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Thermal comfort standards have suggested a number of physical indices which can be calculated from either building simulations or in situ physical monitoring to assess the long-term thermal comfort of a space. However, the prohibitively high cost of sensor technologies has limited the applications of these physical indices, and their usefulness has never been established using data collected in real buildings. This paper is the first assessment of the six types of existing indices (23 total) found in standards and five types of new indices (36 total) and their correlation with the long-term thermal satisfaction of building occupants. Correlation analyses were based on continuous thermal comfort measurements and post-occupancy evaluation surveys from four air-conditioned office buildings in Sydney, Australia. We found that the majority of existing indices, especially those based on predicted mean vote (PMV) and predicted percentage dissatisfied (PPD) metrics, have a weak correlation with thermal satisfaction. The percentage of time outside a temperature range was the best-performing index from the standards (r=-0.63). A new index based on the percentage of time that daily temperature range is greater than a threshold reported the strongest correlation (r=-0.8) with thermal satisfaction for this dataset. The results suggest that occupants’ long-term thermal comfort is influenced more by pronounced excursions beyond some acceptable temperature range and large variations in daily temperature than the average experience over time. These findings support the use of continuous monitoring technologies for long-term thermal comfort evaluation and inform potential amendments of international thermal comfort standards.

Current practices and integration trends in the architectural/engineering/construction (A/E/C) industry are increasing the demands for the implementation and deployment of integrated project systems. Much of the research throughout the last decade was driven by the need to develop integrated project systems and standard industry-wide data models to support their development. This paper presents a multitier component-based framework that aims to facilitate the implementation of modular and distributed integrated project systems that would support multidisciplinary project processes throughout the project life cycle. The framework addresses the specific requirements of A/E/C projects, and highlights the required functionality and approach to develop integrated project systems. The framework defines a three-tier architecture: Applications tier, common domain-services tier, and project data-repository tier. The applications tier includes a set of function-specific software tools that interact with the domain-services-tier components via a set of adapters. Adapters map the applications' internal proprietary-data models to and from a standard integrated data model. The domain-services-tier components implement a number of genetic services, such as data management, transactions management, document management, and workflow management. The data-repository tier represents a centralized shared storage of all relevant project information. The paper also discusses the implementation of a prototype software system that demonstrates the use of the framework's reusable components and the industry foundation classes data model in typical building projects. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3801(2007)21:6(441) CE Database subject headings: Integrated systems; Construction management; Architecture; Project management.

Abstract: Efficient management of infrastructure assets depends largely on the ability to efficiently share, exchange, and manage asset life-cycle information. Although software tools are used to support almost every asset [...]

This paper presents the development of a generic framework for asset maintenance management. The framework has been presented in the form of an IDE[F.sub.0] process model. The process model served to illustrate the interaction and dependencies among a diverse set of knowledge areas. In this framework, outputs from one management process become inputs to another in a subsequent hierarchy. The structure of the framework model exhibited the characteristics of flexibility and robustness. Updates in knowledge can be accommodated within the framework through incorporating new management processes and/or activities, as well as establishing new sequencing logic for these processes and/or activities. In a supporting effort to the development of the framework model, the writers have objectively reviewed the general capabilities of three commercially available software applications that are known within the asset management (AM) industry. These three applications, while encompassing a wide selection of capabilities, represent a typical selection of information technology (IT) tools and techniques that are widely used in strategic AM practices. The objective of this review is to study the operational characteristics and functionalities, and to assess the capability of software interoperability, of a representative sample of IT tools known within the AM industry. DOI: 10.1061/(ASCE)0887-3828(2003) 17:1 (51) CE Database keywords: Maintenance; Models; Facilities.