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The duration of a construction project is a vital factor to consider before the commencement of the new project. Nowadays, the common problem in the construction industry is time overrun. The main reason for this is the poor prediction of construction contract durations. Therefore, the objective of this study is to evaluate and validate Bromilow's time‐cost model and Love et al.'s time‐floor model to estimate early project durations for public building construction projects in the Hadiya Zone. The study also suggested an alternative duration machine learning prediction model by considering possibly influential project influencing factors. A questionnaire survey is designed to collect data, and subsequently, the study was performed using the Python programming language for development and validation purposes with different libraries used. The study developed Bromilow's time‐cost model using a simple linear regression algorithm and Love et al.'s time‐floor model using a multiple linear regression algorithm and proposed a parametric model using random forest, XGBoost, decision tree, K‐nearest neighbor, and polynomial regression algorithms. This study extends the body of knowledge related to construction time performance, and it contributes valuable insights that inform the implementation of machine learning model for construction time prediction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction of public buildings involves a significant amount of carbon emissions, particularly during the materialization phase of underground construction, which is characterized by a rapid and intense release of carbon emissions. In response to this issue, this study aims to develop a Building Information Modeling (BIM)-based method for assessing the factors influencing carbon emissions during the materialization phase of underground construction in public buildings. To achieve this goal, a process-based quantitative and qualitative method was established to evaluate carbon emissions at various stages, including raw material extraction and processing, building material/equipment production, and on-site processing of components, as well as construction and installation. The proposed method may serve as a valuable tool for selecting design schemes in the early stages of building design. By analyzing 125 actual cases in Xi'an, China and utilizing a carbon emission calculation model, accurate carbon emission data was obtained. This study's findings indicate a correlation between the embodied carbon emissions and the area of underground space in the cases analyzed. Specifically, larger underground spaces were associated with higher embodied carbon emissions in underground engineering. Furthermore, this study categorized the cases into two groups based on the presence or absence of underground space, resulting in the identification of 16 factors for cases without underground space and 19 factors for cases with underground space. These findings provide valuable insights for understanding and mitigating the impact of carbon emissions during the materialization phase of underground construction in public buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Choosing a contractor with the best competencies is particularly important, especially in construction contracts. Using data available on the opentender.eu platform, information for 2022 was compiled regarding the size of the public procurement market and the procedures used in public procurement for construction works in European countries. The most common procedure used under the European Union Directive for awarding work contracts, in most countries, is the open procedure. The largest share of this procedure, amounting to over 95% of all proceedings, is in the countries Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Latvia, and Poland. On the other hand, there are countries where the procedures proposed in the Directive are used to a small extent. In order to distinguish groups of European Union countries characterized by a similar structure of public procurement for work, the joining (tree-clustering) algorithm was used. This will provide insights into the strategies of countries in this area. Knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of the various procedures may improve the public procurement system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to identify the causes of excessive change orders and their impact on public construction projects in Saudi Arabia. This should support the organizations working in the construction industry to improve variation order management (VOM) as a preventive action by dealing proactively with variation order causes. Therefore, a new methodology was proposed to minimize change orders and their impact on the successful completion of projects as well as cost during the project lifecycle. The methodology involved ten selected turnkey building projects at King Faisal University (KFU) campus, Saudi Arabia. Statistical analyses were conducted to predict the cost overrun in project size and contract value. The findings showed the most significant causes leading to variation order in public construction projects. These include the combined effect of the designer and owner technical committee, designer document, and owner stakeholder committee. Hence, a new model for VOM was developed as a best practice approach, including three stages. The first stage is the initiation process, which includes seven procedures, seven tools, and key responsibilities. The second stage deals with the course of change orders based on a certain number of procedures and weight for each parameter assigned to this phase. It supports decision processes based on a certain average ratio of weights calculation. The third stage is the decision to support decision makers in proceeding or not proceeding with the variation order. Although the present study was conducted in Saudi Arabia's public building construction project, it is envisaged that these research results are widely applicable to other developing countries. The paper presents a direction for further research to enhance the impact of cost overrun in public sector construction projects in developing countries, i.e., Saudi Arabia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competitive bidding is a popular technique State Highway Agencies use for selecting contractors for public construction work. It intends to ensure that construction projects are awarded at the lowest price. However, public owners may award contracts at high prices due to collusive bid arrangements among bidders. The current practices and state-of-the-art methods of bid collusion detection are ineffective because they greatly rely on engineers' estimates, which can be inaccurate, and the similarity in the cost structure of the bids, which experienced collusive bidders can manipulate. This study contributes to the body of knowledge with a novel data-driven collusion