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This article presents abstracts of various research papers published by the Institution of Civil Engineers. According to the paper "Design and Construction of Tongwamen Bridge, China," Tongwamen bridge is a half-through, concrete-filled steel tubular X-type arch bridge with deck width to span ratio of 1/23:8. According to the paper "Whole Life Cost Analysis in Concrete Bridge Tender Evaluation," in Great Britain large sums of money are spent annually on the repair and maintenance of structures. To avoid this problem in future construction, many government and private agencies responsible for asset management have recommended that designers should develop schemes that seek to minimize whole life costs, namely construction plus maintenance costs, rather than just initial construction costs.

This paper explores the non-technological innovation system for building low-carbon cities in China. It establishes a comprehensive evaluation index system and grading standards for low-carbon cities, concerning both technological innovation and non-technological innovation factors. Defining non-technological innovation factors as independent variables, GDP per capita as the main control variable, and low-carbon development and carbon productivity as dependent variables, this paper examines the contribution of non-technological innovation to the building of low-carbon cities. The result shows that non-technological innovation manifested a significant trajectory of progress. It demonstrates that the continuous improvement to non-technological innovation system should effectively promote the further development of low-carbon cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the huge economic losses and building damage caused by yearly flooding in China, increased attention to flood risk management within the urban and suburban areas is required. This paper provides an example of the flood risk management of suburban buildings in Anji County. The temporal and spatial characteristics of inundation in the study area are simulated and analyzed based on a verified coupled hydrodynamic model. The vulnerability curve of local masonry buildings to flood risk is established from the theory of structural static mechanics and the empirical equation of flood load. According to the consequences of the hydrodynamic model and vulnerability curve, a flood risk assessment of suburban buildings is conducted. The results show that severe inundation will occur once the dikes are broken. In the 20-, 50-, and 100-year return periods, there are, respectively, 43, 286 and 553 buildings at extremely high risk, distributed in almost each building region. Over half involved buildings are high risk. Buildings at low-lying lands should worry about the great hydrostatic actions caused by terrible waterlogging. This approach can be popularized in urban, suburban, and rural areas, aimed at frame, masonry and even informal structure. The results can provide a scientific reference for Anji County to reduce the flood loss and enhance the flood resistance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article calls for papers for the Building Enclosure Science and Technology (BEST) Conference in Nanjing 2010 in China and announces the selection of Ardeshir Mahdavi and Marc Olivier Abadie as new members of the editorial board of the "Journal of Building Physics."

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the viability of rehabilitation from a financial standpoint and examine particularly whether a rehabilitation project is worth carrying out or not. Nowadays, rehabilitation has become all the more important in society. Theoretical option models may explain how to make an optimal decision, but in reality they seem to lack empirical evidence when it comes to some situation. This paper aims to use option models to gauge the likely gain/loss from rehabilitation in face of uncertainties. It seeks to bridge the gap in the rehabilitation field between theory and application for facilities managers and property owners alike. Design/methodology/approach – The binomial option model and Samuelson-McKean closed form model are utilised to evaluate the likely financial benefits of the two major rehabilitation schemes, exploring option premiums and hurdle values. The real option approaches provide a useful framework within which to gauge a likely gain (loss) and ascertain the viability of rehabilitation in the midst of uncertainties. Findings – The real option approaches produce two outcomes values, the option premium and the hurdle value, which are able to provide insight into the likelihood of rehabilitation for facilities managers/property owners in the intricate and dynamic markets. The higher the option premium, the more attractive a rehabilitation project will be. And the hurdle value usefully reveals a critical timing for exercising rehabilitation. Research limitations/implications – This paper provides a necessary support for sustaining the rehabilitation schemes. It presents an adequate alternative to examine the value of rehabilitation by taking into account uncertainties in real life. It is useful for facilities managers and property owners, who sometimes neglect potential benefit/loss in the uncertainties when making an investment decision. Practical implications – This paper has established the framework for evaluating the rehabilitation schemes that has practical implications for decision making. The facilities manager, property owner and government should make some adjustments in formulation of their rehabilitation policies and strategies. Originality/value – This paper provides facilities managers with a means in which the real option approaches are embedded to express benefit/costs of rehabilitation. With the aid of this information, facilities managers/property owners are able to evaluate rehabilitation more effectively and enhance the decision-making quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The midpoint impact assessment methodology and several weighting methods that are currently used by most building Life cycle assessment (LCA) researchers in China, still have some shortcomings. In order to make the evaluation results have better temporal and spatial applicability, the endpoint impact assessment methodology was adopted in this paper. Based on the endpoint damage oriented concept, four endpoints of resource exhaustion, energy exhaustion, human health damage and ecosystem damage were selected according to the situation of China and the specialties of the building industry. Subsequently the formula for calculating each endpoint, the background value for normalization and the weighting factors were defined. Following that, an endpoint damage oriented model to evaluate the life cycle environmental impact of buildings in China was established. This model can produce an integrated indicator for environmental impact, and consequently provides references for directing the sustainable building design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Traditionally, buildings are designed in accordance with prescriptive building and fire codes. Rapid urbanization causes an increase in urban population and commercial activities, and an increase in demand for large and complex buildings. Buildings that have been constructed in accordance with the old prescriptive requirements may not have the same fire safety level as the standard enforced today, even if all fire safety items are maintained at the original design standard. It is the usual practice that any upgrading or alteration works to be carried out in an existing building are required to comply with the requirements currently enforced. The demand for using a performance-based approach for designing large complex buildings as well as alteration works in existing or historical buildings is increasing. The paper aims to discuss the issues involved Design/methodology/approach - This paper presents a brief comparison of the use of performance-based fire safety design in three locations and presents the use of a system dynamics model to examine how the technological investment will affect the use of performance-based fire safety design. Findings - The model predicts that increased investment by the Hong Kong authorities would see a rise in the number of building projects using a performance-based approach within a few years. Originality/value - The research in this paper provides guidance to the building control regime in Hong Kong on how to achieve an increase in the use of a fire-engineered approach to enhance fire safety design in buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The transformation of the planned housing provision as an in-kind welfare benefit to a market-oriented housing allocation system is the ultimate goal of the urban housing reform in China. The main concern of the housing reform is to regulate the relationship between the state, market, work units, and individuals. Housing has always been a major problem in Shanghai. The rate of new housing construction has lagged far behind the rate of population growth. In the market reform process, the state has been reducing its role in housing provision which has resulted in significant increases in house prices as well as demand for housing at an affordable level. There is a gap between housing price and affordability. This paper examines the different measures of urban housing reform toward housing affordability in relation to the different stages of economic development in Shanghai during the periods from the 1980s to now. It emphasizes the rent policy and the “provident fund for housing”—A housing saving scheme. The prime intent of this paper is to investigate Shanghai’s housing policy under the urban housing reform toward affordability, at various stages of economic development. The paper attempts to ascertain what lessons can be learned to assist the provision of affordable housing in major cities in Mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some results obtained from field measurements of wind effects on a super-tall building, the Di-Wang Tower, located in Shenzhen, China. The building has 79 storeys, and is approximately 324 m high. Simultaneous and continuous data on wind speed, wind direction and acceleration responses were recorded at the top of the building. The field data presented in this paper were measured during the passage of a typhoon. The characteristics of the typhoon-generated wind and the structural responses of the building are investigated. The serviceability of this super-tall building under typhoon conditions is discussed on the basis of the field measurements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes research work on the performance and design calculations of recycled aggregate concrete filled steel tube (RACFST) members, especially the most recent developments in China. Firstly, experimental studies on RACFST members subjected to short-term static loading, long-term sustained loading and cyclic flexural loading are summarised and analysed, and recent advances in the behaviour of RACFST stub columns after exposure to high temperatures (300-800°C) are also reviewed. The experimental results show that, in general, RACFST members have similar performance to concrete filled steel tube (CFST) members when subjected to the same loading conditions. However, due to the more serious inherent defects of recycled aggregate concrete compared with normal concrete, RACFST members have a lower bearing capacity and stiffness than their CFST counterparts. Secondly, design formulae for RACFST members are suggested and the calculated bearing capacities using the simplified equations generally agree well with the experimental results. Finally, the potential research needs of RACFST structures are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a renewable energy source, wind power has received growing attentions, but mostly been utilized in wind power farms or high-rise buildings where the wind with high speed is available. Few studies focus on the micro-wind utilization in low-rise buildings due to the bottleneck that the wind speed cannot meet the minimal speed requirement of small wind turbines. This paper aims to identify the optimal building design which could enable the harvesting of the maximal micro-wind power around low-rise residential buildings. Based on the comparison among different building shapes and the computational fluid dynamics (CFD) analysis via software Phoenics , this paper identified that the building shape of “composite prism” could enable the harvesting of the most micro-wind power. The identified building shape was then tested in a simulated environment of a residential community in Pingtan Island, China. The local wind conditions, long-term community planning, and the requirement of comfort level were all considered in the simulation model. The result shows that the potential of utilizing wind energy in low-rise residential buildings is huge by adopting the proposed building shape of “composite prism”. The finding has significant implications for renewable energy utilization in built environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Residential historic areas are currently the main focus of urban renewal efforts in China, primarily consisting of traditional residential buildings with similar characteristics. Hence, the visual coherence of buildings (VCoB) plays a crucial role in such areas, not only pertaining to the visual quality of the urban landscape but also regarding the preservation of historic features. The accurate measurement of the VCoB is a prerequisite for undertaking optimization efforts. However, discussions of the VCoB in the built environment are limited and seldom address residential historic areas, and methods for measuring the VCoB have yet to be refined. Therefore, taking the Xiaoxihu Historic Area in Nanjing as a case study, this work aimed to develop a more refined method for measuring the VCoB in residential historic areas based on objective physical features. The method is mainly based on the human-level perspective, identifying three key visual elements within this perspective as the objects of measurement. It collected visual data through photography, with deep learning and computer graphics processing tools being utilized to identify and extract the visual elements. Then, the study established a corresponding framework of indicators for different visual elements and optimizes the methods for indicator calculation. Through an assessment involving professionals, we validated the high accuracy of the measurement method proposed in this study. Furthermore, the study discusses factors affecting the VCoB, methods to enhance the VCoB, and the required degree of the VCoB based on the results of the measurement. The method developed in this research will provide support for the visual analysis of the urban built environment and urban renewal practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – A green building should provide occupants with a comfortable and energy-efficient environment. The aim of this paper is, following a post-occupancy study, to find out whether the green intent is being delivered. Design/methodology/approach – A post-occupancy study was conducted in a high standard office building certified by China's Green Building Label. The study included an occupant survey and a physical measurement. Findings – The building generally achieved its intended thermal environment of 25°C during cooling seasons and satisfied more than 80 per cent of occupants. Sources of discomfort, including low temperatures in both the summer and winter were identified. Objective measurements showed that the building's indoor temperature varied among floors in both the summer and winter. The variation was mainly a result of occupancy conditions. Variations in the thermal environment also revealed that the building's users have good energy conservation habits. Research limitations/implications – Post-occupancy evaluations should be included in the green building certification process to demonstrate a building's sustainability after construction and operation. Facilities management should take the responsibility to periodically examine the green intent being delivered. Originality/value – The paper provides empirical data to expand the international post-occupancy evaluation on green buildings. The building under study as a green design showcase represents current green building development in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a research paper which deals with value of buildings with design features for healthy living. It aimed at studying the value of healthy building parameters by the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) which gives a direct appraisal of the occupants' value. It discusses how housing price is commonly regarded as the total value of a bundle of housing quality and environmental characteristics. It discusses the results which suggests that most residents are willing to pay for healthy building parameters, each with a different value including how findings have practical implications on cost-and-benefit analysis of housing design. The study was conducted after the outbreak of SARS in Hong Kong to gauge the opinions of residents on health and economy issues.

