Development of a building sustainability assessment method (BSAM) for developing countries in sub-Saharan Africa

The consideration of the regional context in the development of green building rating systems is well established in the extant literature, and this informs the development of a sustainability assessment method for sub-Saharan Africa. Hence, a multi-expert consultation method was carried out in Nigeria which is the largest economy in the region. This was performed via a structured questionnaire survey and interview approaches to identify the key sustainability assessment criteria, assign score-weights to the various criteria, and establish the certification grading system of buildings. The developed Building Sustainability Assessment Method (BSAM) scheme and its weighted criteria were validated using two existing building case studies. The established BSAM scheme was compared to six widely used green building rating systems. The comparative analysis reveals that the score-weights and priorities of the BSAM scheme were remarkably different from the existing rating systems. The study findings also show the increasing focus on the indoor environmental quality and energy criteria by all the rating systems. The developed BSAM scheme, meanwhile, has adequately considered the three main pillars of sustainable development unlike the existing green rating tools. Hence, it is expected for the proposed BSAM scheme to promote greener buildings and enhance sustainable urban development in the region

Barriers to the Integration of BIM and Sustainability Practices in Construction Projects: A Delphi Survey of International Experts

The built environment faces numerous challenges in its quest to be more productive and sustainable, and to the adoption of a smart and creative process of carrying out the various operations. This study aims to investigate the profound barriers faced by construction stakeholders in their attempts to integrate BIM and sustainability practices in the construction processes. A two-round Delphi survey formed the basis of aggregating consensus among the expert panel based on a set of 38 factors derived via content analysis of previous research studies. Descriptive and inferential tests were employed for data analysis, and the results validated using the interrater agreement analysis. The three key barriers by descending order of significance are industry's resistance to change from traditional working practices, an extended period of adapting to innovative technologies and the lack of understanding of the processes and workflows required for BIM and sustainability. Deductions were also made based on the comparative analysis of the expert groups. The findings will advance the implementation of BIM and sustainability practices in construction projects and enable project stakeholders to focus on addressing the critical challenges discussed in this study

Global Incidence and mortality of oesophageal cancer and their correlation with socioeconomic indicators temporal patterns and trends in 41 countries

Oesophageal cancers (adenocarcinomas [AC] and squamous cell carcinomas [SCC]) are characterized by high incidence/mortality in many countries. We aimed to delineate its global incidence and mortality, and studied whether socioeconomic development and its incidence rate were correlated. The age-standardized rates (ASRs) of incidence and mortality of this medical condition in 2012 for 184 nations from the GLOBOCAN database; national databases capturing incidence rates, and the WHO mortality database were examined. Their correlations with two indicators of socioeconomic development were evaluated. Joinpoint regression analysis was used to generate trends. The ratio between the ASR of AC and SCC was strongly correlated with HDI (r = 0.535 [men]; r = 0.661 [women]) and GDP (r = 0.594 [men]; r = 0.550 [women], both p < 0.001). Countries that reported the largest reduction in incidence in male included Poland (Average Annual Percent Change [AAPC] = −7.1, 95%C.I. = −12,−1.9) and Singapore (AAPC = −5.8, 95%C.I. = −9.5,−1.9), whereas for women the greatest decline was seen in Singapore (AAPC = −12.3, 95%C.I. = −17.3,−6.9) and China (AAPC = −5.6, 95%C.I. = −7.6,−3.4). The Philippines (AAPC = 4.3, 95%C.I. = 2,6.6) and Bulgaria (AAPC = 2.8, 95%C.I. = 0.5,5.1) had a significant mortality increase in men; whilst Columbia (AAPC = −6.1, 95%C.I. = −7.5,−4.6) and Slovenia (AAPC = −4.6, 95%C.I. = −7.9,−1.3) reported mortality decline in women. These findings inform individuals at increased risk for primary prevention

Construction, application and validation of selection evaluation model (SEM) for intelligent HVAC control system

Design teams are confronted with the quandary of choosing apposite building control systems to suit the needs of particular intelligent building projects, due to the availability of innumerable ‘intelligent’ building products and a dearth of inclusive evaluation tools. This paper is organised to develop a model for facilitating the selection evaluation for intelligent HVAC control systems for commercial intelligent buildings. To achieve these objectives, systematic research activities have been conducted to first develop, test and refine the general conceptual model using consecutive surveys; then, to convert the developed conceptual framework into a practical model; and, finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of the model by means of expert validation. The results of the surveys are that ‘total energy use’ is perceived as the top selection criterion, followed by the‘system reliability and stability’, ‘operating and maintenance costs’, and ‘control of indoor humidity and temperature’. This research not only presents a systematic and structured approach to evaluate candidate intelligent HVAC control system against the critical selection criteria (CSC), but it also suggests a benchmark for the selection of one control system candidate against another

Development of intelligence analytic models for integrated building management systems (IBMS) in intelligent buildings

With the availability of innumerable ‘intelligent’ building products and the dearth of inclusive evaluation tools, design teams are confronted with the quandary of choosing the apposite building control systems to suit the needs of a particular intelligent building project. The paucity of measures that represent the degree of system intelligence and indicate the desirable goal in intelligent building control systems design inhibits the consumers from comparing numerous products from the viewpoint of intelligence. This article is designed to develop a model for facilitating the system intelligence analysis for the integrated building management system (IBMS) in the intelligent building. To achieve these objectives, systematic research activities are conducted to first develop, test and refine the general conceptual model using consecutive surveys; then, to convert the developed conceptual framework to the practical model; and, finally, to evaluate the effectiveness of the practical model by means of expert validation. The findings of this study suggest that IBMS has a distinctive set of intelligence attributes and indicators. The research findings also indicate that operational benefits of the intelligent building exert a considerable degree of influence on the relative importance of intelligence indicators of the IBMS in the model. This research suggests a benchmark to measure the degree of intelligence of one control system candidate against another