red-flag detection framework (CRFD) that utilizes pattern mining techniques and statistical tests for detecting contractors with a red-flag pattern, which refers to a significant difference in the winning rates of a contractor with and without the co-occurrence of other particular contractors. A mechanism is also proposed to incorporate potential, influential factors into the CRFD to increase the detection power or examine possible collusion between different scenarios. The proposed method is expected to assist project owners in detecting early signs of bid collusion and eventually help them significantly enhance their award decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry has a significant multiplier effect on the economy as a whole. It provides the basis upon which other sectors can grow by constructing the physical facilities required for the production and distribution of goods and services. Building construction projects is one of the major development constraints in developing countries since their development highly depends on the growth of their physical infrastructures. Developing countries allocate a considerable amount of their scarce financial resources towards the development of their infrastructure needs. However, most of these infrastructure projects in developing countries encounter considerable quality management controlling problems, especially in public building construction projects. These results in decreasing customer satisfaction, lower productivity, and decreased service delivery times. Thus, the study focuses on exploring fuzzy AHP approaches for quality management control practices in public building construction projects. The data analysis for this study was carried out by using fuzzy AHP methods. This method is used to determine the preference weights of the input variables and for ranking. To achieve the objective, the data were collected from primary and secondary sources. Microsoft Excel was used as an analysis tool. The study revealed that quality management plans and quality management control tools are identified as mostly practiced quality management control systems in public building construction projects. Finally, it can be recommended that the project participants implement and communicate the organization's mission, vision, strategy, policies, and processes throughout the organization to enhance the productivity of the projects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Contractors fail to meet project objectives for a variety of reasons. One of the major reasons for this has been attributed to the current criteria for awarding contract ineffectiveness in identifying contractors capable of meeting today's demands and challenges. Therefore, there is a need to develop alternative contract-awarding systems for public building construction projects. Thus, the purpose of this study is to develop multiple contractor selection criteria and a selection model by integrating the Delphi and Fuzzy AHP methods. First, this study conducted an extensive literature review of related studies to determine the contractor selection criteria to select contractors for building projects. Thirty sub-criteria were finalized under six major criteria categories, such as Bid Price, Financial Capacity. Technical Capacity. Management Capacity, Experience and Reputation, and Health, Safety and Environment. Two rounds of the Delphi method were then employed to finalize and categorize the contractor selection criteria. Finally, the Fuzzy AHP method was employed to assign weights to the contractor selection criteria and then rank them according to their importance. The study revealed that among all sub-criteria, Bid Price, Projects completed on time and within budget; Experience on Similar types and sizes of projects; and Qualification, Number and Experience of Staff are the most important selection criteria. The last four sub-criteria in the row with slight weight differences are innovative methods, liquidity, credit rating, and organizational structure. The results of this study serve as a benchmark for the application of multiple contractor selection criteria procurement in Ethiopia, and as a basis for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proposition is to inquire about the lawsuit originated in the repair works of the corridors of the fort of Buenos Aires, in order to evince the complex and unclear structure of social relations within the labour process. The construction field experienced a particular dynamic in the second half of the 18th century, as a result of the policies of fortification and reform of the administrative system. Numerous public works that required a considerable number of craftsmen, masons, carpenters, amongst others were carried out in Río de la Plata. However, little is known about the details of the socio-labour relations that had to be established for this purpose, nor is the understanding of particular impact on the realm of craftsmen. In 1757, work began on repairing the corridors of the Buenos Aires fort, yet the following year a crack was found, which led to a complaint by the officials of the Contaduría against the master-builder Pedro Preciado. The use of this judicial process from the colonial courts enables to reconstruct the labour process, duties and responsibilities, as it provides the exchanges between those who command and those who obey. The succession of interrogations, presentations and testimonies revealed the vague separation between those who were to direct the work and those who were to execute it. Thus, the judicial process initiated to determine who was responsible for the crack in the warehouses turned into a series of injunctions about who should control the labour process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 1930s are historically recognized as the decade of the 1929 Crash and the years of economic non-stagnation for the US government and those of several European countries. The so-called "Keynesian" policies, despite being successful experiences, were continuously "attacked" ever since John Maynard Keynes launched his General Theory (GT). The success of the GT may be attributed to the significant reduction in unemployment at the time, mainly due to an increase in public investment spending. This is because the main device available for public administration to reduce a high unemployment rate, when an economy is in a cyclical state of recession/depression, is public investment, preferably investment in basic social capital. Having made this preamble, the main objective of the article is to discuss the importance of financing public investments in the capitalist economy and its economic and social effects, having as a basis for this the history and the economic theory of John Maynard Keynes. For this, it is crucial to adopt an exploratory, qualitative and bibliographic approach as a methodological procedure. It may be concluded that the only egress to stimulate private investment in times of