Land subsidence is a common geological hazard. The long-term accumulation of land subsidence in Shanghai has caused economic loss to the city. Since the 1990s, the engineering structures have become a new cause of land subsidence. Many factors affect the process of land subsidence. Although such a process cannot be explicitly expressed by a mathematical formula, it is not a “black box” whose internal structure, parameters, and characteristics are unknown. Therefore, the grey theory can be applied to the prediction of land subsidence and provides useful information for the control of land subsidence. In this paper, a grey model (GM) GM (1, 1) with unequal time-intervals was used to predict the subsidence of a high-rise building in the Lujiazui area of Shanghai, and the results were compared with the monitored data. The prediction of subsidence was also corroborated by laboratory tests and the results were compared with measured data and the predicted data by the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS). It is found that the GM (1, 1) with unequal time-intervals is accurate and feasible for the prediction of land subsidence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As China is stepping into aging society, medical-elderly care buildings as an emerging type of building have begun to attract the attention of the architectural design industry. Starting from the composition pattern of architectural space, this paper analyzed the attributes of the convalescent space, physiotherapy space, medical space, and public space so as to explore appropriate design patterns, with a view to contributing to the research on medical-elderly care buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the current situation in China with vast territory, diverse climate, and a big difference on thermal adaptation of the indoor thermal environment among the people in different regions, the paper analyzes the typical model research of thermal adaptation, and points out the features of three representative models and the ignored reason of physiological thermal adaptation, summarizes some results on field studies of thermal adaptation in China, induces three research directions about physiological indexes selection research, physiological thermal adaptation research and multivariate evaluation model research of thermal comfort based on the physical, psychological and behavioral adjustments. The paper proposes to explain the differences of physiological thermal adaptation in these different climatic regions and to further finds out the relations between all these differences and the physiological indexes. The goal is to establish physiological index to evaluate thermal comfort and to perfect the climate adaptation model which can give some advises to the architecture designers on how to realize the comfortable and energy-saving thermal environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many factors and aspects of the construction and operation of buildings depend on climatic parameters and climatic zones, so these will be fundamental for adapting and mitigating the effects of climate change. For this reason, the number of climate-oriented publications in building is increasing. This research presents an analysis on the most-cited climate-oriented studies in building in the period 1979–2019. The main themes, the typologies of these investigations and the principal types of climatic zoning used in these studies were analysed through bibliographic and manual analysis. A broad spectrum of themes directly and indirectly related to climate and climatic zones and buildings was demonstrated. It was found that 88% of all climate-oriented investigations, to one degree or another, are within the scope of the general topic of energy conservation. A thorough understanding of all climate-dependent aspects will help in designing dwellings appropriately in different climate zones. In addition, a methodology that facilitates the establishment of a typology of climate-oriented research is presented. This typology can be used in future research in different scientific areas. It was also revealed that the climate zones of the National Building Codes of China, the USA and Turkey prevailed in the studies analysed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the rapid urbanization of China, many villages in the urban fringe are enveloped by ever-expanding cities and become so-called urban villages (UVs) with substandard living conditions. Despite physical similarities to informal settlements in other countries (e.g., slums in India), UVs have access to basic public services, and more importantly, villagers own the land legitimately. The resulting socio-economic impact on urban development attracts increasing interest. However, the identification of UVs in previous studies relies on fieldwork, leading to late and incomplete analyses. In this paper, we present three scene-based methods for detecting UVs using high-resolution remotely sensed imagery based on a novel multi-index scene model and two popular scene models, i.e., bag-of-visual-words and supervised latent Dirichlet allocation. In the experiments, our index-based approach produced Kappa values around 0.82 and outperformed conventional models both quantitatively and visually. Moreover, we performed multitemporal classification to evaluate the transferability of training samples across multitemporal images with respect to three methods, and the index-based approach yielded best results again. Finally, using the detection results, we conducted a systematic spatiotemporal analysis of UVs in Shenzhen and Wuhan, two mega cities of China. At the city level, we observe the decline of UVs in urban areas over the recent years. At the block level, we characterize UVs quantitatively from physical and geometrical perspectives and investigate the relationships between UVs and other geographic features. In both levels, the comparison between UVs in Shenzhen and Wuhan is made, and the variations within and across cities are revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Recent large earthquakes in China (e.g., Wenchuan earthquake and Yushu earthquake) resulted in enormous damage to school buildings and took many students' lives. Recognizing the seismic vulnerability of existing school buildings, the Chinese government started a nationwide mission in 2009, aiming at increasing the seismic capacity of school buildings through inspection and retrofit activities. This paper presents the experiences of the authors in the retrofits of school buildings in which seismic isolation by using rubber and/or sliding bearings was adopted as a new and efficient retrofit technique, as compared with conventional ones. The retrofitted school buildings include masonry buildings, RC frame buildings, and a mixture of both. Design methods and the corresponding requirements in the modified seismic design code are presented, and typical construction procedures of the seismic retrofit are summarized from an engineer's point of view. Procedures regarding the contract and review of the retrofit projects are also introduced. To this end, a case study is made to demonstrate the proposed design and construction methods. The presented work provides references to the seismic retrofit of existing buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Baltic Pearl is a 205-hectare development project underway southwest of St. Petersburg, Russia, originally financed and designed by a consortium of firms from Shanghai, China. This paper analyzes the discourse surrounding the development of one section of the Baltic Pearl, the commercial multiplex Southern Square, particularly the use of the term “European” as used to signal the project's intended cultural orientation and to exert control over the interaction between Russian planners and Chinese developers. In the negotiation over the form of the multiplex, control over architectural style emerges as leverage for preservation of cultural norms and local autonomy. In further analysis, the situation emerges as an example of Sassen's [(2008)Territory, Authority, Rights. From Medieval to Global Assemblages. Princeton: Princeton University Press] shifting assemblages, that is, a reassembling of global influences in a space invoked as national as well as local. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Cold-formed thin-walled steel residential building systems, because of their good environment protection, seismic performance, and high construction efficiency, have been widely used in the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia, and recently, they also have had good application in China. Although a variety of studies have been carried out all over the world in the last 20 years, there is no related design code for this kind of building in China. For this reason, a series of research has been conducted in China recently, considering the consistency of standard systems in structural design in China and the newest development in the world. The contents of the paper can be divided into two parts. First, the major research works conducted by the authors over the last 5 years and the main findings are reviewed and summarized. Second, based on a Chinese professional standard, a brief summary of the design methods for cold-formed thin-walled steel framing residential buildings developed by the authors and other researchers in China is introduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper seeks to: identify the importance of a design standard for tactile ground surface indicators (TGSIs); discuss the problem of the existing standard of TGSIs in China; and advocate an all-round approach that the consideration of a design standard of TGSIs should be on policy, implementation and management perspectives. Design/methodology/approach – TGSIs in China were taken as a case study, while those in other countries/cities were used as supplementary reference cases. Intensive field observations on the quality of TGSIs in various public places were carried out in the Chinese mainland between 2005 and 2009. The public places included transportation terminals, shopping centres and universities. The research activities included intensive field observations and direct interviews. Different types of TGSIs were reviewed by using product analysis methods. Findings – For inclusion, a standard for TGSIs is important. It is an effective tool in design quality assurance. There are three perspectives to ensuring the quality of a design standard: policy, implementation, and management. Research limitations/implications – Further case studies are expected to be conducted in other cities in order to generate a more comprehensive understanding related to the topic. Continuous studies are also necessary since the living environment is changing all the time. The general public's participation to establish a good design standard for TGSIs is important. Practical implications – The findings provide reference and direction for an all-round approach consideration in a design standard for TGSIs; and for social inclusion. Social implications – The findings illustrate how inclusion can be achieved by setting up a design standard of TGSIs in China (as a case study) by considering an all-round perspective. Originality/value – The work and study are new in China. The findings provide insights for China and other countries, and individual cities, to review the needs of visually impaired persons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: It is not feasible to apply the traditional prediction method to predict hourly building cooling load at the urban energy planning stage because of the limited building information and complexity of energy prediction. This paper presents a simplified prediction model: Hourly Cooling Load Factor Method (HCLFM) that can provide quick and fair estimate of building cooling load for large-scale urban energy planning. The paper introduces the assumptions and principles of the proposed method, as well as discussing the implication and limitation of the approach. As a verification and demonstration, the method is applied to an office building in Beijing. The predicted results show that the dynamical trend of the cooling load is reasonable. The study further analyzes the potential causes of prediction errors and the significance of various cooling load influence factors. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose – A mega-event flagship (MEF) refers to a purpose-built building flagship for a global mega-event and a popular instrument to catalyze urban renewal in the host city. Despite their lasting popularity and volatile outcomes, such highly controversial developments have received little analysis. The purpose of this paper is to address this gap in the research. Design/methodology/approach – To bridge the Triple-C Gap identified, a case study method was adopted in the form of participant observation, due to the author's special role as a key project coordinator of Expo 2010. To provide a good reference for comparable developments, it takes three steps to study the Expo Center (EC) – one of the four MEFs of Expo 2010. First, planning rationales are explained to form a holistic understanding of the Big 4 as an integrated whole. Then, a pilot questionnaire survey is reported to identify pressing issues on a broader scale. Finally, the early stages of the EC are investigated in six dimensions. Findings – The study concludes with significant lessons in shaping the early stage of a MEF, as well as correcting a misunderstanding of such a development being an end in itself. Research limitations/implications – Certain constraints in participant observation have been minimized since the author maintained a relatively independent role as a process facilitator, which is different from the traditional role of a design manager or a project manager. Originality/value – A timely