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Illegal changes of use in aged industrial and residential buildings is now a prevalent problem in Hong Kong. This research aims to develop a strategy for an effective and efficient control of illegal land use in a highly dense environment, with high rise buildings in multiple leasehold ownerships.

Multiple cases were qualitatively analyzed, based on documentary analysis of the court proceedings.

In Cases 1 and 2, lease conditions for restriction to industrial purposes on aged industrial buildings were found to be obsolete and not economically viable, thus resulting in illegal conversion of the premises for commercial use. Cases 2 and 3 showed that ambiguity in user clauses in land leases could lead to illegal changes of use from industrial or residential to commercial activities. Most importantly, Cases 1 and 3 demonstrated that limited resources for lease enforcement are the fundamental cause of the problem. Cases 4 and 5 proved that property managers could take effective legal action against changes of use in buildings with multiple ownerships.

The results of this study are derived from five typical cases in Hong Kong, but they form a baseline upon which further research can build to test their significance in many other settings. Ultimately, a more robust strategy can be developed for ensuring an effective and efficient control of illegal land uses in the leasehold system for Hong Kong and for those countries with a similar tenure system.

A total economic and management strategy should be implemented by the government. The land management system should work in partnership with private property managers which are empowered under the Deed of Mutual Covenant (DMC) of multiple occupied buildings to take instant action against individual owners for breaches of lease conditions. The system should also be more flexible to expand the scope of new uses for aged industrial premises, allow affordable premium for lease modifications, as well as review and clarify any ambiguous user clauses in the related land ordinances.

The public should be educated that it is important to seek approvals and consents from the government prior to making any changes of land use. The government should also establish a housing policy to provide sufficient affordable housing for the lower income group so that illegal sub‐divisions on buildings for residential purposes can be eliminated.

The improvement measures identified can effectively enforce compliance with lease conditions, which in turn can reduce the enforcement transaction costs, ensure efficient allocation and use of land in the leasehold system, and maintain building safety.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on tracing GHG emissions across the supply chain industries associated with the US residential, commercial and industrial building stock and provides optimized GHG reduction policy plans for sustainable development.

A two-step hierarchical approach is developed. First, Economic Input-Output-based Life Cycle Assessment (EIO-LCA) is utilized to quantify the GHG emissions associated with the US residential, commercial and industrial building stock. Second, a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) based optimization framework is developed to identify the optimal GHG emissions’ reduction (percent) for each industry across the supply chain network of the US economy.

The results indicated that “ready-mix concrete manufacturing”, “electric power generation, transmission and distribution” and “lighting fixture manufacturing” sectors were found to be the main culprits in the GHG emissions’ stock. Additionally, the majorly responsible industries in the supply chains of each building construction categories were also highlighted as the hot-spots in the supply chains with respect to the GHG emission reduction (percent) requirements.

The decision making in terms of construction-related expenses and energy use options have considerable impacts across the supply chains. Therefore, regulations and actions should be re-organized around the systematic understanding considering the principles of “circular economy” within the context of sustainable development.

Although the literature is abundant with works that address quantifying environmental impacts of building structures, environmental life cycle impact-based optimization methods are scarce. This paper successfully fills this gap by integrating EIO-LCA and MILP frameworks to identify the most pollutant industries in the supply chains of building structures.

This study aims to develop a decision-making tool that assesses the economic feasibility of converting commercial and industrial buildings into rented residential accommodation. This tool also enables developers to provide high-quality rented residential accommodation that contribute to the gentrification of formerly industrialised inner city or developed areas.

The overarching epistemological approach adopted used inductive reasoning and a postpositivist philosophical design to structure the research problem and devise new theories about the phenomena under investigation. From an operational perspective, a two-phase “waterfall” research approach was adopted. Phase one used extant literature to identify development factors and variables for consideration, risks posed and conversion appraisal criteria. Two case studies formed the basis of a cross comparative analysis, namely, a new build and conversion of a former industrial building into rented residential accommodation. Phase two identified development appraisal criteria, conducted a cost analysis and premised upon the findings, developed a decision support appraisal tool as a “proof of concept”.

The research combined key decision factors and variables that assist property developers when evaluating whether to convert commercial and industrial property into rented residential accommodation. The appraisal tool’s functionality was validated via a focus group discussion with senior property developers to ensure that assessment criteria and development weightings were appropriate. Feedback revealed that the tool was suitable for purpose and should now be adopted in practice and refined as appropriate and with usage.