crises, apart from measures to support consumption through social programs for the unemployed, is government investment. This is because government investments are autonomous investments, i.e., they do not depend on interest, nor on income. Furthermore, autonomous investment decisions, especially in the construction of public works with huge economic (roadways, ports, railways) and social (schools, hospitals and housing) repercussions, tend to break the barrier of distrust in relation to the future and promote a dynamic effect on the economy and society as a whole. Keynes, therefore, emphasizes the importance of governmental intervention to stabilize the economy. The importance of Keynes's economic theory lies in the fact that his ideas brought a new perspective to economic theory and helped shape the economic policies implemented in many countries to this day. His contributions paved the way for a better understanding of economic dynamics, whether in the public or private sector, in stabilizing the economy, especially in times of crisis, and in promoting social welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the topic of risk allocation in construction contracts, specifically focusing on unexpected physical conditions at job sites. It discusses the concept of differing site conditions (DSCs) and the various dynamics for risk allocation, including the contractor bearing all the risk, the owner providing a geotechnical report, or the presence of a differing site conditions clause or change order relief. The article also examines the treatment of DSCs in different contract forms, such as the American Institute of Architects (AIA) forms and ConsensusDocs. It emphasizes the importance of site investigations, owner's reports, and geotechnical baseline reports in mitigating the risk of unforeseen conditions. The use of Geotechnical Baseline Reports (GBRs) and Geotechnical Data Reports (GDRs) is also discussed, along with the role of disclaimers, duty to inquire, owner misrepresentation/concealment, notice and claim requirements, and damages. The article concludes by highlighting the evolving nature of contracting dynamics in construction projects. [Extracted from the article]

The article provides an overview of the recommendations made by the Chilean Technical Concessions Panel (TCP) regarding the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on construction and public works concession projects in Chile. The TCP has addressed various issues, including whether Covid-19 qualifies as a force majeure event and whether compensation should be provided for construction costs. The TCP's recommendations are not binding, and the article highlights discrepancies submitted to the TCP, particularly related to airport concessions and compensation for additional sanitary requirements. The TCP has taken a general approach to analyzing the pandemic's effects and has suggested negotiations and contract revisions in certain cases. The article also discusses the TCP's decisions on compensation claims by concessionaire companies, with the TCP characterizing the pandemic as a force majeure event and rejecting the claims for compensation. The TCP recommended that concessionaire companies seek a review of the economic aspects of their contracts. The article raises questions about the potential acceptance of the TCP's decisions by arbitral tribunals and suggests the inclusion of renegotiation clauses in future concession contracts to address similar situations. [Extracted from the article]

Tunnel construction is one of the areas of civil engineering where automation systems can increase both safety and productivity. That is why, to promote a continuous improvement and optimization of construction processes, the implementation of intelligent transport systems and, specifically, autonomous vehicles has been proposed as a catalyst for public works construction activity, including tunnels, reducing personnel, and operation costs, as well as improving safety. Under this scope, this paper presents the development of the automation system for a 25‐ton hauler truck, focusing on the task of removing debris from public works, including tunnels. This automation system has been designed, developed, and tested under real conditions in the facilities of two companies dedicated to civil engineering works, including vehicle guidance with and without gobal positioning system, obstacle detection, and tele‐operation for load/unload tasks. The main novelty of the system is the capacity of easy integration into the production system of the works, with a capacity to switch between manual, tele‐operation, or autonomous driving modes, and with specific sensors and control systems for combining indoor and outdoor navigation. The presented work includes the description of the automation of the vehicle, the general architecture, the environment perception, and the tele‐operation capacity, including indoor navigation and obstacle detection algorithms. The proposed system has been implemented and tested in real conditions, demonstrating the performance of the system and the benefit of the automation for this application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historical buildings are among the most important cultural heritages transferred from past generations to the present. These structures, which reflect the cultural structure of the society and the architectural and urban style of the period in which they were built, are documents that need to be preserved and are works of universal quality. Developing cities and differentiating needs have increased the interest in refunctioning, which is used as a method for the preservation of historical buildings. Re-functioning is a protection method that provides a different function to buildings that cannot meet today's comfort needs and cannot be used in their original form, allowing them to continue to be used. The maintenance and repair of historical buildings that have been re-functioned are prevented from disappearing by making them permanent and transferring them to future generations is ensured. However, these structures provide important contributions to the economies of cities, cultural tourism and promotion. With the zoning and city regulations under the influence of westernization that started in the Tanzimat Period, many public buildings began to be built in the Ottoman Empire. Sultan II. During the reign of Abdulhamid between 1876-1909, public buildings built in many cities are important structures that reflect the power and authority of the state. With the effect of social and economic developments, the development process of the city started with the construction of public buildings and many monumental and historical buildings in the city. Government mansions are the most important of the public structures built in different provinces and provinces towards the end of the 19th century, where the power and authority of the state are shown. Squares were created around the government