High rise residential building quality : residents satisfaction survey

It is widely recognized that the quality of design is crucial to the success of the construction or production process and fairly minor changes in design can often result in giving major effects on the cost and efficiency of production and construction as well as on the usefulness, constructability and marketability of the product especially in developing high rise residential property development. The purpose of this study is to suggest a framework model for property manager, considering the sustainable and building quality of property development in high rise residential complex. This paper evaluates and ranks the importance, and frequency of the building quality factors that affect the sustainability and comfort of living for the resident in the selected high rise residential complex in Malaysia. A total of 500 respondents consisting of 20 property managers participated in this study. The respondents were asked to indicate how important each of building equipments in giving them the comfort of living in the selected high rise residential complex. The data were then subjected to the calculation of important indices which enabled the factors to be ranked. After that, a framework model will be developed to make sure all property managers will be guided to prepare their property for the resident to stay in the complex. Accordingly, the living satisfaction by the framework model plays a meaningful role in preparing and developing sustainable and good building quality in Malaysia high rise residential complex.

Extreme architecture : can architects future proof us against fire and flood.

In the face of Australia’s disaster-prone environment, architects Ian Weir and James Davidson are reconceptualising how our residential buildings might become more resilient to fire, flood and cyclone. With their first-hand experience of natural disasters, James, director of Emergency Architects Australia (EAA), and Ian, one of Australia’s few ‘bushfire architects’, discuss the ways we can design with disaster in mind. Dr Ian Weir is one of Australia’s few ‘bushfire architects’. Exploring a holistic ‘ground up’ approach to bushfire where landscape, building design and habitation patterns are orchestrated to respond to site-specific fire characteristics. Ian’s research is developed through design studio teaching at QUT and through built works in Western Australia’s fire prone forests and heathlands.

A waste management system for small and medium enterprises engaged in office building retrofit projects

Waste management and minimisation is considered to be an important issue for achieving sustainability in the construction industry. Retrofit projects generate less waste than demolitions and new builds, but they possess unique features and require waste management approaches that are different to traditional new builds. With the increasing demand for more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable office spaces, the office building retrofit market is growing in capital cities around Australia with a high level of refurbishment needed for existing aging properties. Restricted site space and uncertain delivery process in these projects make it a major challenge to manage waste effectively. The labour-intensive nature of retrofit projects creates the need for the involvement of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) as subcontractors in on-site works. SMEs are familiar with on-site waste generation but are not as actively motivated and engaged in waste management activities as the stakeholders in other construction projects in the industry. SMEs’ responsibilities for waste management in office building retrofit projects need to be identified and adapted to the work delivery processes and the waste management system supported by project stakeholders. The existing literature provides an understanding of how to manage construction waste that is already generated and how to increase the waste recovery rate for office building retrofit projects. However, previous research has not developed theories or practical solutions that can guide project stakeholders to understand the specific waste generation process and effectively plan for and manage waste in ongoing project works. No appropriate method has been established for the potential role and capability of SMEs to manage and minimise waste from their subcontracting works. This research probes into the characteristics of office building retrofit project delivery with the aim to develop specific tools to manage waste and incorporate SMEs in this process in an appropriate and effective way. Based on an extensive literature review, the research firstly developed a questionnaire survey to identify the critical factors of on-site waste generation in office building retrofit projects. Semi-structured interviews were then utilised to validate the critical waste factors and establish the interrelationships between the factors. The interviews served another important function of identifying the current problems of waste management in the industry and the performance of SMEs in this area. Interviewees’ opinions on remedies to the problems were also collected. On the foundation of the findings from the questionnaire survey and semi-structured interviews, two waste planning and management strategies were identified for the dismantling phase and fit-out phase of office building retrofit projects, respectively. Two models were then established to organize SMEs’ waste management activities, including a work process-based integrated waste planning model for the dismantling phase and a system dynamics model for the fit-out phase. In order to apply the models in real practice, procedures were developed to guide SMEs’ work flow in on-site waste planning and management. In addition, a collaboration framework was established for SMEs and other project stakeholders for effective waste planning and management. Furthermore, an organisational engagement strategy was developed to improve SME waste management practices. Three case studies were conducted to validate and finalise the research deliverables. This research extends the current literature that mostly covers waste management plans in new build projects, by presenting the knowledge and understanding of addressing waste problems in retrofit projects. It provides practical tools and guidance for industry practitioners to effectively manage the waste generation processes in office building retrofit projects. It can also promote industry-level recognition of the role of SMEs and their performance in on-site waste management.