The appraisal tool presented could yield a far more accurate means of decision-making which, in turn, could ensure that predicted investment returns are received (thus reducing errors and lowering risk for investors). Future work is required to robustly test and validate the tool’s accuracy in practice. It is envisaged that future projects will provide a rich stream of data for such testing.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work constitutes the first attempt to conceptualise a decision support tool for rented residential property development.

In fast urbanizing economies such as Sri Lanka, the construction industry tends to fragment into almost separate spheres of production with little or no reciprocal connection in training, know‐how and career development paths, and consequent limitations in internal knowledge dissemination and technology transfer. This type of industrial compartmentalization is detrimental to the social acquisition of skills, and restricts the operational frameworks of given technologies, especially in low‐cost sectors. Against this backdrop, this paper sets out to speculate on how design can act as an engine of social and economic growth for those involved in its production.

Based on government statistics and building output analysis, the paper argues that architects can build labour policy‐making into the design of their buildings, provided that such an agenda is developed strategically, by examining the industrial base of the region, and by defining a design and technological vocabulary that feeds off the analysis of place‐specific conditions, limitations, and ambitions.

The integration of technological development and broad socio‐economic growth can be facilitated by “open” (or “incremental”) industrial design strategies aimed at connecting construction markets rather than keeping them separate. To this end, it is posited that technological contamination and compromise can help the labour force to increase its own skills progressively.

In practical terms, this objective translates in the definition of building implementation techniques that can adapt to the level of complexity required and the level of expenditure possible without penalizing the expected performance of the building – i.e. they must be inherently “robust” as opposed to precise and therefore more “sensitive”.

The paper is the first result of a thesis‐in‐progress that, on the basis of a technical review carried out on a small sample of ideal‐type projects in Sri Lanka, is considering ways to create and link labour development opportunities through architectural design.

Discusses the advantages to a tax paying company in the absence of inflation, to lease commercial property from a non‐tax paying institution. Outlines the reasoning behind the existence of a market in the sale of short leaseholds to gross funds. Explores the financial advantages to leaseholds being owned by taxpaying firms when there is price inflation, but declares the wisdom of selling to gross funds at the point at which their monetary value starts to decline. Suggests that the UK tax system, which does not allow firms to write off the cost of investment in commercial buildings against tax, affects the pattern of ownership of these buildings.

Presents an early publication of the results of an RICS Research Foundation Education Trust funded project to investigate the use of modern non‐destructive test equipment during surveys. Discusses the data collection and analysis phases in detail followed by the presentation of the preliminary findings of a national postal questionnaire survey of 143 building surveying practices. Stays confined to a discussion on the largest data set – equipment used for commercial and industrial surveys. New technology has made some impact in that more surveyors are using digital cameras and electronic measurement aids but little use is being made of portable materials testing equipment. The results have indicated that there are increasing trends in the use of endoscopes, some environmental measuring aids, metal detectors and electrical installation testing by surveyors.

This paper seeks to consider how policy changes may drive a change in leasing practices, in order to reduce environmental impact (particularly carbon dioxide emissions) from the commercial building stock.

In many countries, including the UK, environmental policy (particularly on carbon dioxide emissions from energy use) is beginning to impact on the commercial property market. This paper explores barriers to improved performance, two models for greening leases (a light green and dark green approach) based on work by the authors from Cardiff University and the Australian government, as well as how tenanted buildings can be managed “more greenly”. It then explores how green leases may penetrate the market.

The conventional relationship between the landlord (as building owner) and tenant (as occupier) largely neglects environmental considerations. However, change may be rapid, disruptive and challenging.

The paper lays out some of the issues, solutions, and pathways for the commercial property industry.

Modern building systems, such as HVAC, lighting, life safety, security, vertical transportation and electrical power distribution, make use of modern direct digital control and communication technologies. Such an approach has initiated the use of the adjective ″smart″ when referring to buildings that are equipped with a significant portion of these new systems. Integrated building automation and management systems (BAS/BMS) have been developed for newly constructed commercial, domestic and industrial buildings. Building management staff can gain access to any building system through the BAS for the purpose of data monitoring and real‐time control inside the control room. With the advent of Internet technology, all critical data in a BAS can be transmitted to and from any authorized user around the world, who can then perform the same function of monitoring and control even when the user is thousands of miles away from the building as when the user is sitting in front of the control console inside the control room. Describes the development and features of the Internet‐based system using an air‐handling unit simulator as an illustrative example. Discusses details of the hardware and software of the Internet site.

The functions of lighting Lighting is provided in a building to fulfil three basic functions: