Combining customer needs and the customer’s way of using the product to set customer-focused targets in the House of Quality

An increasing number of products are equipped with software and sensors. This suggests that, in order to deliver more customised performance, future products will be developed to accommodate systems that supply information on how these products are used. Today, information on the customer’s way of using a product is seldom factored into product design, but the opportunities for making use of it are increasing dramatically due to the amount of available data that can be logged. The proposed methodology is to formulate Customer Needs at a detailed level to be able to link customer satisfaction with a clear interface to the Design Requirements. These links are obtained by combining information acquired by means of surveys, among other methodologies, as well as usage data from customer products. The method is based on the planning House of Quality and also takes cost and risk into consideration. Risk is estimated using the Analytical Hierarchy Process, whereby a hierarchy of the most relevant customer information is constructed to make designers aware of how customer-focused the design process is. To validate the proposed methodology an illustrative example is presented. Results show that the method provides valuable information that enables the company to remain customer-focused during the whole process but also when strategic decisions on price and product launch are made.     

3-D Degradation analysis of railroad ballast

Degradation behaviour of aggregate particles of the size of railroad ballast (32–63 mm) is examined using Los Angeles (LA) milling and 3-D scanning techniques. Seven different rock types were tested at four stages of milling. For the analytical geometry and topography characterization, a new method based on Fourier and power spectra was used. The results are compared with those obtained using geometrical methods and traditional manual measurements. Diminishing of surface roughness and dimensions is evident. The change in roughness was 20–35% and for maximum dimensions of less than 10% in the case of hard rock types. The LA value was less than 15. For the weaker particles values of more than 40% and more than 20%, respectively, were obtained. The fractal dimension approached a value of 2 as a function of milling rates. Electronic Publication     

The Energy Concept Adviser—A tool to improve energy efficiency in educational buildings

Educational buildings such as kindergartens, schools and universities display many similar design, operation and maintenance features in most countries. The two most noteworthy similarities amongst these building types are the high energy consumption and the necessity for retrofitting many buildings within this sector. However, studies have shown that during retrofit, energy saving measures are only rarely applied, because the decision-makers lack knowledge of investments and the efficiency of potential energy saving measures. The main goal of the International Energy Agency ECBCS Annex 36 is to provide the educational building decision-makers with sufficient data, information and tools to improve their learning and teaching environments by improving the energy efficiency of their buildings.     

Design-construct projects : getting value for money

The author describes the value analysis techniques applied in Scandinavian countries to promote new building methods, improve design and contracting procedures and provide better value for the client's money.

The topic forms part of the programme of CIB working group W55 on building economics, on which the author serves. He is head of the economics section of the Danish Building Research Institute.     

Decision modeling and acceptance criteria

This paper is partly tutorial by presenting well known classical decision theory in a slightly untraditional form, but it does also present thinking and results that have not been published in the engineering literature before. The paper introduces the mathematical modeling basis for rational formulation of decision criteria and public acceptance criteria connected to risk analysis of technical operations that may endanger human life and property. Public restrictions on the decisions concerning the design, construction and managing of the technical operation have in the past been imposed on the basis of the frequency and severity of experienced adverse events. No clear rationale to decide how restrictive the public should be in setting a boundary for allowable risk seems to have been applied. To clarify this problem, focus is on the difficulty of simultaneously having two decision makers, the owner that tries to optimize the net gain of the operation, and the public that has somewhat different preferences than the owner, but also strong interests in the success of the owner. The principles of rational decision are needed for appreciation of the problem. Recognizing that there is an insurance compensation value of a human life and a public money equivalent of a human life, where the last value usually is considerably larger than the first value, it is possible from the decision analysis to determine an upper limit that the public should impose on the ratio of the owner's expected loss rate to the expected gain rate. The public money equivalent of a human life is assessed by use of a recently in (Nathwani JS, Lind NC, Pandey MD. Affordable safety by choice: the life quality method. Waterloo, Ontario, Canada: Institute for risk Research, University of Waterloo, 1997) suggested Life Quality Index (LQI) that combines wealth in terms of Gross Domestic Product per person, life expectancy at birth, and yearly work time into a single number. The philosophy behind the published evaluations is that the prevention of a loss of a life is counteracted by a cost such that the LQI remains unchanged (Skjong R, Ronold K. Societal indicators and risk acceptance. In: 17th International Conference on Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, number OMAE98-1488. ASME; 1998; Rackwitz R. Optimization and risk acceptability based on the Life Quality Index. Structural Safety 2002;24:297–331.).     

