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2012 AsRES AREUEA Joint International Conference, 7-10 July 2012, Singapore

Feng Shui and Modern Sustainable Buildings


Michael Y Mak
Centre for Interdisciplinary Built Environment Research School of Architecture and Built Environment The University of Newcastle, Australia

Janet X Ge
School of the Built Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia

Abstract
Feng Shui is a body of ancient Chinese knowledge that aims at creating a harmony between environment, buildings and people. While Feng Shui has been practiced in China for more than three thousand years, many studies performed before on Feng Shui research have merely focused on the investigation of the ancient theories without consideration of its applications to the modern built environment. In the western contemporary architecture, the interactions with the natural and man-made environment are termed sustainability or sustainable developments. This concept of sustainability in the western world only dates back three decades ago in dealing with the harmonious relationship between human and nature. With a desire to improve the relationship between human and the environment, there is an increasing interest for architects and other building professionals to apply the concepts of Feng Shui into building design and the built environment. It is suggested that interpreting Feng Shui knowledge would embrace the western concept of sustainability. This paper analyzes and compares concepts of Feng Shui and sustainability. Case studies of recognized well-designed modern sustainable buildings in Australia are used to illustrate the similarities between concepts of Feng Shui and sustainability. Keywords: Feng Shui, Sustainability, Sustainable development, Modern buildings

Corresponding Authors Michael Y Mak School of Architecture and Built Environment The University of Newcastle, Australia Phone: +61 2 4921 7450 Email: Michael.Mak@newcastle.edu.au Janet X Ge School of the Built Environment, University of Technology, Sydney, Australia Phone: +61 2 9514 8074 Email: XinJanet.Ge@uts.edu.au

INTRODUCTION
Sustainable design or Green building is one of important yardsticks for new development of office buildings. Some rating systems have been developed to measure performances these buildings. For example, the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating is a cost study that identifies costs of construction, design and documentation/submission requirements, developed in the US (Todd and Fowler, 2010). In Australia, Green Star is an environmental rating systemthat evaluates the environmental design and construction of buildings (Green Building Council Australia, 2012).According to McLennan (2004), sustainable design is the philosophy of designing the built environment to comply with principles of economic, social and ecological sustainability. This implies that sustainable design integrates with natural and man-made environment; and emphasizes a holistic approach to eliminate negative environmental impact and make all the systems work harmony together. This integrative design process is similar to Chinese holistic view and the Feng Shui approach to the built environment (Humphreys, 1976). Nowadays, as many researchers seek to establish a deeper understanding of the relationships between the human and natural environments, architects and building professionals are beginning to recognise Feng Shui as a broad ecologically and architecturally connected paradigm. Hwangbo (1999) believed that the practice of Feng Shui is an intuitive matter involving site selection and spatial organization, although it has strong parallels with the western concept of geometry in architectural design. With a desire to improve the relationship between humanity and the environment, there is an increasing interest for architects and other building professionals to apply the concepts of Feng Shui into building design and the built environment. It is suggested that interpreting Feng Shui knowledge would embrace the western concept of sustainable design. This paper explores the relationships between the concepts of sustainable design and Feng Shui in environmental design. Firstly, the principles and practices of sustainable design and Feng Shui in environmental design are briefly explained. Then, a set of five concepts of sustainable design and five Feng Shui concepts in terms of environmental design are identified and compared. Finally, some well recognized modern sustainable buildings are used to illustrate the similarities and differences between the concepts of sustainable design and Feng Shui environmental design.

SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
The concept of Green building burgeoned with the OPEC oil embargo of 1973, the Americans began to question about whether it needs to be independently reliant upon fossil fuels for energy. To achieve energy savings, one option would be a passive solution such as the use of reflective roofing material and the environmentally beneficial siting of buildings; whereas the other options concerned still developing technological solutions, such as the use of triple-glazed windows (Building design and construction, 2006). The concept of Green Buildings emphasizes the increasing efficiency with which buildings and their sites use water, energy and material; and reducing building impacts of human health and the environment, through better siting, design, construction, operation, maintenance and removal throughout the complete life cycle (Office of Federal Environmental Executive, 2003). For thirty years, much research has been done on energy commissioning processes, such as the use of solar panels, prefabricated efficient wall systems, water reclamation systems, modular construction units, and direct usage of light through windows in order to decrease day-time energy consumption (Building design and construction, 2006). There are not many researches available to date that studies the interactions with natural and man-made environments. It has been identified that the current sea level rise is due partly to human-induced global warming (Nathaniel et al., 2007). The importance of tackling climate change and reducing green house gas emission has been recognized by many people in the world. The concept of Green Buildings has been extended on a larger scale, focused on Sustainability or Sustainable Development. According to

the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED), it is defined as "forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs" (Brundtland, 1987). The sustainable development concept includes many areas such as Waste and recycling, Energy, Water, Building Design, Emission, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), Alternative Transport, Landscaping, and about everything that revolves around human activity, and aims to eliminate negative environmental impact while continuing to be completely ecologically sustainable, through skillful and sensitive design (McLennan, 2004). Sustainable Development also implies an improvement in the quality of life through education, justice, community participation, and recreation (Australian Government, 2009). Figure 1 depicts the elements considered in the environmental sustainability.

Figure 1: Elements of Environmental Sustainability (Griffith, 2009) Australia's National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development 1992 (NSESD) defines ecologically sustainable development (ESD) as using, conserving and enhancing the community's resources so that ecological processes, on which life depends, are maintained, and the total quality of life, now and in the future, can be increased (Australian Government, 2009). Draft Sustainable Building Design Guidelines were produced for external commentary in April 2007. All States in Australia require newly designed homes to meet minimum thermal performance standards, i.e., to reduce the amount of fossil fuels burned to produce energy for homes, thereby reducing Australias greenhouse gas emissions. All dwellings must achieve a 4-5 star thermal performance standards, which is regulated by the Building Code of Australia (BCA), with the exception in the state of New South Wales (NSW). In NSW, the Building Sustainability Index (BASIX) overrides the BCA requirements and sets the required levels of environmental performance in a number of areas including energy, water and thermal performance. Under BASIX, a new home must be designed to use 40% less water and 40% less energy than existing similar types of buildings in order to receive development approval (Department of Planning, 2009). Green Star is a national environmental rating system established by The Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) for office buildings. The tool rates a building in relation to its management, the health and wellbeing of its occupants, accessibility to public transport, water use, energy consumption, the embodied energy of its materials, land use and pollution (GBCA, 2009). Green Star rating tools use Stars to rate performance, where 4 Star Green Star Certified Rating signifies 'Best Practice'; 5 Star Green Star Certified Rating signifies 'Australian Excellence' and 6 Star Green Star Certified Rating signifies 'World Leadership'.Table 1 shows the Green Star rating system. The Melbourne Convention Centre has been rated Australias first six-star convention centre in Australia (Smith, 2009).

Table 1: Green Star Rating in Australia (Australian Green Building Council, 2009)
Rating 4 Star Green Star 5 Star Green Star 6 Star Green Star Score 45-59 60-74 75-100 Description Signifies best practice in environmentally sustainable design and construction Signifies Australian excellence in environmentally sustainable design and construction Signifies world leadership in environmentally sustainable design and construction

The National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) is another indicator that measures an existing building's environmental performance during operation. NABERS rates a building on the basis of its measured operational impacts in categories such as energy, water, waste and indoor environment (NABERS, 2010). Sustainable design has been widely known by the industry and policy makers, but acknowledged as a challenging task. Current sustainable design has been merely focused on improving the efficiency of physical attributes leading to increased complexity of the efficiency improvements and the difficulty of implementing new technologies in societies that built around old ones (Wikipedia, 2009). Other problems have also been identified, such as diminishing of returns and unsustainable investment (Tainter, 1988). Some of the remaining areas for further research are how to use localized resources effectively and distribution, how to stabilize the scale of resource uses (Holling, 1973) and how to balance the impact on the natural environment and social economic environment.

FENG SHUI AND ECOLOGICAL SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT


The concept of sustainable design in the western world only dates back three decades ago in dealing with the harmonious relationship between human and nature. However, Feng Shui, the ancient Chinese knowledge that aims at creating a harmony between heaven, earth and human has influenced most traditional built environmental design in China for thousands of years. Since the late 1960s, the impact of western civilisation and technology has grown to global proportions, with more western scholars becoming aware of the limitations of modern scientific paradigms that fail to explain the whole realm of natural phenomena and beginning to realize that there are similarities between modern science and eastern philosophy (Capra, 1975). However, it was not until 1956, when Joseph Needham published his book series Science and Civilisation in China, that western readers began to appreciate the scientific context in which Feng Shui flourished. Needham tried to identify relevant aspects of western science and it applications to traditional Chinese counterparts. He began to appreciate the value of Feng Shui in ecology and landscape aesthetics. According to Needham (1959, p.361) Feng Shui embodied ... a marked aesthetic component, which accounts for the great beauty of the siting of so many farms, houses and villages throughout China. Furthermore, Kevin Lynch, a pioneer of environmental behaviour research, paid great attention to Chinese geomancy. In his book, The Image of the City, he concluded that Feng Shui has two major features: firstly, it is an open-ended analysis of the environment where new meanings, new poetry, and further developments are always possible; secondly, it leads to the use and control of outside forms and their influences where it emphasizes that mans foresight and energy rule the universe and can change it (Lynch, 1960). Anderson and Anderson (1973) recognized that Feng Shui is an aspect of Chinese cultural ecology. For instance, they interpreted village-level siting of Feng Shui configurations with modern planning opinions on site planning, land use and natural resources, especially those of ecology. They noted that Feng Shui is basically a very practical system whereby a village is situated such that it does not take

up farmland or lay itself open to floods and typhoons based on sound pragmatism (Anderson and Anderson, 1973, p.45-50). They called Feng Shui the traditional Chinese science of site planning, containing an organized body of knowledge, intensely practiced in application, and of specific intent (Anderson, 1973, pp.127-128). Freedman (1979) admitted that Feng Shui is based on self-evident propositions and the expertise of scientific men and called it mystical ecology. He explained that since Chinese see the universe as being alive with forces, any building is an intervention in that universe, composed of the physical environment and men; therefore, every act of construction disturbs a complex balance of forces within a system made up of nature and society. Nemeth (1993) searched further for cross-cultural understanding through the interpretation of geomancy maps. He recognized that cosmographic interpretations of geomancy maps can both teach Western peoples and remind East Asians that in the organization of human activities in physical space, principles that engender productive economic, ecological, and ethical relationships may be governed by a natural law (Nemeth, 1993, p.94). In addition, Bruun (1995) conceived that Feng Shui is a system of statements on the man-nature relationship in an environment of holistic thought. He explained that according to Feng Shui, man and landscape are linked together in a system of immanent order. Nature consists of balanced forces, reacting to any interference imposed on it, and this reaction immediately resounds in man. Moreover, as in any large organism, everything is interdependent and pulsating with energy, penetrating and embracing every single part.

COMPARISON OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN AND FENG SHUI


As has already been mentioned in previous section, the sustainable development concept includes many areas such as Waste and recycling, Energy, Water, Building Design, Emission, Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ), Alternative Transport, Landscaping, and about everything that revolves around human activity, and aims to eliminate negative environmental impact while continuing to be completely ecologically sustainable completely through skillful and sensitive design (McLennan, 2004). However, many of these ecological sustainable design concepts are quite similar to the traditional views that were derived from the eastern philosophy and Feng Shui principles and practice. Dong and Zuehl (2009) recognized that there is a set of five fundamental concepts for sustainable developments. They are constructivism, circular design, energy efficiency, balance between natural and the built environment, and thinking global and buying local. These five fundamental concepts can be matched with the five Feng Shui concepts in terms of environmental design.

Sustainable Design Concepts


(1) Constructivism Sustainable design incorporates studies from constructivism (an approach to cognitive psychology and social psychology) to create spaces that build knowledge and skills for the end user. This concept is based on human interactions with the environment to enhance the environment, and make the space more enjoyable for the people using it (Dong and Zuehl, 2009). (2) Circular design The circular design concept is based on the idea of cradle to cradle (McDonough and Braungart, 2002). It is a new design paradigm of reduce, reuse, recycle through the intelligence of natural systems (i.e. the effectiveness of nutrient cycling, the abundance of the suns energy, etc.). McDonough and Braungart have explained how eco-effectiveness can be put into practice to create products, systems, buildings, and even regional planning that allow nature and commerce to co-exist fruitfully.

(3) Energy efficiency Energy efficiency can be achieved by site planning and building design in accordance with available sunlight and through the use of particular building materials and technology. Buildings and environments adapt energy efficient ideas derive increasing environmental satisfaction from their end users, and furthermore decrease the consumption of natural resources. (4) Balance between natural and the built environments Studies done by USGBC (Widener, 2009) and other green design advocates have shown that bringing natural elements (such as sunlight, plants, water features, etc.) into a persons environment will improve the behaviour of the user in the environment to a more harmonious and enjoyable space. (5) Thinking Global and Buying Local Dong and Zuehl (2009) recognized that all the concepts of green design can be bottled up into a single concept. It stems from the processes of considering the global economy, environment and well-being as a whole, the result of which should stimulate the design world to buy from local markets to reduce energy costs, cut down on waste materials and increases the environments overall well-being.

Feng Shui Concepts


The principles and practices of Feng Shui are aimed at creating a harmonised built environment for people to live in, and it represents a traditional Chinese architectural theory for selecting favourable sites, as well as a theory for designing cities and buildings (Lee, 1986). There are two main schools of thought and practice in Feng Shui: the Compass School and the Form School. The Form School approach has been well recognized and widely accepted by Feng Shui researchers as comprising the scientific bases in the analysis of built environment (He, 1990; Cheng and Kong, 1993). The Form School established a holistic approach that allows integrated components and elements to be considered for the built environment (Mak and Ng, 2008). The five fundamental concepts of Feng Shui in terms of environmental design are summarized as below. (1) Unity between Heaven and Human This is the fundamental principle of Feng Shui, means the harmony between the universe, earth and human energy. Energy is valued in both the physical and the invisible forms known as Qi (natural energy or breath of life) in traditional Chinese Feng Shui culture. Feng Shui Designs are aimed at a balanced and harmonious environment that can produce an ample amount of good Qi and filter out the bad Qi (Skinner, 1982). (2) The Five Elements Cycles Ancient Chinese believed that in the universe, including heaven, earth and human beings, everything has an attribute according the five fundamental groups of substances. These five elements are fire, water, metal, wood and earth. The characteristics of each of these five elements and their mutual relationships are based on observed natural phenomena, and their relationships are identified as productive and destructive cycles as shown in Figure 2. (3) Yin and Yang Harmony The ancient Chinese believed that in everything there are two opposing parts: Yin and Yang. Yin represents the passive principles in nature exhibited as darkness, cold and wetness. On a human level, Yin symbolizes femininity and the passive and also represents the realm of the dead. Yang represents the active principles in nature exhibited by light, heat and dryness. On the human level, Yang symbolizes masculinity and the active, and also represents the realm of the living. Yin and Yang are about balance and harmony within a space designed to create balance in the users life when engaging in the space (Feuchtwang, 1974).

Productive cycle

Destructive cycle

Figure 2: Productive and Destructive cycles of the Five Elements (Walters, 1989) (4) The Form School Model The Form School is primarily based on the verification of the physical configuration of mountains and watercourses surrounding sites and buildings. The factors comprising the basics of the Form School approach were known as the Five Geographical Secrets, namely, dragon, sand, water, cave and direction (Lip, 1979). Contemporarily, the Form school approach has been recognized as having a scientific basis in the analysis of the built environment (He, 1990; Wang, 1992; Cheng and Kong, 1993; Mak and Ng, 2005; Mak and Ng, 2008). The combination of these five Feng Shui geographical factors and the four emblems (the green dragon, white tiger, black tortoise and red bird symbolising the four cardinal directions) produce a classic Feng Shui model. This model has been interpreted in diagrams of spatial organization of auspicious mountains and watercourses in most of the classic Feng Shui literature (Shang, 1992; Cheng and Kong, 1993; Han, 1995; Yi et al., 1996; He, 1998). A simplified model was established by Mak (2009) to illustrate the relationships between the key factors of the five Feng Shui geographical secrets under consideration and how dragon veins, the four emblems as revealed in sand, water feature, cave and Ming Tong (bright court), and their respective directions were integrated (Figure 3).

Figure 3:Simplified Feng Shui Model (Yi et al., 1996 and Mak, 2009)

(5) Balance between Interior and Exterior Spaces When describing the built environment, most of the Feng Shui texts, such as Yang Zhai Shi Shu (Ten Books on Dwellings for the Living) categorized space into Outer Form (exterior) and Inner Form (interior). According to Lee (1986), the Outer Form can be identified as the location of the site, conditions that surround the site, the topographical conditions of the site and its shape. The Inner Form can be identified as the layout of the building, the elevations of the building, and elements of building. The concept of a Feng Shui model not only applied to landscape and site selection, but it can also be applied to the internal layout of buildings. Therefore, whether it is dealing with the physical or topographical aspects, or housing structure, or the proportional relationships of the interior of a building, the same principles and relationships of the Feng Shui model are still applied. Feng Shui scholars, Cheng and Kong (1993) provided a further classification of space into four design modules: the surrounding environment, external layout, internal layout and interior arrangement (Figure 4).
Surrounding Environment Outer Form
- Site Selection - House Location - Topographical conditions - Shape of Site

External Layout Internal Layout Interior Arrange ment

Inner Form
- Layouts - Elevations - Elements

Outer and Inner Form (Lee, 1986)

Four Design Modules (Cheng & Kong, 1993)

Figure 4: Four Design Modules (Mak, 2009)

The Comparison of Sustainable Design with Feng Shui Concepts


When comparing the concepts of sustainable design with Feng Shui, there are both similarities and differences. Firstly, the concept of constructivism translates well into the principles of harmony between universe, earth and human in Feng Shui. The ideal environment for Feng Shui is also for these three aspects as they intersect and overlap. These three circles can be found in sustainable design as social contexts, environmental and human as shown in Figure 5.

Figure 5: Comparison of the Principles of Green Design with Feng Shui (Dong and Zuehl, 2009)

The second principle of Feng Shui is the productive and destructive cycles of five elements, which is similar to the circular design or McDonoughs Cradle to Cradle concept. The third Feng Shui concept is the balance and harmony between Yin and Yang, which also matches with the concept of sustainable design of balancing between natural environment and the built environment. For the fourth and fifth concepts in sustainable design, the energy efficiency and buying local concepts are focused explicitly on the sources and consumptions of natural resources. However, the Feng Shui concepts of Form school model and balance between interior and exterior spaces are focused on the physical form and spatial arrangement of the built environment.

MODERN SUSTAINABLE BUILDINGS


A Sustainable Low-Rise Campus-Style Office in Sydney
The Commonwealth Bank Place (CBA Place) is one of the six-star Green Star offices building in Sydney, Australia which is claimed as a global benchmark in environmental innovation and represent combinations of social, economic and environmental sustainability (Lend Lease, 2012).The CBA Place consists of two office blocks (south and north) and is located at Darling Harbour in Sydneys western CBD fringe as indicated in Figure 6 and 7. Adjoining CBA Place is a family and leisure precinct with extensive public amenities, which includes a vibrant retail food area with a range of dining options. There is world-class family playground covering more than 4,000 square meters, a large community green, a youth theatre and a 600 bays public car park.
South Building North Building

Figure 6: the CBA Place, Exterior South and North Buildings (Photo: NTRANCED, 2011) The design of the CBA Place is embedded with new technologies and sustainability principles into the fabric of the buildings. Curtain walls around the buildings and the open central atrium system allow bright nature light to reach the centre zone of each floor inside the building. The lifts and facilities are conveniently located in the northern and southern side of the buildings which provide good access for maintenance services. The offices are designed as an open plan campus-style, i.e., no permanent desks allocated to employee onsite as only 80 per cent of the required number of desks are provided. The employees can freely wander around, chat or meet at the caf or meeting rooms provided in the breakout workspaces. A clean desk policy ensures that every desk is cleared everyday and personal lockers are provided for all employees to store their equipment (laptops, phone headsets, and personal belongings). This new style of working environment is called activity-based working (ABW) which provides innovative, sustainable and creative work space (Batten, 2011). The ABW setting not only fulfilling a spectrum of work styles and improving productivity; but also providing cost effective and promoting transparency, accessibility and efficiency working environment (Craig, 2011).

