digital 3d control room for healthcare

The building process is in an evolutionary phase dictated by the constructive innovations and the digital revolution that has involved the tools and the technical and design contents of the entire life cycle of buildings. In this context, the operators of the sector need to develop organizational models capable of protecting and managing the conceptual and scale transition, between the conceptual framework of the architecture and the subsequent ones of construction, use and management. In the development of complex projects the elaboration of the organizational model is in fact fundamental to reach adequate figurative, performance and qualitative levels by incorporating the necessary contents of environmental, economic and management sustainability of buildings. This text illustrates the development of a horizontal organizational model for the smart and dynamic control of complex buildings through the creation of an innovative digital Web-Based platform capable of integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) technology with a "Facility Management platform". The project involves experimentation applied to a real case involving the restructuring of a complex building

Outlining a new collaborative business model as a result of the green Building Information Modelling impact in the AEC supply chain

BIM (Building Information Modelling) technological push has enabled to integrate the design/construction outcomes of 3D-CAD along the product/service AEC (Architecture, Engineering and Construction) SC (supply chain) through an intelligent DMS (Data Management System) based on standard and interoperable data formats. The proposed end-to-end approach overcomes a typical AEC gap, enables the operationalisation of the sustainable/green building LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) and puts together new collaborative relationships with the owner, among SC stakeholders and with new forms of BIM procurement. The outlined collaborative business model is based on the Quality Control and Assurance framework and provides conceptual consistency to the reintroduction of the owner concerns/satisfaction in the SC, as well as enables consistent and accountable relationships between (smart)materials procurement and building specification. An expert’s focus group carried out a preliminary check of the model’s interest/applicability, resulting in recommendations for its further detailing and for propositions development into a systematic enquiring process.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Knowledge-based Lean Six Sigma Maintenance System for Sustainable Buildings

YesPurpose– This paper develops a Knowledge-based (KB) System for Lean Six Sigma (LSS) Maintenance in environmentally Sustainable Buildings (Lean6-SBM). Design/methodology/approach– The Lean6-SBM conceptual framework has been developed using the rule base approach of KB system and joint integration with Gauge Absence Prerequisites (GAP) technique. A comprehensive literature review is given for the main pillars of the framework with a typical output of GAP analysis. Findings– Implementation of LSS in the sustainable building maintenance context requires a pre-assessment of the organisation’s capabilities. A conceptual framework with a design structure is proposed to tackle this issue with the provision of an enhancing strategic and operational decision making hierarchy. Research limitations/implications– Future research work might consider validating this framework in other type of industries. Practical implications– Maintenance activities in environmentally sustainable buildings must take prodigious standards into consideration and, therefore, a robust quality assurance measure has to be integrated. Originality/value– The significance of this research is to present a novel use of hybrid KB/GAP methodologies to develop a Lean6-SBM system. The originality and novelty of this approach will assist in identifying quality perspectives while implementing different maintenance strategies in the sustainable building context.Ministry of Defence Engineering Services (Sultanate of Oman

Financial feasibility of end-user designed rainwater harvesting and greywater reuse systems for high water use households

© 2017, The Author(s). Water availability pressures, competing end-uses and sewers at capacity are all drivers for change in urban water management. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) and greywater reuse (GWR) systems constitute alternatives to reduce drinking water usage and in the case of RWH, reduce roof runoff entering sewers. Despite the increasing popularity of installations in commercial buildings, RWH and GWR technologies at a household scale have proved less popular, across a range of global contexts. For systems designed from the top-down, this is often due to the lack of a favourable cost-benefit (where subsidies are unavailable), though few studies have focused on performing full capital and operational financial assessments, particularly in high water consumption households. Using a bottom-up design approach, based on a questionnaire survey with 35 households in a residential complex in Bucaramanga, Colombia, this article considers the initial financial feasibility of three RWH and GWR system configurations proposed for high water using households (equivalent to >203L per capita per day). A full capital and operational financial assessment was performed at a more detailed level for the most viable design using historic rainfall data. For the selected configuration (‘Alt 2’), the estimated potable water saving was 44% (equivalent to 131m3/year) with a rate of return on investment of 6.5% and an estimated payback period of 23years. As an initial end-user-driven design exercise, these results are promising and constitute a starting point for facilitating such approaches to urban water management at the household scale

