Building Blocks

The regulatory gap in chronic disease prevention: A historical perspective

2011-11-01T12:54:00.000-07:00

Abstract
Experience shows that regulatory intervention can lead to substantial improvement in population health. The history of regulatory intervention in public health suggests that 'tipping points' necessary to catalyse regulatory change may be identified. We examine three areas in which governments have legislated to protect public health: sanitation, building standards, and vehicle emissions. We apply the lessons to regulatory reform addressing obesity and the chronic disease it causes.

Journal of Public Health Policy advance online publication, 20 October 2011; doi:10.1057/jphp.2011.50.

Authors - Walls HL, Walls KL, Loff B.

J Public Health Policy. 2011 Oct 20. doi: 10.1057/jphp.2011.50. [Epub ahead of print]
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22012068

Energy-efficient fluorescent lighting may cause eye disease

2011-10-29T00:32:00.000-07:00

Eye disease could increase as a result of the global trend towards replacing incandescent globes with energy-efficient fluorescent lighting.
With climate change, reducing our greenhouse gas emissions is important. One way to do this is to phase out incandescent lighting in favour of more energy-efficient lighting.
This shift has already taken place in Australia and countries of the European Union. In the United States, federal law stipulates that incandescent lights be phased out by 2014.
In Australia, this change in lighting type has been estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 28 million tons between 2008 and 2020. Thus a global move toward ﬂuorescent lighting in the home will lead to signiﬁcant reductions in greenhouse gases.
The types of energy-efﬁcient lighting with which incandescent lights are being replaced are high-intensity discharge (HID) lamps, light-emitting diodes (LEDs), and ﬂuorescent lighting, including the popular compact ﬂuorescent lamps (CFLs).
These light sources are all more efﬁcient than the incandescent lamp. HID lamps produce intense light in a small area. They are less energy efﬁcient than ﬂuorescent lights, but are used widely for lighting large areas such as streets and sports facilities. LEDs are energy efﬁcient but not as bright, stable, or cheap as ﬂuorescent lights.
However of all these lighting types, fluorescent lighting is considered most energy-efficient and also produces light most appropriate for working under. CFLs use 75% less energy than do incandescent lamps.
As a result of the popularity of ﬂuorescent lighting, many people are now exposed to artiﬁcial sources of UV radiation emitted from these lights.
There is a general public awareness that UV radiation from the sun can damage the eye. For example, most people are aware of the importance of not looking directly at the sun, and operators of arc welders know to wear protective goggles. Less attention has been paid to the potentially damaging effects of UV radiation people are exposed to indoors, in particular from ﬂuorescent lighting, a signiﬁcant source of UV light.
The safe range of light, to avoid exposing the eye to potentially damaging UV light, is approximately 2000 to 3500K and greater than 500 nanometers. UV wavelengths less than 500 nanometers (and certainly less than 380 nm) are capable of irreparable damage to the eye. Unfortunately, some fluorescent lights currently fall outside this safe range.
CFLs vary in terms of color temperature, and there are variations and inconsistencies among manufacturers. The ﬂuorescent lighting used indoors, particularly in commercial settings, is often in the form of cool-white tubes with a color temperature of 4000K or greater. The warmer CFLs, which are usually less than 3500K, are less damaging to the eye but produce light that is often inadequate for concentration at work.
Fluorescent lighting may increase UV-related eye diseases by up to 12% and, according to our calculations, may cause an additional 3000 cases of cataracts and 7500 cases of pterygia annually in Australia. Thus for Australia alone, we estimate at least 10000 additional cases of eye disease each year.
Our estimates are conservative and crude in that they are limited by the poor information currently available with regard to the incidence and etiology of many eye diseases. We have not included in our estimates age-related macular degeneration (AMD) because there is not yet universal agreement in the literature that it causes UV radiation. But if UV radiation was shown to cause AMD, this would have signiﬁcant public health implications.
The evidence suggests that the least hazardous approach to lighting is to use warm-white tubes or incandescent bulbs of lower color temperature and longer wavelength light rather than ﬂuorescent lamps. Unfortunately anything other than ﬂuorescent lighting is considered inadequate for many workplaces and in the home.
We recommend that UV ﬁlters become a required standard, and that lamp manufacturers should not allow current levels of emission of UV light from ﬂuorescent lighting to increase (and should work toward reducing emissions). Further research is also needed to improve lighting from artificial sources.

The full paper was published by the American Journal of Public Health, 10.2105/AJPH.2011.300246

http://ajph.aphapublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/AJPH.2011.300246v1?maxtoshow=&hits=10&RESULTFORMAT=&author1=walls&andorexactfulltext=and&searchid=1&FIRSTINDEX=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=HWCIT

Building maintenance

2011-02-10T17:15:00.000-08:00

DAMPNESS IN BUILDINGS

Roman wisdom states that a fire may be stopped with water but asks with what can you stop water? Water is one of the most destructive forces faced by buildings. It needs to be eliminated by careful design, construction, and regular maintenance. Buildings generally represent the largest investment most of us make in our lives. We use buildings as investments and as a hedge against inflation. It is worth remembering that to enhance the longevity of any building, it must be maintained regularly. Some useful tips in that respect are:

•Ensure that water does not run under the building.
•For floors above the ground, ensure there are vents to facilitate air flow.
•Repaint painted surfaces before the paint coating has broken down too far.
•Ventilate the interior by opening windows.
•Do not vent showers or clothes dryers to the roof space. Ensure they vent to the outside.

Remember, buildings are constructed to provide comfort against the elements of nature. The buildings must be designed and built to resist natural forces of degradation. From the time that a building is completed, it is on the slow downward path of destruction, usually at an infinitesimal rate. But that rate will depend on how well it is cared for. It is that prudent intervention of planned maintenance which gives building owners the optimum return on their investment.

As a harsh assessment of the situation, you could say that all built infrastructure (including buildings) is waste in transit.

Noisy classrooms

2011-02-10T16:37:00.000-08:00

Noise levels in classrooms are distressing preschool children

The problem of noisy classrooms is widespread amongst schools, affecting children of all ages as well as teachers.

With offending buildings it can usually be shown that it is a problem by calculating the reverberation time, as this is often the main problem. It is then a case of proposing some judicious changes by way of introducing some soft furnishings and possibly some changes to floor, wall and/or ceiling surfaces.

New problems often arise from “echo” nuisance experienced in recently refurbished rooms. This produces discomfort and some degree of irritability affecting occupants due to noise characteristics of the rooms.

A good approach is to analyse likely reverberation time of normal speech within classrooms. The value in seconds obtained from such an analysis indicates the time taken for sound to decay a level of 60 decibels (dB). This is a standard method of measuring sound characteristics within built spaces. For many classrooms, the desirable reverberation time is about 0.7 - 1.0 second. The actual calculated value for some rooms we have seen due to the surface materials used is 1.45 seconds, almost twice the optimum value. Such a result is consistent with the reported difficulties experienced by occupants, and of the types of interior surface finishes used in many classrooms.

We have also observed new refurbishment work that has produced considerable noise transfer from the floor of the upper levels. Typically in these cases, before the building work commenced there were acoustic ceiling tiles, and they are replaced with ceiling finishes of smooth plaster-board. The perception of the increased noise from the upper levels is often consistent with the change of ceiling lining type.

Often the answer for acceptable noise levels in classrooms is the judicious selection and use of floor, wall and ceiling surfaces.

Flooding of properties

2011-02-10T16:23:00.000-08:00

Apart from the major flood events around the world which continue to hit the media headlines, the matter of overland flow from neighbouring properties continues to be a vexing problem in all towns and cities. Constantly many areas are put to the test in that respect. At the time, there is often general acceptance of the view that flooding is inevitable. However, in cases we are called in to advise on, the problems generally result from identifiable short-falls in meeting acceptable construction details.

It is important to keep in mind that all drainage systems require a secondary overland flow path to cope with the more extreme storms which cannot be designed against. Having a clear understanding of the location and form of that flow path is important to ensure that it is not dammed by such things as fences, buildings or built-up gardens.

It needs to be kept in mind that landscaping can lead to additional problems of flooding. We see many cases where ground and pavement levels are built up too high, so that water is then able to enter buildings.

