American lumberman.

Mode of access: Internet.

Development of new vocational training modules on sustainable buildings maintenance and refurbishment

This article presents the methodology and main results obtained in Spain within the FORMAR project, a European-funded project under the Leonardo Da Vinci scheme (Lifelong Learning Programme), whose main goal is to jointly develop training resources and modules to improve the skills on sustainability issues of buildings maintenance and refurbishment workers, in three different European countries: Spain, Portugal (Project Coordinator) and France. The Units of Short-term Training (UST) developed within this project are focused on the VET of carpenters, painters, bricklayers, building technicians and installers of solar panels, and a transversal unit containing basic concepts on sustainable construction and nearly Zero Energy Buildings (n-ZEB) is also developed. In parallel, clients’ guides for the aforementioned professionals are also implemented to improve the information provided to clients and owners in order to support the procurement decisions regarding building products and materials. Therefore, the project provides an opportunity to exchange experiences between organizations of these three European countries, as the UST will be developed simultaneously in each of them, exploring opportunities for training, guidance and exchange of experience. Even though the UST will have a common structure and contents, they will be slightly different in each country to adapt them to the different specific training needs and regulations of Spain, Portugal and France. This paper details, as a case study, the development process of the UST for carpenters and building technicians in Spain, including the analysis of needs and existing training materials, the main contents developed and the evaluation and testing process of the UST, which involves the active participation of several stakeholders of this sector as well as a classroom testing to obtain the students’ feedback.

Processo de awareness dos utilizadores nas redes militares

O presente trabalho de investigação aplicada tem como titulo “Processo de Awareness dos Utilizadores nas Redes Militares”, com o intuito de “identificar a forma mais eficiente e eficaz de efetuar um design de um processo de awareness de forma a sensibilizar os utilizadores do sistema de e-mail do Exército para os ataques de phishing” que é o objetivo desta investigação. Por este motivo, de início foram selecionados objetivos específicos que remetem para este principal. Foi definido que precisamos de conhecer as principais teorias comportamentais que influenciam o sucesso dos ataques de phishing, de forma a perceber e combater estes mesmos. Foi, também, necessário perceber quais os principais métodos ou técnicas de ensino de atitudes, para possibilitar a sensibilização dos utilizadores, como também era necessário definir o meio de awareness para executar esta mesma. Por último, era necessário o processo de awareness, portanto, precisamos de critérios de avaliação e, para isso, é importante definir estes mesmos para validar a investigação. Para responder a estes quatro objetivos específicos e ao objetivo geral da investigação foi criada a questão central do trabalho que é “Como efetuar o design de um processo de awareness para o Exército que reduza o impacto dos ataques de phishing executados através do seu sistema de e-mail?” Devido ao carácter teórico-prático desta investigação, foi decidido que o método de investigação seria o Hipotético-Dedutivo, e o método de procedimento seria o Estudo de Caso. Foi uma investigação exploratória, utilizando as técnicas de pesquisa bibliográfica e análise documental para executar uma revisão de literatura completa com o intuito de apoiar a investigação, como, também, fundamentar todo o trabalho de campo realizado. Para a realização deste estudo, foi necessário estudar a temática Segurança da Informação, já que esta suporta a investigação. Para existir segurança da informação é necessário que as propriedades da segurança da informação se mantenham preservadas, isto é, a confidencialidade, a integridade e a disponibilidade. O trabalho de campo consistiu em duas partes, a construção dos questionários e da apresentação de sensibilização e a sua aplicação e avaliação (outputs da investigação). Estes produtos foram usados na sessão de sensibilização através da aplicação do questionário de aferição seguido da apresentação de sensibilização, e terminando com o questionário de validação (processo de awareness). Conseguiu-se, após a sensibilização, através do processo de awareness, que os elementos identificassem com maior rigor os ataques de phishing. Para isso utilizou-se, na sensibilização, o método de ensino ativo, que incorpora boas práticas para a construção de produtos de sensibilização, utilizando os estilos de aprendizagem auditivo, mecânico e visual, que permite alterar comportamentos.

Development of the sustainable building and construction products industry in Australia

This paper draws on a major study the authors conducted for the Australian Government in 2009. It focuses on the diffusion issues surrounding the uptake of sustainable building and construction products in Australia. Innovative sustainable products can minimise the environmental impact during construction, while maximising asset performance, durability and re-use. However, there are significant challenges faced by designers and clients in the selection of appropriate sustainable products in consideration of the integrated design solution, including overall energy efficiency, water conservation, maintenance and durability, low-impact use and consumption. The paper is a review of the current state of sustainable energy and material product innovations in Australia. It examines the system dynamics surrounding these innovations as well as the drivers and obstacles to their diffusion throughout the Australian construction industry. The case product types reviewed comprise: solar energy technology, small wind turbines, advanced concrete technology, and warm-mixed asphalt. The conclusions highlight the important role played by Australian governments in facilitating improved adoption rates. This applies to governments in their various roles, but particularly as clients/owners, regulators, and investors in education, training, research and development. In their role as clients/owners, the paper suggests that government can better facilitate innovation within the construction industry by adjusting specification policies to encourage the uptake of sustainable products. In the role as regulators, findings suggest governments should be encouraging the application of innovative finance options and positive end-user incentives to promote sustainable product uptake. Also, further education for project-based firms and the client/end users about the long-term financial and environmental benefits of innovative sustainable products is required. As more of the economy’s resources are diverted away from business-as-usual and into the use of sustainable products, some project-based firms may face short-term financial pain in re-shaping their businesses. Government policy initiatives can encourage firms make the necessary adjustments to improve innovative sustainable product diffusion throughout the industry.

