Exploring complex and intelligent analytical and mathematical methods, this book examines how different approaches can be used to optimize program management in the construction industry. It presents an in-depth study of the different program management methods, ranging from simple decision-making techniques and statistics analysis to the more complex linear programming and demonstrates how knowledge-base systems and genetic algorithms can be used to optimize resources and meet time, budget and quality criteria. It addresses topics including decision-making principles, planning and scheduling, mathematical forecasting models, optimization techniques programming and artificial intelligence techniques. Providing a valuable resource for anyone managing multiple projects in the construction industry, this book is intended for civil and construction engineering students, project managers, construction managers and senior engineers.

This book focuses on the implementation of Quality Function Deployment (QFD) in the construction industry as a tool to help building designers arrive at optimal decisions for external envelope systems with sustainable and buildable design goals. In particular, the book integrates special features into the conventional QFD tool to enhance its performance. These features include a fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method, fuzzy consensus scheme, and Knowledge Management System (KMS). This integration results in a more robust decision support tool, known as the Knowledge-based Decision Support System QFD (KBDSS-QFD) tool. As an example, the KBDSS-QFD tool is used for the assessment of building envelope materials and designs for high-rise residential buildings in Singapore in the early design stage. The book provides the reader with a conceptual framework for understanding the development of the KBDSS-QFD tool. The framework is presented in a generalized form in order to benefit building professionals, decision makers, analysts, academics and researchers, who can use the findings as guiding principles to achieve optimal solutions and boost efficiency.

Covers the entire process of risk management by providing methodologies for determining the sources of engineering project risk, and once threats have been identified, managing them through: identification and assessment (probability, relative importance, variables, risk breakdown structure, etc.); implementation of measures for their prevention, reduction or mitigation; evaluation of impacts and quantification of risks and establishment of control measures. It also considers sensitivity analysis to determine the influence of uncertain parameters values on different project results, such as completion time, total costs, etc. Case studies and examples across a wide spectrum of engineering projects discuss such diverse factors as: safety; environmental impacts; societal reactions; time and cost overruns; quality control; legal issues; financial considerations; and political risk, making this suitable for undergraduates and graduates in grasping the fundamentals of risk management.

Designing an eco home is much more about working with your house's place and situation than relying on intrusive technology and hi-tech materials. In this book, Christopher Day draws on his extensive experience to explain the key principles of eco-home design, using common-sense methods to create a pleasant, comfortable and healthy home. With beautifully simple hand-drawn illustrations, Christopher takes you through: - Using the local topography, combined with landscaping, to improve your home's microclimate - Designing to keep your home dry and warm in the winter, and cool in the summer - Minimizing hidden environmental impacts - Making the house safe and healthy, both emotionally and physically The book includes several case studies of eco hoomes, reviewing (with hindsight) what worked well and what could have been better.

Maths for the Building Trades provides students of all ages with an easy-to-understand guide to the fundamental mathematics that is required in their area of study and beyond. It can be used as a learning programme on its own or in conjunction with the textbooks associated with their chosen trade. The book assumes only a minimum level of mathematical knowledge and thoroughly covers the basic rules. It then goes on to fully explain some of the more complex areas in which the student will be required to demonstrate competence.

This study presents exploratory work and seeks to identify and evaluate the success and failure factors that could form a guideline for further study and to some extent help professionals to understand some critical aspects that impact project performance concerning construction in India. A total of 55 attributes affecting the performance of construction projects are analysed in terms of their level of influence on four key performance criteria - schedule, cost, quality, and no disputes - using a two-stage questionnaire survey. These attributes are then further analysed, interpreted and evaluated. Based on the critical success factors obtained from the study, a neural network model-based predictive model for project performance has been developed. The performance prediction models have been derived for all four project performance criteria. Further, a hypothesis that 'project success' is influenced by 'success traits' has also been formulated. The hypothesized positive inter-relationships between success traits and project success have been tested using the structural equation modelling technique. Besides supporting the intuition of past researchers in recognizing 'coordination' as a key success factor, this study has revealed that coordination is not an isolated and independent activity, but is a typical management function with an inherent role in all major management activities. Key elements affecting coordination have also been identified and their influence on coordination effort has been studied. Furthermore, the present study has also identified three broad skill groups required of effective project coordinators. The results are validated through case studies of live projects and structured interviews with experts in the field of construction management.