From Environmental Reductionism to Ecological Governance

2010-10-10T19:12:00.000-07:00

Meeting of Engineers for Social Responsibility (ESR)

Date: Thursday 21 October 2010, 7.30pm
Venue: Room 3.407, School of Engineering, University of Auckland, 20 Symonds Street, Auckland, New Zealand

Speaker: Professor Klaus Bosselmann PhD. is Director of the New Zealand Centre for Environmental Law at the University of Auckland. He has dedicated his adult life – as a political activist, judge, attorney and academic – to changing society‟s relationship with nature. He co-founded the Greens in Germany (1980) and New Zealand (1990) and has published over 20 books in the area of political ecology and environmental law.

Abstract:
Overlooking 40 years of environmental policies and laws, we may have saved some “trees”, but the “forest” is being lost as critical global issues including climate change, biodiversity loss and our ecological footprint continue to worsen. Existing laws and policies mitigate the ecological damage inflicted by industrial economies and western lifestyles; they assume that environmental problems can be managed without significant changes to production and consumption patterns. Such reductionist approach needs to be replaced by a sustainability approach. Sustainability law is proactive and would aim for transformation rather than mitigation. The good news is that ecology-related values and principles are
evolving into accepted norms of international and domestic environmental law. The bad news is that governments and courts are not adopting them fast enough.

Taken from IPENZ Auckland Branch Newsletter, October 2010

Conference of the New Zealand Society for Sustainability Engineering & Science

2010-10-10T17:18:00.000-07:00

Register now for the conference of the New Zealand Society for Sustainability Engineering & Science

http://www.nzsses.auckland.ac.nz/conference/index.htm

2011 Pacific Conference on Earthquake Engineering

2010-10-10T17:10:00.000-07:00

2011 Pacific Conference on Earthquake Engineering to be held on 14-16 April 2011 in Auckland, New Zealand entitled "Building an Earthquake-Resilient Society"

http://pcee.nzsee.org.nz/Conference.htm#Workshop

What is the cost of our built environment?

2010-02-14T14:42:00.000-08:00

Building and engineering professionals have over the last 150 years become proficient at determining costs of projects that clients have desired be built. Whether it be a hydro-electric dam, a power station, bridge or chemical manufacturing plant, based on detailed designs such projects have been broken down into small elements and the cost determined.

Over the last few years the consciousness of the need to consider sustainability in our activities has reached new heights, as environmental ethics have been incorporated within most professionals’ codes of ethics, and sustainability is becoming important to many individuals. This increased awareness has taken place contemporaneously with a reduction in professional input towards the construction of buildings, along with a New Zealand Building Act which requires a specified intended life of buildings to be at least 50 years (and similar in some other countries). This specified intended life could be seen as incompatible with the notion of sustainability, considering that many existing buildings in other countries are centuries old.

On the face of it, there appear to be contradictions in this New Zealand Building Act (arguably) minimal specified intended life requirement of buildings due to many competing issues in the present highly commercial world.

The term sustainability may conjure up many different meanings to different people. It generally implies, however, that something should last for as long as possible so that it does not become prematurely obsolete. This should imply a positive impact on the mortality of a country’s building stock, so that buildings last longer before they have to be maintained and replaced. Since the actions of each individual affect the earth in some way, it must be kept in mind that building activities must not be considered in isolation. With in excess of 60,000 chemicals in common use and pollution paralleling technologic advances, increased pollution (that is anti-sustainable practices) is related to “the production and use of energy, the production and use of industrial chemicals …” (Plaa, 1998). The production of building materials is intrinsically linked with these processes.

Reflecting on the UK building scene, Addleson (1977) stated that shortcomings in buildings owing to a proliferation of new materials and building techniques became prevalent in “the post-war period”. He questioned “the significance of the sixty-year economic life of buildings”, suggesting that they could be beyond their economic life before then.

Does the concept of “expected life of buildings” sit well with society’s current expectations relating to sustainability? The proven ability of New Zealand houses to exceed a service life of 140 years seems to throw into serious question why such a relatively short specified intended life is allowed under the Building Act (Johnstone, 1999). From the writer’s experience in the building industry, it has become apparent that this situation is leading to planned obsolescence, with many developers intent on meeting the minimum statutory requirements (or even less, if they can get away with it), for maximum profit, without considering any other adverse matters relating to environmental issues or other social issues.

The term sustainability usually implies in a general sense the wise use of resources. This can have many different meanings and interpretations. Not enough consideration is given to the energy embodied in existing buildings; instead, there is too much emphasis on new development of housing (Seip, 1979). Few buildings are ever demolished as a result of failure of their structural system. Johnstone (1994b) advised that “Departures of dwellings from a housing stock are the end result of an economic process and the potential physical life of most dwellings is not realised”.

The lowest first cost is also a driver for developers in order to maximise profits at the expense of appropriate life cycle considerations.

The question of the ethics of so-called sustainability was raised by Buckeridge and Tapp (1999). They questioned society’s morals in emphasising the words rather than effectively dealing with the issues, and suggested that the road towards sustainability is even being thwarted. This feeling appears to be borne out from the preceding discussion. According to The Institution of Structural Engineers (1999), “Sustainable development is for all cultures, climates and geographical locations and for all disciplines”. This is an interesting concept considering that most “developed” countries plundered their forests, sometimes, centuries ago, and when China, for instance, representing a quarter of the world’s population, is at the very early stages of its “modernisation” programme. Challenges like these are yet to be addressed by anyone (Walls, 2000).

Given the devastating effects of the recent earthquake in Haiti why should they even think about “sustainability”?

The sustainability of buildings is strongly linked with durability, a notion which is not even covered by building codes in many countries. In many areas the path towards sustainability does in fact appear as being thwarted. “During the last 50 years, buildings in general, and city buildings in particular, have become significantly less, not more, durable and much more resource consumptive”. (Storey and Baird, 1998). Most of this derives from expedient practices motivated by short-term commercial (monetary) gains.

Porteous (1992) advised that in New Zealand there is no nationwide system of investigating and recording events of building failure. This is likely to apply to all countries. It is unlikely also that any country has compiled a database of age-specific dwelling losses (Johnstone, 1994a). In order to practise sustainable living in a serious way, it is important that all the information tools available are implemented. Without those two knowledge databases in place on an ongoing basis, and without dealing with the issues covered in this posting, then it can only be said that society is paying lip service to the notion of sustainability.

REFERENCES

Addleson, L. 16 Feb 1977. “Guide to Building Failures”. Architects Journal. pp 23 - 25.

Buckeridge, J St J S, & Tapp, B A. 1999. “Ethics and that Ethic Called Sustainability”. Australasian Environmental Engineering Conference. Auckland, New Zealand.

Johnstone, Ivan M. 1994a. “Modelling the annual replacement rate of housing stock”. Fourth Australasian Real Estate Educators’ Conference. The University of Auckland. New Zealand.

Johnstone, Ivan M. 1994b. “Modelling the Dynamics of Housing Stock”. Department of Property. The University of Auckland. New Zealand.

Johnstone, I M. 1999. “Periodic Rehabilitation and Reductions in Total Average Costs to Sustain Dwelling Services”. Department of Property. The University of Auckland. New Zealand.

Plaa, Gabriel L. 1998. “Introduction to Toxicology: Occupational & Environmental”, in “Basic & Clinical Pharmacology”. 7th Edition. Bertram G Katzung (ed.). Lange Medical Books/McGraw-Hill. San Francisco.

Porteous, W A. 1992. “Identification, Evaluation and Classification of Building Failures”. PhD thesis. Victoria University of Wellington. New Zealand.

Seip, H. March/April 1979. “Building in Economic Terms”. Building Research and Practice. p. 90.

Storey, John B & Baird, George. 1998. “Towards the Self-Sufficient City Building”. IPENZ Conference. Auckland. New Zealand.

The Institution of Structural Engineers. 1999. “Building for a sustainable future: Construction without depletion”. The Institution of Structural Engineers. London. England.

Walls, Kelvin. 2000. Review of “Building for a sustainable future: Construction without depletion”. The Institution of Structural Engineers. 1999. London. England. For IPENZ “e.NZ Magazine”, Sept/Oct 2000.

