Paul Bryant makes the case for Corporate Social Responsibility in AEC companies. Starting with a thoughtful challenge to businesses and proceeding through the issues, he concludes with current examples of the industry's efforts to embrace CSR. This book will greatly assist AEC firms in mapping out their appropriate strategy for CSR. -Timothy Psomas, Chairman, Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure, U.S. ********************************************************* Corporate Social Responsibility is, like Climate Change - and long before it, Female Emancipation and the abolition of slavery; a no-brainer. As with the other, older themes, the disparagers of the day will one day be ashamed of their disapproval. Paul's book is another step along the road to establishing good sense as common sense; the sense of all in common. This is not an easy read or a gentle journey but I for one do not believe that easy reads and gentle voyagers are necessarily the ones that really engage or truly achieve their ends. Read, engage with, agree or disagree but get involved with one of the defining conversations of this time. -Dr. Simon Bell, Open University UK, Professor of Innovation and Methodology********************************************************************************************** One of the best books you can find on this topic. The reader can definitely find the depth of knowledge the author has on this issue in this book, and Paul's ability to present his ideas in another approach that is very different from the other CSR books. Paul might just reinvent himself to be the CSR guru with this publication.... -Dr. Oswald Chong, Associate Professor of Engineering, Kansas University ******************************************************************************** Paul Bryant's book is a clarion call to the engineering professionals for re-imagining the future. Construction professionals will find everything they need to know about CSR in this book. Its their code for building the earth's future. - Dr. Subhasis Ray, Centre for R&R and CSR, Xavier Institute of Management, India ********************************************************************************************* Today most engineering, architecture, and construction firms have sustainability project experience. This means that having LEED, BREEAM, Minergie, or other sustainability credentials no longer provides a competitive advantage, it is simply a feature set that is expected by clients, like airbags in a car. However, the sustainability game is evolving and firms are realizing "their cheese has moved - again." Sustainability, or more specifically environmental sustainability, is being superseded and absorbed into a more holistic approach to sustainable business known as corporate social responsibility (CSR). CSR adds social and economic pillars to the environmental sustainability pillar. Ten years ago, customers were asking for a firm's environmental credentials. Today those same clients are asking about the design or construction firm's business itself. More specifically, clients want to know about supply chain companies' records on bribery, human trafficking, supplier payments, fair wages, in addition to the environmentally focused sustainability indicators such as water and carbon footprints. Some AEC firms see the CSR wave coming, but the majority have yet to recognize the tsunami. All firms are soon going to be swept up in the CSR wave and will have to develop policies, track data, and report on their CSR activity. This book is an introduction to the world of CSR presenting many of the resources available. Focused specifically on the AEC industry, it will help them quickly grasp the concepts behind CSR, including development of their own customized programs. A solid CSR program will take time to mature as both sustainability and CSR are continually evolving. Firms will have to find what works best for them in the pursuit of an integrated, strategic CSR p

As the world becomes less certain and threats to business continue to increase in both type and magnitude, the need for organisations to own a crisis management plan has become more important. This Guide has been prepared by Kingfell, a UK based fire and risk engineering company, to provide a framework to the formulation of such a plan. It combines the results of research by Kingfell, together with ideas introduced by Paul Bryant, Kingfell's founder. Prior to the formulation of an effective crisis management plan, it is worthwhile assessing the risks affecting an organisation and how they could lead to crises. Threat assessment and analysis is included in the Guide. The Guide is designed for international use and for any type of organisation. It is written in an inclusive style for specialists and non-specialists alike. As the saying goes "Be prepared .... it could happen to you "

Around the world, fire risk assessments are increasingly recognised as a fundamental part of a proper fire safety management regime. Furthermore, since the revised 2005 fire safety legislation, they are a legal requirement in the United Kingdom for most building profiles other than domestic dwellings. The fire risk assessment process can be a straightforward exercise; identifying simple fire risks and prescribing basic fire precautions to mitigate or protect against those risks. As the complexity of the building or infrastructure increases, so will the complexity of the fire precautions and protection systems. The layout of escape routes, the use of active and passive fire protection, the management systems, etc. will be much more sophisticated than would be the case for simple building layouts. Paul Bryant, Kingfell's founder and a fire engineer himself, believes that many complex buildings would have been fire risk assessed at some stage as part of the formulation of a fire strategy. Consequently, the assessment process would need to use the strategy and other supporting documents and agreements as a basis for the assessment. This Guide has been written to provide a process and guidance for fire risk assessments for complex buildings. Even though many assessments concentrate on the life safety risk, the Guide also considers issues such as asset protection, business continuity and protection of the environment. The Guide combines standard risk assessment concepts with Paul's ideas developed from his involvement with the preparation of fire strategies, many of which were devised for complex environments.

We all expect to be protected from fire .... We all expect that fire safety experts have ensured that the buildings we live in, work in, play in and socialise in are fire safe - that the fire strategy applied by the experts will work. But the reality is that fire continues to kill and injure; it continues to destroy businesses and continues to pollute our environment. In his first book, British fire strategist Paul Bryant challenges the way we think about fire engineering design, wherever we are in the world. He introduces ideas and techniques that he has developed over his career working with fire strategies. Is it time for you to change the way you think?

Sick and tired of trying to muddle through the enormous volume of confusing health information on the web? Finding it impossible to distinguish factual remedies from contrived marketing ploys? Searching the Web for Health is the up-to-date resource you can rely on to show you how to get the most out of surfing the web for the health information you need. Whether you want to relieve a bad cough or find the most advanced research on cancer treatment, Searching the Web for Health will help you separate fact from fiction and give you the strategies, knowledge, and expert resources you need to navigate through the web with ease and confidence. Written by a technology professional and consumer health advocate, Searching the Web for Health weeds out the medical miracles from the medical marketing including: 400+hospital, university, and private company websites...all actively involved in cutting-edge health care Search engines and directories to steer you towards finding your answers Health information on the web Search techniques With Searching the Web for Health, you can now actively and informatively contribute to the medical decisions that affect your life

The frontier has evoked a set of images, attitudes, and assumptions that have shaped a peculiarly American literary heritage. This volume reconsiders the whole of American literary tradition by focusing on the imaginative impact of the frontier mythology. Exploring the aesthetic implications of frontier experience, these essays also illustrate the vigorous debate among scholars regarding canon formation. Long dominated by the works of white males from the northeastern region of the country, the American literary canon continues to expand to include works by minorities, women, and authors from various parts of the nation. The eighteen scholars represented here focus on the importance of frontier mythology to many American writers, both traditional and new, thus providing meaningful context for further altering the American canon to include their works.
The authors emphasize frontier mythology's central role in the literary dialogue as they discuss such topics as contemporary fiction, regional literature, nature writing, drama, film, and science fiction and focus on writers ranging from Mary Rowlandson and Emily Dickinson to N. Scott Momaday and Rolando Hinojosa. Taken as a whole, this collection asserts that frontier experience has historically created a symbolic vocabulary that is intrinsically dialectical, having elicited ironic responses from the different perspectives of women and minority writers, for example. Scholars and students of American literature will also see from these essays that frontier mythology in American literary tradition shows remarkable continuity, and that an understanding of the dialectical and dialogic nature of this inherited literary tradition will expand the canon and enrich the interpretations of the American dream.