in Tucson, one questions whether the users can distinguish differences which might be related to the building’s greenness? Is the same true for many other LEED rated green school buildings in other parts of the United States? The present paper asks whether the image of a building, and even an integrated pedagogy in the case of schools, shouldn’t more actively promote the meaning of sustainability. The present case is an ethnographic study, which has been done at Davidson Elementary School during the author’s sabbatical at University of Arizona in 2010. The study includes analysis for the building’s images, and interviews with different building’s occupants and visitors. The author interviewed the school’s principal, teachers, administrative staff, 4th and 5th grade students and some parents. The analysis shows that Davidson Elementary Buildings offer limited use of symbolic meanings to foster belief about sustainability; at the same time it conveys some negative meanings that might affect the wellbeing of laypeople, and obviously hindering a possible sustainable relationship between people and environment. The examination of the cultural expression of buildings’ green features and the meanings acquired from them at Davidson School provides a novel ethnographic evaluation of green building design intentions.

Recent research claim that adopting green roof systems in building sectors in the Arab region is ... more Recent research claim that adopting green roof systems in building sectors in the Arab region is becoming necessary because of the current environmental, social, and economical challenges. Some Arab countries have already developed green building rating systems and recognized the importance of green roofs; however, they still do not fully benefit from such systems owing to limited supporting policies and financial incentives. The purpose of this article is to contribute to a better understanding of the potential role of green roof systems in effective planning and moving towards sustainable urban development in the Arab region. We argue that integrating green roof systems within governmental policies and green building strategies would potentially help in saving energy, enhancing water management, and coping with climate change. This paper presents a conceptual framework to help governments in the Arab region to adopt green roofs in their environmental policies. To present this framework; first, we studied the current international policies that adopt green roof systems and practices, then proposed a conceptual framework for adopting green roof systems in the Arab region. Second, we have chosen Cairo, Egypt, and Amman, Jordan from the Arab region to demonstrate the applicability of this framework at city level while considering the national and local context. This demonstration provides a novel perspective for the benefits of green roof systems in energy savings and water management in the Arab region.

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

Sustainability

Energy and Environment Research

Environment and Natural Resources Research, 2017

Proceedings of the 6th Annual Architectural Research Symposium in Finland 2014, Oct 23, 2014

Building and Environment, 2015

Proceedings of the 6th Annual Architectural Research Symposium in Finland 2014, Oct 23, 2014

Eco-Architecture V, 2014

The International Journal of Architectonic, Spatial, and Environmental Design

Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in Tucson, Arizona. The sc... more Davidson Elementary School is the first LEED certified school building in
Tucson, Arizona. The school has been designed and built as a green setting based on the goals of the architect, teachers, parents and a community that has long suffered from the moldy old Davidson school building. Yet by looking at the new building and comparing it with conventional schools that have similar function and size in Tucson, one questions whether the users can distinguish differences which might be related to the building’s greenness? Is the same true for many other LEED rated green school buildings in other parts of the United States? The present paper asks whether the image of a building, and even an integrated pedagogy in the case of schools, shouldn’t more actively promote the meaning of sustainability. The present case is an ethnographic study, which has been done at Davidson Elementary School during the author’s sabbatical at University of Arizona in 2010. The study includes analysis for the building’s images, and interviews with different building’s occupants and visitors. The author interviewed the school’s principal, teachers, administrative staff, 4th and 5th grade students and some parents. The analysis shows that Davidson Elementary Buildings offer limited use of symbolic meanings to foster belief about sustainability; at the same time it conveys some negative meanings that might affect the wellbeing of laypeople, and obviously hindering a possible sustainable relationship between people and environment. The examination of the cultural expression of buildings’ green features and the meanings acquired from them at Davidson School provides a novel ethnographic evaluation of green building design intentions.