Haiti earthquake and collapse of the UN building

2010-01-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Sympathy must be provided to the people of Haiti along with abundant tangible support in the wake of the earthquake that struck a few days ago. Even without the force of earthquakes, however, the collapse of buildings is almost a daily event in some parts of the world. A reminder of this was that of a building collapse of a school in Haiti about a year ago. This is a further reminder of the problems facing many third world countries in which political and social norms are not serving their people well.

Extralegal capital in the form of shanty towns, squatter developments and illegal buildings is a large part of economies of some countries. Some of the following characteristics of these economies include:
• Houses built on land with inadequately recorded ownership
• Lack of property rights
• Lack of enforceable transactions on property rights
• Unincorporated business with undefined liability
• Non-compliance of building with building codes
• Illegal buildings
• Corruption at national and local government levels
Haiti appears to have some of these characteristics. Irrational adherence to outdated traditions, a disregard for any building codes that may exist, and dense populations of people all trying to compete for limited resources and opportunities, are just some of the reasons for the problem in many countries.

Haiti is a relatively small land-mass attempting to support more than nine million people. A plundering of resources by deforestation is one characteristic of this society. It is typical of many countries where too many people are trying to eke out a living on impoverished land where there are increasingly diminishing resources.

As with many other poor countries, the resource base is simply inadequate to fulfil the needs of most people and this leads to building structures for shelter (or in the collapse of about a year ago, a school) using the most rudimentary methods and with minimal use of materials. Moderate to severe earthquakes, such as that which occurred last week in Haiti, serve as a further reminder of the frailty of the building stock in Haiti and in many other parts of the world.

The pressure on the planet is well understood to be leading to increasing shortages of food and water. While building technology and construction knowledge using rational engineering principles should be accessible to people anywhere in the world, perpetual poverty in some countries and diminishing access to appropriate building materials is going to lead to many more building failures and loss of life in the future.

Our sympathies are also due to those injured in and to the families of the UN who perished in the collapse of the UN building. It does, however, beg the question as to what due diligence the UN carried out in relation to the design and construction and/or the purchase of the UN building before they took occupancy. Did the UN occupy a building that was not up to standard, given that they of all agencies would be the best placed to ensure the least risk to those working in and using the UN building? Will the UN ensure that their building is replaced to appropriate design and construction standards? Who will ensure such improvements to the rebuilding of the buildings and infrastructure in general in Haiti?

The following are some further relevant blog articles:

http://bildingblocks.blogspot.com/2008/11/building-collapse-in-haiti.html

http://bildingblocks.blogspot.com/2009/04/earthquake-in-laquila-italy-april-2009.html

http://bildingblocks.blogspot.com/2008/10/earthquake-in-pakistan-october-2008.html

Much has been reported on this catastrophic event in Haiti including the following CNN article:

http://www.ireport.com/docs/DOC-381544

Climb of Petronas Tower, Kuala Lumpur

2009-09-01T17:39:00.000-07:00

It was scary enough walking across the air-bridge between the two towers, and that was on the inside. See this article
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5juf0vvCj2N4MMSUl-1IwIMjcKSlg

Bigger trucks, bigger loads

2009-08-03T17:43:00.000-07:00

Well said IPENZ
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/new-zealand/news/article.cfm?l_id=71&objectid=10588233

Building collapses around the world

2009-07-30T20:09:00.000-07:00

The list of building collapses continues. Go to http://twitter.com/KLWalls
Where is the engineering input and compliance with building codes?

Building collapses - where is the engineering input?

2009-07-19T20:48:00.000-07:00

One of many building collapses - Haiti
http://bildingblocks.blogspot.com/2008/11/building-collapse-in-haiti.html

Burundi, East Africa - 10 July 2009
http://www.congoo.com/news/2009July10/Fourteen-dead-partially-constructed-building

Barisal, Bangladesh - 12 July 2009
http://www.southasianmedia.net/cnn.cfm?id=593726&category=Social%20Sectors&Country=BANGLADESH

Lagos, Nigeria - 13 July 2009. More government legislation called for.
http://www.ngrguardiannews.com/homes_property/article15//indexn3_html?pdate=130709&ptitle=Engineers,%20others%20urge%20multi-disciplinary%20strategies%20to%20curb%20building%20collapse&cpdate=130709

Boston, USA - 13 July 2009
http://wbztv.com/local/huntington.avenue.building.2.1083188.html

Istanbul, Turkey - 14 July 2009
http://www.todayszaman.com/tz-web/detaylar.do?load=detay&link=180853&bolum=100

Bridge collapse, India - 14 July 2009
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h00UNGeKcIley2uxzOV0-lPAsuoQD99DBDDO0

Karachi, Pakistan - 15 July 2009 - collapse resulting from a fire
http://www.geo.tv/7-15-2009/46008.htm

House in Ahmedabad - 15 July 2009
http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090715/1416/tnl-two-killed-in-building-collapse.html

East Delhi, India - 16 July 2009
http://in.news.yahoo.com/20/20090715/1416/tnl-two-persons-injured-in-building-coll.html

Brazil - 19 July 2009

http://www.news.ino.com/headlines/?newsid=689972776678790

Ogbomoso, Nigeria - 20 July 2009
http://www.tribune.com.ng/20072009/news/news5.html

Traditional divine powershift from engineers to physicists?

2009-07-19T20:07:00.000-07:00

Traditional divine powershift from engineers to physicists with a change in paradigm in relation to earthquake design for buildings?
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Science/story?id=8112569&page=1

Do you think the economic downturn could be positive?

2009-07-09T01:46:00.000-07:00

The downturn could be positive from an environmental point of view. Doing more with less seems like a good idea for those of us concerned about an insatiable use of resources and the sustainability of the world. Developing better technology and doing things smarter in a recession should be an experience we could use in the long term, even when the economic situation has improved. Those companies that are in tune with this approach to business are going to be those who flourish in the future.

Six die in high-rise fire in London

2009-07-05T20:43:00.000-07:00

Deja vu. Fire knows no political boundaries or differences between developed and developing countries.

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/europe/07/03/london.fire/index.html?eref=rss_latest

http://bildingblocks.blogspot.com/2009/02/fire-in-astrakhan-russia.html

Earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy - April 2009

2009-04-07T13:50:00.000-07:00

Naturally we cannot prevent earthquakes from happening, but is it a case of deja vu? I mean the seemingly unnecessary death and destruction in L'Aquila, Italy, due to the earthquake on about 6 April 2009.

Italy ranks with some other countries such as New Zealand, Japan and the US in having the most highly developed and advanced seismic design abilities, and yet the San Salvatore public hospital which was built in 2000, was able to collapse along with historic churches and stone houses. Did other modern buildings suffer from similar damage? How could this happen?

Italy is so much involved in advanced engineering research and seismic design that it is the base of the new Global Earthquake Model (GEM). Take a look at these websites.

http://www.globalquakemodel.org/
http://www.globalquakemodel.org/RossSteinsVisionSpeech.html

The answer to the vexing question of how this could happen may be amongst the reports of relative chaos in the way building controls are administered in Italy. As one commentator said,
"In a country littered with illegal buildings and construction eyesores, experts blamed the use of low-quality cement and inadequate supporting iron rods, saying tens of thousands of palaces, schools and hospitals were at risk".

Elsewhere in this blog I have said that we must realise that the investment in enforcing seismic codes on a nation-wide basis and strengthening unsafe structures in risk areas is a smaller price to pay than the pain and suffering, the economics of lost livelihoods, bankrupt businesses and the fear and guilt.

50-50 Sustainability Dilemma – Is it Ethical?

2009-03-11T19:30:00.000-07:00

These musings relate to buildings, civil engineering developments and our whole built environment. The terms “house” and “building” are used for brevity.

An energy-efficient house is not environmentally friendly. Every building covers ground that would otherwise be organically productive or useful in some other way, thereby making it functionally sterile. Every building reduces the area of the earth that is capable of keeping the earth in balance due to the natural interactions between soil, sun and water. What is the link between sustainable building as an ethical issue and building design and construction as pragmatic activities? All human activities produce green-house gases that are said to be detrimental to the functioning of the earth from the point of view of human habitation.

The main mitigating factor with new building is that they remain relevant and useful for a maximum period of time and that they are designed to be capable of minimal modification in dealing with changing user needs during the life of the building.