reminder to rethink the commitment to MEFs, this explorative study offers new insights into MEF research and will be of cross-boundary value to a wide spectrum of people and agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents work on validating the dynamic wind load predicted by a wind tunnel model with the values identified from full-scale field vibration data of a super-tall building in Hong Kong. Dynamic wind load in this work refers to the power spectral density (PSD) of the modal force near the natural frequency of a particular mode of the building, in the context of random vibration with stationary loading and response. This quantity reflects the turbulence characteristics integrated over the building body and is of importance in wind engineering design. This study presents a method to predict the modal PSD of wind load of the first two translational modes of a tall building. The method combines wind tunnel test information and mean wind data available in the free field; the latter taken to be at the Waglan Island station maintained by the Hong Kong Observatory. On the full-scale side, although the modal PSD is not directly observable, it is identified from field vibration data measured at the building top during strong wind events. A Bayesian modal identification method is used for determining the most probable value and the uncertainty of the modal parameters including the natural frequency, damping ratio, and the modal PSD. A number of recent strong wind events are analyzed. Reasonable agreement is observed between the wind tunnel model predictions and the values identified from field data. Factors that can potentially lead to discrepancy are discussed. As the same random vibration modeling consistent with conventional wind engineering design has been used in the wind tunnel prediction model and field identification model, the results are directly transferable among these three disciplines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the China National Aquatics Center, this paper reports an investigation into the effects of temperature change on modal parameters. Both analytical and field monitoring approaches were involved. Temperature-induced variations of structural member modulus of elasticity, internal forces and changes to boundary conditions were regarded as the essential factors influencing modal parameters. The contribution of these three effects on modal parameters for both uniform and non-uniform temperature distributions over the structure was investigated. It is concluded that temperature-induced internal forces affect the modal parameter values to greater extent than temperature-induced modulus of elasticity. The relationships between temperature and variation of modal parameters are different in the case of uniform and non-uniform temperature distributions. The analytical results were validated by using the acceleration and temperature measurements supplied by the China National Aquatics Center field monitoring system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The M7.9 Wenchuan earthquake on May 12th, 2008 was the most destructive in China since 1976. The event caused huge damage and loss of life and exposed weaknesses both in the formulation and implementation of the regulations governing building in the affected provinces. Following the earthquake a massive relief and recovery operation was mounted by the Chinese government. The authors took part in field studies in the affected area which took place 5 and 11 months after the event, at which time recovery operations were well-advanced. The aims of the study were to assess the effects caused by the earthquake to the built environment and society, to collect information on the ongoing recovery efforts and future plans, and to demonstrate the use of tools that allow the collection of spatially referenced damage and recovery data. Based on available satellite imagery supplemented by ground observation, geodatabases were constructed containing information on damage and recovery in several parts of the affected area. The paper gives an overview of the recovery process, describes the methods used to construct these geodatabases, and offers some analysis of the data obtained. It is argued that such databases have great potential for the management of post-disaster recovery and for creating a permanent record of the recovery process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to depict the developmental process of a buildability assessment model for use at the scheme design stage of building projects, which have a priority requirement for functional performance rather than aesthetic performance. Design/methodology/approach – First, major decisions made at the scheme design stage of building projects were identified through pilot interviews and a questionnaire survey on designers. Second, these decisions were rated for their relative importance towards buildability through another questionnaire survey on contractors, analysed using the reliability interval method. Based on these results, a list of buildable and non-buildable features and their impacts is compiled by interviewing major contractors. These findings were incorporated into a modified framework of buildability assessment for complete design, substituting information available at the scheme design stage. Validation was carried out using four sample projects and feedback from practitioners. Findings – The results obtained from the Scheme Design Buildability Assessment Model have been demonstrated as reflective of actual buildability level. Buildable and non-buildable features, as exemplified by typical building projects in Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, have been identified. Originality/value – This is the first model which provides a tool for use by the design team to evaluate the buildability of their designs at an early stage, so that necessary improvements can be made without affecting the development program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Built facilities, in order to be sustainable, have to be operated and maintained by practitioners who possess the appropriate types and levels of knowledge. The study reported in this paper aims to identify the available higher education programmes in this relation and to investigate what kinds of education are needed by the operation and maintenance (O&M) practitioners in Hong Kong. Design/methodology/approach – The published information of the building-related programmes offered by the local higher education institutions was reviewed. A questionnaire, designed, piloted and distributed with the support given by the leading O&M society in Hong Kong, was used to survey the perceptions and opinions of the practitioners. Findings – No education programme had been tailored for producing professionals to meet the rising demand for O&M works. The practitioners indicated their strong wish to learn more, in particular, about energy and environmental