EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

EBookClubs

Read Books & Download eBooks Full Online

Book Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment

Download or read book Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment written by Shu-Ling Lu and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-09-08 with total page 240 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the book’s Foreword by Trevor Mole, Managing Director,Property Tectonics; President of the European Association ofBuilding Surveyors and Construction Experts: ‘Shu-Ling and Martin have built on their research workand that of others to produce an understandable and readableinsight into innovation in small professional service firms. Theyhave successfully unravelled the complex behavioural andorganisational forces taking place and created a framework to helppractitioners understand the issues and to fashion the rightenvironment in which to foster innovation and deliver economicvalue.’ Small professional practices in the built environment arecrucial to the success and long-term viability of the design,construction and property industries. This research-based bookaddresses the urgent need to better understand the nature andprocess of innovation in these important firms. The authors offer an analysis of both why and howinnovation is a key competitive factor for small professionalpractices in the built environment. As these practices are locatedin different business environments and behave in different ways toother types of industry firms, the context-specific methodology todesign, implement and assess innovation in small professionalpractices presented in this book will appeal to researchers andpractitioners in surveying and design. Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the BuiltEnvironment makes a significant contribution to anunderdeveloped area of innovation by offering new theoretical andpractical insights and models grounded in results from a 22-monthcase study of a small professional practice.

Book Construction Innovation

Download or read book Construction Innovation written by Finn Orstavik and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2015-04-20 with total page 224 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Construction innovation is an important but contested concept, both in industry practice and academic reflection and research. A fundamental reason for this is the nature of the construction industry itself: the industry and the value creation activities taking place there are multi-disciplinary, heterogeneous, distributed and often fragmented. This book takes a new approach to construction innovation, revealing different perspectives, set in a broader context. It coalesces multiple theoretical and practice-based views in order to stimulate reflection and to prepare the ground for further synthesis. By being clear, cogent and unambiguous on the most basic definitions, it can mobilise a plurality of perspectives on innovation to promote fresh thinking on how it can be studied, enabled, measured, and propagated across the industry. This book does not gloss over the real-life complexity of construction innovation. Instead, its authors look explicitly at the challenges that conceptual issues entail and by making their own position clear, they open up fresh intellectual space for reflection. Construction Innovation examines innovation from different positions and through different conceptual lenses to reveal the richness that the theoretical perspectives offer to our understanding of the way that the construction sector actors innovate at both project and organizational levels. The editors have brought together here leading scholars to deconstruct the concept of innovation and to discuss the merits of different perspectives, their commonalities and their diversity. The result is an invaluable sourcebook for those studying and leading innovation in the design, the building and the maintenance of our built environment.

Book Solutions for Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment

Download or read book Solutions for Climate Change Challenges in the Built Environment written by Colin A. Booth and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-03-12 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The multi-disciplinary perspective provided here offers a strategic view on built environment issues and improve understanding of how built environment activities potentially induce global warming and climate change. It also highlights solutions to these challenges. Solutions to Climate change Challenges in the Built Environment helps develop an appreciation of the diverse themes of the climate change debate across the built environment continuum. A wide perspective is provided through contributions from physical, environmental, social, economic and political scientists. This strategic view on built environment issues will be useful to researchers as well as policy experts and construction practitioners wanting a holistic view. This book clarifies complex issues around climate change and follows five main themes: climate change experiences; urban landscape development; urban management issues; measurement of impact; and the future. Chapters are written by eminent specialists from both academic and professional backgrounds. The main context for chapters is the developed world but the discussion is widened to incorporate regional issues. The book will be valuable to researchers and students in all the built environment disciplines, as well as to practitioners involved with the design, construction and maintenance of buildings, and government organisations developing and implementing climate change policy.

Book Integrating Innovation in Architecture

Download or read book Integrating Innovation in Architecture written by Ajla Aksamija and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-03-13 with total page 264 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Today’s design professionals are faced with challenges on all fronts. They need not only to keep in step with rapid technological changes and the current revolution in design and construction processes, but to lead the industry. This means actively seeking to innovate through design research, raising the bar in building performance and adopting advanced technologies in their practice. In a constant drive to improve design processes and services, how is it possible to implement innovations? And, moreover, to assimilate them in such a way that design, methods and technologies remain fully integrated? Focusing on innovations in architecture, this book covers new materials and design methods, advances in computational design practices, innovations in building technologies and construction techniques, and the integration of research with design. Moreover, it discusses strategies for integrating innovation into design practices, risks and economic impacts. Through numerous case studies, it illustrates how innovations have been implemented on actual architectural projects, and how design and technical innovations are used to improve building performance, as well as design practices in cutting-edge architectural and engineering firms. Projects of all scales and building types are discussed in the book, ranging from small-scale installations, academic and commercial buildings to large-scale mixed-use, healthcare, civic, academic, scientific research and sports facilities. Work from design firms around the globe and of various scales is discussed in the book, including for example Asymptote Architecture, cepezed, CO Architects, Consarc Architects, FAAB Architektura, Gerber Architekten, HOK, IDOM-ACXT, MAD Architects, Morphosis Architects, SDA | Synthesis Design + Architecture, Studiotrope, Perkins+Will, Richter Dahl Rocha & Associés, Snøhetta, Rob Ley Studio, Trahan Architects, UNStudio and Zaha Hadid Architects, among many others.

Book Construction Innovation and Process Improvement

Download or read book Construction Innovation and Process Improvement written by Akintola Akintoye and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2012-04-30 with total page 457 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Innovation in construction is essential for growth. The industry strives to remain competitive using a variety of approaches and needs to engage structured initiatives linked to proven innovation concepts, techniques and applications. Even in mature markets like the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, where business behaviour is generally considered as being risk averse, it is increasingly important to embed innovation into mainstream business practices. In Construction Innovation and Process Improvement a number of wide ranging issues from construction practice in different countries with different contexts are presented to provide a rich collection of literature embracing theory and practice. Chapters are divided into three broad themes of construction innovation relating to: Theory and Practice; Process Drivers; and Future Technologies. Several questions are posed, including for example: What is particularly unique about construction innovation in theory and practice? What are the major drivers of construction innovation? What factors are needed to support and deliver future construction technologies? In attempting to respond to such questions, the book sheds new light on these challenges, and provides readers with a number of ways forward, especially cognisant of the increased role of globalisation, the enhanced impact of knowledge, and importance of innovation. All these can have a significant impact on strategic decision-making, competitive advantage, and sustainable policies and practices. Part One deals with change management, technology, sustainable construction, and supply chain management; Part Two addresses innovation and process improvement drivers, including strategic management, concurrent engineering, risk management, innovative procurement, knowledge management; Part Three explores future technologies in construction – and particularly, how these can be harnessed and leveraged to help procure innovation and process improvement.

Book Sustainable Building Adaptation

Download or read book Sustainable Building Adaptation written by Sara J. Wilkinson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-01-21 with total page 307 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How to adapt existing building stock is a problem being addressed by local and state governments worldwide. In most developed countries we now spend more on building adaptation than on new construction and there is an urgent need for greater knowledge and awareness of what happens to commercial buildings over time. Sustainable Building Adaptation: innovations in decision-making is a significant contribution to understanding best practice in sustainable adaptations to existing commercial buildings by offering new knowledge-based theoretical and practical insights. Models used are grounded in results of case studies conducted within three collaborative construction project team settings in Australia and the Netherlands, and exemplars are drawn from the Americas, Asia, Japan, Korea and Europe to demonstrate the application of the knowledge more broadly. Results clearly demonstrate that the new models can assist with informed decision-making in adaptation that challenges some of the prevailing solutions based on empirical approaches and which do not accommodate the sustainability dimension. The emphasis is on demonstrating how the new knowledge can be applied by practitioners to deliver professionally relevant outcomes. The book offers guidance towards a balanced approach that incorporates sustainable and optimal approaches for effective management of sustainable adaptation of existing commercial buildings.

Book Future Challenges in Evaluating and Managing Sustainable Development in the Built Environment

Download or read book Future Challenges in Evaluating and Managing Sustainable Development in the Built Environment written by Peter S. Brandon and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-04-17 with total page 235 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Future Challenges in Sustainable Development within the Built Environment stimulates and reinterprets the demands of Responsible and Sustainable Development in the Built Environment for future action and development. It examines the methods of evaluation, the use of technology, the creation of new models and the role of human factors for examining and developing the subject over the next twenty years.

Book Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use

Download or read book Building Urban Resilience through Change of Use written by Sara J. Wilkinson and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2018-04-30 with total page 217 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Describes all aspects of sustainable conversion adaptation of existing buildings and provides solutions for making urban settlements resilient to climate change This comprehensive book explores the potential to change the character of cities with residential conversion of office space in order to withstand the negative effects of climate change. It investigates the nature and extent of sustainable conversion in a number of global cities, as well as the political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal drivers and barriers to successful conversion. The book also identifies the key lessons learned through international comparisons with cases in the UK, US, Australia, and the Netherlands. Building Urban Resilience Through Change of Use covers the benefits and aspects of sustainable conversion adaptation through the whole lifecycle from inception, planning, and design, to procurement, construction, and management and operational issues. It illustrates and quantifies, through empirical research, the changes that have been achieved or delivered in sustainable conversion adaptation. The book gives an overview of all aspects of performance characteristics and the conversion adaptation of existing buildings. In the end, it enables planners to make more informed decisions about whether conversion adaptation is a good choice—and if so, which types of sustainability measures are best suited for projects. Provides detailed, empirical knowledge based on real-world research undertaken in five countries over three continents on both a citywide scale and on individual buildings Case studies and exemplars demonstrate the application of the knowledge in North and South America, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and in Europe Addresses the key themes of technology, finance and procurement, and the regulatory framework The first research-based book to examine how to improve resilience to climate change through sustainable reuse of buildings, Building Urban Resilience Through Change of Use is a welcome book for researchers and academics involved in building surveying, urban development, and sustainability planning.

Book Risk Pricing Strategies for Public Private Partnership Projects

Download or read book Risk Pricing Strategies for Public Private Partnership Projects written by Abdelhalim Boussabaine and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-10-10 with total page 293 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Risk Pricing Strategies for Public-Private Partnership Projects Innovation in the Built Environment The complexity of public–private partnership (PPP) project procurement requires an effective process for pricing, managing and appropriate allocation of risks. The level at which risk is priced and the magnitude of risks transferred to the private sector will have a significant impact on the cost of the PPP deals as well as on the value for money analysis and on the selection of the optimum investment options. The construction industry tends to concentrate on the effectiveness of risk management strategies and to some extent ignores the price of risk and its impact on whole life cost of building assets. There is a pressing need for a universal framework for the determination of fair value of risks throughout the PPP procurement processes. Risk Pricing Strategies for Public–Private Partnership Projects addresses the issues of risk pricing and demonstrates the use of a coherent strategy to arrive at a fair risk price. The focus of the book is on providing risk pricing strategies to maximise return on risk retention and allocation in the procurement of PPP projects. With its up-to-date coverage of the latest developments in risk pricing, and comprehensive treatment of the methodologies involved in designing and building risk pricing strategies, the book offers a simple model for pricing risks. The book follows a thematic structure: PPP processes map; risk, uncertainty and bias; risk pricing management strategies; risk pricing measurement and modelling; risk pricing at each of the project life-cycle stages – and deals with all the important risk pricing issues, using relevant real-world situations through case study examples. It explains how the theory and strategies of risk pricing can be successfully applied to real PPP projects and reflects the broad understanding required by today’s project risk analysts, in their new and important role in PPP contract management. Also in the IBE series Managing Change in Construction Projects Senaratne & Sexton 978 14443 3515 6 Innovation in Small Professional Practices in the Built Environment Lu & Sexton 978 14051 9140 1 Other books of interest Urban Infrastructure: Finance and Management Wellman & Spiller 978 0 470 65635 8 Project Finance for Construction and Infrastructure Pretorius, Chung-Hsu, McInnes, Lejot & Arner Construction Supply Chain Management Pryke 978 14051 5844 2 Policy, Finance & Management for Public-Private Partnerships Edited by Akintoye & Beck 978 14051 7791 7 Strategic Issues in Public-Private Partnerships, 2nd Edition Dewulf, Blanken & Bult-Spiering 978 0 470 65635 8

Book International Facility Management

Download or read book International Facility Management written by Kathy Roper and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2014-02-17 with total page 198 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This up-to-date compilation of topics on the maturity and changes occurring within facility management worldwide offers insights into the growth and development of FM and its impact on today's business organisations. International Facility Management presents a comprehensive and diverse collection of topics that provides current, cutting edge research in the evolving field of FM. The editors here offer a holistic approach to both the study and the practice of facility management, incorporating the perspective of scholars and practitioners from across the globe. Topics covered deal with the changes occurring in the field today and include key research areas for both academics and practitioners. The focus is on actual practice of FM organizations – rather than on what FM should be - and the authors examine the latest techniques, models and case studies to provide a unique exploration of the new global world of facility management. Chapters here cover the changing spectrum of topics including sustainability and energy conservation, and workplace transitions for greater collaboration. The international scope and emphasis on maturity and professionalism of the field further sets this book apart from its competitors.

Book Construction Supply Chain Management

Download or read book Construction Supply Chain Management written by Stephen Pryke and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2009-09-15 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book provides a unique appraisal of supply chain management(SCM) concepts alongside lessons from industry, observation andanalysis gathered during the first decade of supply chainmanagement strategies in the UK construction industry. The research from leading international academics has been drawntogether with the experience from some of the industry's foremostSCM practitioners to provide both a definition of SCM and anoverview of its development as a strategy for managing constructionprojects. Key case study material - from Slough Estates to BAA and T5 -illustrates the benefits to the industry of its adoption. Littlehas been written on the application of SCM to construction and thisbook provides an agenda for discussion for both the experiencedresearcher and the industry practitioner by offering a thoroughgrounding in its principles as well as an illustration of SCM as amethodology for industry. Construction Supply Chain Management studies makes animportant contribution to the debate on innovative systems andtheir significance in increasingly complex constructionprojects.

Book Managing the Professional Practice

Download or read book Managing the Professional Practice written by Hedley Smyth and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-02-25 with total page 265 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emphasis here is to explore the key issues influencing the culture, strategies and management operations of professional practices. The focus is upon established practices from growing ones to large international firms in the built environment. A key aim of the book is to promote aspects of management by function and activities, with discipline acting as context rather than the primary focus. The book is structured into sections around 3 main themes: managing the organisation; and managing specific issues that affect operations, and a third section reflects upon management from practitioner experience. Section I: 'Managing the organisation' looks at how the history of the firm creates both opportunities and rigidities for developing the practice, in terms of culture and market position, strategies and implementation, financial, marketing and HR management. Section II: 'Managing specific strategic and tactical issues' looks at how these affect approaches a discipline and operational processes in practices. These issues compliment those covered in Section I. Section III: 'Reflecting on practice' covers experience of those in practice and top practitioners detail how they are addressing key issues in their practice and for their discipline. Each chapter by a practitioner has a postscript from academic authors to make links back to research on theory and application. Addresses the key issues facing practice managers Collects latest research from leading academics Offers comment on current practice from top practitioners

Book Managing Change in Construction Projects

Download or read book Managing Change in Construction Projects written by Sepani Senaratne and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2011-01-31 with total page 200 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Managing Change in Construction Projects: a knowledge-based approach offers a new perspective on construction project change by viewing the process of change management as a knowledge-intensive activity, where team members bring their tacit and explicit knowledge into the situation; share, create and capture this collective knowledge for future re-use in similar situations. Through this knowledge-based approach, construction teams can successfully resolve and learn from change events, leading to an overall improved performance of the industry. The book will make a significant contribution to our understanding of construction project change by offering new theoretical and practical insights and models grounded in results of case studies conducted within two collaborative construction project team settings. By demonstrating how the social construction of knowledge works in construction settings, the authors challenge the prevailing change management solutions based on ‘hard’ IT approaches. They put forward a balanced view that incorporates both IT–based and socially constructed approaches to effective management of construction project change. helps construction managers to improve and learn through the process of construction project change presents new theoretical models and offers practical guidelines first research-based book to directly address project change from a knowledge-based perspective draws on detailed studies with construction companies, including Ballast Construction and Kier Construction encourages a move from the information driven, process integrated approach to a knowledge-based view

Book Management and Conservation of Mediterranean Environments

Download or read book Management and Conservation of Mediterranean Environments written by Castanho, Rui Alexandre and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2021-01-29 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: To achieve desired territorial sustainability, it is necessary to fully understand all three spheres of sustainable development from different perspectives. The territories, ecosystems, and environments involved in Mediterranean landscapes environments are not an exception. In this regard, specific fields within this main subject should be studied in more detail such as management and conservation strategies, methods for environmental planning, environmental rights and legislation, provided ecosystems services, natural-based solutions, among many other areas Management and Conservation of Mediterranean Environments is a powerful scientific contribution to the issue of territorial sustainability and dynamics, challenges, and opportunities ongoing in Mediterranean landscapes. Chapters cover research in the fields of territorial governance and management, ecosystems, economic growth, sustainability, environmental pollution, and more. This book is a valuable reference tool for academicians, researchers, technicians, decision makers, policymakers, students, and any readers interested in sustainable development and the management of Mediterranean environments.

Book Why Architects Matter

Download or read book Why Architects Matter written by Flora Samuel and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2018-03-09 with total page 252 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why Architects Matter examines the key role of research- led, ethical architects in promoting wellbeing, sustainability and innovation. It argues that the profession needs to be clear about what it knows and the value of what it knows if it is to work successfully with others. Without this clarity, the marginalization of architects from the production of the built environment will continue, preventing clients, businesses and society from getting the buildings that they need. The book offers a strategy for the development of a twenty-first-century knowledge-led built environment, including tools to help evidence, develop and communicate that value to those outside the field. Knowing how to demonstrate the impact and value of their work will strengthen practitioners’ ability to pitch for work and access new funding streams. This is particularly important at a time of global economic downturn, with ever greater competition for contracts and funds driving down fees and making it imperative to prove value at every level. Why Architects Matter straddles the spheres of ‘Practice Management and Law’, ‘History and Theory’, ‘Design’, ‘Housing’, ‘Sustainability’, ‘Health’, ‘Marketing’ and ‘Advice for Clients’, bringing them into an accessible whole. The book will therefore be of interest to professional architects, architecture students and anyone with an interest in our built environment and the role of professionals within it.

Book Research Anthology on Macroeconomics and the Achievement of Global Stability

Download or read book Research Anthology on Macroeconomics and the Achievement of Global Stability written by Management Association, Information Resources and published by IGI Global. This book was released on 2022-08-05 with total page 1953 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The COVID-19 pandemic has shocked economies around the world and created an era of global instability. As the pandemic comes to a close, it is essential to examine global economies in order to achieve and maintain global stability. By maintaining global stability, the world may be prepared for future economic shocks. The Research Anthology on Macroeconomics and the Achievement of Global Stability discusses the emerging opportunities, challenges, and strategies within the field of macroeconomics. It features advancements in the field that encourage global economic stability. Covering topics such as Islamic banking, international trade, and Econophysics, this major reference work is an ideal resource for economists, government leaders and officials, business leaders and executives, finance professionals, students and educators of higher education, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Book Housing for Hope and Wellbeing

Download or read book Housing for Hope and Wellbeing written by Flora Samuel and published by Taylor & Francis. This book was released on 2022-12-20 with total page 185 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Housing and neighbourhoods have an important contribution to make to our wellbeing and our sense of our place in the world. This book, written for a lay audience (with policy makers firmly in mind) offers a useful and intelligible overview of our housing system and why it is in ‘crisis’ while acting as an important reminder of how housing contributes to social value, defined as community, health, self development and identity. It argues for a holistic digital map-based planning system that allows for the sensitive balancing of the triple bottom line of sustainability: social, environmental and economic value. It sets out a vision of what our housing system could look like if we really put the wellbeing of people and planet first, as well as a route map on how to get there. Written primarily from the point of view of an architect, the account weaves across industry, practice and academia cross cutting disciplines to provide an integrated view of the field. The book focusses on the UK housing scene but draws on and provides lessons for housing cultures across the globe. Illustrated throughout with case studies, this is the go-to book for anyone who wants to look at housing in a holistic way.