Sustainable performance criteria for construction method selection in concrete buildings

The use of prefabrication offers significant advantages, yet appropriate criteria for applicability assessments to a given building have been found to be deficient. Decisions to use prefabrication are still largely based on anecdotal evidence or simply cost-based evaluation when comparing various construction methods. Holistic criteria are needed to assist with the selection of an appropriate construction method in concrete buildings during early project stages. Following a thorough literature review and comprehensive comparisons between prefabrication and on-site construction method, a total of 33 sustainable performance criteria (SPC) based on the triple bottom line and the requirements of different project stakeholders were identified. A survey of U.S. experienced practitioners including clients/developers, engineers, contractors, and precast concrete manufacturers was conducted to capture their perceptions on the importance of the criteria. The ranking analysis of survey results shows that social awareness and environmental concerns were considered as increasingly important in construction method selections. Factor analysis reveals that these SPCs can be grouped into seven dimensions, namely, economic factors: “long-term cost,” “constructability,” “quality,” and “first cost”; social factors: “impact on health and community,” “architectural impact”; and environmental factor: “environmental impact.” The resultant list of SPCs provides team members a new way to select a construction method, thereby facilitating the sustainable development of built environment.     

Open Space Communities: Resident Perceptions,Nature Benefits,and Problems with Terminology

In residential communities, “open space” is generally considered desirable. Yet what is meant by this term differs widely, with far-reaching environmental and social implications. To investigate these differing perceptions, we queried residents of conventional and conservation subdivisions in the same township regarding their nearby natural environment and other aspects of their residential context. While study participants considered “nature view from home” a top priority, the content of these views differed substantially. The most preferred views, of wooded areas, were relatively unavailable in the conventional communities. Yet these subdivisions might more accurately be experienced as “open.” The results of our study thus point to the potential for misunderstandings about “open space” preservation. We conclude with suggestions concerning communication, ordinances, and opportunities for simultaneously benefiting people and the environment.     

Swedish Production of Sustainable Urban Imaginaries in China

Sweden and the broader region of Scandinavia have been widely praised for their efforts to develop and promote models of sustainability for the rest of the world. Swedish international architecture and urban planning firms are driven by the advantage of being able to brand their projects as “Sustainable and Scandinavian.” In this sense, “the sustainable city” has become a Swedish service to export. In order to strengthen a coherent image of Swedish sustainable urban development, in, 2007, the Swedish Trade Council initiated a marketing platform for eco-profiled companies under the name of “SymbioCity.” This paper seeks to explore the production of imaginaries at play in the performance of “SymbioCity.” It especially addresses the way in which notions of progress and a better city life were presented to Chinese audiences in the Swedish pavilion at the World Expo in Shanghai in 2010. The Swedish pavilion is here regarded as a node in the export of a wider network of Swedish sustainable urban planning services. I argue that the imaginaries that Sweden produces through activities associated with the SymbioCity underlines a view that equates “progress” with the notion of “decoupling” of economic growth and CO₂-emissions. In presenting an image of decoupling as a Swedish experience possible to transfer to China, it also establishes views of progress as linear and space as static. Using the term “absent presence” opens up a counter narrative, which turns decoupling as a Swedish experience into a myth and raises the need for urban imaginaries based on a relational view of space.     

Care and cleanliness of the environment in public places: a survey of Kibbutzim in Israel

It is argued that the problems of environmental pollution, and those of the inadequacy of formal social control mechanisms in contemporary societies are the unintended dysfunctional consequences of two separate but interrelated clusters of change processes. Consequently, solutions to the former require a thorough study of the latter in their relation to behaviour of individuals vis a vis the physical environment in public places.

A survey of all 332 kibbutzim in Israel, conducted in 1973, assessed the level of “active care” (i.e. landscaping, lawns, trees, etc.) and “cleanliness” (i.e. absence of litter, refuse, etc.) found in eleven different locations in each kibbutz. Although kibbutzim are generally considered rural settlements, the data showed a typically urban reliance on “the authorities” to take care of the appearance of public places. Further analysis indicated that at least three variables are systematically related to this normative pattern: residential instability, age of settlement, and population size. Other background variables considered and analyzed were not found to be statistically related to active care and cleanliness.     

The aeolian project: a MAB‐UNESCO investigation to promote sustainable tourism in the mediterranean area

The Aeolian archipelago is undergoing social and economical changes that threaten its natural and cultural patrimony, which is also the essence of a tourist appeal, as an image of uncontaminated sites, where nature's ancestral phenomena and seasonal rhythms are experienced. Salina island may serve as a prototype for exploring the possibility of implementing conservation strategies compatible with human needs, landscape preservation and sustainable economic development. By means of the CORINE methodology, “ecological sensitivity” (from a functional viewpoint) and “ecological vulnerability” (either physical or ecological) maps have been drawn to objectively quantify the environmental risk. Some final remarks are devoted to clarify the concepts of “environmental perception” and “citizens’ consent”.     

Reflections on Computational Design Through Interactions With Materiality and Physical Mock-Ups

Abstract

The “Medium is the Message” is an environmental art installation project intended to explore the interrelationship of art and democracy upon the platform of public space. The various attempts at instigating dialogue and public engagement have served to demonstrate Michael Sorkin's premise that “the accommodation of differences is the key project of contemporary democracy.” This active engagement in contemporary social issues provides a framework for deeper understanding of academic knowledge in the design professions and opens up potential for its future application, unveiling public space as the critical stage upon which positions of identity are established and negotiated.     

The New Regionalism: Key Characteristics of an Emerging Movement

This article analyzes the emergence of a “new regionalism” and situates this movement within the historical evolution of regional planning. Key characteristics include (1) a focus on specific territories and spatial planning; (2) a response to the particular problems of the postmodern metropolitan region; (3) a holistic perspective that integrates planning specialties as well as environmental, equity, and economic goals; (4) a renewed emphasis on physical planning, urban design, and sense of place; and (5) a more activist or normative stance on the part of planners. The implementation of new regionalist concepts is likely to come about not through top-down regional government, but through incremental development of social capital, institutions, ad hoc partnerships, and frameworks of incentives and mandates between existing levels of government.     

Assessment of building conditions

This paper describes the work regarding assessment of building conditions within the TOBUS project [1], a European project to develop a tool for selecting Office Building Upgrading Solutions. The condition assessment covers the degree and extent of physical degradation and the work necessary to renovate office buildings including the associated costs. A common-agreed European checklist for building objects, which has been sub-divided into types, has been defined. The checklist is not only used for assessment of the need for retrofitting due to physical degradation, but is also used for the assessment of the functional obsolescence and to identify and redress the causes for complaints from the users of the building on indoor environmental quality (IEQ). A database has been prepared in which the physical deterioration of each object and each type is described by the use of four degradation codes: “a”, “b”, “c” and “d”. Accordingly, a database with four work codes has been prepared in which the nature of work required for retrofitting the building object is defined. Also a cost related database has been established.     

工程项目风险承载力：内涵界定与评价思路

从适宜性视角构建社会适宜——生态适宜——经济适宜的“SCS-ELS-ENS”评价指标体系,在评价思路上先分别测度项目社会适宜子系统、生态适宜子系统和经济适宜子系统的运行水平,然后通过协调度函数对三个子系统之间的协调关系进行评价,以三个子系统运行的协调程度来表征工程项目风险承载力的大小。协调度越高表明工程项目风险承载力越好。在管控工程项目的外部风险时,必须重视社会适宜--生态适宜--经济适宜子系统的均衡性。     

某市地铁10号线五和站换乘节点改造方案研究

随着城市轨道交通体系的快速发展,部分城市已经进入轨道交通网络化时代.换乘车站将是轨道交通网络化的重要节点,工程建设中新建车站与既有车站换乘节点衔接已经是轨道交通建设的重点工程.由于部分车站前期预留接口、换乘通道等无法满足远期客流需求的问题,亟需通过对既有车站预留接口进行改造,以满足换乘站近远期功能需求.深圳市地铁10号...     

Residential cluster based on climate and energy considerations

Responsive architecture in general and solar design in particular have been directed in recent years mainly towards the development of individual buildings. This article presents a project for the design of a cluster of 100 residential units in the cold highlands of the Israeli desert — the Negev. The project shows the transformation of environmental conditions to built form at different scales: the entire cluster, the individual building and the architectural components of the building. The trajectory of the sun in winter and summer, the direction of strong disturbing winds, and the daily and annual temperature readings are form determinants that establish the structure of the project.It is suggested that an expansion of this design approach can create a “solar urbanism” that will enhance the adaptation of settlements to their environments and thus form a “new sense of place” that so often does not exist in contemporary town planning and architecture.This project is the winning entry of a national competition for the design of “an urban cluster based on climate and energy considerations” organized by the Ministries of Housing & Construction, and Energy & Infrastructure, together with the Israeli Association of Engineers and Architects.     

Beyond the BIM utopia: Approaches to the development and implementation of building information modeling

Building information modeling (BIM) refers to a combination or a set of technologies and organizational solutions that are expected to increase interorganizational and disciplinary collaboration in the construction industry and to improve the productivity and quality of the design, construction, and maintenance of buildings. In this paper we analyze first the rhetorical–promotional dimension of the BIM implementation sometimes characterized as a “BIM utopia.” Second, we analyze the views of the enhancement of BIM implementation. Although BIM visions and promises are needed for BIM implementation, they need to be complemented with a more realistic view of conditions of the implementation. For this we outline an activity–theoretical and evolutionary view by drawing conceptual tools from science and technology studies and other relevant social scientific literature. According to this view, in addition to standards and guidelines underlined by normative approaches, local experimentation and continuous learning play a central role in the implementation of BIM.     

The integration of social capital and knowledge management – The key challenge for international development and cooperation projects of nonprofit organizations

Nonprofit, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) are important actors in international development (ID) who implement trillions of dollars’ worth of projects annually. As with other organizations delivering projects, ID NGOs seem to be failing many stakeholders due to poor delivery of results. Lack, and mismanagement, of social links and knowledge resources have been identified as the biggest challenges of ID NGOs in reaching vulnerable beneficiary populations. We have explored ID NGOs’ social capital and knowledge management systems in order to propose an integrated model to optimize ID NGO project management through social resources embedded into organizational structures. The integrated model we propose enables multi-stakeholder engagement in all phases of project life cycle, building a culture of accountability and respect. This model also helps promote smart and flexible solutions to the “wicked” problems ID projects often grapple with, as well as timely adaptation to changed circumstances and unforeseen or challenging events.     

Partnerships for disability-inclusive road development in Papua New Guinea: Unusual suspects and equivocal gains

This article examines how an action research partnership developed and then influenced social justice outcomes during a 3-year research project to promote disability-inclusive road development in Papua New Guinea. The purpose of this article is to reflect on possible reasons why this partnership obtained certain positive results and not others. By reflecting on how the partnership developed, transformed over time, engendered achievements and failures, and affected the individuals and organizations involved in it, I aim to contribute to the understanding of how collaborative research partnerships can better promote the rights of those who are often marginalized from public space and decision-making. In this case study, neo-colonialism and underlying tensions between engineering and social development “world views”, both within and between partners, affected both positive outcomes and lost opportunities in terms of improving the lives of people with disabilities.     

徽州传统聚落与人居的可持续发展

借鉴当代可持续发展观、阐述徽州传统聚落在规划选址、营造技术和水口园林等方面蕴涵着可持续的技术与生态发展观，分析其演变的经济文化背景，提出“更新、保护、改造”是传统民居可持续发展的途径。     

The panopticon prison as a “social condenser”: The study of the project for De Koepel prison by Rem Koolhaas/OMA (1979–1988)

Rem Koolhaas/OMA carried out the study for De Koepel prison throughout a decade (1979–1988). However, only its initial stages (1979–1980) were disclosed and have been investigated. The hypothesis presented in this article suggests that Koolhaas implemented his —then— recent thesis present in Delirious New York (1978) on “life in the metropolis” and the “Culture of Congestion” in the conception and design of this project. Thus, this article has the aim of examining —by means of the documents compelling the entire period of the study— how the project suggested transforming the domesticity of De Koepel prison into a “social condenser” of the contemporary metropolis. By doing so, it makes it possible to consider the role of this project within the first decade of Koolhaas' career as an architect (1978–1989), and to establish that Delirious New York is, in fact, the theory on which it was based on when first conceived. This project anticipated the strategy and the methodology he implemented, at a later time, in other projects, offering a different perspective. On this occasion, this diagrammatic investigation took place in Bentham's Panopticon; reason why, he was then able to develop the reflections on heterotopias and prisons carried out by Foucault.     

AIP Members in Armed Forces of the United States

Widely assumed in planning practice and theory is the “instrumental” view that planning can and must be limited to the “value-free” consideration of alternative public policy means. However, value-free planning is impossible in principle because planning is essentially political. In addition, attempts to deal with planning's “ethical” issues by pragmatic politics and claims to professionalism have been in adequate. More fundamentally, the work of contemporary philosophers suggests that, contrary to the “logical-positivist” position of the instrumental view, ethical decisions can be rationally justified in ways similar to those of the empirical sciences. This position provides the intellectual foundation for normative planning as the rational evaluation of both the means and ends of public policy.