Non-residential Construction Research Articles

PRIDE and Prejudice: The Economic Impacts of Growth Controls in Pasadena

Whereas most debates about growth controls have focused primarily on the impacts of land and house prices, this study examines anticipated job and output losses. Using the example of the proposed nonresidential and residential controls approved by the voters of Pasadena, California, as a case study, the authors employ a spatial allocation/regional input-output model (the Southern California Planning Model) that allocates highly disaggregated sectoral impacts (direct, indirect, and induced) to 219 zones (cities and unincorporated areas) in the Los Angeles metropolitan region. The largest economic losses are the result of denied nonresidential construction, and these are cumulative over the ten years of the proposed ordinance (now defunct after the 1992 elections). The lowest-skilled occupational groups are the hardest hit in terms of lost jobs, and almost three fifths of the employment losses occur in the city of Pasadena itself. These results offset the favorable claims for growth controls made by their advocates.

Building systems

This paper traces the history and growth of metal building systems in the United States. From modest beginnings in the farm and industrial markets in mid-century, the industry now accounts for over half of all new, low, non-residential construction. The market has expanded to include commercial, recreational and government buildings, as well as industrial. The chief reasons for the success of these buildings have been: computers, improved materials, pre-painted steel, research on structural behavior and load determination, and a unique marketing scheme.

Implications of perception and strategy for engineers in construction management

It is suggested that strategy of the firm is a result of both an objective and subjective evaluation of the environment and the subjective perceptions of the environment are a function of the cognitive style of the individual. Engineers are said t o have distinctive cognitive style preferences. In this study, a sample of owners and managers of firms in the non-residential contract construction industry have been grouped according to whether or not the individuals have an engineering background. A comparison is then made of certain cognitive characteristics, perceptions of the business environment, and their choice of competitive strategies. The analysis suggests that cognitive style is related to environmental perceptions and strategy, but no differences in cognitive style were evident between the groups of executives. There were, however, differences in environmental perceptions and selections of strategy. The implication is that engineers may need to be more aware of the pitfalls of their cognitive styl...

A safety climate measure for construction sites

This study tests Brown and Holmes' (1986) three-factor safety climate model on construction workers. In this model, climate was viewed as molar perceptions people have of their work settings. Data were collected by a selfadministered questionnaire in a cross-sectional survey conducted among 384 workers employed in nine nonresidential construction sites in Baltimore, MD. The response rate was 71%. Results using two linear structural relations (LISREL) procedures (maximum likelihood used by Brown and Holmes and weighted least squares) indicated a good model fit. The weighted least squares procedure, which is more appropriate for our data, revealed that a two-factor model provided an overall better fit. The two factors were (a) management's commitment to safety and (b) workers' involvement in safety. This model emphasizes management and workers' involvement in safety matters. Results also suggest the necessity of addressing concerns of these two groups in safety policies.

Safety Performance among Union and Nonunion Workers in the Construction Industry

This study examined differences between union and non-union construction workers in terms of safety performance and of demographic, employment, and sociopsychological factors related to safety performance. Data were collected by questionnaire in a larger study on construction workers' safety practices among 384 workers employed at nine nonresidential construction sites in the Baltimore metropolitan area. Union and nonunion construction workers differed in terms of safety performance and certain factors related to safety performance. Higher safety performance scores among union workers were, however, related to the fact that union members were older than nonunion members. Moreover, other differences were related to elements over which unions have more control. Findings revealed the need of special attention of the nonunion youngest members, and of additional evaluation of the actual and potential role played by unions in occupational safety.

Thai construction industry: Demand and projection

Thailand is fast becoming a newly industrializing country and, consequently, a large number of construction works are projected for the future. This study is an attempt to gain further insight into the demand for construction activities in Thailand. Three types of construction - residential, non-residential and ‘other’ (mainly public projects) - were considered. The demand function for each type of construction was estimated using regression analysis. Results indicate that rising per capita income, the ratio of consumer price index to the construction cost index, and population are the major determinants of demand for residential construction. The expansion of industrial production capacity and the ratio of corporate savings to the construction cost index are the most significant factors affecting the demand for non-residential construction. The demand of other construction is found to be largely a function of rising revenues of government and of public utilities. Further, projection results indicate that...

Safety practices in construction industry

Construction workers' safety practices were studied in relation to individual and situational factors. The study included a survey among 384 workers, 88 foremen, and 9 superintendents employed at nine nonresidential construction sites as well as one-time observations of safety practices at each site. Most workers displayed a high compliance with safety rules. Attitude toward safety performance and age were the most powerful predictors of safety performance. No relationship was found between workers' attitude and exposure to safety training or safety meetings. Nor was any relationship seen between workers' knowledge of safety performance and safety interventions. Findings suggested further consideration of the training needs of younger workers and foremen and evaluation of safety interventions.

Direct and indirect resource utilisation by the construction sector: The case of the USA since World War II

Adaptive reuse is an alternative to a building’s end-of-life where its function is extended to serve another purpose. Many studies suggest that adaptive reuse is more sustainable than typical demolition and new construction in terms of environmental, social, and economic impacts. However, these claims are qualitative in nature and are limited to analyses at the project scale. This paper presents a methodology based on Input-Output (IO) models for examining economic and energy impacts of substituting adaptive reuse for new building construction. An IO model for the Province of Ontario, Canada, was developed to study the impacts of adaptive reuse building construction. The building construction industries’ intermediate inputs and final demands were altered in the Ontario IO model to reflect changes in the supply and demand of adaptive reuse buildings in the construction industries. A basic scenario represents the situation where only the building’s superstructure and substructure are reused. The basic scenario was then extended to reflect the reuse of internal non-structural components. The Ontario IO model examines impacts to gross domestic product (GDP), industry outputs, employment and energy use (including rebound effects from household consumption changes). It was found that adaptive reuse building construction may benefit Ontario’s economy and reduce energy consumption under certain combinations of changes in supply and demand. The desired domain of adaptive reuse construction, where energy use decreases, while GDP and employment increases, is discerned for both the residential and non-residential building construction sectors in Ontario. This methodology may be used for other regions for which IO information exists.

Forecasting derived product demand in commercial construction

This article presents a practical scheme for forecasting derived demand for an industrial product used in the nonresidential construction industry. The method proposed includes a basic product requirement model to be used in conjunction with lagged construction award data. Twelve-month moving averages are used to smooth the basic construction contract award data which is analyzed by construction type and by geographic region. The methodology described enables accurate product sales potential estimation, and when compared with smoothed historical sales data, provides a means of evaluating market penetration. Although the method presented is concerned primarily with forecasting in the relatively short term, the scheme may be extended to a medium term corresponding roughly to the construction cycle. The article deals with application to a specific industry segment. However, the forecasting and evaluation procedure is adaptable to other industrial products.

Forecasting Quarterly Business Expenditure on Non-Residential Construction in Canada: An Assessment of Alternative Models

To see this we look back at equation (B12a), which states that Yj should be included linearly but permits the inclusion of a (Y* Yj) interaction term since Yi is for this purpose a parameter. Combining this with the analogous result for (B 12b) implies that we can have an interaction term which treats Yi and Yj symmetrically, and the only version which satisfies the linearity and the symmetry conditions is presented in (B 14), which appears above as equation (8b).

Inflation and Guaranteed Formula Pension Plans: An Additional Issue

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Variable Distributed Lags and Forecasting Non-Residential Construction

Variable Distributed Lags and Forecasting Non-Residential Construction

A Configuration Model For Timber ConnectionDesign

The complexity and the cost of the timber connection design is one of the major impediments to expanded use of wood products in low rise nonresidential construction. The complexity of timber connection design is dealt with in this paper by a design aid developed for use on a personal computer by an architect or an engineer. The timber connection design is formulated as a configuration problem. This approach is adaptable with ease as new wood products, new hardware and fasteners are introduced into the market place. During this development, several structural engineering issues summarized as good engineering practice in connection design were formalized. Also, use of a parts submodel in the form of a catalog facilitates tailoring the design tool to the preferences of the individual designers. Implementation of the configuration model employed a hybrid application development tool based on object oriented knowledge representation and rule based reasoning.

A Note on Soviet Profit Maximization

correlation analysis between consumption, various definitions of autonomous expenditures, and money supply in nominal terms for the period 1927-65. The levels of the variables and their first differences are examined in order to minimize the influence of trends. Three sub-periods are analysed. One period includes the war years; another period excludes the war years 1939-45; the third period excludes the war years 1942-45 when the country undertook what appears to be a maximum effort. This period coincides with US entry into the war and active co-operation in the war effort on the part of the two countries. In addition to FM's and AM's definition of autonomous expenditures DePrano-Mayer's (DM's) definitions of autonomous expenditures are also examined.3 DM's gross concept considers autonomous expenditures as investment in producer's durable equipment, non-residential construction, residential construction, federal govemment expenditures on income and produet account, and exports. Their net concept subtracts capital-consumption. In effect, the evidence presented in Table II leads to the conclusion that for the whole period, including and excluding war years, autonomous expenditures as defined by AM and DM give better fits than the FM definition. However, the perfornance of money (which includes notice on time deposits held by the public in chartered banks) is somewhat better. Canadian experience is also consistent with observations made by DM for the United States that in all periods gross fixed private domestic investment and gross fixed private domestic investment plus exports perform very favourably. For first differences, AM and DM perform sometimes better and sometimes worse than money. In all cases, however, AM's definition of autonomous expenditures performs better than DMs and FM's definition. Indeed, when the war years 1939-45 are excluded, AM's definition of autonomous expenditures outpaces money.