Multi-objective genetic algorithm optimization model for energy efficiency of residential building envelope under different climatic conditions in Egypt

The energy sector is always facing huge challenges specially in countries with highly inflated population where the building sector has more pressure to reduce energy consumption. To achieve more energy efficiency in residential buildings with lower life cycle cost (LCC) and enhanced thermal comfort conditions, this study develops a multi-objective genetic algorithm model for the three major climates in Egypt (Mediterranean, semi-arid and arid). The design variables considered include external wall type, roof type, window to wall ratio (WWR), building orientation, HVAC system setpoint and HVAC operation schedule. Available sustainable materials in Egypt are considered for building envelope alternatives, such as limestone and polyurethane expanded. The main findings from the study approved that the optimum solutions in all climates have successfully balanced the reduction in energy consumption and LCC. However, the discomfort hours in both Mediterranean and Semi-arid climates have less reduction percentages compared to the arid climate. © 2021 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Energy Performance Analysis of Building Envelopes

The building sector has a high level of energy consumption caused mainly by the buildings heating and cooling energy demands to satisfy indoor comfort requirements. Reducing both the amount of energy consumed and the life cycle cost is a main challenge for the construction of buildings. It is evident that sustainable materials have low environmental impacts and need low consumption of energetic resources in addition to their durability and recyclability. Therefore, this research aims to test different sustainable materials available in Egypt for the construction of building envelopes that include local stones "Marble and Limestone"and insulation materials "Polyurethane-expanded and Extruded polystyrene (XPS) foam"in order to achieve savings in energy and total life cycle cost. The simulation tests were conducted through Design Builder software. The results aim to provide solutions for building designers to achieve energy-efficiency and costeffective design. The proposed alternatives showed a significant reduction in energy consumption by up to 62% and the total life cycle costs significantly reduced by up to 45.8%. © 2021 Ibrahim Motawa et al., published by Sciendo 2021

Development and evaluation of a company-level budgeting technique incorporating future construction contracts

One of the main challenges facing construction contractors is incorporating future, unknown contracts into their annual financial budgets. This paper reviews current academic work in this area and argues that computer based simulation techniques are too complex to be adopted in the industry. Therefore, an alternative and a more simple technique need to be developed and evaluated for accuracy and usefulness. The paper demonstrates that as the pattern of winning construction contracts lacks any seasonality, it may be possible to assume all future work to be starting on one point in time, and by using an average standard value build up curve, average duration and the total value work needed, contractors may be able to estimate the number of contracts they will need to win over the following year. The paper evaluates the above assumption through hypothetical scenarios (developed using a detailed computer based simulation model) and two real case studies whereby company-level project data were analysed. Results showed that assumption of no seasonality needs to be revised and that a method by which a company specific average staring date is calculated should be developed

Modelling the implementation of technological innovations in construction

Effective implementation of technological innovation in construction requires an understanding of the complexity underpinning the process. Most innovative projects do not fulfil their time and cost objectives and it is essential for construction organisations to plan and control the implementation of any innovative concept. Decision support techniques and tools developed to assess new technologies mainly focus on evaluating alternative technologies, with very little attention being paid to the implementation phase. Effective innovation management should aim to ensure the smooth running of innovative projects within controlled budgets and time scales. Models that simulate the implementation of innovations need to consider the effect of experimentation, iteration and refinement of activities that are reliant on volatile information. This paper introduces a conceptual model that deals with the effectiveness of "Implementing inNOVations In Construction Engineering Technologies" (INOVICET). It includes the model's hypothesis, techniques and application in a case study. The model identifies iterations within the innovation process and schedules activities taking into account stochastic analyses of the information affect on the implementation. The model incorporates a fuzzy logic approach to evaluate the performance indicators used to assess this implementation