mansions with the addition of other public buildings. It is known that the government mansions and other public buildings built during the Ottoman Period were under the influence of Western (Italian) architecture. Today, public buildings have been built in Diyarbakır Province, which is one of the important centers of the Southeastern Anatolia Region, and the historical building diversity of the city has been increased. Ergani is one of the big districts of Diyarbakir city. Ergani Government Mansion was built in accordance with the architectural style of the government mansions built during the Tanzimat Period. In the Ergani Government House, which was built in a rectangular plan and two storeys, the oratory balcony, which is one of the architectural elements of the government mansions, and the traditional plan order have been preserved. Restoration work was carried out in Ergani Government House (2010) and it was organized as a museum by giving it a new function. In this study, it is aimed to evaluate the current situation after the functionalization with the architectural analysis of the re-functioning work carried out within the scope of Ergani Government House, which is functioned as a museum, and to present suggestions about the sustainability of the building. In the field study, visual analyzes were made with photographs taken on site and determinations were made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research is to assess sustainable green building awareness in Kano State, in a case study of the Gwale local government area. This research makes use of both primary and secondary data to address these offered solutions. Descriptive and quantitative analysis using the BREAM and LEAD evaluation standards was used to analyze the case study and 251 questionnaires were distributed. To ensure a fair trial of each of the 251 building samples, they were chosen at random from various parts of the Gwale Yan-Alawa ward. A case study of a selected green building was chosen and analyzed. The logical comparison with Saudi Arabia was made. It is concluded that the Nigerian government at the national level should put more effort into encouraging green building construction through public awareness programs and incentives and subsidizing the green system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The North Development Region has the lowest level of access to public water supply and sewage systems among the development regions of the Republic of Moldova. Only about ½ (52%) of the present population of the study region has access to public aqueducts, including 84% in urban areas and only 34% in rural areas. Also, only ≈20% of the population from North Development Region has access to public sewage systems, including 55% - in the urban areas and ≈1% - in the rural areas. Usually, the construction works of public water supply systems in rural areas are not accompanied by the construction of sewerage networks. The lowest access of the population to public water supply and sewage systems is caused, in particular by the difficult economic situation and the predominantly rural character of the region; by the reduced capacity of LPAs to co-finance projects in the field and by incomplete allocation of approved financial means and partial implementation of many projects. In this study were applied statistical and analytical methods, including systemic analysis and SWOT analysis, cartographic and comparative methods. In order to identify the priority measures in the field were taken into account both the specific objectives and the actions stipulated in the sectoral strategic documents, as well as the need to apply the basin principle of water resource management and the principle of regionalization of public water supply and sanitation services. For this purpose, were selected 3 agglomerations each, from the Prut river basin and from the Dniester river basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Catalana de Dret Ambiental is the property of Universitat Rovira I Virgili and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Thousands of ballcourts are known throughout Mesoamerica, as they are usually a main component of public architecture at mostly high-ranking archaeological sites. These buildings appear in different designs and layouts and were deeply tied to politics, religion, sacred belief, ritual, ceremonies, and sport. Considering that the construction of public buildings followed well-established architectural standards in accordance with social norms and religious concepts, I hypothesize that ballcourts were designed using closed polygon layouts with lengths and areas that displayed significant worldview numbers and time counts. Analysis of the layouts of 28 ballcourts from 17 archaeological sites indicates that Mesoamericans intentionally plotted short- and long-term annual and ritual calendric counts, and lunar and Venus synodic cycles. It is concluded that these buildings hosted public events to commemorate the completion or beginning of a new time cycle and to honor the related deities for whom they were built. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction activities produce considerable environmental effects and have resulted in a growing demand to implement favorable environmental practices. In this sense, this research aimed to evaluate the effect of the level of compliance with environmental regulations in public civil works in the San Ignacio, Cajamarca, Peru district. Data were obtained through direct observation and structured interviews in 7 selected construction sites. The deductive and analytical method was used. As a result, the level of compliance was obtained. Work 4 had the highest rank, and works 2 and 5 had the lowest. Currently, all the works are in a similar range of compliance. The degree of association between the level of compliance with environmental regulations and the current state of the civil works indicates a probability of 0.0190, which shows that the low level of compliance with environmental regulations in the construction of public civil works in the district of San Ignacio generates a deterioration in the quality of the environment and increases the possibility of administrative sanctions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public Procurement refers to governments' purchasing activities of goods, services, and construction of public works. In the European Union (EU), it is an essential sector, corresponding to 15% of the GDP. EU public procurement generates large amounts of data, because award notices related to contracts exceeding a predefined threshold must be published on the TED (EU's official journal). Under the framework of the DeCoMaP project, which aims at leveraging such data in order to predict fraud in public procurement, we constitute the FOPPA (French Open Public Procurement Award notices) database. It contains the description of 1,380,965 lots obtained from the TED, covering the 2010–2020 period for France. We