Search

With the existence of studies that confirmed that the quality of Built Environment (BEQ) is the most important factors that affect the quality of life, and In light of the absence of quality in the Egyptian built environment in one or more of its aspects and its repercussions on the behaviors of people living in it, which led to a decrease in the quality of life in general, this research paper seeks to present a model for a comprehensive framework for assessing the BEQ in general. To achieve this goal, a deductive approach is adopted by analysing built environments rating systems, identifying the concept of quality generally and BEQ, starting with the concept of quality, its aspects, and methods of measurement, and to analyse the current methods of assessing BEQ to check its comprehensiveness, followed by the proposed conceptual framework for assessing BEQ and its basic pillars. As a result, a conceptual framework for assessing the BEQ including its pillars and the mechanism of work was proposed. It could be a base for establishing a system for assuring and assessing the quality of the built environment in Egypt as the paper recommend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Egypt's construction sector faces enormous challenges related to the construction phase, the most important of which is a considerable waste of effort, time, and money that may result in increasing the risk of losing projects. Indeed, eliminating such a waste will certainly improve the project performance, thereby enhancing the value of the project stakeholders. The researcher assumes that adopting lean construction (LC) approach is necessary to reduce waste, improve performance, and enhance the performance of the Egyptian construction sector at large. The research relies on a simplified methodology that has several positive outcomes: (1) saving time and cost; (2) boosting quality and safety; and (3) improving management process control, resource management, and relationships between project team members. Therefore, the main objective of the current paper is to examine and analyse the ability of wasteless construction principles to reduce waste in the construction process through an applied case study of a large construction project in Egypt. The study employs lean construction (LC) methodology and utilizes its technologies and tools to reduce waste in construction, particularly at the finishing stage, measuring their effectiveness in achieving the desired goals. The study assumes to have two major contributions: (i) determining the main causes of waste in the Egyptian construction industry; and (ii) applying LC methodology to prevent and eliminate the causes of waste inherent in the construction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parametric design is called many meanings, including boundary design, modelling, standard design or variable design all lead to parametric meaning. Parameter design is an architectural approach that uses vocabulary in the light of a set of rules and design patterns that achieve design objectives in the presence of a design idea And research finds that the problem is that such a contemporary approach to design is rarely used in Egypt, although it is widely used around the world and in countries that share with Egypt the cultural heritage, nature and environmental condition, But the complexity of using programming techniques in design without studying or knowing the vocabulary on which the parameter and the associated formation rules depend directly affects design thinking and, in turn, affects the cost because it needs various and modern implementation techniques.. Therefore, the research aims to derive the vocabulary of the parametric approach and to identify the rules and patterns of this contemporary design approach. The paper addresses the different concepts of parameter design, the main principles on which it relies and the basic patterns on which the architect can identify the features of the parameter building. The study found that the parametric approach has been proven to be efficient using various modes of formation and various architectural vocabulary in achieving all design objectives. The research recommends using the benchmark for architectural design equation in identifying and analyzing parametric buildings in light of patterns and rules to reach the parametric vocabulary to achieve different design Features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study gives an ideal vision for developing the internal environment of health buildings in line with the state's vision in developing health buildings for the year 2020 AD, as the health sector in Egypt needs to keep pace with modern trends at the level of health architecture, or what is known as hospital architecture, which is related to the efficiency of the performance of health buildings, especially at the level of Interior design and its impact on the physical and psychological aspects and on the mechanisms of transforming the user experience and its interaction with reality through realizing the vocabulary of interior design. The problem of the research is that there is ambiguity in the relationship between the colors used in hospital rooms and the psychological comfort of patients and their improvement in their health condition, feeling of safety and the effectiveness of employees as well, which reflects the lack of awareness of the indications and the functional effects of colors and the extent of their impact on the users of those spaces. The research paper aims to research the role of colors represented in the interior design elements of floors, ceilings, walls, furniture, lighting, and architectural supplements and their association with patients' well-being and improvement in their health status and the behavior and well-being of the staff of doctors and nurses, which represents the main component of the health performance efficiency "user satisfaction". The research is limited to investigating the visual effect variables only and ignoring other perceptual factors such as acoustics (language, noise), smell (hygiene materials), and taste (food, medicine). The research also deals with focusing on the impact of architectural variables on the color organization of the well-being and behavior of the staff It does not include their health condition. The research ends with determining whether there is, in fact, evidence that different colors make a difference in the patient’s health and the effectiveness of the staff as factors that influence the efficiency of health performance in spaces, and then the possibility of developing a color philosophy or a scheme for choosing colors in the residence rooms depends on certain standards and specifications and scientific reasons that do not take only Considering the psychological and physiological effects, but also the aesthetic effects on the concerned persons in order to achieve the user's satisfaction and thus the efficiency of the performance of those spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of developing professions in society begins with the development of education, and to bring its outputs in line with the changes in the labour market, and the requirements of the labor market have become significant pressures, as the preparation and qualification of graduates in various branches of science and knowledge has become an important requirement for all the professional areas necessary for the labour market, and architectural education is affected as one of the academic and vocational education programs with these changes and developments, where the architectural labour market suffers from the inappropriateness of the architecture graduate in the engineering faculties for his functional Requirements; This paper aims to develop architectural education courses in the Department of Architecture at Al-Azhar University to suit the functional Requirements, so the research conducted a field study (job description form) to account for the functional Requirements of the architecture profession by identifying the career tasks of the architect in Egypt and the knowledge and skills required by using the "DACUM" methodology, and then developing and designing the educational objectives That the graduate needs to qualify for the labor market, the research concluded a series of results to contribute to the development of architectural education courses at Al-Azhar University, in addition to a set of recommendations that can promote architectural education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term of sustainability goes beyond applying green architecture strategies. Sustainability refers to techniques which conserve resources, preserve the natural environment, protect local population, and support the principle of justice and equity. Therefore, the achievement of sustainability in the field of construction requires great and multi faces effort to solve the social, economic, and environmental problems. At the local level (Egypt), although there are serious steps toward more sustainable construction industry, many research studies confirmed that the already used system currently in Egypt to rate the sustainable buildings (Green Pyramid Rating system, GPRS) needs to be developed in order to be more effective and usable. There is a great need for developing a rating system for sustainable hotels which can classify hotels in Egypt in terms of sustainability in a comprehensive way starting from early design stages and continue to evaluate the building during and after the construction stage. Therefore, it is necessary to benefit from the systems which are used globally for rating sustainable buildings in order to create a local system by modification of the already existed criteria and to add new criteria in order to achieve a system which meets the local requirements. This research paper suggests a sustainability rating system which classifies hotels in the southern region of Upper Egypt based on improving the local system (GPRS) to be used for classifying hotels particularly because hotels are considered from the most energy consuming buildings and they generate a huge amount of wastes in addition to the increasing awareness of users who consider the sustainable and environment friendly hotels as preferred destinations. The suggested rating system which is Green Pyramid Rating System for hotels, (GPRS-H) is based on using the criteria of the German system (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen, DGNB( by modifying them to be more suitable for the local environment in Egypt in addition to excluding certain criteria which are not consistent to the local context. Additionally, the principle of participation has been applied here to help in determining logic relative weights for the criteria and indicators of the suggested system through conducting a questionnaire for the experts in the field of sustainable buildings. The suggested rating system includes six categories of criteria. The environmental quality occupies the first rank in terms of relative weight, then the economic quality, social and cultural quality, technical quality, planning and construction quality, and site quality. Each category includes some criteria which can be evaluated by using certain indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the next decade, an expected urban acceleration will occur in Egypt. The urban population will be increased by 34% more than 2006 ratio. Demographic pressures, rapid urbanization lead to more issues. While cities are growing rapidly in population, their development model is quite different from the Sustainable model. Egypt's 2030 vision for sustainable development has defined the future of Egyptian cities. The urban economy would be grown in more competitive and diversified manner. Therefore, an urban transformation should be taking place to induce the desired sustainable urban development. Our urban areas are in an urgent need for an advanced governance that is able to improve the socio-economical and environmental sustainability. At recent decades, policy-makers and academics, either in developed or developing countries, have focused on smart city concept. ICT addresses challenges and problems related to resource management, sustainable development, climate change, quality of life and improved performance of the city as a whole. This route will present the concept of the Smart City as a radical solution to many urban issues. Such concept is considerd as a revolution in the design and management of urban areas. This paper developped guidelines to manage the urban transformation of Egyptian cities with the drive of Smart City concept to help decision-makers and city managers to prioritize and to develop strategies to achieve the smart and sustainable development of existing Egyptian cities. The study depended on the inductive approach to define the concept of smart sustainable city and related information and concepts. literature review as well as a case study analysis were the methodology to reveal success's factors of urban transformation towards smartness to achieve the desired sustainable urban development. To deduce most important opportunities and challenges as well as to conclud guidelinese, the mental syllogistic reasoning approach was used. The study concluded that urban transition of Egyptian cities towards smartness is possible but its roadmap has many obstacles and challenges. The efforts of all decision makers, governors. academics and stakeholders have to be integrated to suggest and embrace our own initiative smart sustainable city as a prompt and costlyeffective solution towards sustainability. This critical situation demand a self evolution and reconstructuring for municiplities - the key actor. municiplities have to launch smart applications and encourage the participation of all stakholders, in developing goals, priorities, plans, policies, strategies and actions. Municiplities have to look for ingenious ideas to financ the smart city’s intiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]