management, and testing and commissioning. Their desire for dedicated O&M programmes was also overwhelming. Research limitations/implications – The survey and analysis method used in the study may be taken to investigate the education needs in other developing industries. Practical implications – The relatively low levels that the practitioners perceived about their knowledge in most aspects of their works imply that there is room for improving work quality through enhancing O&M education. Originality/value – The survey findings unveiled the contemporary education needs of the O&M practitioners, which are essential information that supports the development of some matching courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a field experiment was carried out to study train-induced environmental vibrations. During the field experiment, velocity responses were measured at different locations of a six-story masonry structure near the Beijing-Guangzhou Railway and along a small road adjacent to the building. The results show that the velocity response levels of the environmental ground and the building floors increase with train speed, and attenuate with the distance to the railway track. Heavier freight trains induce greater vibrations than lighter passenger trains. In the multi-story building, the lateral velocity levels increase monotonically with floor elevation, while the vertical ones increase with floor elevation in a fluctuating manner. The indoor floor vibrations are much lower than the outdoor ground vibrations. The lateral vibration of the building along the direction of weak structural stiffness is greater than along the direction with stronger stiffness. A larger room produces greater floor vibrations than the staircase at the same elevation, and the vibration at the center of a room is greater than at its corner. The vibrations of the building were compared with the Federal Transportation Railroad Administration (FTA) criteria for acceptable ground-borne vibrations expressed in terms of rms velocity levels in decibels. The results show that the train-induced building vibrations are serious, and some exceed the allowance given in relevant criterion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a pragmatic methodology to manage the air quality of an air conditioned building as well as optimizing energy consumption during venting. Radon-222 (Rn-222) is used as a tracer to quantify the specific production rates and resultant losses of pollutants for which the information is important in indoor air quality management. A term, indoor pollutant inventory, is introduced for easy handling of various indoor pollutants. The specific production rate (Φj) of pollutant-j is the production rate of a pollutant normalized by the control volume of sampled room. The resultant loss (Lj)RL of pollutant-j is defined as the sum of its natural decay (λj), reaction loss (Rj), and ventilation loss (q/v). Rn-222 and total volatile organic compounds are used to verify the methodology. In the verification tests, the air conditioned system of an office was scheduled to shut down overnight and return to supply mode in the next morning. The build-up and decay of the pollutants were measured and used to quantify (Φj) and (Lj)RL. The values of (Φj) and (Lj)RL. obtained from the pollutants at two different modes mutually agreed with each other. The mean specific production rates of Rn-222 and TVOC were 20.7 Bq·m-3·h-1 and 2.0mg·m-3·h-1 respectively, while the lump sum of chemical and natural losses of these pollutants were 0.0076 h-1 and 0.0226 h-1, respectively. Concentrations of the pollutants at various air change rates were also simulated in the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Full-scale measurement is considered to be the most reliable method for evaluating wind effects on buildings and structures. This paper presents selected results of wind characteristics and structural responses measured from four super-tall buildings, The Center (350m high, 79 floors) in Hong Kong, Di Wang Tower (384m high, 78 floors) in Shenzhen, CITIC Plaza Tower (391m high, 80 floors) in Guangzhou and Jin Mao Building (421m high, 88 floors) in Shanghai, during the passages of three typhoons. The field data such as wind speed, wind direction and acceleration responses, etc., were continuously measured from the super-tall buildings during the typhoons. Detailed analysis of the field data was conducted to investigate the characteristics of typhoon-generated wind and wind-induced vibrations of these super-tall buildings under typhoon conditions. The dynamic characteristics of the tall buildings were determined from the field measurements and comparisons with those calculated from the finite element (FE) models of the structures were made. Furthermore, the full-scale measurements were compared with wind tunnel results to evaluate the accuracy of the model test results and the adequacy of the techniques used in the wind tunnel tests. The results presented in this paper are expected to be of considerable interest and of use to researchers and professionals involved in designing super-tall buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Owing to commercial or aesthetic considerations, the shapes of high-rise city buildings are becoming increasingly unique and complicated. This brings challenges to structural engineers in analyzing and predicting their dynamic responses, which are crucial to the safety of the buildings. For these buildings in China, a detailed study, sometimes including shaking table testing, is required to verify the safety and rationality of their design. This paper presents results of a study performed for a high-rise building with a large space in the ground floor and large openings in elevation. The maximum responses of acceleration and deformation were measured and evaluated, as well as the dynamic characteristics, cracking pattern and failure mechanism of the building. In addition, a 3D finite element analysis was carried out and the analytical results were compared with experimental ones to gain a better understanding of the structural behavior. Suggestions regarding the design of this type of structure were also derived from the test results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents abstracts of various papers published by the Institution of Civil Engineers. According to the paper "Design and Construction of Tongwamen Bridge, China," Tongwamen bridge is a half-through, concrete-filled steel tubular (CFST) X-type arch bridge with deck width to span ratio of 1/23.8.It is the first time that arch ribs of the plane truss type have been used in the construction of a long-span CFST bridge in China. According to the paper "Design of the New Medway Bridge, England," the New Medway Bridge comprises 12 continuous spans of twin-cell box girder with an overall length of 953 m and, at 152.4 m has the longest externally post-tensioned span in Great Britain.

