Alternatieven voor Portland Cement in ontwikkelingslanden onderzocht : continue-kalkoven maakt toepassing van kalk pozzolaan cement mogelijk

In de discussie over bouwmaterialen in ontwikkelingslanden wordt vaak gepleit voor alternatieven voor Portland Cement. De productie van Portland Cement is kapitaal- en energie-intensief en draagt weinig bij aan de ontwikkeling van deze landen. De klein schaliger productie van alternatieven voor Portland Cement is sociaal-economisch veel gunstiger. Ecologisch gezien blijken deze alternatieven het echter af te leggen tegen het ‘high-tech’ bouwmateriaal Portland Cement. De oplossing zou gezocht kunnen worden in investeringen in moderne, kleinschalige technologieen voor zowel de productie van Portland Cement als ook van alternatieven daarvoor

Innovations in Domotics : fulfilling potential or hampered by prevailing technological regime?

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning, as well as the drivers, of innovation in theory and practice for gaining insight into the reasons why the diffusion of innovative technologies fails; even though they promise a superior performance compared to incumbent technologies. The paper describes an explorative study of the diffusion of domotics technologies in residential construction. Design/methodology/approach – Innovation systems theory, which points to the technological regime in the actor network as a key element in the diffusion, acceptance, and application of new technologies was used to analyse the diffusion of domotics technologies in residential construction. Findings – The results underscored the expected bottlenecks in the technological regime of the innovation system that curtailed the diffusion of domotics technologies in construction. Originality/value – The novelty of the paper is in the approach of the research and the collected data on the technological regime amongst the stakeholders. These stakeholders were principally involved in development and implementation of the domotics technologies in residential construction; these observations provided useful insights into the diffusion of domotics technologies

Technology and Knowledge Transfer for Capability Building in the Ghanaian Construction Industry

This paper presents the findings of a needs assessment (NA) which served to determine the particular needs for Institutuion (IB) and Capability Building (CB) in the Construction Industry (CI) for the upgrading of Building Technology (BT) education at two selected Polytechnics (PTs) in Ghana. The NA is part of a project, carried out to contribute to the improvement of the CI by means of Technology and Knowledge Transfers (TKTs) for IB and CB at PTs in Ghana. The methodological approach is multidisciplinary. The paper discusses the Ghanaian education system, particularly education in BT; the state of art of education programs, staff capabilities, teaching materials and facilities for the BTech and MTech curricula in BT. It concludes with recommendations for strategies for TKTs, IB and CB, and the organisation and teaching in the Ghanaian context

Sustainable lifepans of building systems in urban coastal tropical settlements : a literature review assessment methods

Many coastal settlements in humid tropical developing countries face the burdens of risks due to their location as well as due to a rather low quality of housing that does not meet the requirements of sustainability. The main aim of the paper is to investigate and identify the existing methodologies for the determination and adaptation of the performance for low cost housing in urban coastal tropical settlements towards improved sustainability. For this purpose a literature study was carried out whereby the existing methodologies are assessed by particularly investigating whether and how the sustainability requirements posed at present by the inhabitants as well as the possibility of future changes of these requirements during the lifespan of the houses are taken into account. Another aspect that was included is whether and how the local context such as that of urban coastal tropical settlements are taken into account in the assessment methodologies. This paper describes the literature review results on the assessment method and methodologies that have been used in previous research. The paper’s relevance is to provide proposals and recommendations for the development of methodological approaches to analyze building systems and research instruments that can be used for the assessment of context-dependent sustainability and lifespan performance of building systems. The methodology and research tools that will be developed are to be applied in a survey amongst low cost housing projects in urban tropical coastal settlements at Java, Indonesia. Once the performance of existing technologies as well as the features of the context in which they are applied is known, it will be possible to adapt or develop technologies that better respond to the contextual requirements. By means of applying the developed methodology and research tools in the survey also their usefulness will be validated for the purpose of increasing the insight and understanding of the sustainability and lifespan performance of building systems, particularly of those building systems that can be applied in low cost housing in urban coastal tropical settlements in developing countries. Key words: sustainability and lifespan, building systems, urban coastal tropical settlements, developing countries

Sustainable construction : towards a strategic approach to construction material management for waste reduction

The construction sector plays a key role in shaping and developing the built environment. It also has an undisputed and significant impact on it due to the amounts of materials extracted and produced as waste. The construction industry has emphasized to recycling construction waste (CW), however, relatively less emphasis has been paid on construction waste minimization. CW reduction can be achieved through changes in design concepts, material and construction methods selection and material management and very few studies are found in the literature related to these topics

The need for post-occupancy evaluation of public apartment buildings in Ghana

\u3cp\u3ePurpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine and show why post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of public apartment buildings in Ghana as a product of design is important. Design/methodology/approach: By design the paper is descriptive. It uses a literature review as a method to summarize, synthesize and show the gaps in the existing knowledge on public apartment buildings in general and Ghana in particular. These arguments are brought together in a conceptual framework for approaching POE studies. Findings: This paper finds that gaps exist in the existing POE research knowledge regarding public apartment buildings in Ghana not only as residential settings but also as designed artifacts intended for use. Research limitations/implications: There is a need for scientific research which focus on the design and use of public apartment buildings in Ghana to provide empirical basis for design, policy and research decision-making. Social implications: This paper shows that occupants’ feedback information is important, as it can benefits government, designers and builders, building regulators and managers, as well as end users. Originality/value: The paper contributes a conceptual framework based on which POE studies can be designed.\u3c/p\u3

Towards sustainable infrastructure development in Africa : design principles and strategies for lifespan-based building performance

Societies and economies the world over develop on the wheels of infrastructure. In Africa, it accounts for about one-third to one-half of all public investment (Kessides, 1993). Significant about infrastructure in general, however is the fact that they have very long lives. Consequently, their impact on capital investment, resource utilization, the quality of the environment and overall quality of human life can be very significant. It is important therefore that they meet performance requirements in terms of economic, ecological and social sustainability. By the same token, their long lifespan fraught the design task with enormous amount of uncertainties, compounding the already ill-defined nature of design problems. Given that change is importune, and the fact that it is impracticable to foresee all the changes that will occur over time, a defining characteristic of all infrastructure will be the capacity to respond to change. Focusing on the case of buildings, this paper presents a discussion on some design principles and strategies which assure responsiveness to change and hence sustainable performance. Although the concepts have been advocated for over half a century now, studies show that they still remain marginal to the design profession. To clarify the concepts for research questioning and extension of knowledge, this paper seeks to examine their basic tenets with the view to harmonize the core principles and strategies. A literature review method is used with examples from field observations where necessary. The paper first attempts to review and harmonize these principles, and highlights the practical usefulness. It then highlights the implications for research and development in building technology as well as technology capacity building for sustainable infrastructure development in Africa

A typological analysis of public apartment buildings in Ghana

\u3cp\u3eTypological studies are considered useful because they help trace and understand the changes in building characteristics from the past to the present. This knowledge serves as a basis for improvement and change in future designs. In Ghana, although different designs have been applied to public apartments since independence, it is not known what their typologies are in generic forms. This makes it difficult to raise research questions for post-occupancy evaluation and to formulate and test research hypothesis with respect to the relation between design attributes and use requirements. This study analyzes and presents a typological view of the public apartment buildings in Ghana synchronically using designs over the past five decades. A reductionist approach to data analysis, qualitative in nature, is used to describe the plan form characteristics of the designs, using the form of access – vertical and horizontal – as the criteria. The study found 11 mutually exclusive design typologies, the most dominant of which is the single central staircase with lobby access. The study builds on existing knowledge and contributes to knowledge and understanding with respect to the typo-morphological characteristics of public apartment buildings in Ghana.\u3c/p\u3