Suchergebnisse

2015 World Congress on Sustainable Technologies (WCST) ; Sustainable building construction has become essential in the construction industry with the aim of satisfying the present and future needs of construction stakeholders. Selection and procurement of appropriate materials that satisfies the principles of sustainability is paramount in construction. To this end, the traditional method of materials procurement has been found to be inefficient considering the increased innovations and diversity of materials available for construction. This paper explores the implementation of Ecommerce especially e-procurement as a strategy for improving the process of materials procurement in the South African construction industry. This study obtained data quantitatively through questionnaires administered to 150 construction professionals in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. A total of 93 responses were retrieved and analysed. Findings indicated: building cost reduction, enhanced environmental protection and enhanced implementation of government policies as benefits of sustainability in materials procurement towards sustainable building production. However, eprocurement implementation during materials procurement are hindered by (a) lack of awareness, (b) resistance to change, (c) high cost of installation and operation and (d) internet fraud. Given the benefits and impacts of e-commerce, adequate implementation of these findings should proffer a suitable strategy in addressing the challenges of materials procurement towards sustainable building construction.

This study aims to identify and establish effective housing financing concepts to be adopted by government in achieving its mandate of providing sustainable affordable housing for the poor to decrease the building of shacks, as well as proposing solutions to the housing deficit in South Africa. A rise in demand and shortage in supply of housing calls for the need to address issues of affordable housing in South Africa, and developing countries in general, to ensure a stable and promising future for poor families.

The philosophy of every maintenance practice and operation in any organization is usually to provide a structurally sound and aesthetically appealing environment throughout the life of a property. Maintenance has generally been referred to as all works carried out to keep and restore an item to a currently acceptable standard. This work evaluates the performance of facilities maintenance management in the maintenance of sport complexes in South?West Nigeria. The study research method includes physical observation, administration of questionnaires to measure performance. In order to gather information, structured questionnaires were administer at the study area (the six stadia covered), the management staff, the maintenance staff and the user of the facilities in each of the stadia, covering kiosk owner, sport men and women, spectators, and lover of sports. The study revealed some factors affecting performance in the maintenance of sports complexes among which are: funding, organizational structure, political factors, ownership types, and security. The study concluded that it is only when adequate fund is provided and fully utilized in the maintenance of sport complexes that one will enjoy the initial investment in them and the consequent accruing benefits from the complexes will be achieved. The study recommended among others facts that the government should set aside part of her annual budget to maintenance of the sport complexes so as to ensure their fitness and world class standard at all time which will consequently reduce the operating cost and increase the revenue generating capacity of the stadium.