While most of us learn from direct experience with feedback – that is facing the consequences of our actions, this does not apply to the notion of sustainability as we are usually unable to observe the consequences of our actions due to such long time-frames. Sometimes, however, we are able to make those observations but forget what existed several decades ago in our lifetime. Degradation to the environment is so gradual that most people are not able to discern or forget changes over a long period of time. Younger people just accept the status quo of the environment that 'it has always been like that'.

The construction and use of buildings consume up to 50% of all energy consumption and 50% of all material taken from nature. They also produce 50% of all waste and 50% of all CFC and HCFC production.

Humans are the only animals that create waste. Buildings provide human habitat. In contrast to what natural undeveloped land does, buildings fail on all other aspects of life principles. Some of these other principles are to create clean air and water, store water, create its own food, create rich soil, use and store solar energy, provide wildlife habitat, moderate climate and weather and consume its own waste.

If the above musings have any credence, then what are the answers for going forward? Ethics codes as adopted by professional organisations such as IPENZ and RICS, both of which I am a member, purport to deal with members’ advice and actions relating to sustainability. While I could never admit to breaching these codes of ethics I can genuinely say that mitigating the adverse consequences of my actions is paramount. But given that each mitigating action still continues to have incremental adverse results for the long-term sustainability of the earth may leave us all in a slight dilemma.

Fire in Astrakhan, Russia

2009-02-17T11:32:00.000-08:00

There are reports of a fire in a residential building in the Astrakhan region of Russia on 17 February 2009 in which 18 people died. Is this another lesson not learned? This follows on the heals of another recent tragic fire in a home for elderly persons. Just two days earlier, on 15 February 2009 there was a fire in an old apartment building in Independence, US, where 3 people died. I have mentioned two other examples in this blog, but the potential list is endless. When is all the carnage and destruction going to end?

This will only happen when government and building control authorities start taking more seriously the need for greater levels of fire protection systems and emergency escape systems from buildings. All too often older buildings and buildings that have undergone a change to residential accommodation are set up to house people with no cognisance of the fire safety of the building, or at best with only the most rudimentary consideration having been given to such important safety issues.

Proposal for an Essential Services Act in New Zealand

2009-02-04T14:38:00.000-08:00

On 3 and 4 February 2009 parts of Auckland suffered from more electricity blackouts, apparently due to ageing components of the infrastructure. These are unacceptable third world events in what is supposed to be a fine city in a developed country. My proposal to assist the problem is to introduce some new legislation so that obligations of electricity and other commodity suppliers are sheeted home. I hope the engineering fraternity, including IPENZ and ACENZ, will support the proposal.

Objective
An Act to consolidate and reform the law relating to essential services and to provide for better protection and control of essential services with enhanced protection to the public, economy and the environment.

Services to be included within the new legislation
(1) The distribution or transmission by pipeline of natural or manufactured gas, petroleum, or
geothermal energy.
(2) Electricity operators or electrical supply authorities as defined by the Electricity Act 1968.
(3) The distribution of potable water for supply.
(4) The operation of community sewerage treatment and disposal systems.
(5) The stewardship and maintenance of state and provincial highways.
(6) The stewardship and maintenance of bridges on state and provincial highways.
(7) The telecommunications industry.

Why these services should be provided for under the proposed legislation
Most of the supplies of these commodities are natural monopolies. While some of them may be run on increasing free-market commercial models, they can never be operated and controlled fully on the principles of unfettered free market supply and demand, as there is not the opportunity for other competitors to enter the market with a competitive parallel offer. For instance, there is not the opportunity for an entrepreneur to duplicate a given section of state highway and operate it on free market principles.

Even although consumers have the opportunity to change their electricity supplier nothing changes physically. The same electrons flow from the same generator along the same wires to the receiving houses or businesses.

The new legislation would be a factor which would most likely lead to the best protection of the health, safety and welfare of all New Zealanders and to better protect the economy and environment against a future major crisis.

With the implementation of such an Act, there would be better assurance that in future major disruption to society did not occur, in the event of a potential unforeseen happening occurring. It is less likely that Auckland would have electricity crises, such has what occurred in 1998, 2006 and 2009, a hydro-electric dam would collapse, or the contamination of the water supply to a part of Wellington would occur.

The proposed model for the new legislation is the Building Act 2004. The model proposed for the Essential Services Act could be partly based the Building Act 2004. Sections 100 - 111 deal with compliance schedules and building warrants of fitness. These relate to features of all buildings such as lifts, air conditioning and fire control systems. Such features are included in a formalised schedule which is registered with the TA. The features have to be inspected and maintained at specified intervals of time in order to ensure there is continued protection of occupants. Such technical inspection and maintenance work is carried out by Independent Qualified Persons (IQPs), private sector contractors working for building owners.

The proposed Essential Services Act could be controlled by a small statutory body, similar to the former Building Industry Authority (BIA) which controlled the Building Act, over the day-to-day control which is administered by TAs. The Essential Services Act equivalent of IQPs in the Building Act regime would be private sector professionals, who would be commissioned by the network utility operator to carry out mandatory technical audits at prescribed intervals of time. These would be similar to mandatory financial audits which companies have to undertake.

The respective industries in question would formulate their own compliance schedules, which would specify the inspection, maintenance and reporting procedures for the continued operation of the essential services. The proposed compliance schedules could be publicly notified to invite submissions to be considered before formal adoption.

In some cases inspection and maintenance requirements will be specific to a particular type of equipment. This will be taken into account in the formulation of the draft compliance schedule for public notification.

Essential Services Authority

An Essential Services Authority (ESA), a Crown agency, would be established under the Essential Services Act, as the sole regulatory authority for essential service controls in New Zealand. It would be responsible for registering the equivalent of independent qualified persons (IQPs) under that Act. The IQPs would be the only persons allowed to carry out the technical audits. Registration would allow an IQP to work over the whole of New Zealand

This crown agency would directly control the relatively small number of essential services throughout New Zealand, without the need to involve the territorial authorities, as they presently are administering sections 100 - 111 of the Building Act 2004.

Fire in Rawalpindi, Pakistan

2009-01-02T13:16:00.000-08:00

The fire in a 400 shop mall in Rawalpindi in which at least 18 persons are reported to have died is another reminder that all is not well in terms of fire safety in buildings. Reports indicate that most victims became trapped and could not escape. My experience in several countries is that retail, commercial and hotel buildings are commonly unsafe in relation to their design features to protect occupants from fire. Perhaps the most common problem in developing and developed countries alike is that egress doors have locks that cannot be opened in a fire and escape routes are cluttered with stored goods.
Was this the case in this latest tragic example in Rawalpindi?

Risks of property reports for vendors

2008-12-01T20:12:00.000-08:00

Consultants’ reports for vendors of properties are fraught with risk. In my view, it is unwise for consultants to carry out property inspections and prepare reports on behalf of vendors. These types of reports could amount to representations by vendors that could be challenged by future purchasers leading to claims against the vendors and the consultants who prepared such reports for vendors.

In today's very litigious environment (especially in relation to the building industry in New Zealand), I think it is unwise for vendors to commission any reports. Any existing reports known to vendors, in my view, should be disclosed up front, on the basis that prospective purchasers satisfy themselves, without influence by vendors or their consultants, as to the suitability of properties being sold.

In disclosing these reports, the point should be made that prospective purchasers should commission their own reports as they see as being necesssary.

In summary, I think vendors should make full disclosure and take no steps themselves to contradict any existing reports. In my view, this is prudent advice nowadays to all vendors contemplating commissioning their own reports for the purpose of selling property.

This seems to fly in the face of the principles of the Home Information Packs (HIPs) that are in place in England and Scotland.

Financial costs to New Zealand society of leaky buildings

2008-12-01T12:05:00.000-08:00

The financial and social costs of this situation are unprecedented in New Zealand and they are growing. This means that the lives of many New Zealanders and the costs to society will be adversely affected beyond the next decade.

The Parliamentary Library, “Background Note, Information Briefing Service for Members of Parliament”, 2002 estimated that 6,000 to 12,000 apartment dwellings may have weathertightness problems and on the basis of an average cost of repair of $20,000 the total estimated cost could be as much as $240 million. They refer to a Consumer magazine article of October 2002 in which it was advised that 220,000 homes were built over the previous decade and of those up to 40% (approximately 90,000) could be at risk with estimated repair costs of between $120 million and $1.8 billion. I assume those figures include apartment dwellings.

The estimated $20,000 repair cost per unit for apartment dwellings is too low, in my opinion. That may reflect the fact that in 2002 there was a greater view that targeted repair would suffice, but in 2008 the dominant view in most cases is that a full reclad with a cavity system is required. I would therefore increase the estimated cost per unit as more like $70,000. The cost of repairing many detached or semi-detached houses is $300,000 to $450,000 and some costs are much higher than that. I would propose, therefore, an average repair cost per dwelling unit as being $120,000. Assuming 90,000 dwelling units at $120,000 each to repair then the total cost would be $10.8 billion.

It is common for claimants and respondents to engage legal representation whether that is in the Court system or the Weathertight Homes Tribunal. Some respondents are successful in being removed from cases and that could cost them up to about $30,000. Others have to endure the full adjudication process only to be found with no liability and that can cost up to about $80,000 in legal and technical expert fees. Most cases settle by mediation but the costs are still significant. It is a common situation for there to be many parties.

A scenario of total average legal and technical expert costs for all parties in both adjudicated and mediated settlements may appear as follows:

Five parties each expending an average of $60,000 = $300,000 in fees per case.
With 90,000 dwelling units from 1992 some of those would be statute-barred as they would not have commenced legal proceedings in time. Assume 70,000 dwelling units were not statute-barred. Some of these units represent terraced houses and body corporate situations where there will be just one action taken on behalf of a group of owners. The fee costs will increase significantly in these cases, such as to $1 million per claim, but the average fee cost per dwelling unit will reduce.
Therefore, say 70,000 units at $200,000 per unit in fees gives $14 billion.

Assuming these figures are in the right order shows that the total fees equate to almost one and a half times the cost of actual repairs to the dwellings. Naturally, both calculations are open to debate as the assumptions could be questioned, but even a sensitivity analysis would show that the total costs to society are enormous and this is a situation that has not been recognised.

The total health care expenditure in New Zealand was about $10.7 billion in 2002 (Ministry of Health, 2004). The above figures indicate that the total cost of repairing leaking homes could be up to about $24.8 billion; over two and a half times the annual health expenditure of New Zealand. This is a burden placed upon a large number of New Zealanders.

There are further flow-on costs that become more difficult to measure but could well cost more than the initial problem. They include the following:

Funding of the Weathertight Homes tribunal, adjudicators and assessors.
Additional regulatory costs of the DBH
Additional costs of processing building consents
Court costs

Many parties to litigation are covered by insurance policies and the leaky building syndrome is having a direct affect of increasing premiums where those policies are still being offered.

Reference

Parliamentary Library, “Background Note, Information Briefing Service for Members of Parliament”, 2002/10 06 November 2002, http://www.parliament.nz/NR/rdonlyres/464AB9F9-B197-4B53-BE9F-4F411CB67877/360/0210LeakyBuildings1.pdf

Cost of fixing New Zealand's unhealthy homes

2008-12-01T11:37:00.000-08:00

The New Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development has just announced that it will cost $20 billion over the next decade to fix the country's unhealthy and energy-wasting homes. That's all very well, but there needs to be a primary focus on their state of repair and extent of subfloor dampness.

Over the years I have found many older buildings with excess dampness and subsequent mould growth. One significant source of exterior dampness which has had little cognisance is that of subfloor ground leading to severe interior dampness. Another is that of internally-produced moisture from such things as clothes dryers vented to the inside, drying clothes on the inside and a lack of ventilation with windows not being opened. Another is that of unflued gas heaters.

The number one focus should be on dealing with subfloor dampness and lack of ventilation problems and also to try to educate home occupants in the ways in which they can assist in keeping homes drier and more comfortable.

Building collapse in Haiti

2008-11-26T18:54:00.000-08:00

The building collapse of a school in Haiti this month is a further reminder of the problems facing many third world countries in which political and social norms are not serving their people well.

Extralegal capital in the form of shanty towns, squatter developments and illegal buildings is a large part of economies of some countries. An earlier article in this blog site cites the following characteristics of some of these economies:

Houses built on land with inadequately recorded ownership
Lack of property rights
Lack of enforceable transactions on property rights
Unincorporated business with undefined liability
Non-compliance of building with building codes
Illegal buildings
Corruption at national and local government levels

Haiti appears to have these characteristics. Irrational adherence to outdated traditions, a disregard for any building codes that may exist, and dense populations of people all trying to compete for limited resources and opportunities, are just some of the reasons for the problem.

Haiti is a relatively small land-mass attempting to support about nine million people. A plundering of resources by deforestation is one characteristic of this society. It is typical of many countries where too many people are trying to eke out a living on impoverished land where there are increasingly diminishing resources.

As with many other poor countries, the resource base is simply inadequate to fulfil the needs of most people and this leads to building structures for shelter (or in this case in Haiti, a school) using the most rudimentary methods and with minimal use of materials.

The pressure on the planet is well understood to be leading to increasing shortages of food and water. While building technology and construction knowledge using rational engineering principles should be accessible to people anywhere in the world, perpetual poverty in some countries and diminishing access to appropriate building materials is going to lead to many more building failures and loss of life in the future.

As New Zealand has experienced with leaky buildings, even having what was considered a world-leading building code is not sufficient if there are not the appropriate social and political norms in a society.

Speedy enactment of payment for the construction industry

2008-11-09T19:47:00.000-08:00

The Master Builders Association Malaysia (MBAM) is pressing the Malaysian government for new legislation to deal with speedy payments within the construction industry due to the looming worldwide financial crisis.

Malaysia has been formulating a proposed Construction Industry Payment and Adjudication Act (CIPAA) for some time as several other countries have a similar act. They include New Zealand, the UK, Australia and Singapore. It appears that much of their act will be modeled on that of the New Zealand Construction Contracts Act 2002 (CCA).

The Act covers every construction, demolition and maintenance contract in New Zealand including buildings, roads, energy and services reticulation, mechanical, electrical and civil projects: in other words the management of our total infrastructure system.

The key to working within the CCA is correct documentation and understanding what it means. It starts with the contract documents, which should state the number of progress payments, intervals between payments, amount of each payment and the date each payment becomes due, otherwise for commercial projects, if these are not covered, the default provisions of the Act apply.

The major instruments of the Act are the Payment Claim and the Payment Schedule. The Payment Claim is the written claim by a payee (contractor or subcontractor etc.) to the payer (owner or contractor) for payment for work done. This claim must be in writing, identify the construction contract and the relevant period to which it applies, indicate a claimed amount and due date for payment and state that it is made under the CCA. For a residential contract the claim must be accompanied by written explanations of the process and the consequences of not responding or paying. The Payment Schedule is the payer’s response to the payee. To be valid the schedule must be in writing, identify the Act, identify the Payment Claim to which it relates and indicate a scheduled amount. If the scheduled amount is different from the claimed amount, the schedule must indicate how the amount was calculated, the reason for the difference and the reason for withholding payment. The scheduled payment must then be made within the timescale of the contract. Engineers and project managers need to be aware of these details of the Act, lest they be taken to task for negligence.

A poignant lesson to all those involved with administering construction contracts is the case of Canam Construction Ltd and George. The latter party was the principal of the contract who engaged a representative to act on its behalf, as many building professionals are routinely engaged to do. A summary of the lessons to be learnt in this case is as follows:

A Payment Claim (in accordance with the CCA) submitted by a contractor must be paid by the principal, or if disputed, that must be done by way of a Payment Schedule as described above. No amount of correspondence that may be seen to be correct in terms of the conditions of contract is acceptable in the absence of a valid Payment Schedule.
Based on the “pay now and ask questions later” principle any associated disputes that lead to the principal not wanting to pay the full amount of the Payment Claim would have to be dealt with separately, possibly by going to adjudication as described below.
To have these disputes brought in as an integral part of the payment in question, they would need to be properly written into the Payment Schedule.
In the event of not accepting the amount claimed in the Payment Claim the Payment Schedule must indicate a scheduled amount that the payer proposes to pay. Valuation certificates and the like are not acceptable. These only form part of evidence to justify a Payment Schedule.
Building professionals need to note that a Payment Schedule must be issued by the payer, usually the principal to the contract – the party to the contract that is liable for the payment. This flies in the face of standard contract procedure whereby the Engineer to the contract acts on behalf of and signs all documents on behalf of the principal. In practice, this would mean continuing to do all the usual preparation work and filling in the details of the Payment Schedule, but submitting the Payment Schedule under the name of the principal (which has to be the payer) and with the signature of the payer.

Should there be a dispute about the claim or payment or other items related to the building contract, the CCA allows another form of dispute resolution: that is Adjudication.

Adjudication under the CCA is different from other existing forms of dispute resolution such as mediation, arbitration and litigation in the courts. It was designed to be neutral and confidential but also quicker, easier and cheaper than the other forms of dispute resolution. Adjudicators need to have a good understanding of practical building processes, how the industry operates, building law and general law pertaining to such things as evidence. This is why engineers, architects and other building professionals, with specific training often make good adjudicators. In practice there are very few building professionals who are not affected by the Act.

Although Adjudication is a relatively new process, there are now a number of trained Adjudicators throughout New Zealand. How you select a trained Adjudicator depends on whether the parties agree or not. If the parties agree, then whoever they agree on, can be simply selected by approaching that Adjudicator directly.

Earthquake in Pakistan – October 2008

2008-10-30T19:28:00.000-07:00

Another major earthquake has occurred; this time in Pakistan, of magnitude 6.4, on about 29 October 2008. As with many reported earthquakes, it caused death and devastation to an impoverished region.

Death and suffering from these earthquakes have a direct social and psychological impact on survivors. Economic consequences follow as a result of direct losses and there are enormous costs of organising the rescue operations and additional unbudgeted expenditure for rehabilitation. These outcomes eventuate due to political and social norms overriding knowledge and technology in earthquake mitigation.

In most of these earthquakes such colossal loss of life and damage to property could have been minimised if structures were designed and constructed in a manner to withstand seismic loads. Similar conclusions have been drawn in reports on devastation caused by other major earthquakes around the world, including New Zealand from the 1931 Napier earthquake.

Sufficient information is currently available worldwide to be able to construct buildings to withstand earthquake forces. Professional engineers and scientists, even in most developing countries, possess the necessary expertise, knowledge and skills to design and construct earthquake–resistant structures. There are many highly skilled earthquake engineers in New Zealand, the US and Japan, and in other countries, yet people do not always benefit from this sea of knowledge.

It is possibly a little known fact that the Sixth World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE) was hosted by India, and Indian delegations and speakers have actively participated in these conferences held every four years. In the Twelfth WCEE held in 2000 in Auckland, New Zealand, Prof. Anand S Arya contributed a paper titled “Non-engineered Construction in Developing Countries”.

“The safety of the non-engineered buildings from the fury of earthquakes is a subject of highest priority in view of the fact that in the moderate to severe seismic zones of the developing world more than 90 percent of the population is still living and working in such buildings, and that most losses of lives during earthquakes have occurred due to their collapse. ...

The present disaster management policies of the governments in the developing countries do not address the issue of preventive actions for the safety of such buildings toward seismic risk reduction… ... and the building by-laws of municipalities and corporations are silent about earthquake resistance in buildings. The Codes and Guidelines developed through the standard making bodies remain recommendatory documents of good engineering practices, and their implementation depends upon the decision of the Heads of Agencies, Departs (sic), Organisations, Institutions owning the buildings and structures in the public and private sectors. Private individuals have by and large remained uninformed” - Arya, 2000

Unfortunately, reports and recommendations of experts seem to have collected dust and got buried in the archives. Hence, the wealth of knowledge and experience available in most developing countries remains far from effective realisation for the benefit of the society.

Application of codes and standards is generally confined to the design of major industrial structures, bridges, power stations, water supply and wastewater disposal facilities, and other similar structures. These are mostly designed and supervised by private consultants or other specialist structural engineers having the required expertise and skills. However, the process of obtaining building permits and enforcement of codes and standards for design and construction of the majority of buildings in most developing countries is lax.

In smaller towns in India, for instance (characterised by Bhuj in Gujarat which was the worst affected area), seismic requirements are almost non-existent in building regulations for obtaining building permits.

In India and some other developing countries owners sometimes pay bribes to obtain building permits.

It appears that as time passes, people tend to forget the devastating effects of individual earthquakes. The value of good engineering practices also fades with time. Non-compliance of the building codes due to inadequate legislation continues to become a major factor in the construction of unsafe buildings.

It is common knowledge that Pakistan, India and many other developing countries are located in high seismically-active zones. It is also well known that New Zealand, like many other countries, falls in a high seismically active zone. The earthquake that hit Kobe (1995) in Japan and several earlier earthquakes in Japan show that the probability of damage to buildings and infrastructure on areas of reclaimed land due to a major earthquake can be devastating. It is far more alarming in densely populated cities. New Zealand’s seat of government, Wellington, is clearly a city that is situated in an extremely hazardous location and is at potential risk. The 1855 earthquake is an indication of the risk. Refer to http://www.gw.govt.nz/council-publications/pdfs/The_1855_Wairarapa_Earthquake_Symposium_Proceedings_Volume_Web_Version.pdf

It is a difficult task to enact legislation to deal with seismic design of buildings in developing countries and seismic evaluation of existing buildings and strengthening of buildings found to be unsafe. The recent earthquake in Pakistan and the major earthquakes of recent years such as in Gujarat, India and in Sichuan, China (2008), and other major earthquakes, have been far too tragic to be ignored. Lessons need to be learnt by the public, and particularly by the policy-makers (including engineers and scientists) and law-makers of all countries in seismic zones, as well as those of developing countries, who should act without delay.

Not only should the buildings of high importance factor be designed and constructed by competent engineers but seismic detailing should be provided in all types of structures including non-engineered buildings such as residential dwellings. There needs to be a sensible balance of responsibilities between those affected such as the central government, state governments, local authorities, individuals and businesses.

As an example of what is being done in New Zealand, visit these websites:
http://www.nzsee.org.nz/PUBS/2006AISBEGUIDELINES_Corr_06a.pdf
http://www.nzsee.org.nz/PUBS/ADE2007.pdf

Having experienced the aftermath of an earthquake and seen the terrible damage in human terms – the pain and suffering, the economics of lost livelihoods, bankrupt businesses and the fear and guilt – we must realise that the investment in enforcing seismic codes on a nation-wide basis and strengthening unsafe structures in risk areas is a smaller price to pay.

A worthwhile initiative is the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) http://www.globalquakemodel.org/
http://www.globalquakemodel.org/RossSteinsVisionSpeech.html

Fire Safety in Buildings in Vietnam

2008-10-27T20:57:00.000-07:00

Basic fire safety precautions in buildings are often lacking, however, some large commercial buildings have some form of smoke or heat detection systems. I experienced staying in six hotels in Vietnam. These ranged from single storey to eight storeys. Without exception they were characterised by a single means of egress, no alarm or early warning system of any type and poor smoke-stopping between rooms and egress stairs. A new five storey hotel building in Sapa was subject to frequent power cuts necessitating candles to be used as “emergency lighting” on each floor in the egress route.

There are internationally recognised standards for fire safety in buildings, and the information is freely available to building engineers in any country providing they and their respective political systems will allow the free interchange of intellectual information and ideas (Walls, 2001). This obviously does not happen in Vietnam. Despite this, there is clear evidence that most accommodation buildings in Vietnam are seriously lacking in safety features. Engineers are unlikely to be involved and if they were, would be likely to be under-educated and able to be “bought”.

The same problem applies to retail and commercial buildings where there are large occupant numbers. A sad example of this became known on 29 October 2002 when fire engulfed a six-storey commercial building in Ho Chi Minh City during the afternoon. In excess of 60 people died in that disaster.

Fire in buildings is taking too many lives. The major cause is that buildings often do not have the required fire safety features and adequate means of escape. There appear to be no clear requirements that any authorities are prepared to enforce. In such cases, current fire engineering knowledge and standards are being disregarded. This applies particularly to many Asian countries. It is certainly the case in Vietnam where a “lack of enforcement of building regulations flows from the chaotic construction and urban development associated with the Government’s desire to attract foreign investment by offering cheap labour” (Divjak, 2002).

While it is not for others to tell Vietnam or any other country how to do things, with globilisation comes a need to be cognisant of international standards and opinion. While the people in Vietnam are wonderful to be with and it is a fascinating country, travelling there has its risks. Being hit while crossing the roads is a high risk but the one to be feared most is probably the fire danger of most of their buildings.

Vietnam appears to face similar problems that are faced in many underdeveloped countries. The problems are similar to those faced in India and reported on in relation to the Gujarat earthquake of 2001.

Unfortunately, reports and recommendations of experts seem to have collected dust and got buried in the archives. Hence, the wealth of knowledge and experience available in India , as a different example, remains far from effective realisation for the benefit of the society (Walls & Mujoo, 2002).

However, the process of obtaining building permits and enforcement of codes and standards for design and construction of the majority of buildings is lax (in India), as I also experienced in Vietnam.

If Vietnam had the political will, engineers from developed countries could assist in all aspects of building and construction. There have been some assisting for a number of years. It seems, however, the best chance of success is by providing engineering and building education at all levels to local engineers and bureaucrats who are willing and able to enforce appropriate standards.

Aircraft Cabin Air Quality

2008-10-27T20:49:00.000-07:00

Based on anecdotal evidence suggesting that air quality in aircraft cabins is sometimes not to a reasonable standard, I make the following comments.

In order to better understand the issue in question, it would be useful to consider buildings, on which considerable investigation has been carried out relating to air quality. “Sick building syndrome” (SBS) has come to the fore since the 1970s with the advent of high rise commercial buildings of curtain-walling exterior cladding, which have no natural ventilation. The ventilation in these buildings relies on mechanical air conditioning.

The presence of fungi within buildings is significant. Often fungi, rather than bacteria, constitute the most significant viable and potentially pathogenic microorganisms in buildings.

Microorganisms may have adverse health effects in indoor environments by causing allergenic or hypersensitivity respiratory responses. Inhalation of spores, cell wall fragments, toxic metabolites or enzymes from these microorganisms can cause symptoms such as general malaise, fever, shortness of breath, runny nose, cough and aching limbs. The symptoms are not usually persistent; they disappear when one is absent from a building for a length of time. The symptoms return when one re-enters an affected building.

There are many legal implications depending on the jurisdictions in various countries.

The discussion of buildings is given to indicate some of the issues involved. Aircraft are similar to buildings insofar as they contain people in close proximity in an enclosed space and are ventilated with mechanical air conditioning systems. There has been previous research carried out relating to the potential effects on passengers due to fuel and hydraulic fluid volatile contamination in aircraft cabins. However, up until about 2001 it appears there had been no significant research on bioaerosol contamination of passengers in aircraft cabins. The Building Research Establishment (BRE) in the UK has carried out some research.

While there is considerable presumptive evidence that SBS is a real issue, and case law has been set based on that evidence, there is every indication that similar health effects would derive from aircraft cabins. It would be tempting to speculate even further and suppose that, assuming there is some bioaerosol contamination in aircraft cabins, then the synergistic effects of that combined with chemical contamination (from fuel and hydraulic fluids), and altitude, could lead to much greater adverse effects on passengers.

The typical anecdotal evidence from passengers on long-distance flights who believe that the aircraft cabin air quality has affected them is of their contracting influenza a short time after completing the flight. There are also isolated reports of some contracting tuberculosis. The air filtration system for aircraft is usually based upon the recommendations of the system manufacturer (such as Boeing), and there appear to be no universal standards for types and sizes of filters or for the rate of air change in the aircraft cabin. The air movement requires the use of fuel, and to economise on fuel use, then it would be possible to reduce the rate of air change inside the cabin.

Some of the smallest potentially harmful bioaerosols are viruses at about 0.02–0.3 microns in size. However, it appears that many filtration systems used may be between 0.3 and 0.65 microns. Based on this, it appears that many filters will not filter out some of the viruses in the cabin air. Most fungal spores are about 2–20 microns; they should therefore be effectively filtered out.

If aircraft manufacturers and airline operators are not carrying out air sampling inside aircraft cabins during long-distance flights, then I believe they should be.

The matter in question is a medical manifestation, insofar there is a cabin air quality problem it affects passengers’ health, but it is in fact a multi-disciplinary matter. The origin of any such problem would be as a result of the engineering of the aircraft. If passengers and/or flight staff are adversely affected, then that becomes a passenger/staff health problem as well.

The engineering issue can be further expanded so that the fuel use for each flight could be under question. Dirty filters use more fuel as the engines have to work harder to push the air through the filtration system. Therefore ensuring that filters are always clean results in a fuel saving, allowing less fuel to be carried with a corresponding increase in revenue-generating passengers or cargo which could be allowed for. This assumes that one of the potential issues here may be filters which need more frequent maintenance: however, that will not necessarily be an outcome of any research.

In my view there is sufficient anecdotal evidence of there being problems with the air quality of aircraft cabins. What progress has been made in that regard? Some related websites are:

http://projects.bre.co.uk/envdiv/cabinair/
http://www.bre.co.uk/page.jsp?id=231
http://www.aivc.org/medias/pdf/Air/air0309_web_ed.pdf
http://ec.europa.eu/research/growth/aeronautics-days/pdf/session-e/perera.pdf
http://www.sae.org/aeromag/techupdate/11-2002/
http://www.parliament.uk/documents/upload/stathAirbus.pdf

Intelligent Cladding of Tall Buildings

2008-10-27T20:43:00.000-07:00

Following the World Trade Centre disaster of 11 September 2001 when two Boeing 767 aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers, and when one was flown into the Pentagon, many questions have been asked. The International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) the Council for Tall Buildings, and other interested groups have met to discuss strategies for the future.

This article briefly discusses ideas for a new intelligent cladding system that may be installed on buildings that will warn of an imminent approach of aircraft, and automatically alter their flight-path, thereby deflecting the plane from the building.

The CIB meetings and Task Group (TG 50) – Tall Buildings – from 2002 met to discuss what happened during the 11 September incident in order to develop strategies for coping with any future such disasters.

The discussions were comprehensive and it is likely that some worthwhile recommendations will result over a period of time. The meetings of CIB discussed areas including structural performance, evacuation issues, insurance/reinsurance perspectives, fire service access and operations, megacities/megastructures, city planning issues, regulatory considerations, risk perception and fire engineering.

These items fall within our present way of thinking, but it appears that there needs to be a paradigm shift in order for society to deal with threats that were previously beyond the imagination of most people.

My proposal is to use the concepts of three existing and separate technologies in combination to arrive at new building and aircraft defence strategies. These technologies are photovoltaic solar heating for buildings, radar and aircraft anti-collision devices.

Radar is an electromagnetic system for the detection and location of objects, and it has numerous uses. Since electromagnetic energy propagates at the speed of light it is compatible with combining with photovoltaic technology. Photovoltaic electricity generation for buildings has now developed to an advanced state whereby small solar cells that produce electric pulses from the sun’s ultraviolet rays are fitted in close proximity to each other allowing them to be fitted to a building as the external cladding system. Such cells can be fitted over any desired areas of buildings when used for solar heating purposes. Silicon cells are manufactured by reducing sand to metallurgical-grade silicon. After oxygen, silicon is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust.

Commercial passenger aircraft are presently fitted with anti-collision devices. These deflect aircraft from their flight path in the event of them being on a collision course with another aircraft. There have been many reported incidents of this sort over the years.

Based on these three main current applications of technology my concept is of Intelligent Cladding of Buildings (ICB) that needs to be developed.

In my view, ICB may be applied to any building. It will be a system applied at the choice of building owners who wish to have protection against their buildings becoming targets of aircraft being used as missiles.

Typical radar systems can detect objects the size of birds and insects. This means that ICB panels may be installed judiciously on buildings in relatively small areas to ensure that the whole building elevation is protected and to provide for the desired architectural appearance.

Using conventional terrain-following (TF) systems aircraft successfully change direction to avoid collisions with mountains. When ICB is fitted to a building, it will automatically cause the path of the approaching aircraft to be altered thereby avoiding a collision. Because this would then pose a potential danger to a neighbouring building it would be necessary in future to ensure that tall buildings are separated by a distance greater than the wing span of the design aircraft, plus an additional factor of safety.

If such an ICB intelligent cladding system has not been developed, then it seems to me to be a viable proposition. I would be interested to hear from anyone who is able to advise me of the state of the art in that regard.

Learning from the World Trade Centre Disaster

2008-10-27T20:34:00.000-07:00

Buildings are designed to withstand forces imposed by wind and earthquake, as well as for standard fire conditions. Is it possible, or realistic, to design against the impact of a 767 passenger jetliner used as a missile?

Following the New York World Trade Centre disaster of 11 September 2001 when two jet aircraft were flown into the Twin Towers, and when one was flown into the Pentagon, these and many other questions have been asked. As part of the review an international summit meeting on tall buildings and a meeting of the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction (CIB) Task Group TG 50 – Tall Buildings – were held in London in April 2002, Kuala Lumpur in 2003 and Ottawa in 2004. The objectives were to discuss what happened during the 11 September incident in order to develop strategies for coping with any future such disasters.

General areas of discussion included structural performance, evacuation issues, insurance/reinsurance perspectives, fire service access and operations, megacities/megastructures, city planning issues, regulatory considerations, risk perception and fire engineering.

While the WTC disaster was the catalyst for the meetings, they took the form of a forum to improve building design, egress and disaster planning in a general sense.

Building design is all about risk management, the likelihood of certain adverse effects and the likely consequences of them happening. In the past such design events have been encapsulated in standards and building codes. The UK Building Regulations were amended after the Ronan Point collapse in 1968 that was caused by a gas explosion. This caused the progressive collapse of the 22-storey building. The subsequent enquiry found that the risk was “foreseeable”, and the Regulations were amended to stipulate that a building is to be so constructed that in consequence of an accident the structure must not fail or collapse disproportionately to the cause of the damage. The requirement applies to buildings of five storeys or more. This may well be considered all that is necessary in terms of additional wording in the New Zealand Building Code and Codes in some other countries. If such a simplistic approach were taken who would decide on the type and degree of hazard to be designed for and how would consistency in that regard be attained?

The Twin Towers were designed in the 1960s for the largest aircraft of the time getting lost in fog, and at a relatively low speed hitting one of the buildings. They were arguably designed to withstand the impact of a jetliner, as they withstood the initial impacts in the September 11 event and allowed 99% of those below the points of impact to escape the buildings. They eventually failed, however, from the effects of the subsequent blast effect, fireball and intense fires. There are no current standard tests available to evaluate the consequences of a sudden pressure pulse as experienced at the WTC site. This will be an area of future research.

The defeated safety systems included:

fire proofing· sprinklers (with risers broken)
compartmentalisation (a five-storey high hole in the side of the building)
egress stairs (blocked above points of impact)
pressurisation and lighting
structural (with 40 columns destroyed)

With all this happening simultaneously, would progressive collapse design have made much difference?

Present engineering risk/statistical analysis techniques would put this disaster into an “acceptable” engineering risk paradigm. Society may, however, have greater expectations, and that is the challenge ahead.

The Future

The discussions were comprehensive and it is likely that some worthwhile recommendations will result from the conference and from the deliberations of TG 50 over its series of meetings.

The research agenda for the future is likely to include:

Integration of building and infrastructure systems
Effects of a sudden pressure pulse
Redundancy of buildings and systems
Egress
Urban search and rescue
Public education and education of insurers
Performance based design standards

But what has been achieved? I welcome advice from authoritative sources in that regard.

Diminishing Capital Value of Buildings and Infrastructure in New Zealand

2008-10-27T20:22:00.000-07:00

Extralegal capital in many third world and former communist countries is prolific in the form of shanty towns, squatter developments and illegal buildings. Owing to them not being recorded on official registers and land ownership systems their capital value is grossly under-represented in valuation records. Furthermore, owing to their extralegal status they are tangible assets that often cannot be used as collateral for raising finance and as such their worth beyond providing shelter and/or other amenity is of little value.

New Zealand's position is at the other end of the spectrum where these is generally full capitalisation potential on all property assets. But is that sustainable under present prevailing conditions? This paper sets out to explore where some of New Zealand's capital assets may be under jeopardy so that they diminish in value.

Extralegal capital is capital in the form of officially unrecognised infrastructure where ownership cannot often be attributed to one person or group of persons and as a result has little or no capital value. Buildings are more than just ways in which occupants have shelter, comfort, safety and security from outside elements. They are a vehicle from which finance may be raised in order to increase one's capital.

Third world and former communist countries are generally poorer than those countries that are not in those categories (or at least poorer to Western standards). The people in those countries are not lazier than anyone else nor do they lack motivation. They innovate and usually make the most of their resources and use modern technology prolifically. "They can grasp and use modern technology. Otherwise, American businesses would not be struggling to control the unauthorized use of their patents abroad, nor would the US". (de Soto, 2000, p. 4)

These countries suffer from an inability to produce capital. While poor, they possess assets that would tend to make capitalism succeed, and they save. Compared with the West their resources are often in defective forms, such as:

Houses built on land with inadequately recorded ownership
Lack of property rights
Lack of enforceable transactions on property rights
Unincorporated business with undefined liability (de Soto, 2000)
Non-compliance of building with building codes
Illegal buildings

Corruption at national and local government levels

In discussing what lack of progress there is in relation to better seismic protection of buildings, Paulay 2006 stated that there is "irrational adherence to outdated traditions, unconscious or deliberate ignorance of compliance with building regulations, and insufficient attention of governments to relevant needs of the society of poorer countries while condoning undiminished corruption". This highlights several impedients towards more robust capitalism in many countries under question.

Such impediments to capitalising of assets may not necessarily derive from ill-intent but more so from cultural facets of dense populations of people all trying to compete for limited resources and opportunities. A case in point may be that of guanxi in China which is institutionalised quid pro quo. "While guanxi may be organisational, at its heart it is a relationship between two people who are expected, more or less, to give as good as they get". "There are few rules in China that can't be broken, or at least bent, by people with the right guanxi". (Seligman, 1999).

The paper continues under the following headings which relate to what is happening in New Zealand:

The New Zealand Situation
Maori Land
Earthquake-prone Buildings
Stucco Plaster Clad Buildings and Code Compliance Certificates
Unauthorised Building Work Pre-1992
Unauthorised Building Work Post-1992
Certificates of Acceptance
Conclusions
References

The complete paper may be downloaded from this website.

http://www.ipenz.org.nz/ConventionCD/Documents/Kelvin-Wall.pdf

Spare a thought for our Creators - Engineers

2008-10-27T20:16:00.000-07:00

This is a newly-created site to disseminate news and views in relation to the building industry in New Zealand and worldwide and which will generally include wider concepts of infrastructure and the built environment. It is aimed to be of interest to all professionals in the building industry including architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, chartered surveyors, builders, and all others.

Since we all either live and work in buildings and many of us own or lease buildings this page will also be of interest to the wider public. As I am an engineer and chartered surveyor I propose to start by singing the praises of engineers.

Spare a thought for our Creators - Engineers

Every day most of us wake up with an alarm clock, turn on the tap and boil some water, cook some food, walk out to the pavement, drive a car, or take a bus, and head into an office or other place of work. These items are so much engrossed in our daily lives that we seldom consider how they originated. Society has developed over the ages, thanks to a dedicated, largely invisible, group of professional engineers and technologists. Professional engineers and technologists are the creators who designed and developed the alarm clock, designed and were responsible for the dam which supplied the electricity to boil the water and to cook the food, designed and were responsible for the construction of the pavement and road, designed the car and bus, supplied professional expertise to ensure that the office or place of work is strong enough to stand up against earthquake and wind forces, and to ensure an adequate supply of fresh indoor air.

There is no part of society in relation to our built environment which has not been created by engineers and technologists. They are trained and professionally qualified to adapt and modify the forces of nature so that our society is as comfortable and as suitable for us as we wish. In this way, it could be provocatively argued that they are society's primary health care providers, by providing such important requirements as clean drinking water, healthy nutritious food, secure and warm shelter and safe reliable transport.

Without professional engineering expertise our society would not have developed beyond the Stone Age.