A team of information technology and construction students prepared a Virtual Reality (VR) building project for the Auckland Build Expo in November 2018. The project, called Virtual Reality of Sustainable Living Styles, has been a collaboration between students from the Bachelor of Construction, the New Zealand Diploma in Construction and the Graduate Diploma in Information Technology. IT lecturer Suhaimi Latif says it’s the first time such a collaboration has taken place.

Construction lecturer Don Samarasinghe says the project involved creating a virtual reality model of sustainable building features including earth building techniques, a rainwater harvesting tank, a dry toilet, solar panels, and a green wall. The aim of the project is to promote sustainability in construction studies.

“We built our team working skills and communication skills in addition to the improved learnings on sustainable building features. We feel really proud and happy about the overall experience.”

The group’s finished product is a virtual tour of a sustainable house, that viewers can explore on their phones, laptops or tablets, or using a virtual reality headset.

The group began by looking at issues with modern New Zealand buildings including toxicity, lack of breathability, and high life cycle costs of concrete, steel framed, and timber framed buildings. They researched sustainable building materials including rammed earth, cob, mud bricks, unfired bricks, and straw bales. They also visited buildings which use these sustainable materials.

The team’s objectives were to enhance the sustainability of New Zealand housing, promote sustainable living, increase their capabilities and showcase Otago Polytechnic's Auckland International Campus at the Auckland Build Expo, New Zealand’s largest construction, architecture, facilities management, build and design expo.

Dr Samarasinghe says VR models have been used in tertiary education to provide real-life experiences to learners. Often construction lecturers find it hard to engage in experiential learning activities, such as site visits, due to the hectic schedules and health and safety risks.

“VR models can, therefore, be used as an alternative way of conducting virtual construction site visits, as part of an effective curriculum delivery process.”

The Endless Case for Gravity