detect a number of substantial issues in these data, and propose a set of automated and semi-automated methods to solve them and produce a usable database. It can be leveraged to study public procurement in an academic setting, but also to facilitate the monitoring of public policies, and to improve the quality of the data offered to buyers and suppliers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Awareness and training are essential to promote CDW management on a local scale. • The existence of local controlled sites has positive results for CDW management. • Supervision onsite improves compliance with good practices and legal procedures. • Procedural control has to be implemented to help other strategies succeed. • Circularity in the construction sector is stronger with local scale contributions. Achieving a broad analysis of construction and demolition waste (CDW) management without considering local scale dynamics, and its detailed characteristics, is a constraint that has made it challenging to optimally engage in an integrated assessment of the circular economy principles in the construction sector. In this sense, this research demonstrates that investing in local strategies is important, involving municipalities and micro and small construction companies. Firstly, the results reveal the importance of having controlled sites, under local responsibility, for the preliminary storage of CDW, creating in waste producers the habit of separating waste onsite, reducing costs and limitations for municipalities. Secondly, frequent supervision actions at construction sites are also important at this scale, as they facilitate progress in terms of encouraging compliance with mandatory legal procedures and good practices for CDW management. But it is easier to improve practice through direct onsite procedures than it is with bureaucratic legal requirements alone. Thirdly, procedural control, implemented by municipal technicians in conjunction with other strategies, also helps to promote CDW management, this being associated with processes of public and private construction works subjected to license or prior control, in opposition to what has been accomplished so far. But the research also demonstrated that regular awareness, training, and supervision actions might increase the likelihood of improvements in behaviour on the local scale, in the sense that stakeholders acquire new habits, which, over time, might lead to better results locally and, as a consequence, influence other scales of intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The valorization of local materials in public building construction in emerging countries is a necessity from a sustainable development perspective. In Cameroon, laterite is an abundant and easily accessible local resource that can be used for the development of light and insulating materials, which until now have been made from metakaolin. Moreover, since metakaolin is not easily accessible in Cameroon, it would be interesting to compare to a model mixture based on metakaolin and hematite. The objective of this study is related to the feasibility and characterization of geopolymer foams based on laterite or on a model mixture (metakaolin-hematite) in different drastic conditions, such as fire resistance and freeze‒thaw cycles. The geopolymer foams were synthesized from a calcined laterite or metakaolin-hematite mixture, an alkaline silicate solution, a surfactant and metallic aluminum powder and then placed in an oven at 70 °C for 24 h. Structural data (X-ray diffraction) as well as determination of thermal conductivity and mechanical strength data of the foams were evaluated. The results show that the laterite and metakaolin-hematite mixture allows the elaboration of geopolymer foam, which is characterized by a low thermal conductivity (90 mW/(m. K)) and can be used as insulating materials. The freeze‒thaw treatment does not affect the thermal and mechanical properties. The treatment at 1175 °C slightly improves the mechanical strength and the thermal conductivity, leading to a good application of these materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Housing Environment / Środowisko Mieszkaniowe is the property of Chair of Housing Environment, Faculty of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Problems in the degradation and biodegradation of cultural heritage objects exposed or stored in public buildings and museums and of construction materials are caused (between others) by the activity of microorganisms. Biodeterioration can be observed not only at the level of the building materials of museum buildings, but also at the level of materials from which art objects are made (natural or artificial) and is determined by factors such as the chemical composition and nature of the composition material, the microclimate characteristics and exposure objects, but also through the manner and frequency of surface cleaning and housekeeping in museums. Based on this, the present study offers, through classical methods, a qualitative and quantitative identification of microorganisms inside a heritage museum building located in a temperate climate country. The purpose of the work was to determine to what extent the bacteriological microflora inside can directly and indirectly contribute to the health quality of the building's occupants as well as the degradation of its materials and structures. The results emphasize the presence of some fungi and bacteria, among them Alternaria spp., Aspergillus spp., Penicillium spp., Cladosporium spp., and Botrytis spp. All of the analyzed rooms have a high and very high degree of fungal contamination (between 524 and 3674 UFC/m3), which can represent a danger to both human health and the integrity of the exhibitions. This is more pronounced considering that some of species of fungi identified are associated with sick building syndrome, problems in humans due to harmful exposure to viruses, bacteria, and pathogens, which generate possible symptoms such as rhinorrhea, nasal congestion, hoarseness, coughing, sneezing, and irritability for the personnel and visitors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the relationship between exposure to the risk factors highlighted in the literature and Parkinson's disease. This is a case-control study. The cases were patients with Parkinson's disease and who were treated at the Neurology Department of the Sahloul Teaching Hospital of Sousse (Tunisia). The controls were matched and recruited among the patients of the hospital and were free from neurological pathologies. We recruited 92 cases of Parkinson's disease during the study period. The mean age was 65.16 ± 10.98 years for the study group and 65.02 ± 11.09 years for the control group. The factors independently associated with risk of Parkinson's disease at the end of the multivariate analysis were: the construction and public works sector (p= 0,004; ORa= 8.15; IC95% [4.13-146.1]), occupational exposure to pesticides (p = 10-3, OR = 19.6 [4.23-90.70]), personal history of head trauma (p = 0.04, OR = 7.98 [1.09-58.22]), well water consumption (p = 0.05, OR = 7.28 [1.81-29, 19] and stress (p = 10-3, OR = 19.87 [3.48-71.97]). The etiology of Parkinson's disease is complex and involves genetic and environmental factors. Studying these risk factors will further understanding of the underlying mechanisms of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is the sector involved with the repair of buildings and civil engineering structures in an economy. Public building construction projects are constructed repeatedly, and also it becomes difficult to complete projects in the stated period and the estimated cost of the project. Thus, the study was focused on regression modeling for the prediction of earned value indexes in public building construction projects. The regression model was used as a data analysis method to increase the accuracy of the standard earned value analysis method for the evaluation of project performance. The regression model was built on ten sets of building projects database gathering between 2019 and 2022 through the case study method as a data collection instrument from cities, the Ministry of Construction and Housing, consultants, and contractors. The analysis method was made by using a statistical package for social science and Microsoft excels as an analysis tool. It was found that the regression model can predict earned value indexes with the excellent rank of accuracy for the correlation coefficient (R) of the cost performance index model, schedule performance index model, to complete cost performance index model, and to complete schedule performance index model was 88.80%, 95.90%, 96.60%, and 91.40%, respectively, and also for the coefficient of determination (R2) was 78.90%, 91.90%, 93.20%, and 83.40%, respectively. Finally, it can be recommended that the regression analysis method was conducted for its practicality in predicting earned value indexes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compared to general public and residential buildings, large public buildings are often difficult to construct and have a long construction period, creating greater construction energy consumption and carbon emissions on the one hand, while generating a large amount and many types of difficult-to-track process data on the other. As such, it is difficult to measure carbon emissions and analyze various influencing factors. By realizing the simple calculation of energy consumption and carbon emissions, as well as discerning the degree of influence of various factors based on the results of influencing factors research, it is of considerable practical significance to propose energy savings and emission reductions in a targeted manner. In view of the above, this work aimed to establish a more practical calculation method to measure energy consumption and carbon emissions in the construction of large public buildings, as well as to identify the multiple influencing factors related to energy consumption and carbon emissions during the construction process. To demonstrate the practicality of our approach, quantitative calculations are carried out for a new terminal building in a certain place and from the perspective of sustainable urban construction; thus, the driving factors of the traditional STIRPAT model are extended to seven. Based on the calculation results, a modified STIRPAT model is used to analyze the comparative study of impact factors, such as population and construction machinery performance, on energy consumption and carbon emission intensity. The results show the following: (1) The energy consumption value per square meter of this terminal building is 3.43 kgce/m2, and the average carbon emission per square meter is about 13.88 kgCO2/m2, which is much larger than the national average of 6.96 kgCO2/m2, and (2) the type of energy used in the construction process has the greatest degree of influence on energy consumption and carbon emission, and the local GDP, population factor, construction machinery performance specifications, and shift usage also show a positive correlation with the growth of total energy consumption and carbon emissions. Moreover, while the government's continuous investment in energy conservation and environmental protection has reduced the total energy consumption and carbon emissions in construction, there is still considerable room for improvement. Finally, according to the results, we provide theoretical references and constructive suggestions for the low-carbon construction of large public buildings in the construction stage. Thus, the results of our study will allow policy makers to formulate appropriate policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the construction sector, the non-renewable world resource of sand is largely used to produce mortar and concrete. It has been estimated that over 10 billion tons of sand have been produced, with 1.2 billion tons used in concrete over the last decade, which leads to a progressive reduction of available construction materials and environmental impacts. Since desert sand resources are abundant in arid region of Adrar (Southern Algeria), it would be viable to use desert-sand as an alternative material for the production of self-compacting concrete. Therefore, self-compacting concrete is experiencing significant demand in that arid region since it offers socio-technical and economic solutions to stakeholders in the construction and public works industry. Furthermore, the present study aims to address the concerns of these stakeholders. The results obtained showed that the self-compacting concrete that was made with local materials, behave correctly, both in the fresh and hardened states. This concrete included a 1% super plasticizer dosage, a gravel-to-sand (G/S) ratio varying between 0.8 and 1.1, and additions of limestone fillers up to 50% relative to the mass of cement for self-compacting concrete made with dune sand, while this percentage could go up to 38% for self-compacting concrete made with corrected sand (63% crushed sand with 37% dune sand). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The late archaic city-state of Athens was ruled first by Peisistratos who became a tyrant after three successive coup d'états. The rule of Peisistratos and his sons secured inner stability in Athens after the preceding internal conflicts. The tyrants promoted political and religious unification and centralization of the Athenian community, which involved the establishment or promotion of festivals and the construction of various public buildings. The architectural plans of the Peisistratids formed a major part of their politics. Their building policy required considerable resources, which could have been perceived as oppressive, and could have significantly contributed to their overthrowal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When the government of China offered to fund the construction of Lesotho's parliament building, the building plans developed by Lesotho government bureaucrats were set aside. Instead, Chinese firms designed and built the new parliament building. These firms continue to be responsible for the maintenance of the building. In this article, I explore the rationale and impact of this approach through tracing the story of how this building project was carried out and discussing the extent to which the finished product met the needs and interests of the parliament of Lesotho. I argue that China used the parliament building project to generate a sustained presence in Lesotho's political and diplomatic orbits. This article contributes to literature on China–Africa through problematising the notion of African agency in the relationship. In particular, the case study builds on Rich and Recker's analysis of the China–Africa relationship, revealing the complex and nuanced ways in which African agency plays out or is undermined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the same time, the scarcity of building materials and authorities' misguided allocation of resources have made it impossible to maintain Alamar's relatively new housing complexes, built in the 1970s and 1980s. Concurrent with the construction of Alamar's housing projects, a chef-d'oeuvre of Cuban cinematography, the 1974 I De cierta manera i (One Way or Another), was being shot by Sara Gómez, a Black filmmaker who was the first female director in the Cuban film industry. With 100 housing blocks spanning about 15 square kilometers (six square miles) in the municipality of Habana del Este and a population of 100,000, Alamar is the nation's largest housing project. [Extracted from the article]

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In recent years, with the continuous development of urbanisation, the proportion of interior design in public buildings has been increasing year by year. At the same time, there is a tendency in many places for the interior spaces of public buildings to be upscale and retro. This indicates that people are paying more and more attention to the spiritual aspect of their lives, in addition to the materialistic pursuit of enjoyment. The current phenomenon of overdecoration in society can lead to excessive luxury and wastefulness. In these wasteful interiors, the beauty of the building itself is lost. In addition, this type of interior design is not only expensive but also poses certain safety risks to some extent. In the modern society, public buildings are essential places for public activities. To be specific, they are closely linked to public services and social management attributes. As a result, public buildings usually play a decisive role in facilitating communication and cooperation between various persons. Thus, the construction requirements of public buildings are currently increasing and the structural shapes of buildings are becoming more complex. In addition, the level of technology and the use of public buildings are becoming increasingly demanding. As a result, it is quite important to examine how modern and emerging technologies can be applied to public building design in order to improve its effectiveness. At the same time, with the continuous and rapid development of China's economy and the promotion of the concept of environmental protection, the greening of public buildings has become an object of concern and research. There are many different types of existing public buildings in China, and in the design process, the energy consumption of the building throughout its life cycle and its impact on the surrounding environment are not fully considered, resulting in problems such as high energy consumption and poor indoor comfort in the actual use of the building. However, the demolition and reconstruction of buildings can lead to waste of resources and environmental pollution. Therefore, it is feasible and necessary to study the application of green building technologies in the design of public buildings. This study models the effectiveness of public building interior design based on BIM technology from the perspective of integrated design as well as parametric design. This model enables the interior design of public buildings to become energy efficient, emission reducing, and environmentally sustainable. After all, the integration of architecture and interior design can reduce unnecessary decorative waste. In addition, this model can also respond to the government's efforts to develop an ecological civilisation, creating a new way of living that is resource efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector in Colombia is fundamental to provide the infrastructure necessary for the progress of society. It also responds favorably to changes in economic dynamics by creating jobs, moving raw materials, stimulating and developing other economic sectors. These tasks are sustained by business performance, which is considered the fundamental pillar of market economies. Likewise, business management is directly related to innovation, by applying new productive activities in employment, trade and service formulations. However, Colombian business park is mostly composed of micro and small enterprises, which exhibit limitations in their organizational structure. This limits their performance in direct participation in complex state construction projects in a changing economic environment dependent on international market phenomena. Therefore, this research analysed the economic environment of the building subsector, through the formulation of a methodology to select and characterize the companies of the building construction subsector in Boyacá. In addition, business capabilities were identified through the estimation of financial and organizational statements when compared with a representative sample of public bids for building construction. The above exposed the complex conditions in housing construction as a leader in the building subsector. In addition, 95.83% of the companies in Boyacá do not have the conditions to participate in public procurement due to organizational limitations that characterize the Colombian business park. These phenomena, together with the effects of the recent economic crises, have affected the economic growth of the building activity, despite institutional efforts to encourage production through investment in construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of energy shortage has become one of the most serious problems in the process of economic development. The research is aimed at studying the energy conservation data and information model of large public buildings. Based on the theories of 5G technology, embedded system, and energy conservation of large public buildings, firstly, 5G technology is used to collect research data. Secondly, some large public buildings in Northwest China are analyzed for energy conservation by using ZigBee and other related technologies and algorithms. Finally, the office buildings