The book presents the development of the Construction Quality Assessment System (CONQUAS), Singapore's de facto quality performance measurement system, explains the application of the Quality Management System (QMS) to manage CONQUAS and identifies 33 critical success factors (CSFs) for achieving high CONQUAS scores. Through CONQUAS, the reader benefits from understanding how the Singapore government developed and implemented the first objective system for measuring what many building professionals have perceived to be elusive quality standards in the construction industry. The book presents both the theoretical concepts as well as the practical aspects to achieving strategic Project Quality Management that is anchored on the CSFs to building best practices. To realistically reflect the practical aspects and challenging issues faced by stakeholders in the construction industry, questionnaire surveys were conducted with building professionals to distinguish the importance level and extent of adoption of the 33 CSFs (identified from a comprehensive review of the extant literature) in influencing and affecting the achievement of high CONQUAS scores. These were further anchored by in-depth interviews with quality experts in the Singapore construction industry to provide a better understanding of issues relating to strategic Project Quality Management. Collectively, the empirical findings collated from the building professionals suggest that while the CSFs identified are known tenets of quality, these were still not being followed in their totality. A further case study was conducted through a formal set of in-depth interviews with the quality assurance team of a construction company who has direct involvement before, during and after their tremendous improvements in the CONQUAS scores attained. The strength of this book therefore represents a true account and reflections of real-life practices and experiences in the construction industry for contractors, quality managers and policy-makers to learn from. Although the context of this book relates to the Singapore experience, the lessons and recommendations are equally relevant and applicable to the global construction industry in both the developing and developed countries whose stakeholders (in both the public and private sectors) wish to understand how CONQUAS works, and how the CSFs identified can likewise be implemented for strategic Project Quality Management to building best practices. The book is therefore of interests to researchers, academia and practitioners in the construction industry as well as in other sectors of the economy (in Singapore and other countries) where learning points may be used for enhancing project quality management for buildings.

This book explains how to combine and exploit sensor networks and internet-of-things (IoT) technologies and Web-service design patterns to enrich and integrate Building Information Models (BIMs). It provides approaches and software architectures for facilitating the interaction with (and between) BIMs through Web services, and for enabling and facilitating the fusion of the information residing in such models or of information acquired from IoT technologies. The proposed software architectures are presented in the form of design patterns. This information fusion will facilitate many novel application fields ranging from emergency response, to urban monitoring and surveillance, and to smart buildings. The book consists of 8 chapters. The first 2 chapters focus on the basics of BIMs, while chapter 3 presents fundamental service-oriented architecture patterns for complex information models. Subsequently, chapters 4 and 5 elaborate on the hardware and software side of IoT, with a special focus on their use for BIMs. Chapter 6 provides advanced SOA patterns for BIMs, while chapter 7 details patterns for IoT, and for BIM and IoT information fusion. Lastly, chapter 8 summarizes the work and provides an outlook on promising future developments. Overall, the book will be beneficial for researchers and developers in the fields of building information models, IoT applications, and systems integration.

This unique book that deals with project communication management in complex environments, taking a leaf from China’s experience with a major earthquake in Sichuan, would be a timely contribution to fill this lacuna. Readers would be able to understand how companies and organizations that are unprepared for crisis management would react to their detriment. The lessons provided in this book are the only one of its kind to highlight the lessons for companies and organizations to prepare themselves for successful project communication management through the complexity-informed framework. Although the book is written by two building professionals, the concepts and lessons presented are generic and equally applicable for businesses outside of the construction industry; for example, for airports, resorts, hotels, shipyards, etc.

This monograph presents an analysis of construction safety problems and on-site safety measures from an economist's point of view. The book includes examples from both emerging countries, e.g. China and India, and developed countries, e.g. Australia and Hong Kong. Moreover, the author covers an analysis on construction safety knowledge sharing by means of updatable mobile technology such as apps in Androids and iOS platform mobile devices. The target audience comprises primarily researchers and experts in the field but the book may also be beneficial for graduate students.

