ENGG941 Sustainability for Engineers, Scientists and Professionals Assignment 2 Autumn 2025 | UoW

Assignment 2: Footprint Analysis  

The Illawarra Flame House, now located at the Innovation Campus, won the Solar Decathlon in 2013. As a Living Laboratory, the Illawarra Flame House provides a demonstration space and display of sustainable building technologies and components that will be of benefit to the sustainable buildings industry. It exemplifies the use of advanced design and low-energy technologies to reduce the environmental footprint. Modern commercial buildings also have many features that reduce their impact on the environment, and in particular, reduce their water and carbon footprint. One such example is the SMART Building (Building 6) located at the main Wollongong campus. 

In groups of four (4) students, you have been commissioned to produce a comparative report to estimate: (1) the carbon footprint and (2) the water footprint of both the Illawarra Flame House and SMART Building. You must submit the original Excel file used in your calculations. You must also prepare a report that summarises the key findings and comments on the differences in these footprints per square metre of usable space. The report must be professionally presented and strictly adhere to the page limits of the following format: 

• Cover page
• Executive summary (1 page max)
• Introduction/background (2 pages max)
• Methods (1 page max)
• Results and discussion (4 pages max)
• Conclusions and recommendations (1 page max)
• Reference list
• Appendix (you may include relevant additional information in the appendix - only key findings/graphs/tables should be presented in the main report). 

Apart from the information given to you in this brief, you can make any relevant assumptions based on findings from the literature. 

To complete this assignment, you should conduct: 

• A detailed calculation of the carbon and water footprints of each building in Excel. 
• A clear description of any relevant assumptions and relevant references/sources cited;
• Discussion and comparison of the two footprint indicators on a per square metre basis;
• Provide recommendations on how the design or usage of both buildings could be modified to improve the water and carbon footprint.

The following information about each building has been acquired from the builders/designers and reasonable assumptions: 

Illawarra Flame House 

• Mass of concrete = vol. x specific density = 7 m3x 2400 kg/ m3= 16,800 kg
• Mass of reinforcing steel = 315 kg
• Volume of timber can be calculated from the floor areas of the plan.
• The amount of glass has not been provided, but can be estimated according to the glazing area. Total Glazing Area =30.25 m2
• The total ground floor area of the building is 79 m2(see attached building plans)
• Total roof area: 84 m2(see attached building plans)
• Estimated annual electricity consumption: 432 kWh
• Max cooling and heating load: 8/2 kW (for air-conditioning).
• Water usage from Sydney Water is 225 kL
• Water tank storage capacity: 365 L 

SMART Building (Building 6)

• Mass of concrete = vol. x specific density = 5520 m3x 2400 kg/ m3= 13,248,000 kg 
• Mass of reinforcing steel = 547.3 tonnes
• The amount of aluminium and glass has not been provided, but can be estimated according to the glazing area. 

Total Glazing Area = Curtain Wall (446 m2) + Skylight (126 m2) + Windows (1212 m2) + Glazing to Link Bridges (196 m2) = 1980 m2to the actual building envelope, with the following areas not part of the envelope: Sunshade (85 m2) + Lift 2 (127 m2) 

• The total ground floor area of the building is 12,900 m2
• Total roof area: upper roof of 1,685 m2 and lower roof of 2,100 m2
• Estimated SMART annual electricity consumption: 2,950,000 kWh. Max cooling load: 1050 kW (for air conditioning).
• The estimated energy consumption for air conditioning is 75% of the design maximum loading
• Max heating capacity of 500 kW via a gas-fired hot water heating plant. Estimated SMART annual water consumption: 7,675 kL
• SMART has a stormwater tank storage capacity of 120 kL 

Plans of both buildings are available on the Moodle Site. 

Other data can be assumed based on research and measurements of plans, etc. On the other hand, it is not necessary to use all the data provided here. You will have to do some research to find the relevant factors to calculate the water and carbon footprint. For example, you can look for the embodied water footprint per kg of steel. You will also need to make some judgements on the relevance of some materials to the overall footprint, such as the furnishings and floor coverings, etc., and to briefly explain these assumptions.