Exploring the Tapestry of Real Estate Value

Real Estate’s value is unquestioned in terms of its measure financially and in economics. But there are forms and areas of value that do not lend themselves to easy or obvious modes of measurement and whilst these may be appreciated, they are not easily formally assessed or measured. This paper looks into the ‘tapestry’ of real estate value, recognizing that tapestries comprise multiple threads that are woven together to reveal a pattern or picture that can only be appreciated when the observer takes a step back and considers the contribution made by these multiple threads.The paper is conceptual and draws on both existing theories and cases. These are linked via the use of the ‘triple bottom line’ approach to the recording of areas of value: economic, social and environmental. The paper considers the concept of value and the definition of real estate and, from weaving together the various concepts of value and illustrations of cases that illustrate aspects of the variety of value creation and destruction, seeks to reveal a rich, diverse and underappreciated world of real estate value.The paper’s conclusion reflects on the need to bring different views and expertise together and notes the creation of a new academically created forum that is being opened to further explore and understand better these many and varied areas of value that are in and from real estate

Assessing the effectiveness of national solar and wind energy policies in South Africa

The report assesses the progress made on renewable energy deployment for the solar and wind technologies over the last 12 years in South Africa. First the report assesses the potential contribution solar water heaters (SWHs), concentrating solar power (CSP), large-scale photovoltaic (PV) farms and wind technology can bring to South Africa’s energy demand by 2030. It highlights what the mid-term potential for each is by 2030 and compares this with the deployment of each over the past 12 years. From this a renewable energy policy effectiveness value is calculated based on the method developed in the Deploying Renewables Report (IEA, 2008a) and this is critically assessed. Finally, the report assesses the factors involved in renewable energy deployment, or the lack thereof, in South Africa and discusses recent developments in the field. The compilation of this paper was based on desktop reviews; data interpretation from multiple sources; expert opinion of the authors and peer reviewers; and interviews with experts in the field. A number of interviews were conducted at the ISES International Solar Energy Society Conference in October 2009 and the Energy 2010 Indaba in February 2010. The data used in this report to formulate the projections is from a number of sources and has been independently reviewed

Large-scale rollout of concentrating solar power in South Africa

As part of Climate Strategies ‘International Support for Domestic Climate Policies’ project this paper assesses the large-scale rollout of CSP in South Africa. Described as a Nationally Appropriate Mitigation Action (NAMA), the scale of CSP deployment is determined, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions saved and incremental investment costs are estimated in line with the modelling outcomes of the Long-Term Mitigation Scenarios (LTMS) for South Africa (Chapter 2). Based on a stakeholder workshop held in May 2009 the drivers in support of the rollout of CSP are described, in particular the recently established Renewable Energy Feed-In Tariff (REFIT), and three major barriers relating to technology, regulation and infrastructure are highlighted (Chapter 3). The paper further assesses options of international support in light of the climate change negotiations to overcome the barriers identified (Chapter 4), and lastly, it assesses indicators that may be successful in monitoring the large-scale rollout of CSP (Chapter 5). In this study we define the ‘large-scale’ rollout of CSP in line with the more optimistic ‘renewables extended with learning’ projection modelled in the LTMS of South Africa, as depicted in the figure below. The rollout is characterised by three phases: during the initial ‘Start’ phase, from 2010 to 2015, 2 GW of CSP capacity is constructed; the end of the ‘Scale–up’ phase (2030) results in a 24 GW CSP capacity; and by the completion of the ‘Rollout’ phase (2050) 100GW of CSP capacity should be established. This could result in 3,850 Mt CO2-eq saved over the period 2010-2050 and would require an incremental cost of R 4.7-13 billion per year if CSP technologies experience learning rates of 15 to 20% per year, and less (R 3.6-4.6 billion per year) if the country manages to create a local supply of CSP components. Post-2030, during the ‘Rollout’ phase cost savings are expected to be achieved in South African electricity generation system. Before then the cost to the electricity system is estimate at R2.5 billion for 2010-2015, R 8 billion for 2016-2020 and R23 billion for 2021-2030 above the baseline projection. The rollout could result in approximately 3,800 Mt CO2-eq saved over the period 2010-2050 and the build programme is estimated to require incremental investment costs of R 4-13 billion per year if CSP technologies experience learning rates of 15 to 20% per year, and less – R 2-4.3 billion per year – if the country manages to create a local supply of CSP components

