Suchergebnisse

The construction industry plays a crucial role in the social and economic development of countries. Recently, the Egyptian government is exerting tremendous efforts in implementing major construction projects as one of the main goals of Egypt's sustainable development strategy (SDS) 2030. However, construction projects are associated with materials waste generated at different stages. Several studies showed that materials procurement, a critical interface between design and construction stages, contributes up to 50% of total project cost and 11.2% of materials waste. In addition, materials waste has significant negative impacts on the environment. As a result, different organizations worldwide have developed green building rating systems (GBRS) to reduce both materials waste and total project cost necessary to achieve sustainability. The aim of this paper is to explore the following: (1) current problems facing the Egyptian construction industry; (2) construction materials waste in the Egyptian construction industry; and (3) the role of the GBRS in minimizing materials waste and its financial impact on the total project cost. Particularly, the "Materials and Resources" category of Egypt's Green Pyramid Rating System (GPRS) is investigated and analysed to assess its effectiveness and robustness as an approach to reduce materials waste during the procurement process. Limitations of "Materials and Resources" category are indicated and recommendations for its improvement are stated.

Healthcare in Nigeria is delivered by three tiers of government: the federal, state, and local government. Public hospital buildings suffer as facilities management (FM) functions are often neglected with significant effect on the operation of public hospitals in Nigeria. Most government hospitals have no tools for measuring FM performance. The aim of the study is to propose a performance measurement framework by redefining standards and developing performance benchmarks to improve current practices and to professionalise FM. The research adopted mixed qualitative and quantitative approaches to explore key issues and barriers to FM practices with stakeholders responsible for the management of hospital assets. The findings provided pointers on how to develop performance measurement in FM. Adoption of the FM performance measurement framework will assist policy makers in public hospitals in Nigeria to drive key organisational changes in the way assets are managed to support healthcare delivery and the professionalisation of FM.

The manager's skills is a critical factor that has immense influence on the organisation's ability to source funding for real estate projects. The contemporary manager in the real estate sector needs managerial talents to be able to access financing for real estate projects, given the complexities of the prevailing global financial markets. The aim of this paper is to identify the nature and type of skill-sets required by managers involved in sourcing funding for real estate projects. The methodology adopted is a desk review of relevant literature, systematic analysis of the manager and managerial skills sets. The study found that some of the skills required are innate but others need to be developed through training, education and experience. The findings shows that the manager and his team should obtain a comprehensive mix of human, technical, conceptual, political and financial management skills to continually have access to funding for real estate projects. The study contributes to the field by presenting a novel blend of manager's skills, fundamental to accessing funding for real estate projects. This study developed a skills funding matrix for accessing funding, which could act as a guide to decision makers on skills training needs and assessment for managers that are responsible for sourcing project funding for real estate firms. Recommendations for the industry and academia are proffered.

AbstractAn extensive review study of leachate composition, from landfills which have received mainly domestic wastes in the UK, has been carried out by Aspinwall & Company on behalf of the Department of the Environment. This work has provided detailed information on concentrations of a wide range of determinands. One set of analyses which has produced particularly interesting results comprises the determination of tritium. Tritium is a natural isotope of hydrogen (3H), with a half‐life of 12.43 years, which decays radioactively to form stable 3He atoms, releasing beta particles. Although tritium concentrations can be measured accurately as tritium units (TU), these represent extremely low levels of activity, and concentrations of tritium well in excess of 100 000 TU would be needed before acceptable levels of radio‐activity in drinking water were exceeded.Background levels of tritium in UK rainfall rarely now exceed 50 TU although, in the 1960s, values of up to 3000 TU in rainfall were associated with atmospheric testing of atomic weapons. It was somewhat surprising, therefore, to discover that relatively high concentrations of tritium (>10 000 TU) were widespread in leachates from landfills which had received primarily domestic wastes. This paper presents results from samples taken at 30 representative UK sites, and discusses potential sources of tritium.