Toong Khuan Chan

Measuring performance of the Malaysian construction industry

A systematic measurement framework for the Malaysian construction industry is essential to enable the industry to monitor its progress towards achieving the goals set out in the Construction Industry Master Plan 2006–15. The objectives were to develop a comprehensive set of performance measures for the construction industry, to compute these measures for the 2006 base year and to benchmark the available data. The Balanced Scorecard approach was used to examine the links between the critical success factors and strategic thrusts defined in the master plan to ensure that these provide a balanced view of the industry’s competitive standing. The resulting strategy map revealed that the eight critical success factors and seven strategic thrusts of the master plan generally cover all four Balanced Scorecard perspectives with a strong emphasis on learning and growth. Thirty‐four performance measures were adapted from other initiatives, modified to suit local practices, or were created specifically to measure the outcomes of the strategic thrusts. Performance measures were computed for the 2006 base year. A comparative analysis of the available data was conducted to determine tentative targets for these measures.

Experiences of Deploying an Indoor Building Sensor Network

Monitoring and automatic control of building environment is a crucial application of Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) in which maximizing network lifetime is a key challenge. We investigate the link quality distribution to obtain full coverage of signal strength in a single floor of building environment, experimentally. Our results confirmed the transitional region is particular concern in wireless sensor network since it accommodates high variance unreliable links. The reason due to this transitional region in inside building environment could be the obstacles including concrete/brick walls, partitions, office furniture and other items affect as additional absorption term to the path loss.

Welded aluminium alloy connections: test results and BS8118

Heat-treatable aluminium alloys are known to suffer from severe loss of strength in the vicinity of welds. This investigation examines the structural effect of a reduced strength zone adjacent to the welds of cruciform connections and assesses its effects on the load carrying capacity, ductility and mode of failure. The results indicate that the load carrying capacity for short connection lengths are lower than values predicted with current methods of design and that the mode of failure is usually with a distinctive dish-like necking around the welded finger within the RSZ of the joint.

BEHAVIOUR OF PRECAST REINFORCED CONCRETE PILE CAPS

Abstract The objective of this investigation is to study the behaviour of precast reinforced concrete pile caps and the ultimate load-carrying capacity. Three pile cap units were cast and tested to failure. One unit was a control pile cap cast in situ and the other two were precast reinforced units with in situ concrete infill. The experimental results showed that the precast pile cap behaved in a similar manner as compared with the conventional cast in situ pile cap. Furthermore, all the three units failed at loads exceeding the failure loads predicted using conventional design methods and exhibited predicted failure modes. In addition, there was a substantial increase in productivity as the precast pile caps could be constructed quickly and thus reducing the risk of exposing the excavated pit to rain and possible failure of the unsupported sides.

More than a survey: an interdisciplinary post-occupancy tracking of BER schools

In February 2009, the Australian Government announced the

Cost estimation for electric light and power elements during building design

16.2b Building the Education Revolution (BER) as part of an economic stimulus package. In the context of a global financial crisis, the Government called for ‘shovel ready’ projects requiring state education departments to develop template designs to speed the delivery process. Three years later, new facilities have been completed in over 1100 government schools in Victoria (DEECD, 2012). This article outlines research by an interdisciplinary team to track the early occupation of a template design used in Victoria. The design template was unusual: it enabled schools to continue using traditional classroom teaching or to slide open walls to form larger neighbourhoods suitable for team teaching. Our research linked different methodological frameworks to undertake post-occupancy evaluation (POE) of the new spaces. POE strategies are often driven by construction and project management perspectives rather than focus on organizational issues and user behaviour.

Risks in PPP Water Projects in China: Perspective of Local Governments

Purpose – The study reported in this paper proposed the use of artificial neural networks (ANN) as viable alternative to regression for predicting the cost of building services elements at the early stage of design. The purpose of this paper is to develop, test and validate ANN models for predicting the costs of electrical services components. Design/Methodology/Approach – The research is based on data mining of over 200 building projects in the office of a medium size electrical contractor. Of the over 200 projects examined, 71 usable data were found and used for the ANN modeling. Regression models were also explored using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences Statistics Software 21, for the purpose of comparison with the ANN models. Findings – The findings show that the cost forecasting models based on ANN algorithm are more viable alternative to regression models for predicting the costs of light wiring, power wiring and cable pathways. The ANN prediction errors achieved are 6.4, 4.5 and 4.5 per ...

Ventilation Efficiency and Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Concentration

AbstractIn the last decade, China has implemented more public–private partnership (PPP) projects in the water sector compared to other sectors. However, efficient management of risks in these proje...

Risk and Risk Factors in Brownfield Development

Abstract| In animals metabolic processes, involve complex organic molecules being brokendown to simpler molecules, such as carbon dioxide and water. Carbon dioxide waste is removedfrom the body through respiration. Carbon dioxide content in fresh air is approximately 400parts per million. In this study, we investigate the relationship between ventilation e–ciencyand carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) concentration. Carbon dioxide concentration can give an indication ofthe indoor air quality in indoor and enclosed environments. It serves as a measure of ventilatione–ciency in areas where air-conditioning and mechanical ventilation is provided.Our survey of various enclosed environments indicate that CO 2 levels may exceed the levels thathave been suggested to cause occupants to grow drowsy, get headaches, or function at loweractivity levels. Elevated levels of CO 2 are observed in public transport when fllled almost tocapacity and these concentrations remain for long durations.1. INTRODUCTION The most periodic found gases on the earth is carbon dioxide (CO

Brownfield risk communication and evaluation

Brownfield site development is subject to uncertainty of hidden environmental issue, legal liability, and social cost. The brownfield land market is known for its transparency concern in communicating valuable private information to aid redevelopment decision of the market actors. Therefore, a risk factor is defined as the communicable rational risk perception affecting choice or decision. This paper develops a conceptual frame to identify and organise brownfield development risk and risk factor from experienced professional and industry perspective. It is not based on direct consumer-driven risk perception. Instead it examines both the literature and theories to bring to upfront the problems of risk communication amongst key stakeholders who are influential to identify and affect the formation of risk factors and decision hierarchy in brownfield development processes. The clustered risk factors, systematically formed and validated, help the development of a brownfield risk evaluation tool, which has the potential to support private decision and public policy making, in the current economic structurally driven land use intensification and gentrification.