Building better information products by assessing the information needs of growers of subtropical strawberries in Queensland

Timely access to effective technical information is a key ingredient of profitable strawberry production. Through the Better Berries Program, a joint RD&E initiative of government and industry, a number of information products and services have been provided in recent years to Australia's subtropical strawberry industry, centred in southern Queensland. However, there is a lack of knowledge of how well these are meeting the information needs of growers, both in content and delivery. To better understand grower information use and needs, a stratified sample of 25 growers was interviewed on-farm during the 2004 season. Growers were asked about how they currently accessed information, what they thought of a range of information products and ideas on show, and what advice they would provide for information development in the future. Results indicated that information sought by growers and the style in which it is best presented, varied considerably with grower experience, but little with farm size. New growers had a wide range of needs while the needs of experienced growers were focused mainly on problem identification and new production development. Interestingly, the overwhelming majority across all sectors still preferred paper-based information products despite their extensive use of computers for business purposes. The findings were used to develop a strategy for an improved range of technical information products and services that are more accessible, easier to use, more timely, and more relevant to the needs of growers.

Building global products and competing in innovation: The role of chinese university spin-outs and required innovation capabilities

Usually, firms that produce innovative global products are discussed within the context of developed countries. New ventures in developing countries are typically viewed as low-cost product providers that generate technologically similar products to those produced by developed economies. However, this paper argues that some Chinese university spin-outs (USOs), although rare, have adopted a novel 'catch-up' strategy to build global products on the basis of indigenous platform technologies. This paper attempts to develop a conceptual framework to address the question: how do these specific Chinese USOs develop their innovation capabilities to build global products? In order to explore the idiosyncrasies of the specific USOs, this paper uses the multiple case studies method. The primary data sources are accessed through semi-structured interviews. In addition, archival data and other materials are used as secondary sources. The study analyses the configuration of capabilities that are needed for idiosyncratic growth, and maps them to the globalisation processes. This paper provides a strategic 'roadmap' as an explanatory guide to entrepreneurs, policy makers and investors to better understand the phenomena. © 2014 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

FRe building technological products

Nowadays "Flood Resilient (FRe) Building Technological Products" is an undefined concept, and concerned FRe solutions cannot be even easily identified. There is an interest in offering an identification and classification of the referred products, since it will be useful for stakeholders and populations at flood risk for adopting the most adequate protections when facing floods. There are many barriers for the implementation of "FRe building technological products", and particularly their standardization is still a major challenge. To put into contact such solutions with final customers, it appears necessary to protocolize them all. The classification effort achieved in this document shall be considered as a necessary preliminary step in order to open the road to the market to FRe building technological solutions.

‘State-of-the-art’ of building integrated photovoltaic products

During the last decades, the photovoltaic (PV) modules and their associated architectural materials are increasingly being incorporated into the construction of the building envelope such as façade, roof and skylights in the urban centers. This paper analyzes the-state-of-the-art of the PV elements and construction materials which are advertised as BIPV-products at the most important companies in the world. For this purpose 136 companies and 445 PV elements have been investigated and analyzed from a technical and architectural point of view. Also, the study has been divided into two main groups according to industry which producing the product: BIPV-Modules, which comes from the PV modules manufacturers and consist of standard PV-modules with some variations in its aesthetic features, support or dimensions; and PV-Constructions Elements, which consist of conventional constructive elements with architectural features intentionally manufactured for photovoltaic integration. In advance for conclusions, the solar tile is the most common PV-constructions element, the Si-crystalline is the most widely used PV technology, and the BIPV-urban furniture is the fastest growing market experienced in recent years. However, it is clear the absences of innovative elements which meet at the same time both the constructive purpose as the quality standards of PV technology.

Application of the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) in multi-criteria analysis of the selection of intelligent building systems

The availability of innumerable intelligent building (IB) products, and the current dearth of inclusive building component selection methods suggest that decision makers might be confronted with the quandary of forming a particular combination of components to suit the needs of a specific IB project. Despite this problem, few empirical studies have so far been undertaken to analyse the selection of the IB systems, and to identify key selection criteria for major IB systems. This study is designed to fill these research gaps. Two surveys: a general survey and the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) survey are proposed to achieve these objectives. The first general survey aims to collect general views from IB experts and practitioners to identify the perceived critical selection criteria, while the AHP survey was conducted to prioritize and assign the important weightings for the perceived criteria in the general survey. Results generally suggest that each IB system was determined by a disparate set of selection criteria with different weightings. ‘Work efficiency’ is perceived to be most important core selection criterion for various IB systems, while ‘user comfort’, ‘safety’ and ‘cost effectiveness’ are also considered to be significant. Two sub-criteria, ‘reliability’ and ‘operating and maintenance costs’, are regarded as prime factors to be considered in selecting IB systems. The current study contributes to the industry and IB research in at least two aspects. First, it widens the understanding of the selection criteria, as well as their degree of importance, of the IB systems. It also adopts a multi-criteria AHP approach which is a new method to analyse and select the building systems in IB. Further research would investigate the inter-relationship amongst the selection criteria.

Life cycle inventory for Australian building materials

This paper discusses challenges to developers of a national Life Cycle Inventory (LCI) database on which to base assessment of building environmental impacts and a key to development of a fully integrated eco-design tool created for automated eco-efficiency assessment of commercial building design direct from 3D CAD. The scope of this database includes Australian and overseas processing burdens involved in acquiring, processing, transporting, fabricating, finishing and using metals, masonry, timber, glazing, ceramics, plastics, fittings, composites and coatings. Burdens are classified, calculated and reported for all flows of raw materials, fuels, energy and emissions to and from the air, soil and water associated with typical products and services in building construction, fitout and operation. The aggregated life cycle inventory data provides the capacity to generate environmental impact assessment reports based on accepted performance indicators. Practitioners can identify hot spots showing high environmental burdens of a proposed design and drill down to report on specific building components. They can compare assessments with case studies and operational estimates to assist in eco-efficient design of a building, fitout and operation.

Small and medium enterprises’ solution to improve on-site waste management in office building retrofit projects

Office building retrofit projects are increasingly more intensified as existing buildings are aging. At the same time, building owners and occupants are looking for environmentally sustainable products. These retrofit projects usually take place in center business district (CBDs) with on-site waste becoming one of the critical issues. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) carry out most of the work in retrofit projects as subcontractors. Despite their large involvement, they often do not have adequate resources to deal with the specific technical challenges and project risks related to waste. Few research has been done on their performance of waste management operations. This paper identifies characteristics of on-site waste in office building retrofit projects. It examines the specific requirements for contractors to manage waste in the projects before exploring the existing performance of SMEs. By comparing requirements for SMEs and their potential areas for improvement, a framework is established for performance promotion of SMEs in on-site waste management of office building retrofit projects. The paper will raise the consciousness and commitment of SMEs as sub-contractors to waste management. It also explores ways of supporting SMEs for experience accumulation, performance promotion and project culture establishment towards effective and efficient on-site waste management in the growing sector of office building retrofit and upgrade.

Service enhanced manufacturing in the building and construction product system

This report examines the involvement of manufacturers in value-adding through service-enhancement of product offerings. This focus has been prompted by:  emphasis in the knowledge-economy literature on the increasing role played by services in economic growth; and  recent analysis which suggests that the most dynamic sector of many economies is an integrated manufacturing-services sector (see Part One of this report). The report initially describes the emergence of an integrated manufacturing-services sector in the context of increasingly knowledge-based economic systems. Part Two reports on the results of a survey of manufacturers in the building and construction product system, investigating their involvement in service provision. Parts Three and Four present two case studies of exemplary manufacturers involved in adding value to their manufacturing operations through services offered on building and construction projects. The report examines manufacturers of materials, products, equipment and machinery used on building and construction projects. The two case study sections of the report, in part, focus on a major project undertaken by each of the manufacturers. This project element of activity is focussed on (as opposed to wholesale or retail supply), because this area of activity involves a broader array of service-enhancement mechanisms and more complex bundling of products and services.

Seismic capacity of building constructed in slip formed load bearing wall panels

Constructing buildings using slip formed load bearing wall panels is becoming increasingly popular in Sri Lanka due to several advantages; low cost, environmental friendliness and rapid construction technique. These wall panels are already successfully implemented in many low rise buildings. However, the seismic capacities of these buildings have not been properly studied. Few seismic activities reported in Sri Lanka have not caused severe structural damage, but predictions can not be made as to whether this will continue to be the case in the future. This highlights the need to study the seismic capacity of buildings constructed in slip formed load bearing wall panels. This paper presents a study of the seismic capacity of the existing medium rise building.

Trust, reputation and the small firm : building online brand reputation for SMEs

Social media provides numerous opportunities for small businesses to promote their products and services, build brand communities and reach diverse market niches. An important factor in seizing these opportunities is developing trust and creating reputation among consumers. This qualitative study examines how a group of Australian small business managers utilize social media websites to connect to, communicate with and maintain their customer base. For the purpose of this paper we are using case studies of four companies physically based in Victoria, Australia. These businesses have a high presence in online consumer groups, being both active members of communities and representatives of their businesses. The duality of their role as participant and company representative imposes difficulties in creating reputation among community members. We have used in-depth interviews as a primary research method, additionally monitoring their activities on social media sites such as forums, social networking services, blogs and micro-blogs. We have identified practices helpful for developing trust, building reputation and create a brand image in online communities.