A Multi-criteria Framework for Decision Process in Retrofit Optioneering through Interactive Data Flow

Aim of this research is to deliver a system of procedures and instruments that allows comparing different scenarios of restoration and retrofit of existing buildings applicable each time a relevant decision about the asset has to be made. The system developed takes advantages of Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), thus to focus on main clients’ needs. Decisions about real estate assets are frequently made by managers with incomplete and scattered data, not sufficient to fully support the decision making process. Using a BIM model as a central repository of information could strongly support to compare objectively different scenarios and consequently to decide the application of a multi-criteria matrix involving management, energy, economic and social issues. BIM and BEM (Building Energy Modelling) techniques have a wide potential and analysis capabilities; however, they are often adopted without an integrated framework, causing missing performances and costs overrun. The result is a system enabling to analyze the asset, to produce BIM and BEM models ready to include life cycle data, to evaluate feasible alternatives and scenarios and to extract relevant performance indicators for decision makers’ support. An existing office building in Milan representing an awkward field for intervention is the case study for the system application. While the tools and software adopted are commonly used, the system of procedures developed by the authors can be considered as an ensemble of workflows otherwise typically used independently. Using them together enhance the decision process providing data on which to set up a strategic plan of the refurbishment considering costs, continuity in occupancy and energy efficiency

Green maintenance for historic masonry buildings: An option appraisal approach

Purpose – Sustainability is well understood to encapsulate economic, environmental and societal parameters. The efficiency of maintenance interventions for historic buildings is no exception and also conforms to these broad factors. Recently, environmental considerations for masonry repair have become increasingly important and this work supports this growing area. The purpose of this paper is to give insight on how an option appraisal approach of “Green Maintenance” modelling for historic masonry buildings repair practically determine and ultimately substantiate the decision-making process using a calculation procedures of life cycle assessment, within delineated boundaries. Design/methodology/approach – Calculation procedures of the model enables an assessment of embodied carbon that is expended from different stone masonry wall repair techniques and scenarios for historic masonry buildings during the maintenance phase. Findings – It recognises the importance roles Green Maintenance model can play in reducing carbon emissions and underpins rational decision making for repair selection. Practical implications – It must be emphasised that the calculation procedures presented here, is not confined to historic masonry buildings and can be applied to any repair types and building form. The decisions made as a result of the utilisation of this model practically support environmentally focused conservation decisions. Social implications – The implementation of the model highlights the efficacy of repairs that may be adopted. Originality/value – The paper is a rigorous application and testing of the Green Maintenance model. The model relays the “true” carbon cost of repairs contextualised within the longevity of the materials and its embodied carbon that consequently allows rational appraisal of repair and maintenance options. </jats:sec

Learning Hybrid Neuro-Fuzzy Classifier Models From Data: To Combine or Not to Combine?

To combine or not to combine? Though not a question of the same gravity as the Shakespeare’s to be or not to be, it is examined in this paper in the context of a hybrid neuro-fuzzy pattern classifier design process. A general fuzzy min-max neural network with its basic learning procedure is used within six different algorithm independent learning schemes. Various versions of cross-validation, resampling techniques and data editing approaches, leading to a generation of a single classifier or a multiple classifier system, are scrutinised and compared. The classification performance on unseen data, commonly used as a criterion for comparing different competing designs, is augmented by further four criteria attempting to capture various additional characteristics of classifier generation schemes. These include: the ability to estimate the true classification error rate, the classifier transparency, the computational complexity of the learning scheme and the potential for adaptation to changing environments and new classes of data. One of the main questions examined is whether and when to use a single classifier or a combination of a number of component classifiers within a multiple classifier system

An intelligent assistant for exploratory data analysis

In this paper we present an account of the main features of SNOUT, an intelligent assistant for exploratory data analysis (EDA) of social science survey data that incorporates a range of data mining techniques. EDA has much in common with existing data mining techniques: its main objective is to help an investigator reach an understanding of the important relationships ina data set rather than simply develop predictive models for selectd variables. Brief descriptions of a number of novel techniques developed for use in SNOUT are presented. These include heuristic variable level inference and classification, automatic category formation, the use of similarity trees to identify groups of related variables, interactive decision tree construction and model selection using a genetic algorithm

Applying the lessons of the attack on the World Trade Center, 11th September 2001, to the design and use of interactive evacuation simulations

The collapse of buildings, such as terminal 2E at Paris' Charles de Gaule Airport, and of fires, such as the Rhode Island, Station Night Club tragedy, has focused public attention on the safety of large public buildings. Initiatives in the United States and in Europe have led to the development of interactive simulators that model evacuation from these buildings. The tools avoid some of the ethical and legal problems from simulating evacuations; many people were injured during the 1993 evacuation of the World Trade Center (WTC) complex. They also use many concepts that originate within the CHI communities. For instance, some simulators use simple task models to represent the occupants' goal structures as they search for an available exit. However, the recent release of the report from the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks upon the United States (the '9/11 commission') has posed serious questions about the design and use of this particular class of interactive systems. This paper argues that simulation research needs to draw on insights from the CHI communities in order to meet some the challenges identified by the 9/11 commission

Policy Analysis for Natural Hazards: Some Cautionary Lessons From Environmental Policy Analysis

How should agencies and legislatures evaluate possible policies to mitigate the impacts of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and other natural hazards? In particular, should governmental bodies adopt the sorts of policy-analytic and risk assessment techniques that are widely used in the area of environmental hazards (chemical toxins and radiation)? Environmental hazards policy analysis regularly employs proxy tests, in particular tests of technological feasibility, rather than focusing on a policy\u27s impact on well-being. When human welfare does enter the analysis, particular aspects of well-being, such as health and safety, are often given priority over others. Individual risk tests and other features of environmental policy analysis sometimes make policy choice fairly insensitive to the size of the exposed population. Seemingly arbitrary numerical cutoffs, such as the one-in-one million incremental risk level, help structure policy evaluation. Risk assessment techniques are often deterministic rather than probabilistic, and in estimating point values often rely on conservative rather than central-tendency estimates. The Article argues that these sorts of features of environmental policy analysis may be justifiable, but only on institutional grounds-if they sufficiently reduce decision costs or bureaucratic error or shirking-and should not be reflexively adopted by natural hazards policymakers. Absent persuasive. institutional justification, natural hazards policy analysis should be welfare-focused, multidimensional, and sensitive to population size, and natural hazards risk assessment techniques should provide information suitable for policy-analytic techniques of this sort

Policy Analysis for Natural Hazards: Some Cautionary Lessons From Environmental Policy Analysis

How should agencies and legislatures evaluate possible policies to mitigate the impacts of earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and other natural hazards? In particular, should governmental bodies adopt the sorts of policy-analytic and risk assessment techniques that are widely used in the area of environmental hazards (chemical toxins and radiation)? Environmental hazards policy analysis regularly employs proxy tests, in particular tests of technological feasibility, rather than focusing on a policy\u27s impact on well-being. When human welfare does enter the analysis, particular aspects of well-being, such as health and safety, are often given priority over others. Individual risk tests and other features of environmental policy analysis sometimes make policy choice fairly insensitive to the size of the exposed population. Seemingly arbitrary numerical cutoffs, such as the one-in-one million incremental risk level, help structure policy evaluation. Risk assessment techniques are often deterministic rather than probabilistic, and in estimating point values often rely on conservative rather than central-tendency estimates. The Article argues that these sorts of features of environmental policy analysis may be justifiable, but only on institutional grounds-if they sufficiently reduce decision costs or bureaucratic error or shirking-and should not be reflexively adopted by natural hazards policymakers. Absent persuasive. institutional justification, natural hazards policy analysis should be welfare-focused, multidimensional, and sensitive to population size, and natural hazards risk assessment techniques should provide information suitable for policy-analytic techniques of this sort

A Methodology for the Selection of Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis Methods in Real Estate and Land Management Processes

Real estate and land management are characterised by a complex, elaborate combination of technical, regulatory and governmental factors. In Europe, Public Administrators must address the complex decision-making problems that need to be resolved, while also acting in consideration of the expectations of the different stakeholders involved in settlement transformation. In complex situations (e.g., with different aspects to be considered and multilevel actors involved), decision-making processes are often used to solve multidisciplinary and multidimensional analyses, which support the choices of those who are making the decision. Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods are included among the examination and evaluation techniques considered useful by the European Community. Such analyses and techniques are performed using methods, which aim to reach a synthesis of the various forms of input data needed to define decision-making problems of a similar complexity. Thus, one or more of the conclusions reached allow for informed, well thought-out, strategic decisions. According to the technical literature on MCDA, numerous methods are applicable in different decision-making situations, however, advice for selecting the most appropriate for the specific field of application and problem have not been thoroughly investigated. In land and real estate management, numerous queries regarding evaluations often arise. In brief, the objective of this paper is to outline a procedure with which to select the method best suited to the specific queries of evaluation, which commonly arise while addressing decision-making problems. In particular issues of land and real estate management, representing the so-called “settlement sector”. The procedure will follow a theoretical-methodological approach by formulating a taxonomy of the endogenous and exogenous variables of the multi-criteria analysis method