South Africa's renewable energy policy roadmaps

South Africa’s renewable energy policy to date has largely been driven by a 10,000 GWh target by 2013 and renewable energy project subsidies offered through the REFSO. In 2009 a REFIT was published, which has resulted in a great interest by IPPs to develop renewable energy projects in South Africa. Nonetheless, under existing renewable energy policy few renewable energy projects for electricity generation have been deployed. SWHs have seen some market growth in 2008 and 2009 largely facilitated by a SWH subsidy and increased energy awareness due to nation-wide electricity blackouts in 2008

ICIF response to the National Infrastructure Commission: Consultation (cm 9182)

No description supplie

Piezoelectric-based apparatus for strain tuning

We report the design and construction of piezoelectric-based apparatus for applying continuously tuneable compressive and tensile strains to test samples. It can be used across a wide temperature range, including cryogenic temperatures. The achievable strain is large, so far up to 0.23% at cryogenic temperatures. The apparatus is compact and compatible with a wide variety of experimental probes. In addition, we present a method for mounting high-aspect-ratio samples in order to achieve high strain homogeneity.Comment: 8 pages, 8 figure

External cost of electricity generation: contribution to the Integrated Resource Plan 2 for Electricity

The international studies on energy externalities and the local studies in South Africa suggest that the high impact areas for power generation are impacts of climate change and health impacts of outdoor air pollution. Climate change impacts are by far the greatest. The health costs due to outdoor air pollution are considered quite low based on national studies, though these may be underestimated. Damage cost from acid mine drainage is also thought to be significant, and could be substantially higher than reported here. External costs of electricity generation are a necessary factor in modelling the IRP 2. To be consistent, external costs must be added to the modeller’s reference case and to all policy cases or scenarios. In the multiple criteria decision-making process, the external costs should be reported as a distinct criterion. The weighting of this criterion relative to others (cost, carbon, and access) should be discussed with stakeholders. Although the external cost presented here are appropriate for input into the IRP 2, an extensive national review must be completed for future IRPs. Furthermore, the Integrated Energy Plan (IEP) should take additional factors into account: health impacts of indoor air pollution (important in poor households, as well as industry); noise from transport, and other poverty-related issues such as wealth impacts of paraffin fires and burns, and social costs of fuel wood scarcity

Project capabilities for operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings: the case of London Heathrow Terminal 2

Project and strategic management scholarship recognises the importance of project capabilities that allow firms to deliver projects. Although work on project capabilities is a fast-growing line of inquiry, little is still known about how clients assemble project capabilities to achieve operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings. This study seeks to apply theoretical work on project capabilities to the domain of infrastructure project delivery in order to understand how the assembly of project capabilities in temporary inter-organisational settings contributes to the delivery of operational outcomes. The empirical enquiry takes place in the context of the delivery of London Heathrow Terminal 2. Through an inductive theory building approach drawing upon semi-structured interviews with client-side project leadership, internal documents, publicly available data and ongoing engagement with the field, we identified three key capability-enabling mechanisms that help explain the genesis of project capabilities in inter-organisational settings: (1) reconfiguring project capabilities, (2) adapting project capabilities and (3) maintaining project capabilities. We discuss and expand these findings by engaging with theoretical ideas from project studies, and mainstream strategy, organisation, and management research to induce a dynamic model that can be helpful to guide future research, policy and management practices relating to the client side management of project capabilities

Corrigendum to “Project capabilities for operational outcomes in inter-organisational settings: The case of London Heathrow Terminal 2” [Int. J. Proj. Manag., 36 (2018) 444–459]

The authors regret that there was a factual omission in the originally accepted version of the article. The omission refers mainly to the history of changes that occurred during the delivery of the T2 programme in 3.1 Case Context. We next provide a detailed account of the changes sentence by sentence: 1. “When it opened, the terminal hosted 26 airlines, comprising all 23 Star Alliance airlines, plus Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings as non-alliance airlines." changes to “Originally designed to host 18 Star Alliance carriers, when it opened, the terminal hosted 26 airlines, comprising all 23 Star Alliance airlines, plus Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings as non-alliance airlines." 2. “The delivery phase of T2 was no exception in that regard as it experienced a disruption when the public announcement was made (Financial Times, 2012) that British Midland International (BMI) - the main anticipated airline occupier for the new Terminal 2 at the time of drawing up the contract and until that point - had been acquired by the International Airlines Group (IAG) with the consequence that all BMI operations were to be integrated with British Airways (BA) shortly thereafter." changes to “The delivery phase of T2 was no exception in that regard as it experienced a disruption when the public announcement was made (Financial Times 2012) that British Midland International (BMI)- a key Star Alliance occupier and main domestic carrier for the new Terminal 2 - had been acquired by the International Airlines Group (IAG) with the consequence that all BMI operations were to be integrated with British Airways (BA) shortly thereafter." 3. “Given that Heathrow Terminal 5 is BA's main hub and base of operations, the main consequence of this merger was that BMI was going to move its operations to a different terminal, leaving T2 without its main occupier." changes to “As BMI ceased to exist as a company, its routes were absorbed by BA into its operations at Heathrow T5, creating an operational void at T2, particularly affecting the T2A building, which now had to fill a number of unused landing slots." 4. “As a consequence of the unexpected acquisition of BMI, HAL developed and then negotiated a solution in which the new T2 was going to accommodate 23 of the Star Alliance (SA) airlines – a first for any major airport hub. To fully occupy the T2 space, three non-Alliance airlines: Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers would also be accommodated. Because these SA airlines were previously spread across other terminals of Heathrow, SA effectively became the lead occupier of the T2 building, with the goal of ultimately serving 22 million passengers per year from a single hub terminal. The business value-add for the SA to occupy the terminal was in the operational and commercial benefits of the hub-and-spoke model of operations. In other words, members of the alliance would enjoy the benefits of being collocated in a single terminal by improving the quality of service and opportunity for cross-selling of products of the SA member airlines." changes to “As a consequence of the unexpected acquisition of BMI, HAL developed and then negotiated a solution in which the new T2 was now going to accommodate all 23 of the Star Alliance members – a significant change from the original 18 carriers. In addition, to fully occupy the available space, three non-Alliance airlines: Air Lingus, Virgin Atlantic Little Red and Germanwings carriers would also be accommodated. In this manner, Star Alliance effectively became the lead occupier of T2, with the goal of ultimately serving 22 million passengers per year from a single hub terminal. The business value-add for the Star Alliance to fully occupy the terminal was in the operational and commercial benefits of the hub-and-spoke model of operations. In other words, members of the alliance would enjoy the benefits of being co-located in a single terminal by improving the quality of service and opportunity for cross-selling of products of the Star Alliance member airlines." 5. “As opposed to more simplistic technical testing of devices, the trials involved people and were organised in a succession going from trialling the use of specific physical units to entire putting pretend or proxy passengers and their luggage in large areas in a progressively complex effort." changes to “As opposed to more simplistic technical testing of devices, the trials involved volunteers and were organised in a succession going from trialling the use of specific physical units to complex trial scenarios using volunteers and their luggage in large areas in a progressively complex effort." 6. “The second capability-enabling mechanism that emerged as an aggregate dimension from the informant accounts related to how the project responded to an unforeseen event – the BMI merger – and the change from having to accommodate the shift from one airline to 26 airline occupiers." changes to: “The second capability-enabling mechanism that emerged as an aggregate dimension from the informant accounts related to how the project responded to an unforeseen event – the BMI merger – and the change from having to accommodate the shift from the original 18 to the final 26 airline occupiers." 7. “One of such solutions refers to how the project team dealt with the new requirements for the check-in area, originally designed and built to accommodate predominantly one airline, but now having to accommodate 26 different airlines, many of which with very different check-in procedures." changes to: “One of such solutions refers to how the project team dealt with the new requirements for the check-in area, now having to accommodate 26 different airlines, many of which with very different check-in procedures." 8. Sentence “Whist conventional check-in would require 140 counters in the terminal to deal with this situation, there was only enough space for 116." inserted in text after the sentence from point 7 of the corrigendum: The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused