Volume 1 Issue 1
Authors: Eva Krídlová Burdová; Silvia Vilceková
Abstract: Sustainability assessment of buildings can be defined as a specific complex of proceedings oriented towards systematic and objective evaluation of a building’s performance. These processes lead to the design, construction and operation of buildings with respect to criteria for sustainable development. Since previous instances, the requirements of environmental safety, suitability and responsibility of buildings have increased. The criteria of sustainability are included in building environmental assessment systems and tools used in different countries for evaluating their sustainable and environmental performance. In recent years the evaluation of building performance in terms of environmental, social and economic aspects has become a topic of discussion in the Slovak Republic, as well. The purpose of this paper is to introduce the building environmental assessment system (BEAS), which was developed at the Technical University of Ko?ice. The Slovak system was developed on the basis of existing systems used in many countries. The BEAS covers number of environmental, social and cultural factors. The manner and form of indicators evaluation is proposed according to the SBTool. The proposal of the main fields results from the quality of the outdoor and indoor environment, nature and landscape conservation, exploitation of natural resources and so on. The indicators were proposed according to available information analysis from particular fields of building performance as well as on the base of own experimental experiences. The field of building construction will be introduced in the paper.
Keywords: Sustainable Buildings; Environmental Assessement Of Buildings; Building Construction
Authors: Tullia V. Di Giacomo
Abstract: The Aniene River Valley Park project is focused on flood mitigation, ecological quality restoration, urban, sub-urban and rural areas enhancement. The Aniene River Valley (one-million inhabitants) has archeological, historical, natural potentials including the villas of roman emperors, the springs used for the water supply of the city of Rome and Middle Ages Castles and is undergoing extensive urbanization of its riverine areas. The project strategy is centered to a sustainable river valley development under the different constraints, approaches the various functional, social, esthetic, natural points of view and is focused on structural measures that are used to control the flow of water both outside and within urban settlements, within the context of an integrated approach to urban flood risk management. The expected results of the project are: restoration of river corridor’s ecological quality, highlighting specific river potentials and resources, allowing an optimal level of sustainability of the territories involved conjugating, flooding, leisure planning and safeguard of the water supply. The realization of the River Park is an important step towards flood protection because if properly maintained and brought to life it’s the limit to improper and widespread land use.
Keywords: Environmental Engineering Construction; Flood Protection Measures; Green Networks; Linear Park; River Restoration; Soil Conservation Measures; Urban Restoration
Authors: Irene Yen Wui Lim; Chen Wang; Hamzah Abdul Rahman
Abstract: The construction industry has been suffering from low productivity and poor performance compared to other industries. There are a lot of wastes in construction processes, which were left unnoticed. In an attempt to improve its performance, industry practitioners and researchers have looked at the manufacturing industry as a point of reference and a source of innovation. Previous studies have shown that tremendous productivity improvements can be achieved by simply targeting at reducing or eliminating those wastes. Wastes that are mentioned are identified by Taiichi Ohno as the seven wastes that are part of the lean manufacturing. Lean construction results from the application of this new form of production management to construction, which has the goal of meeting the customers’ needs while using the least of everything. As a beginner, there is no necessity to start off a project with total implementation of lean management method. It is recommendable to embark with the basic principle, which is identifying and eliminating the wastes in construction process rather than just focusing on the reduction of construction material waste. Thus, a construction process waste management framework is proposed as the early introductory lean guide for those practitioners who wish to start their lean journeys.
Keywords: Lean Construction; Lean Principle; Construction Process Waste; Non-Value-Adding Activities