The paper briefly describes energy-efficiency standards that have been issued for residential buildings in Northern and Central China as well as energy-efficiency inspection standards and specifications for renovation of existing residential heating systems in Northern China, and development of energy-efficiency standards for Southern China. The paper also describes barriers to improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings in China and strategies for overcoming these barriers, including reform of the method of payment for heating in Northern China. Finally, future prospects for further developing energy-efficiency standards for residential buildings in China are addressed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The majority of buildings in Hong Kong come into the multi-storey category. The conventional wisdom of construction economics suggests that the cost of construction per square metre increases as buildings become higher. This paper summarizes earlier research on the subject and adopts a descriptive approach to present investigations into the cost-height relationship of buildings constructed in Hong Kong. Initial findings seem to suggest a different situation in Hong Kong -- arguably the epitome of a 'tall' built environment. Possibly, there are factors concerning the design economics of tall buildings that are specific to those urban locations where they are more common. This point would suggest that a different set of criteria should be applied in the judgement of how height affects cost depending on the context and commonality of tall buildings in the location under consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The duration of Australian construction has been modelled by a time-cost formula expressed in the form of T = KCB<, where T is the actual construction time in working days, C is the final cost of contract in millions, K is a constant characteristic of building time performance, and B is a constant indicative of the sensitivity of time performance to cost level. This paper applies the relationship to building projects in Hong Kong using time and cost data from 110 projects. Regression analysis was used to compute the values of K and B and check how well the model actually fits, and the best predictor of average construction time of building projects in Hong Kong is found to be T 152C0.29. It is also found that the Hong Kong private sector takes a shorter time (120 days) to complete a hypothesized project with a contract sum of HK$1 million (at December 1994 price) than its government counterpart (166 days). The time-cost relationship serves as a convenient tool for both project managers and clients for predicting the actual optimum time required for delivery of a building project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper probes the range of factor affecting construction project duration through a literature review and a pilot survey in Hong Kong. Time-cost models previously proposed in Australia and the UK are compared with data obtained in Hong-Kong and similarities are noted. The 111 responses to the detailed questionnaire issued in Hong Kong and the follow-up interview also indicate other factors that may significantly affect project duration. Of these productivity is examined here, while other factors will be probed in the second phase of this investigation. Time-floor area relationships are also examined and found to be significant. Projects are classified as public or private sector housing and other buildings, road and other civil engineering projects. Large sample in each category of construction project will be targeted to test the validity of the models and their parameters in Hong Kong as derived from the pilot survey. It is noted that standardization in public housing projects (as in Hong Kong and Singapore) leads to more consistency in durations, providing useful reference points for such studies. International comparisons are intended to test the models, parameters and significant factors relating to the timeframe of construction projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban building disposition plays an important role in determining local microclimate including air quality. Ancient cities normally have some special building dispositions to reduce the penetration of cold wind in winter, which, however, may impact adversely on air pollutant dilution today. This paper investigated the pedestrian-level air quality at a common building disposition in Chinese ancient cities, namely a U-type street canyon. On-site measurements were conducted comparatively at a U-type street canyon and a nearby open space in Xi'an China during January 2015. Three primary air pollutants (PM 10 , PM 2.5 and NO 2 ) as well as wind speed and direction, air temperature and relative humidity were measured continuously from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. for a six-day period that covered both clean and hazy days. Pedestrian-level wind condition at the U-type street canyon is mostly independent of that above the canyon, where adverse dilution condition is clearly evident for pollutants. PM 2.5 /PM 10 ratio at the street canyon reached up to 0.9, which is nearly twice that at the nearby observatory. Overall, air quality index (AQI) in the street canyon is, on average, higher by 20% than that at the open space. These findings suggest that this ancient design should be discouraged. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an improved building treatment approach (IBTA) for use in urban inundation modeling. In this approach, the ground surface elevation was raised by the threshold (h) of the building entrance height to account for both the blockage and storage effect of areas with dense building coverage. A higher roughness coefficient was assigned to the areas where buildings were located to compensate for the resistance effects caused by the inner wall of the structure. The campus of Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in Wuhan City, China, was used as a case study. Comparison between IBTA and several traditional building treatment approaches suggested that the model results were sensitive to the building treatment method and the threshold used for terrain preprocessing in dense building regions. Furthermore, as the interaction between the surface water flow and dense buildings were adequately represented by using a new terrain preprocessing approach, the proposed IBTA provided better performance in terms of maximum inundation depth and the peak depth time than the traditional approaches in areas with dense building coverage, such as that of the campus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the largest construction industry in the world, the Chinese construction industry not only has huge sustainability implications for China, but also significantly influences the world's resource consumption due to its tremendous scale. However, there is a lack of studies identifying the fundamental challenges hindering the transformation towards sustainable construction in China from a holistic triple bottom line perspective of sustainability. This study aims to identify the challenges, thereby revealing the future research directions accelerating the transition towards sustainable construction in China. Through content analysis of both existing literature and government plans, this study identifies the key sustainability challenges, governmental measures, and critical future research opportunities to help tackle the challenges hindering the sustainability transition of the Chinese construction industry. Even though this study focuses on China, it provides a holistic reference for researchers, industry practitioners and policymakers worldwide to understand the sustainability challenges of the construction industry, as the construction industries in many countries face sustainability challenges similar to those in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The current paper discusses the conservation and restoration of the Guang Sheng Si Pagoda of the Liao Dynasty in Liaoning Province, China. The Southeast University, together with the Conservation Center of Liaoning Province, the Sapienza University of Rome, and the IUAV University of Venice, organized a workshop on the current project, which consists of a preliminary investigation, the restoration design, and on-site construction. The current study attempts to introduce the expressing procedure through precise on-site investigations and the rendering of restoration drawings based on the integral definition of the structural damages. This project is a new technique in the field of traditional restoration in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose – The aim of this study is to identify complexity measures for building projects in the People's Republic of China (PRC). Design/methodology/approach – A three-round of Delphi questionnaire survey was conducted to identify the key parameters that measure the degree of project complexity. A complexity index (CI) was developed based on the identified measures and their relative importance. Findings – Six key measures of project complexity have been identified, namely: building structure & function; construction method; the urgency of the project schedule; project size/scale; geological condition; and neighboring environment. Practical implications – These complexity measures help stakeholders assess degrees of project complexity and better manage the potential risks that might be induced to different levels of project complexity. Originality/value – The findings provide insightful perspectives to define and understand project complexity. For stakeholders, understanding and addressing the complexity help to improve project planning and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: As a regular data-driven method, Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are popular in building energy prediction. In this paper, an alternative approach, namely, hybrid genetic algorithm-adaptive network-based fuzzy inference system (GA-ANFIS) is presented. In this model, GA optimizes the subtractive clustering’s radiuses which help form the rule base, and ANFIS adjusts the premise and consequent parameters to optimize the forecasting performance. a hierarchical structure of ANFIS is also suggested to solve the probably curse-of-dimensionality problem. The performance of the proposed model is compared with ANN using two different data sets, which are collected from the Energy Prediction Shootout I contest and a library building located in Zhejiang University, China. Results show that the hybrid GA-ANFIS model has better performance than ANN in term of prediction accuracy. The proposed model also has the same scale of modeling time as ANN if parameters in GA procedure are carefully selected. It can be regarded as an alternative method in building energy prediction. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The concern on climate change leads to growing demand for minimization of energy use. As building is one of the largest energy consuming sectors, it is essential to study the impact of climate change on building energy performance. In this regard, building energy simulation software is a useful tool. A set of appropriate typical weather files is one of the key factors towards successful building energy simulation. This paper reports the work of developing a set of weather data files for subtropical Hong Kong, taking into the effect of future climate change. Projected monthly mean climate changes from a selected General Circulation Model for three future periods under two emission scenarios were integrated into an existing typical meteorological year weather file by a morphing method. Through this work, six sets of future weather files for subtropical Hong Kong were produced. A typical office building and a residential flat were modeled using building simulation program EnergyPlus. Hourly building energy simulations were carried out. The simulated results indicate that there will be substantial increase in A/C energy consumption under the impact of future climate change, ranging from 2.6% to 14.3% and from 3.7% to 24% for office building and residential flat, respectively. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Daylighting has long been recognized as an important issue in architecture. In Hong Kong many buildings are constructed close to each other and hence the external environment plays a significant role in building designs. Recently, vertical daylight factor (VDF) has been used as a criterion to justify the provision of natural lighting in buildings. This paper studies the calculation approach of VDF in a heavily obstructed environment. The techniques for determining the sky component and the reflected daylight from surrounding buildings and ground surfaces are described. Calculation tools in the form of simple equations and diagrams through computer-simulation analysis were established. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated against the daylight illuminance obtained by other independent computer simulations. It was found that predictions from the proposed approach were in good agreements with those produced by simulated results. The findings provide architects and building designers with a simple method for estimating the daylight illuminance at early design and planning stage. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (HK-BEAM), Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) and LEED were formally launched in the 1990''s. How well the certified and rated buildings compare with each other of an interest to building designers and policy makers. This paper describes how the baseline buildings, performance criteria and the credit scales of the three schemes compare with each other. By statistical analysis of the energy assessment results of 60 HK-BEAM certified buildings and the available data for BREEAM and LEED, it seeks to ascertained of buildings scoring excellent energy performance under different schemes belong to the top 5% in the market. Through this exercise, a systematic approach to benchmark the energy assessments across schemes has been established. With people nowadays paying greater attention to the environmental issues and the rapid development of the environmental schemes in various parts of the world, this study forms a good basis for future benchmarking of energy assessment schemes across nations. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Purpose - The recession in the late 1990s in Hong Kong has triggered many commercial building owners to cut operation and maintenance (O&M) cost via outsourcing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dominant expenditure on O&M service and examine the relation between extent of outsourcing and rental income of the buildings. Design/methodology/approach - Experienced O&M practitioners were interviewed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data of the commercial buildings they looked after. The in-house and outsourced O&M costs, air-conditioning energy costs, rental incomes, and management and air-conditioning fees for the buildings were analysed. Findings - The total air-conditioning O&M cost is the principal cost item, with the energy cost being the dominant element. The analysis reveals that the extent of outsourcing bore little correlation with the air-conditioning O&M cost and the rental income. Research limitations/implications - Further work may take a similar approach to identify the extent and effect of outsourcing other kinds of services that underpin the core business of an organisation. Practical implications - Varying the extent of outsourcing O&M service was found to be unpromising for enhancing rental performance or cutting O&M expenditure. This is an important point that the building managers should address when considering whether to go for outsourcing. Originality/value - The findings imply that in the building O&M service industry, it would be more economical to outsource or undertake in-house the vast majority of O&M work. The focus for cost minimization should be to improve building energy performance rather than reducing labour resources through outsourcing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]