CBD

Commonwealth Bank Place


Figure 7: Location of Commonwealth Bank Place (Source: Google Map) A significant number of sustainable outcomes have been created for the CBA Place including: a six-star Green Star rating for the base buildings office design, with a five-star Green Start rating for office interiors; a five-star National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS) Energy rating for energy use, i.e., carbon emission reduction through energy efficient design. Both buildings use the central atrium to maximize of natural light and optimize indoor environment quality through the use of chilled beam air-conditioning throughout and single pass fresh air systems that cut energy use by 50 per cent; a Tri-generation power plant converts waste energy into power and the building boasts a water treatment facility and extensive recycled materials throughout; portable water reduction of 90 per cent through rainwater collecting and onsite water recycling initiatives; a community garden located on the rooftop of both buildings for employees to grow herbs and vegetables for use by internal catering service and caf; a high performance faade which allow tenants to install open and fresh air conservatories in various locations, and use of sun shading devices to reduce heat load on the building; maximizing mobility, connectivity and efficiency, by equipping people with the latest technology, including laptops with a built-in webcams for video calls, a unified communication system, Follow-You printing system, LCD collaboration screens and smart boards and a secure wireless network can be accessed anywhere in the building. As suggested by Daly (1990), the role of sustainable development in a contemporary world focuses productivity using technologies (Lend lease, 2012). Figure 8 shows the interior design of the office space

Analysis
The CBA Place delivers a healthy and highly productive and comfortable work environment for all its employees. The activity-based working environment (ABW) empowers the economic outputs produced by employees as results of high engagement and productivity, and thus has flowed on benefits their customers. The harmony office design meets the concept of contemporary sustainability that interconnected human, economy and environment. Giddings, et al. (2002) illustrated their relationships that the economy dependents on society and the environment, whereas human existence and society are dependent on, and within the environment. With all the sustainable design features, CBA employees are led to a sustainable way of living into a sustainable work environment (Batten, 2011). Staffs carry only laptop to work that reduces paper usage significantly. Data will be captured from screen throughout the North and South buildings, is an example.

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With all the sustainable design features, CBA Place has achieved massive saving in energy and water consumption. As a result, the CBA Place has been awarded as one of the six-star Green Star Office as Built v3 rating by the Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) office buildings in the New South Wales Australia. The outcomes push the boundaries of sustainable development and set global benchmarks in environmental innovations (Lend Lease, 2012).

Natural Light

Internal Atrium

Work Places

Office Free

Figure 8: Atrium, North Building (Photo: NTRANCED, 2011) The analyses for the features of the case study according to the five sustainable design concepts are outlined in Table 2. Table 2: Analysis of the Features in Case Study according to Sustainable Design Concepts
Sustainable design concepts (1) Constructivism Features in the Case Study Achieved a 6-star Green Star rating for design Targeting a 5-star NABERS energy rating Central atrium provides a sense of space and communication Use of extensive recycled materials throughout, sustainable timber and minimal use of PVC and VOCs Use of gas tri-generation to reduce peak load Portable water reduction of 90 per cent through rainwater collecting and onsite water recycling initiatives Use of chilled beam air-conditioning throughout and single pass fresh air systems that cut energy use by 50 per cent use of sun shading devices to reduce heat load on the building Use of open central atrium to provide natural light A high performance faade which allow tenants to install open and fresh air conservatories in various locations A community garden located on the rooftop of both buildings for employees to grow herbs and vegetables for use by internal catering service and caf

(2) Circular design (3) Energy efficiency

(4) Balance between natural and the built environment (5) Thinking global and buying local

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The analyses of the features of the CBA Place according to the five Feng Shui concepts are tabulated in Table 3. Table 3: Analysis of the Features in Case Study according to Feng Shui Concepts
Feng Shui concepts (1) Unity between heaven and humanity Features in the Case Study Use of an open central atrium to bring the natural environment inside the building; There are some green plants on the top floor and ground floor, however, natural features, such as water features are not provided for the building. Use of open central atrium, lifts and staircase to provide communication and circulation pattern; however, the five elements and their features are not provided. Use of open central atrium for the full height to provide a balance between natural and built environment, and sense of space. The building is located at Darling Harbour in Sydneys western CBD fringe; southern of the Cockle Bay, Pyrmont Bridge Road and M4 Western Distributor Freeway; adjacent to the North-eastern end of Tumbalong Park and North of the Chinese Garden of Friendship. Use of a glass curtain wall system to provide maximized views of surrounding areas to the East and the Tumbalong Park to the southwest. Lifts and facilities are designed at the northern side of the north building that blocks the nearby traffic noises from the adjacent flyover road structure. Large open space provided in front of the entrance to the building. Roof garden on the top level is connecting to the open central atrium, so providing a balance between the interior and exterior space. Operable facades which allow tenants to install open and fresh air conservatories in various locations. Connecting interior spaces to the exterior through natural light from windows and central atrium, with maximized external views to Sydney CBD and Tumbalong Park.

(2) The five Elements cycles

(3) Yin and Yang harmony (4) Form School model

(5) Balance between Interior and Exterior spaces

As shown in the analysis, the provision of an open central atrium is a prime feature of CBA Place that satisfy the five Feng Shui concepts. This open central atrium design is similar to traditional courtyard houses in Beijing (Figure 9) that, under the Feng Shui principles, provided the balance between natural and built environment, Yin and Yang harmony and the sense of unity between heaven and human (Xu, 1998).

Figure 9: Beijing Courtyard House (Source: Sohu, 2012)

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As can be seen, there are similarities and differences between sustainable design and Feng Shui concepts. From the analysis, the sustainable design concepts aimed at the creation of enjoyable space for human interactions and balance between the natural and the built environment, can be identified with the Feng Shui concepts of unity of heaven and humanity, and the Yin and Yang harmony. In this case study, the provision of the open central atrium is a prime feature to satisfy these criteria from both sustainable design and Feng Shui considerations. According to sustainable design, the circular design concepts of reduce, reuse and recycle are key sustainable features of the case study that lead to the achievement of 6-star Green Star rating. However, following the Feng Shui concepts, the productive and destructive cycles of the five elements according to the nature of the elements, such as, shapes, colour, orientation, are abstract and difficult to identify. For the sustainable design considerations, the energy efficiency and local buying concepts that focus on the sources and consumptions of natural resources are translated into measurement of physical attributes, such as, light, thermal, water, air quality, etc. It focused on how the man-made environment affects people and their performances. In contrast, the Feng Shui concepts of Form School model and balance between interior and exterior spaces are emphasized on the balance of physical forms and spatial arrangement. It also focuses on the balance, harmony and experience of the environment, but these aspects are difficult to be measured and quantified. The open central atrium is actually the essential element of the sustainable design of modern buildings, which is similar traditional Chinese courtyard design. More examples of the central atrium in modern sustainable buildings are Workspace6 in Darling Harbour, Sydney and No. 1 Bligh Street Office Building, CBD Sydney.

Workspace6
An office building, Workplace6 in Sydney is another example of the highest standard in sustainable design in New South Wales (NSW). The site is located at a fringe area of Pyrmont, opposite the Star City Casino on the waterfront at Darling Island, and South East corner of the Darling Island peninsula. The Workspace6 provides approximately 18,200 square meters of space over six storeys and offers some of the largest commercial floor plates in Sydney, with over 3600 square meter as shown in Figure 10. The main building features include: 16,200 square meters of office space over five levels, and 1,800 square meters of ground floor retail space; large floor plates, with a typical floor area of 3,620 square meters; open central atrium zone providing a sense of space in the lift lobby; core zone, allowing light to reach the centre zone of each floor; no point on the large floor plate is more than 12 metres from an external window or the atrium; parking for 135 cars and provision for120 bike racks.

Exterior environment

View of Central Atrium

Figure 10: Workspace6 Exterior and Interior Views (Source: Spears, 2009)

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Workplace6 is a prime grade office building achieving world leading standards in environmental design and resource efficiency. According to the nine categories of the Green Star rating scheme, it has been awarded a total score of 83 points (Spear, 2009). It is the first commercial development to achieve a 6-star Green Star rating for design in NSW, and is targeted to receive a 5-star NABERS energy and water rating, the highest ranking available in all ratings and classed as world leading. It is designed to reduce greenhouse emissions by 70% and to cut drinking water consumption by almost 90%, compared with an average existing office building (GPT, 2009). Key environmental initiatives include: a gas-fired generator to generate power for the building onsite, reducing the peak load by 25 per cent; the waste heat from the generator is then used to run an absorption chilled that will cool the building; use 25 per cent Green Power drawn from wind and solar sources; a black water recycling system that will treat sewage on-site. Potable water yielded from black water recycling will be used for toilet flushing, with excess water offered to the local community for irrigation of the adjacent parks and gardens; rejection of waste heat from the building to the adjacent harbour, in lieu of the use of cooling towers; this will have the effect of significantly reducing the water consumption of the building, as well as eliminating the risk of legionnaires disease; roof mounted solar panels to heat the buildings hot water supply; the use of recycled materials, sustainable timber and minimal use of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs); maximisation of natural light with central atrium and optimize indoor environment quality through the use of chilled beam technology; operable facades which allow tenants to install open and fresh air conservatories in various locations; maximisation of window openings overlooking Sydney city and harbour; high technology facade and sun shading devices to reduce heat load on the building. With all the sustainable design features, Workplace6 has achieved massive saving in energy and water consumption. As a result, the greenhouse gas emission of Workplace6 is 39 Kg CO 2 per square meters, compared with an average standard building is 87 Kg CO 2 per square meters. In addition, the water consumption is 2.1 million litres per annum compared with an average standard buildings consumption of is 31.1 million litres per annum (Spears, 2009).

No. 1 Bligh Street, Sydney


This is a modern style office building located in the Sydney CBD district overlooking Circular Quay and the Sydney Harbour Bridge. It is an ecologically sustainable development and was awarded 6-star green status by the Green Building council of Australia. Green features include a basement sewage plant that recycles 90 percent of the building waste water, solar panels on the roof and air conditioning by chilled beams. It is Australias first major high-rise building with a full double-skin faade with external louvers. These conserve energy, eliminate sky glare provides optimal user comfort. The angle of the louvers blades is automatically adjusted depending on their orientation to the sun. A naturally ventilated, full height atrium located on the southern side of the building, maximises natural light to each office level (Figure 11). This new office premises delivered the largest activity-based working (ABW) project in the world. By building new technologies and sustainability principles into the fabric of the building, It has created a space thats more flexible, more comfortable, more productive and less damaging to the environment.

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Figure 11: Full Height Atrium at No. 1 Bligh Street, Sydney (Source: Vivian, 2012)

CONCLUSION
This paper has compared and contrasted the concepts and practices between western sustainable design and Chinese Feng Shui using modern sustainable buildings as case studies. The findings have suggested that both concepts are the same in terms of focusing sustainable development, that is, to minimize the impact on natural environment. The distinct feature of western sustainable design put greater emphasis on the measurement of physical attributes such as the efficient use of water and energy, whereas Feng Shui is unique and the emphases are on the balance of Yin Yang, exterior and interior, the relationship between human and surrounding environment. From the case studies of modern sustainable buildings, the provision of the open central atrium is a prime feature to satisfy these criteria from both sustainable design and Feng Shui considerations, which is similar to the traditional application of Feng Shui practice to the courtyard houses in China. However, the western sustainable design cannot avoid using of new technology and reinvestment, in which the effect of sustainability has been impaired. The re-interpretation of Feng Shui knowledge has embraced the western concept of sustainable design. Ideally, if Feng Shui concepts are to be considered and applied into the western sustainable design, that will enhance the effect of sustainable development. Improving scientific research on Feng Shui and how Feng Shui concepts are measured and work together with western sustainable design are areas for further study.

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