A close-to-ideal blend of suburb and city, speedy construction of towers of Babylon, the sparkling proportion of glass and steel buildings' facade at night showcase the wisdom of humans. They also witness the footsteps, sweats and tears of architects and engineers. Unfortunately, these signatures of human civilizations are swathed in towering figures of construction accidents. Fretting about these on sites, different countries adopt different measures on sites. This book firstly sketches the construction accidents on sites, followed by a review on safety measures in some of the developing countries such as Bermuda, Egypt, Kuwait and China; as well as developed countries, for example, the United States, France and Singapore. It also highlights the enormous compensation costs with the courts' experiences in the United Kingdom and Hong Kong.

Problems with high stakes, involving human perceptions and judgements, and whose resolutions have long-term repercussions, call for a rational approach to their solution. Strategic Decision Making provides an effective, formal methodology that gives assistance to such strategic level decision making problems. Focusing on applying the AHP to decision-making problems in engineering, Strategic Decision Making explores the three main endeavours of human existence: business, defence and governance. Many years of successfully applying Strategic Decision Making in these domains have created extensive results covering many complex planning, resource, allocation and priority setting problems throughout industry and business. Case studies drawn from years of successful, practical application experience. Discusses applications of decision making for real life problems. Worked examples and solutions to problems throughout. The reader will gain comprehensive exposure to the extent of assistance that a formal methodology, such as AHP, can provide to the decision maker in evolving decisions in complex and varied domains. Decision makers, in business and industry around the world, will find this valuable for practical use as a working tool.

This book gathers the latest advances, innovations, and applications in the field of information systems and construction engineering, as presented by researchers and engineers at the International Scientific Conference Building Life-cycle Management. Information Systems and Technologies, held in Moscow, Russia on November 26, 2021. It covers highly diverse topics, including Information modeling technologies in building life-cycle management, Mathematical models and methods for building life-cycle management, Management of organizational processes in construction. The contributions, which were selected by means of a rigorous international peer-review process, highlight numerous exciting ideas that will spur novel research directions and foster multidisciplinary collaborations in the construction industry.

This book highlights the latest technologies and applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the domain of construction engineering and management. The construction industry worldwide has been a late bloomer to adopting digital technology, where construction projects are predominantly managed with a heavy reliance on the knowledge and experience of construction professionals. AI works by combining large amounts of data with fast, iterative processing, and intelligent algorithms (e.g., neural networks, process mining, and deep learning), allowing the computer to learn automatically from patterns or features in the data. It provides a wide range of solutions to address many challenging construction problems, such as knowledge discovery, risk estimates, root cause analysis, damage assessment and prediction, and defect detection. A tremendous transformation has taken place in the past years with the emerging applications of AI. This enables industrial participants to operate projects more efficiently and safely, not only increasing the automation and productivity in construction but also enhancing the competitiveness globally.

This eighth edition of Hall and Greeno's leading textbook has been reviewed and updated in relation to the latest building and water regulations, new technology, and new legislation, and even more design calculations have been added. In addition, topics such as: alternative sources of natural energy, solar, ground source, heat pumps, renewable energy sources, geothermal methods, and wind power, are now covered. Building Services Handbook summarises the application of all common elements of building services practice, technique and procedure, to provide an essential information resource for students as well as practitioners working in building services, building management and the facilities administration and maintenance sectors of the construction industry. Information is presented in the highly illustrated and accessible style of the best-selling companion title Building Construction Handbook. THE comprehensive reference for all construction and building services students, Building Services Handbook is ideal for a wide range of courses including NVQ and BTEC National through Higher National Certificate and Diploma to Foundation and three-year Degree level. The clear illustrations and complementary references to industry Standards combine essential guidance with a resource base for further reading and development of specific topics.

Written for students taking courses in building and surveying, 'Estimating for Builders and Surveyors' describes and explains the method used by the estimator to build up prices or rates for items described in the SMM7 format. Each chapter is a self-contained unit related to a particular element in the building. Worked examples throughout reflect both traditional and up-to-date technology. Written by an author team of academics and professional surveyors, this book continues to be an invaluable introduction to the subject of estimating.

