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It is common practice in structural engineering to assume floor diaphragms infinitely stiff in their own plane. But, most of the code provisions lack clarity and unity in categorising floor diaphragms and discussing their behaviour based on the seismic response of the structures. Besides, although many of these code provisions have presented simple techniques and formulations for determining the level of flexibility in floor diaphragms, the implementation of these techniques on more complex floor systems such as the steel-deck composite floors is still under question. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

In this study, an equivalent concrete floor is employed as a representative of in-plane diaphragm action of steel-deck composite floor, using simple modelling techniques in SAP2000 and the results are validated by complex structural models developed in ABAQUS. Afterwards, the equivalent floor is inserted to 3, 5 and 7 storey steel structures with 2, 3 and 5 plan aspect ratios in two categories of structures with rigid diaphragms and analogous structures with flexible diaphragms and the responses are compared to each other.

The results show that the proposed technique is an effective method for evaluating the diaphragm action of steel-deck composite floors. Additionally, it is concluded that, the boundary values of plan aspect ratio equal to 3 and λ coefficient equal to 0.5 in steel-deck composite floors, mentioned in code provisions for categorising diaphragms, are not always conservative and need to be scrutinised.

The proposed methodology provides simple framework for assessing the effects of in-plane flexibility of steel-deck composite on seismic response of steel structures.

The business case for facility expenditures is grounded in the knowledge that life-cycle economics is significant to the continued viability of the facility. The aim of this study is to develop an algorithm for life-cycle cost analysis (LCCA) and evaluate flooring products to inform decision makers about the long-term cost of ownership.

The protocol for executing an LCCA is defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, including defining the problem, identifying feasible alternatives and establishing common assumptions and parameters, as well as acquiring financial information. Data were provided by an independent third-party source.

The results of this study are twofold: assess functionally equivalent flooring alternatives to determine the best financial value and develop a replicable protocol and algorithm for LCCA. The study found that modular carpet was the best financial solution. As a tool for decision makers, this LCCA informs asset management about the long-term cost of ownership, providing a protocol for making practical, informed decisions for the lowest cost solution for functionally equivalent alternatives.

Projecting LCCA beyond 15 years may have limited value based on potential changes in the financial climate. Further research should focus on the implications of changes in the discount rate over time and testing the algorithm on other building systems.

Maintenance costs are considerable when compared to initial cost of flooring. Equipment costs have a significant impact on long-term cost of ownership. Using LCCA to inform specifications and to determine the best solution for a building system such as flooring provides an evidence-based process for building design and facility management.

Life-cycle costs have a significant impact on the financial health of an organization. Using LCCA to make informed decisions about facility design and specifications may contribute to increased financial stability and resources to benefit the organization’s long term goals.

This study contributes an algorithm instrument for buildings and building systems. The flooring tested with this protocol provides evidence to inform flooring selection based on lowest cost while considering other factors that inform appropriate selection of flooring materials.

This book is a policy proposal aimed at the democratic left. It is concerned with gradual but radical reform of the socio‐economic system. An integrated policy of industrial and economic democracy, which centres around the establishment of a new sector of employee‐controlled enterprises, is presented. The proposal would retain the mix‐ed economy, but transform it into a much better “mixture”, with increased employee‐power in all sectors. While there is much of enduring value in our liberal western way of life, gross inequalities of wealth and power persist in our society.

The accommodation of the Australian Tourism industry and contributes around $2.9 billion to the tourism gross value employs 18% of all tourism employees annually. Despite this important economic contribution, there is a general lack of information on the investment trends in this sector. This paper highlights the past investment trends and factors that have affected those investment decisions during the last three decades, and provides the estimates of the future investment. Forecast shows that over the next 10 years around 52,800 new rooms will be required to meet the expected tourism demand by 2013 and around $5.3 billion new investment will be required to construct those extra facilities. The historical patterns of investment in the sector suggest that this expected requirement for new investment is readily achievable.

The aim of this paper is to develop a detailed descriptive model for kitting operations, allowing resources sizing and computation of systems’ economic performances.

A mathematical model allows to size resources, given product characteristics and production mix, and determines total system costs by assessing relevant cost items including investment costs (vehicles, containers, storage racks), direct operating costs (transport and kitting workforce, vehicles energy consumption and maintenance, quality costs), indirect operating costs (space requirements, work in process (WIP) and safety stock holding costs, administration and control).