In recent years, a number of global claims have failed because they were presented without any systematic analysis, justification or proper calculation of losses. Hence, Global Claims in Construction highlights these issues as well as the importance of understanding causation, factual necessity and the courts' attitude and approach to global claims. Global Claims in Construction addresses the principles of global claims and their calculation methodologies in detail through extensive references to literature, case law and a real world case study. It aims to be a valuable resource for professionals working in the construction industry, as well as students in construction and engineering.

As a companion to books on project-management theory, this book illustrates, in a down-to-earth, comprehensive style, how to put that theory into practice. In addition to the many examples that illustrate procedures, the book includes over 25 case studies, each one addressing a specific theme. Key topics, such as project selection, negotiations, planning and scheduling, cost and budgeting, project control, human resources, environmental impacts, risk management, and financial evaluation, are discussed, using a step-by-step approach. Beginning at the grassroots level, some cases are solved by hand to illustrate the mechanics of a procedure, while others are solved using advanced computer programs. In this way the reader has a clear idea of the problem, how and when to raise the issue, information needed (and who can provide it), how to solve it by hand, when possible, and also its resolution using the latest informatics tools.

Greening Airports considers the "greening", i.e., more sustainable development, of the entire air transport system - airports, air traffic control, and airlines - that could be achieved by the development and implementation of advanced operations and technologies. A broad overview of the general concept is given at the start of Greening Airports, which then goes on to provide a system for monitoring and assessing the level of greening of both the air transport system and individual airports. These are followed by analysis and modelling of the potential effects of particular advanced operations and technologies on the greening of airports and their local airspace. These include: the development of a large airport into a multimodal transport node by connecting it to a high speed rail network; the use of operations supported by new and existing air traffic control technologies to increase landing capacity of existing runways; the use of liquid hydrogen as a commercial aviation fuel; and the improvement of airport ground accessibility by a light rail rapid transit system. Greening Airports is written for researchers, planners, operators and policy makers in air transport.

The FET College series is designed to meet the needs of students and lecturers of the National Certificate Vocational.

Die zwischen Angebot und Auftragsabwicklung im Bauunternehmen entstehenden Probleme lassen sich vermeiden. In diesem Buch findet der Leser das Angebots- und Ausfuhrungsmanagement systematisch strukturiert. Die Projektphasen des Angebotsmanagements( Akquisition, Angebotsbearbeitung und Vertragsverhandlungen) sowie des Ausfuhrungsmanagements (Arbeitsvorbereitung, Beschaffung und Bauausfuhrung) werden in den einzelnen Schritten dargelegt. Im Vordergrund stehen die Prozessverantwortung sowie eine zielorientierte Arbeitsplanung und Arbeitsorganisation fur eine ergebnisorientierte Takt- und Fliessplanung mit Bauprogramm, Arbeitskalkulation, Wochen- und Tagesplanung, Logistik, Qualitats- und Nachtragsmanagement. Alle wichtigen Aufgaben der Beteiligten werden beschrieben. Das Buch dient als Leitfaden fur eine erfolgreiche, prozess- und ergebnisorientierte Projektabwicklung in Bauunternehmen zur Erzielung des kalkulierten Gewinns und einer hohen Kundenzufriedenheit. Die UEberarbeitungen und Erganzungen machen diese Neuauflage zu einem umfassenden Planungs- und Steuerungshandbuch fur die Angebots- und Ausfuhrungsbearbeitung von projektspezifischen unikaten Auftragen.

Photorealistic rendering strives to generate images from computer modeled scenes with an image quality as close to real life as possible. A major issue in rendering is simulation of local and global light reflection in a scene. Both ray tracing and radiosity algorithms capture only some of the possible light reflection phenomena. Recently developed two-pass algorithms combine the ray tracing and radiosity approaches and are able to capture the whole range of light reflection. This book is a collection of papers discussing the latest developments, including a new range of improvements, in stochastic sampling strategies, radiosity form factor calculation, and parallel processing for ray tracing and radiosity. A number of papers on rendering applications in interior design, lighting design, and remote sensing conclude the volume. The contributions are revised versions of papers originally presented at the Second Eurographics Workshop on Rendering, held in Barcelona, Spain, in May 1991. The book fully reflects the state of the art in rendering and presentsa wide variety of novel techniques. It will interest researchers and students in computer graphics, as well as designers who want to apply rendering techniques for realistic simulation in lighting design, interior design, and architecture.

Increasingly over the next few decades, the oil and gas industry faces the complex task of decommissioning its offshore platforms, pipelines and sub-sea equipment as they reach the end of their operational capabilities. Decommissioning involves and integrates many distinct aspects: engineering, environmental, economic, legal, political and safety considerations. A practical strategy for removing and disposing these structures needs to be developed which best meets the demands of all of these different aspects. Specialists in these various fields have been brought together for this volume to contribute their assessments of the situation. The result is an important step toward the development of a co-ordinated approach to the subject. It is essential reading for all those who are involved with major decommissioning projects, their possible environmental impact and their implications in politics and law.

Professor Sluzalec is a well-known and respected authority in the field of Computational Mechanics, and his personal experience forms the basis of the book. Introduction to Nonlinear Thermomechanics provides both an elementary and advanced exposition of nonlinear thermomechanics. The scope includes theoretical aspects and their rational application in thermal problems, thermo-elastoplasticity, finite strain thermoplasticity and coupled thermoplasticity. The use of numerical techniques for the solution of problems and implementation of basic theory is included. Engineers, technicians, researchers, and advanced students will find the book an extremely useful compendium of solutions to problems. The scope is such that it would also be an effective teaching aid.

Recent advances in the development of high strength materials, coupled with more advanced computational methods and design procedures, have led to a new generation of tall and slender buildings. These structures are very sensitive to the most common dynamic loads; wind and earthquakes. The primary requirement for a successful design is to provide safety while taking into account serviceability requirements. This book provides a well-balanced and broad coverage of the information needed for the design of structural systems for wind- and earthquake-resistant buildings. It covers topics such as the basic concepts in structural dynamics and structural systems, the assessment of wind and earthquake loads acting on the system, the evaluation of the system response to such dynamic loads and the design for extreme loading. The text is generously illustrated and supported by numerical examples and will be of great interest to practising engineers and researchers in structural, civil and design engineering and also to architects. The author has drawn on his experience as a teacher, researcher and consultant.

Entre Meeanique et Arehiteeture: e'est-a-dire, entre les proeedes teehniques qui, depuis des temps immemoriaux eonforment l'art et la scienee de la eonstruetion au developpement de la scienee physique et mathematique la plus generale et, peut-etre, la plus abstraite, subalternata tanturn geometriae et philosophiae naturalis, eomme le disait Tartaglia, bien que liee aux faits les plus farniliers: la statique et la meeanique des mareriaux et des struetures. Le theme qui nous eoneeme est done la relation entre la technique et la scienee dans son exemple le plus important, je crois, du point de vue historiographique mais aussi epistemologique: a savoir, la relation entre le savoir faire, qui se eonforme a la norme, en respeetant une determination et une eongruenee parfaites avee son objectif, et la theorie, qui eonfirme la norme et temoigne la neeessite de la determiner eongrfiment avec les lois de la nature. Avee une extreme perspieaeite, quelque peu offusquee par une frivolite erudite, l' Abbe Franeeseo Maria Franeesehinis, mathematieien et adepte de la philosophie des lurnieres, se peneha sur la question dans un bref traite qu'il publia a Padoue en 1808 sous 1 le titre Des Mathematiques appliquees , soutenant la nouvelle tendanee didaetique introduite a l'Universite de Padoue par l'ephemere Regne d'Italie. Simulant un eonflit entre plusieurs auteurs, Franeesehinis exposait une premiere these dans un Discours inaugural qu'il reeita peut-etre reellement en 1807, lorsqu'il devint titulaire de la Chaire de Mathematiques appliquees.

Before you drive that first nail, this is the guide you need--thousands of hints, tips, and professional tricks of the trade

Authoritative, detailed, and fully illustrated, Rules of Thumb for Home Building, Improvement, and Repair gives you all the inside information you need to make your home improvement project go faster and easier. For this all-in-one volume, do-it-yourself experts Gene and Katie Hamilton, founders of the online service HouseNet, have distilled the best professional home repair and remodeling information.

Rules of Thumb will help you avoid the costly headaches that can result from using the wrong materials, amounts, or measurements. Here in plain English are all the technical standards and specifications for lumber, fasteners and adhesives, carpentry, plumbing, electrical wiring, painting, walls, ceilings and floors, doors and windows, weatherizing and climate control, exteriors, asphalt, concrete, masonry, and more. Plus, you'll discover time-tested procedures that get you the results you want every time.

Whatever project you're about to begin, Rules of Thumb for Home Building, Improvement, and Repair is the first place to look for professional advice.

Acclaimed do-it-yourself experts Gene and Katie Hamilton are the authors of many successful books and magazine articles on remodeling and repair. In addition to their nationally syndicated newspaper column, "Do It Yourself--Or Not?" they are the creators of HouseNet, an online home improvement service on America Online (keyword: housenet) and on the Internet (www.housenet.com). They have been on the Today show, Dateline, and CNN and have been written about in Newsweek and other national publications. TheHamiltons live in Maryland.

Meant to complement rather than compete with the existing books on the subject, this book deals with the project performance and control phases of the project life cycle to present a detailed investigation of the project's time performance measurement methods and risk analysis techniques in order to evaluate existing and newly developed methods in terms of their abilities to improve the corrective actions decision-making process during project tracking. As readers apply what is learned from the book, EVM practices will become even more effective in project management and cost engineering. Individual chapters look at simulation studies in forecast accuracy; schedule adherence; time sensitivity; activity sensitivity; and using top-down or bottom-up project tracking. Vanhoucke also offers an actual real-life case study, a tutorial on the use of ProTrack software (newly developed based on his research) in EVM, and conclusions on the relative effectiveness for each technique presented.

This book contains a selection of revised versions of papers presented at the Third Eurographics Workshop on Intelligent CAD Systems, which was held at Hotel Opduin on the island of Texel in The Netherlands, April 3-7, 1989. The workshop theme was Practical Experience and Evaluation. It included five paper presentation sessions, each followed by a discussion. The workshop closed with a general discussion. The book is therefore divided into five parts: design process, system architecture, languages, geometric reasoning, and user interface. A report on the discussion session, written by the session's moderator, concludes each part. These reports are not intended to be exact records of the discussion, but rather the moderators' summary of their contents. The aim of the workshop was to share the experience the participants gained by developing intelligent CAD (Computer Aided Design) systems, and to evaluate the developed systems to determine which features were still lacking. The workshop was organized as the last one in a series of three workshops under the same title. The first workshop focused on theoretical and methodological aspects, resulting in a sound theoretical basis for intelligent CAD systems. Implementational issues were discussed at the second workshop, paying attention to systems developed with reference to this basis. The experience and evaluation showed a dual outcome. Firstly, it resulted in the development of a new generation of intelligent CAD systems. Secondly, it led us to the development of new theories for intelligent CAD.

The FET College series is designed to meet the needs of students and lecturers of the National Certificate Vocational.

Since manufacturing has acquired industrial relevance, the problem of adequately sizing manufacturing plants has always been discussed and has represented a di?cult problem for the enterprises, which prepare strategic plans to competitively operate in the market. Manufact- ing capacity is quite expensive and its exploitation and planning must be carefully designed in order to avoid large wastes, or to preserve the survival of enterprises in the market. Indeed a good choice of ma- facturing capacity can result in improved performance in terms of cost, innovativeness, ?exibility, quality and service delivery. Unfortunately the capacity planning problem is not easy to solve because of the lack of clarity in the decisional process, the large number of variables involved, the high correlation among variables and the high level of uncertainty that inevitably a?ects decisions. The aim of this book is to provide a framework and speci?c methods and tools for the selection and con?guration of capacity of Advanced Manufacturing Systems (AMS). In particular this book de?nes an - chitecture where the multidisciplinary aspects of the designofAMSare properly organized and addressed. The tool will support the decisi- maker in the de?nition of the con?guration of the system which is best suited for the particular competitive context where the ?rm operates or wants tooperate. Thisbookisofinterest for academic researchers in the ?eldofind- trial engineering and particularly indicated in the areas of operations and manufacturing strategy.

This book offers a valuable tool for understanding current efforts to promote the reuse and enhancement of pre-consumer waste in the development of new products for the construction sector, as well as the financial and regulatory tools being used to support this trend. It explores the vast and complex topic of the circular economy from the perspective of strategies for the reuse/recycling of waste, and develops a number of key premises: waste reuse/recycling must be considered using a logic of cross-sectoriality, recognizing the need to enhance the "dialogue" between different sectors; pre-consumer waste is particularly interesting for the recycling market because the construction sector can reduce its environmental impacts by enhancing its capacity to use secondary raw materials and by-products from other sectors; and lastly, the manufacturing sector is currently experimenting with promising forms of reducing/recycling pre-consumer waste and is at the same time providing by-products that can be used in other production chains. As such, the book offers a valuable asset for professionals who are interested in sustainability in construction, and in the study of construction products; however, it will be equally useful for local decision-makers tasked with implementing development policies and innovations in the industrial sector.

Das Konzept der digitalen Baustelle beschreibt die Abbildung aller bei einem Bauvorhaben anfallenden Daten in einem Baustellenmodell. Es bietet die Grundlage f r einen durchg ngigen Datenfluss und damit f r effizientere Planungs- und Ausf hrungsprozesse. In dem Band stellen Experten aus Wissenschaft und Industrie Methoden und Technologien zur Umsetzung vor, darunter die 3D-gest tzte Planung, die Nutzung von Systemen zur zentralen Datenhaltung, die computergest tzte Simulation des Bauablaufs und die Einf hrung moderner Logistikkonzepte.

Written by seven internationally known experts, the articles in this book present the fundamentals and practical applications of contemporary wind engineering. It covers complex problems in wind-building interaction from the perspective of a structural designer, examining both experimental and computational approaches and their relative merits.

One of the best ways to get power to remote, off-grid locations, whether in developed or developing countries, is through the use of solar electric systems. This practical guide describes how to plan, design and install solar electric systems in a manner that is hands-on, graphic and technically complete. Highly illustrated chapters cover: solar energy basics components of solar electric systems (modules, batteries, regulators, inverters and appliances) installation practice on planning and servicing systems water pumping refrigeration village electrification. This is the must-have guide for electric technicians and designers, development workers, and anyone who wants to install their own off-grid system.

Christoph Winter investigates the circumstances, which determine a contractor's competitive position in different construction markets for different types of clients, as well as the influence of the consultants upon the construction development process. Moreover, he analyses the role that a contractor's supply chain must fulfil in order to be as successful as the leader of the procurement process.

The ultimate guide to siding for homeowners and professional builders The Complete Siding Handbook: Installation, Maintenance, Repair offers comprehensive guidance for all major types of siding including wood board, aluminum, shingle, plywood, vinyl, and more. Aimed at professional builders but accessible to homeowners, this informative guide includes practical information on sheathing, flashing, vapor and air retarders, insulation, and other preparatory materials, as well as expert advice on painting, staining and finishing. Detailed diagrams clarify installation and construction, while photographs show real-world applications of various materials and methods to provide builders and DIY-ers with an invaluable resource.