* Written in line with The Standard Method of Measurement of Building Works to provide professional relevance
* Worked examples throughout ensure the student can practice the techniques described
* Comprehensive coverage of the trades gives the reader a complete picture

Strategische und operative Unternehmensprozesse bilden den Schlussel fur notwendige lebenszyklusorientierte Veranderungen in der Baubranche. Im Band 2 operatives Management werden die Prozesse sowie Handlungsablaufe und die integrale Prozessverantwortung fur ein interagierendes Angebots-, Ausfuhrungs-, Risiko-, Nachtrags- und Qualitatsmanagement praxisorientiert dargelegt fur ein erfolgreiches Projekt- und Unternehmensmanagement. Zudem wird aufgezeigt, wie man eine lernende und innovative Unternehmenskultur entwickelt. Alle wichtigen Teilprozesse zur operativen Unternehmensgestaltung und -fuhrung werden ausfuhrlich dargestellt.

Sie finden Handlungsempfehlungen fur die systematische Durchfuhrung ihrer taglichen operativen Aufgaben und die zukunftsorientierte Strukturierung der Unternehmensprozesse. Grossere Unternehmen konnen mit diesem Wissen ihre Positionierung im aggressiven, dynamischen und komplexen Umfeld verbessern und die eigene Wettbewerbsposition starken. Kleinere wachstumsorientierte Betriebe finden darin die Methodik, die sie ihrem Unternehmensaufbau zugrunde legen sollten. Moderne Managementkonzepte werden auf die Bauwirtschaft abgebildet."

Brickwork made easy - a step-by-step guide provides an introduction to the materials and techniques used when working with bricks or blocks made from concrete and clay. It details methods used to mix and lay concrete for foundations or garden paths, walkways and stairs, and illustrates techniques for plastering walls. There are also easy-to-follow guidelines to familiarise the amateur with the vital building principles required to succeed with an impressive range of brickwork projects.

Die Autoren geben einen umfassenden, leichtverstandlichen Einblick in alle Themenbereiche des Baubetriebs und der Bauwirtschaft. Dabei beschreiben sie u.a. auch Ausschreibungen nach VOB, VOL und VOF sowie die Kalkulation und deren Ablauf. Die 2. Auflage wurde aktualisiert und berucksichtigt die VOB 2009.

This doctoral dissertation presents a model to evaluate trade-offs between the energetic, economic, and environmental lifecycle performance of building projects. The model is explained so as to be replicable. The model is then applied for decision-making on different strategies for existing buildings in Germany. Results from the case-study show that current state-of-the-art building strategies considerably increase the risk of missing climate change mitigation targets in exchange to a relatively small economic improvement over innovative building strategies.

Systematisches Projektmanagement ist die Basis fur eine erfolgreiche Abwicklung von Bauvorhaben im Hinblick auf die wirtschaftlichen, terminlichen und technologischen Ziele. Die Autoren geben prazise Antworten auf diese Fragen: Was genau bedeutet Projektmanagement, welche Leistungsinhalte umfasst es und welche rechtlichen Grundlagen sind zu beachten? Dabei werden dem Leser die Methoden von der ersten Projektidee bis zur endgultigen Inbetriebnahme ausfuhrlich vermittelt. Zur optimalen Steuerung von Prozessen, Planung und Realisierung baulicher Anlagen sind alle Grundlagen im Management durch zahlreiche Abbildungen und praxisbezogene Beispiele erklart. Die Autoren haben sich auch dem Einsatz neuer Medien zum Thema "Information und Kommunikation bei Bauprojekten" in einem gesonderten Kapitel gewidmet. Das erfolgreich eingefuhrte Buch ist als effektive Grundlage fur die zukunftige Projektarbeit im Bauwesen gedacht.

Dieses essential beleuchtet exemplarisch anhand der Leistungsbeschreibung "Baustelleneinrichtung", dass bereits in der Phase der Ausschreibung einer Leistung Fehler entstehen koennen, die spater grosse Auswirkungen auf die Kosten haben.Fallstricke in der Leistungsbeschreibung und Loesungsansatze fur Auftraggeber und Planer werden aufgezeigt und es werden Moeglichkeiten einer sicheren Darstellung von Zusatzleistungen vorgestellt.