Exposure and effects assessment of persistent organohalogen contaminants in arctic wildlife and fish

Persistent organic pollutants (POPs) encompass an array of anthropogenic organic and elemental substances and their degradation and metabolic byproducts that have been found in the tissues of exposed animals, especially POPs categorized as organohalogen contaminants (OHCs). OHCs have been of concern in the circumpolar arctic for decades. For example, as a consequence of bioaccumulation and in some cases biomagnification of legacy (e.g., chlorinated PCBs, DDTs and CHLs) and emerging (e.g., brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and in particular polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) and perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and perfluorooctanic acid (PFOA) found in Arctic biota and humans. Of high concern are the potential biological effects of these contaminants in exposed Arctic wildlife and fish. As concluded in the last review in 2004 for the Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP) on the effects of POPs in Arctic wildlife, prior to 1997, biological effects data were minimal and insufficient at any level of biological organization. The present review summarizes recent studies on biological effects in relation to OHC exposure, and attempts to assess known tissue/body compartment concentration data in the context of possible threshold levels of effects to evaluate the risks. This review concentrates mainly on post-2002, new OHC effects data in Arctic wildlife and fish, and is largely based on recently available effects data for populations of several top trophic level species, including seabirds (e.g., glaucous gull (Larus hyperboreus)), polar bears (Ursus maritimus), polar (Arctic) fox (Vulpes lagopus), and Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus), as well as semi-captive studies on sled dogs (Canis familiaris). Regardless, there remains a dearth of data on true contaminant exposure, cause-effect relationships with respect to these contaminant exposures in Arctic wildlife and fish. Indications of exposure effects are largely based on correlations between biomarker endpoints (e.g., biochemical processes related to the immune and endocrine system, pathological changes in tissues and reproduction and development) and tissue residue levels of OHCs (e.g., PCBs, DDTs, CHLs, PBDEs and in a few cases perfluorinated carboxylic acids (PFCAs) and perfluorinated sulfonates (PFSAs)). Some exceptions include semi-field studies on comparative contaminant effects of control and exposed cohorts of captive Greenland sled dogs, and performance studies mimicking environmentally relevant PCB concentrations in Arctic charr. Recent tissue concentrations in several arctic marine mammal species and populations exceed a general threshold level of concern of 1 part-per-million (ppm), but a clear evidence of a POP/OHC-related stress in these populations remains to be confirmed. There remains minimal evidence that OHCs are having widespread effects on the health of Arctic organisms, with the possible exception of East Greenland and Svalbard polar bears and Svalbard glaucous gulls. However, the true (if any real) effects of POPs in Arctic wildlife have to be put into the context of other environmental, ecological and physiological stressors (both anthropogenic and natural) that render an overall complex picture. For instance, seasonal changes in food intake and corresponding cycles of fattening and emaciation seen in Arctic animals can modify contaminant tissue distribution and toxicokinetics (contaminant deposition, metabolism and depuration). Also, other factors, including impact of climate change (seasonal ice and temperature changes, and connection to food web changes, nutrition, etc. in exposed biota), disease, species invasion and the connection to disease resistance will impact toxicant exposure. Overall, further research and better understanding of POP/OHC impact on animal performance in Arctic biota are recommended. Regardless, it could be argued that Arctic wildlife and fish at the highest potential risk of POP/OHC exposure and mediated effects are East Greenland, Svalbard and (West and South) Hudson Bay polar bears, Alaskan and Northern Norway killer whales, several species of gulls and other seabirds from the Svalbard area, Northern Norway, East Greenland, the Kara Sea and/or the Canadian central high Arctic, East Greenland ringed seal and a few populations of Arctic charr and Greenland shark.     

全新可持续加州科学院建筑设计

项目地点:美国加州项目类型:建筑(教育)开工日期:2005年9月该项目综合考虑了可持续性和建筑方面的因素,并将其纳入大型公共建筑之中。该项目获2005年豪瑞可持续建筑大奖赛北美地区银奖