Factors that influence Chinese TEFL academics' research capacity building : an institutional case study

Research capacity building has become a prominent theme in higher education institutions across the world. To build research capacity, it is necessary to identify areas of challenges academics face within the academia. This case study focuses on Chinese teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) academics with the purpose of identifying factors that influence their research capacity building. Six TEFL academics from a Chinese national university were interviewed and institutional research documents were analysed. Findings showed that obstacles and difficulties in conducting research were more related to departmental factors than individual characteristics. The institution was keen on developing a research culture, and encouraged research and publications. Departmental support for research was improving, but it seems that it was more generic than tailored to individual needs. The findings of this study provide implications for research administrators in further supporting TEFL academics’ research capacity building.

Building shared situational awareness in surgery through distributed dialogue

Background Failure to convey time-critical information to team members during surgery diminishes members’ perception of the dynamic information relevant to their task, and compromises shared situational awareness. This research reports the dialog around clinical decisions made by team members in the time-pressured and high-risk context of surgery, and the impact of these communications on shared situational awareness. Methods Fieldwork methods were used to capture the dynamic integration of individual and situational elements in surgery that provided the backdrop for clinical decisions. Nineteen semi structured interviews were performed with 24 participants from anaesthesia, surgery, and nursing in the operating rooms of a large metropolitan hospital in Queensland, Australia. Thematic analysis was used. Results: The domain “coordinating decisions in surgery” was generated from textual data. Within this domain, three themes illustrated the dialog of clinical decisions, i.e., synchronizing and strategizing actions, sharing local knowledge, and planning contingency decisions based on priority. Conclusion Strategies used to convey decisions that enhanced shared situational awareness included the use of “self-talk”, closed-loop communications, and “overhearing” conversations that occurred at the operating table. Behaviours’ that compromised a team’s shared situational awareness included tunnelling and fixating on one aspect of the situation.

Dr. Seuss and the "Great Balancing Act" : Exploring the Ethical Places You’ll Go Within Australian Sport, Exercise, and Performance Psychology

Stories by children’s writer Dr. Seuss have often been utilised as non-traditional narrative reflections regarding the issues of ethics and morality (Greenwood, 2000). Such case studies are viewed as effective teaching and learning tools due to the associated analytical and decision-making frameworks that are represented within the texts, and focus upon the exploration of universally general virtues and approaches to ethics (Hankes, 2012). Whilst Dr. Seuss did not create a story directly related to the sport, exercise or performance domains, many of his narratives possess psychological implications that are applicable in any situation that requires ethical consideration of the thinking and choices people make. The following exploration of the ‘ethical places you’ll go’ draws upon references to his work as a guide to navigating this interesting and sometimes challenging landscape for sport, exercise, and performance psychologists (SEPP).

A strong quantitative trait locus for wing length on chromosome 2 in a wild population of great reed warblers

Wing length is a key character for essential behaviours related to bird flight such as migration and foraging. In the present study, we initiate the search for the genes underlying wing length in birds by studying a long-distance migrant, the great reed warbler (Acrocephalus arundinaceus). In this species wing length is an evolutionary interesting trait with pronounced latitudinal gradient and sex-specific selection regimes in local populations. We performed a quantitative trait locus (QTL) scan for wing length in great reed warblers using phenotypic, genotypic, pedigree and linkage map data from our long-term study population in Sweden. We applied the linkage analysis mapping method implemented in GRIDQTL (a new web-based software) and detected a genome-wide significant QTL for wing length on chromosome 2, to our knowledge, the first detected QTL in wild birds. The QTL extended over 25 cM and accounted for a substantial part (37%) of the phenotypic variance of the trait. A genome scan for tarsus length (a bodysize-related trait) did not show any signal, implying that the wing-length QTL on chromosome 2 was not associated with body size. Our results provide a first important step into understanding the genetic architecture of avian wing length, and give opportunities to study the evolutionary dynamics of wing length at the locus level. This journal is© 2010 The Royal Society.

Ontology-based feature modeling for construction information extraction from a building information model

A building information model (BIM) provides a rich representation of a building's design. However, there are many challenges in getting construction-specific information from a BIM, limiting the usability of BIM for construction and other downstream processes. This paper describes a novel approach that utilizes ontology-based feature modeling, automatic feature extraction based on ifcXML, and query processing to extract information relevant to construction practitioners from a given BIM. The feature ontology generically represents construction-specific information that is useful for a broad range of construction management functions. The software prototype uses the ontology to transform the designer-focused BIM into a construction-specific feature-based model (FBM). The formal query methods operate on the FBM to further help construction users to quickly extract the necessary information from a BIM. Our tests demonstrate that this approach provides a richer representation of construction-specific information compared to existing BIM tools.

Querying a building information model for construction-specific spatial information

The design and construction community has shown increasing interest in adopting building information models (BIMs). The richness of information provided by BIMs has the potential to streamline the design and construction processes by enabling enhanced communication, coordination, automation and analysis. However, there are many challenges in extracting construction-specific information out of BIMs. In most cases, construction practitioners have to manually identify the required information, which is inefficient and prone to error, particularly for complex, large-scale projects. This paper describes the process and methods we have formalized to partially automate the extraction and querying of construction-specific information from a BIM. We describe methods for analyzing a BIM to query for spatial information that is relevant for construction practitioners, and that is typically represented implicitly in a BIM. Our approach integrates ifcXML data and other spatial data to develop a richer model for construction users. We employ custom 2D topological XQuery predicates to answer a variety of spatial queries. The validation results demonstrate that this approach provides a richer representation of construction-specific information compared to existing BIM tools.

Influence of damping systems on building structures subject to seismic effects

This paper investigates the response of multi-storey structures under simulated earthquake loads with friction dampers, viscoelastic dampers and combined friction-viscoelastic damping devices strategically located within shear walls. Consequently, evaluations are made as to how the damping systems affect the seismic response of these structures with respect to deflections and accelerations. In particular, this paper concentrates on the effects of damper types, configurations and their locations within the cut-outs of shear walls. The initial stiffness of the cut out section of the shear wall is removed and replaced by the stiffness and damping of the device. Influence of parameters of damper properties such as stiffness, damping coefficient, location, configuration and size are studied and evaluated using results obtained under several different earthquake scenarios. Structural models with cut outs at different heights are treated in order to establish the effectiveness of the dampers and their optimal placement. This conceptual study has demonstrated the feasibility of mitigating the seismic response of building structures by using embedded dampers.

Reasoning about component similarity in building product models from the construction perspective

Identifying the design features that impact construction is essential to developing cost effective and constructible designs. The similarity of building components is a critical design feature that affects method selection, productivity, and ultimately construction cost and schedule performance. However, there is limited understanding of what constitutes similarity in the design of building components and limited computer-based support to identify this feature in a building product model. This paper contributes a feature-based framework for representing and reasoning about component similarity that builds on ontological modelling, model-based reasoning and cluster analysis techniques. It describes the ontology we developed to characterize component similarity in terms of the component attributes, the direction, and the degree of variation. It also describes the generic reasoning process we formalized to identify component similarity in a standard product model based on practitioners' varied preferences. The generic reasoning process evaluates the geometric, topological, and symbolic similarities between components, creates groupings of similar components, and quantifies the degree of similarity. We implemented this reasoning process in a prototype cost estimating application, which creates and maintains cost estimates based on a building product model. Validation studies of the prototype system provide evidence that the framework is general and enables a more accurate and efficient cost estimating process.

Changes in profit as market conditions change : an historical study of a building firm

This paper analyses the profits from 221 construction projects undertaken by an Australian building firm in the period 1910–1938 and examines the factors that influence the firm's profit levels. This involves a series of multiple regression analyses with three dependent variables representing profit and 26 independent variables representing economic conditions and project characteristics. From these, 11 models are derived of which two are chosen as having the best explanatory power in explaining approximately 72% of the variability in profit levels movements. The results show that unemployment, interest rates, level of construction activity in the state, change of wage level, inflation rate of building material and project value significantly influenced the firm's profit level during the period.

Building essential BPM capabilities to assist successful ICT deployment in the developing context : observations and recommendations from Sri Lanka

The role of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) has been identified as an important factor by the United Nations in achieving the millennium development goals (UNAPCICT, 2012)1. The potential for ICT has been identified as a means to reducing poverty, creating global communities by providing access to the internet and mobile networks to rural communities, improving education services, medical services, and information availability. As of today, significant amounts of funds have been invested by the governments and donor organizations in ‘Information and Communication Technologies for Development (ICT4D)’projects by establishing telecenters, e-villages, e-health, electronic and mobile banking, and egovernment systems for citizens in general, and more specifically, rural communities to bridge the digital divide (Heeks & Molla, 2009).

The effect of project information on the accuracy of building price forecasts

A fundamental proposition is that the accuracy of the designer's tender price forecasts is positively correlated with the amount of information available for that project. The paper describes an empirical study of the effects of the quantity of information available on practicing Quantity Surveyors' forecasting accuracy. The methodology involved the surveyors repeatedly revising tender price forecasts on receipt of chunks of project information. Each of twelve surveyors undertook two projects and selected information chunks from a total of sixteen information types. The analysis indicated marked differences in accuracy between different project types and experts/non-experts. The expert surveyors' forecasts were not found to be significantly improved by information other than that of basic building type and size, even after eliminating project type effects. The expert surveyors' forecasts based on the knowledge of building type and size alone were, however, found to be of similar accuracy to that of average practitioners pricing full bills of quantities.