in large public buildings are used as samples for the construction of the information model to be analyzed. The research results denote that large public buildings are mainly concentrated in hospitals, hotels, shopping malls, and so on. The south-facing window to wall ratio is higher than that of the north-facing window to wall ratio, and the east-west-facing window to wall ratio has the lowest probability of appearing. In addition, the thermal conductivity of the roof of most of the large buildings is less than 1.0 W, while the thermal conductivity of the outer wall of the roof is distributed around 2.5 W, and the thermal conductivity of the outer wall is around 0.6 W. Finally, commercial buildings have higher heating and cooling loads than residential buildings. In the construction of the information model for energy conservation of large public buildings, the neural networks (NNs) and clustering analysis algorithm are introduced into the prediction model of energy consumption data, and it is found that compared with the actual observed value, the overall trend shows consistency, both of which are periodic fluctuations. However, there are still some errors in some data. Therefore, an analysis of energy conservation data of embedded large public buildings and the construction of information models based on 5G has important guiding significance for the construction industry to improve business performance and market competitiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise produced by the equipment used outside, in mainly in constructions and public works is an important part of the noise of a community, known as environmental noise, noise residential or internal noise. Other sources of external noise are represented by road, rail and air traffic, industries and the neighborhood and there is also the internal noise. In the work, a mobile application for noise measurement is developed, through which the employees of companies that include loud noises as a disturbing factor, to show real results and ask for better solutions from the employer regarding the daily fight against pollution sounds to which they are exposed and which over a long period of exposure can lead to a harsh unraveling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The noise produced by the equipment used outside, in mainly in constructions and public works is an important part of the noise of a community, known as environmental noise, noise residential or internal noise. Other sources of external noise are represented by road, rail and air traffic, industries and the neighborhood and there is also the internal noise. In the work, a mobile application for noise measurement is developed, through which the employees of companies that include loud noises as a disturbing factor, to show real results and ask for better solutions from the employer regarding the daily fight against pollution sounds to which they are exposed and which over a long period of exposure can lead to a harsh unraveling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibilities for building in wood have gradually increased in recent decades mainly due to environmental benefits. But there are still restrictions in terms of fire regulations in many countries, especially for taller buildings. The situation has therefore been mapped in about 40 countries on four continents as an update to a survey in 2002. The main issues are how high buildings with load-bearing wooden frames may be built and how much visible wood may be used both inside and outside on facades. The restrictions apply primarily to prescriptive fire design according to simplified design with detailed rules, which are mainly used for residential buildings and offices. For more complicated constructions e.g. public buildings, shopping centers, arenas and assembly halls, performance based design can be used by fire safety engineering design using, e.g. methods for evacuation and smoke filling, which increases the possibilities of using wood in buildings. The possibilities to use wood in buildings increase if sprinklers are installed, which is highlighted. Major differences between countries have been identified, both in terms of the number of storeys permitted in wood structures, and of the amounts of visible wood surfaces in interior and exterior applications. Several countries have no specific regulations, or do not limit the number of storeys in wooden buildings. The conclusion is that the differences are still large and that many countries have not yet started to use larger wood constructions despite supplies of forest resources, but harmonizing activities on performance based principles are ongoing worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last five decades, Italy has invested in the construction of public works as the core strategy to dynamize its less favoured regions; however, due to multiple and inherent dysfunctionalities, many of these remain half-built and abandoned today. The group of artists Alterazioni Video refer to this phenomenon as "Incompiuto" ("Incompletion" in English), coining a name for a new architectural style where the characteristic unfinished materiality speaks back to Italian idiosyncrasy. In the pursuit of existential dignity, Alterazioni Video suggest that these sites muster and reassemble metaphysical places of contemplation, thought and the imaginary. Drifting at one of its most spectacular samples (The Dam of Blufi, Sicily), the present collaboration between an architect and a writer testifies to said assertion, and celebrates the phenomenological qualities of modern ruination argued in emerging geographical literatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rumah Gadang is a traditional Minangkabau house in West Sumatra. This house is made of environmentally wood. Many people do not understand the function and value of the Gadang house and then replace it with a modern one. This paper invites people to use it as a house to maintain their local wisdom. More presence will make the atmosphere feel more Minangkabau. Also welcomed with polite Minang language and distinctive musical accompaniment. It can remind anyone who comes to enjoy a distinctive cultural nature. Using methodology, analytical descriptions, direct observations (ethnography) as well as from the results of observation notes from previous years' visits as well as various previous studies. The key point is realizing the preservation of the Gadang house by participating directly in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article explores that the The Tel Arza neighborhood was built above the remains of the Second Temple period northern necropolis of Jerusalem. The demolition of the old building, and in preparation for the construction of an apartment building, the upper part of the facade was revealed carved within a dense white meleke limestone.1 In 2014, a salvage excavation was carried out to uncover the facade and the courtyard of the burial cave, and a quarry.