An investigation of the existing situation and trends in building energy efficiency management in China

According to the Chinese State Council's "Building Energy Efficiency Management Ordinance", a large-scale investigation of energy efficiency (EE) in buildings in contemporary China has been carried out in 22 provincial capitals and major cities in China. The aim of this project is to provide reliable information for drawing up the "Decision on reinforcing building energy efficiency" by the Ministry of Construction of China. The surveyed organizations include government departments, research institutions, property developers, design institutions, construction companies, construction consultancy services companies, facility management departments, financial institutions and those which relate to the business of building energy efficiency. In addition, representatives of the media and residents were also involved. A detailed analysis of the results of the investigation concerning aspects of the cur-rent situation and trends in building energy consumption, energy efficiency strategy and the implementation of energy efficiency measures has been conducted. The investigation supplies essential information to formulate the market entrance policy for new buildings and the refurbishment policy for existing buildings to encourage the development of energy efficient technology.

Commercial management in project-based organisations

The term commercial management has been used for some time, similarly the job title commercial manager. However, as of yet, little emphasis has been placed on defining. This paper presents the findings from a two-year research initiative that has compared and contrasted the role of commercial managers from a range of organisations and across industry sectors, as a first step in developing a body of knowledge for commercial. It is argued that there are compelling arguments for considering commercial management, not solely as atask undertaken by commercial managers, but as a discipline in itself: a discipline that, arguably, bridges traditional project management and organisational theories. While the study has established differences in approach and application both between and within industry sectors, it has established sufficient similarity and synergy in practice to identify a specific role of commercial management in project-based organisations. These similarities encompass contract management and dispute resolution; the divergences include a greater involvement in financial and value management in construction and in bid management in defence/aerospace.

Facilities management in South East Asia

The purpose of this paper is to provide an insight into the growth stage of facilities management (FM) in the South East Asia region. A questionnaire study of local and international firms operating in South East Asia was used. South East Asia needs to open up to change, particularly with respect to parity in issues of global competition in FM standards. This study is based on a limited sample size using a self-reporting methodology. Further research is needed to further investigate the findings. This paper addresses a unique insight into the contrasting approach to FM in the South East Asia region.

Protocol for the PINCER trial: a cluster randomised trial comparing the effectiveness of a pharmacist-led IT-based intervention with simple feedback in reducing rates of clinically important errors in medicines management in general practices

Background: Medication errors are an important cause of morbidity and mortality in primary care. The aims of this study are to determine the effectiveness, cost effectiveness and acceptability of a pharmacist-led information-technology-based complex intervention compared with simple feedback in reducing proportions of patients at risk from potentially hazardous prescribing and medicines management in general (family) practice. Methods: Research subject group: "At-risk" patients registered with computerised general practices in two geographical regions in England. Design: Parallel group pragmatic cluster randomised trial. Interventions: Practices will be randomised to either: (i) Computer-generated feedback; or (ii) Pharmacist-led intervention comprising of computer-generated feedback, educational outreach and dedicated support. Primary outcome measures: The proportion of patients in each practice at six and 12 months post intervention: - with a computer-recorded history of peptic ulcer being prescribed non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs - with a computer-recorded diagnosis of asthma being prescribed beta-blockers - aged 75 years and older receiving long-term prescriptions for angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors or loop diuretics without a recorded assessment of renal function and electrolytes in the preceding 15 months. Secondary outcome measures; These relate to a number of other examples of potentially hazardous prescribing and medicines management. Economic analysis: An economic evaluation will be done of the cost per error avoided, from the perspective of the UK National Health Service (NHS), comparing the pharmacist-led intervention with simple feedback. Qualitative analysis: A qualitative study will be conducted to explore the views and experiences of health care professionals and NHS managers concerning the interventions, and investigate possible reasons why the interventions prove effective, or conversely prove ineffective. Sample size: 34 practices in each of the two treatment arms would provide at least 80% power (two-tailed alpha of 0.05) to demonstrate a 50% reduction in error rates for each of the three primary outcome measures in the pharmacist-led intervention arm compared with a 11% reduction in the simple feedback arm. Discussion: At the time of submission of this article, 72 general practices have been recruited (36 in each arm of the trial) and the interventions have been delivered. Analysis has not yet been undertaken.