The choice of parts delivery supply to assembly lines requires a thorough economic comparison of alternatives. However, existing models are often simplistic and neglect many critical factors which affect the systems’ performances. As a consequence, industries are unsure about which system is best for their environment. This model allows assessment of the cost and suitability of kitting in any specific industrial setting. Results of the model application are case-specific and cannot be generalized, but the major impact of labour and error correction cost has been highlighted.

The model at present focusses on the in-house kitting systems based on travelling kits concept only. Although all quantitative cost drivers are included, some context-related qualitative decision factors are not yet included. The model assumes that the information about product structure and part requirements is known and that a preliminary design of the assembly system (i.e. line balancing) has been carried out.

Production managers are given a quantitative decision tool to properly assess the implementation of kitting policies at an early decision stage. This allows exploring the trade-offs between the alternatives and properly planning the adoption of kitting systems, as well as comparing kitting with alternative material supply methods.

With respect to previous simplified literature models, this new approach allows quantification of a number of additional factors which are critical for successful implementation of cost-effective kitting systems, including kitting errors. An exhaustive cost estimation of kitting systems in multiple, mixed-model assembly lines is thus permitted.

The recession in the late 1990s in Hong Kong has triggered many commercial building owners to cut operation and maintenance (O&M) cost via outsourcing. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the dominant expenditure on O&M service and examine the relation between extent of outsourcing and rental income of the buildings.

Experienced O&M practitioners were interviewed to collect both quantitative and qualitative data of the commercial buildings they looked after. The in‐house and outsourced O&M costs, air‐conditioning energy costs, rental incomes, and management and air‐conditioning fees for the buildings were analysed.

The total air‐conditioning O&M cost is the principal cost item, with the energy cost being the dominant element. The analysis reveals that the extent of outsourcing bore little correlation with the air‐conditioning O&M cost and the rental income.

Further work may take a similar approach to identify the extent and effect of outsourcing other kinds of services that underpin the core business of an organisation.

Varying the extent of outsourcing O&M service was found to be unpromising for enhancing rental performance or cutting O&M expenditure. This is an important point that the building managers should address when considering whether to go for outsourcing.

The findings imply that in the building O&M service industry, it would be more economical to outsource or undertake in‐house the vast majority of O&M work. The focus for cost minimization should be to improve building energy performance rather than reducing labour resources through outsourcing.

The lack of knowledge and motivation of the operation and maintenance (O&M) staff together with the available financial resources, are the key barriers to improving energy efficiency of buildings. A survey of O&M personnel has been conducted recently in Hong Kong to find out the energy consumption and the resource inputs to the operation and maintenance of services in commercial buildings. In turn, the current level of knowledge and skills of the O&M personnel was evaluated. Analysis of the collected data revealed that buildings with higher energy performance were associated with O&M personnel who were better paid. The income of the O&M personnel was associated with academic qualification and experience but a steady rate of rise could only be sustained by continued improvement. A feasible way to boost improvements in building energy performance would be to provide rewards that are linked to savings in energy costs.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the complex interrelationships among thedifferent variables purporting to explain household energy consumption and carbon emissions. Energy consumption and carbon emissions in dwellings have been argued to be a complex socio-technical problem that involves interaction of many variables that are interdependent on one another.

The paper investigates the explanatory power of these variables through the use of structural equation modelling which has the advantage of handling complex real-life problems that cannot be modelled by other multivariate analysis methods. This study uses the publicly available datasets of the Scottish House Condition Survey and the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours datasets.

This paper found that floor area, energy efficiency in terms of standard assessment procedure value, number of occupants in the dwelling, household income, dwelling age, consumption behaviour and age of householders are among the variables explaining dwellings energy consumption and carbon emissions. The explanatory power of each of these variables was therefore explored.

The paper concludes that understanding the complex–causal relationships among the explanatory variables would help decision-makers draw more realistic policies for household energy consumption which is critical to the agenda pertaining to carbon emission.

Weir Pumps is a medium‐sized engineering company with several factories in the Glasgow area. It has between 29,000 and 30,000 stock parts, and for a number of years has been keeping, and up‐dating, information on these by computer. The system has worked pretty efficiently, allowing the firm to keep tabs on where stocks of the various parts are held, their quantities and prices, and so on.

American Airlines Training Ltd., a British subsidiary of American Airlines Training Corporation, opened its new £15 million Flight Training Centre near Gatwick Airport on July 21.