Thesis (M. Hous. M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-126).

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 1999. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 116-126). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.Hous.M.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print.

abstract: In this era of high-tech computer advancements and tremendous programmable computer capabilities, construction cost estimation still remains a knowledge-intensive and experience driven task. High reliance on human expertise, and less accuracy in the decision support tools render cost estimation error prone. Arriving at accurate cost estimates is of paramount importance because it forms the basis of most of the financial, design, and executive decisions concerning the project at subsequent stages. As its unique contribution to the body of knowledge, this paper analyzes the deviations and behavior of costs associated with different construction activities involved in commercial office tenant improvement (TI) projects. The aim of this study is to obtain useful micro-level cost information of various construction activities that make up for the total construction cost of projects. Standardization and classification of construction activities have been carried out based on Construction Specifications Institute’s (CSI) MasterFormat® division items. Construction costs from 51 office TI projects completed during 2015 and 2016 are analyzed statistically to understand the trends among various construction activities involved. It was found that the interior finishes activities showed a much higher cost of construction, and a comparatively higher variation than the mechanical, electrical, and plumbing (MEP) trades. The statistical analysis also revealed a huge scope of energy saving measures that could be achieved in such TI projects because of the absence of energy management systems (EMS) found in 66% of the projects. / Dissertation/Thesis / Masters Thesis Construction 2016

A Multi-tenant database (MTD) is a way of deploying a Database as a Service (DaaS). A multi-tenant database refers to a principle where a single instance of a Database Management System (DBMS) runs on a server, serving multiple clients organisations (tenants). This technology has helped to discard the large-scale investments in hardware and software resources, in upgrading them regularly and in expensive licences of application software used on in-house hosted database systems. This is gaining momentum with significant increase in the number of organisations ready to take advantage of the technology. The benefits of MTD are potentially enormous but for any organisation to venture into its adoption, there are some salient factors which must be well understood and examined before venturing into the concept. This research examines these factors, different models of MTD, consider the requirements and challenges of implementing MTDs. Investigation of the degree of impact each of these factors has on the adoption of MTD is conducted in this research which focused mainly on public organisations. The methodology adopted in undertaking this study is a mixed method which involved both qualitative and quantitative research approaches. These strategies are used here to cover statistics (quantifiable data) and experts’ knowledge and experiences (abstract data) in order to satisfactorily achieve the aim and objectives and complete the research. Following the involvement of these strategies, a framework was developed and further refined after a second survey was carried out with a quantitative approach. This framework will help prospective tenants to make informed decisions about the adoption of the concept. The research also considers the direction of decisions about MTDs in situations where two or more factors are combined. A new MTD framework is presented that improves the decision making process of MTD adoption. Also, an Expert System (ES) is developed from the framework which was validated via a survey and analysed with the aid of SPSS software. The findings from the validation indicated that the framework is valuable and suitable for use in practice since majority of respondents accepted the research findings and recommendations for success. Likewise, the ES was validated with majority of participants accepting it and embracing the high level of its friendliness.

Orientador: Antonio Marcio Buainain / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Economia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-13T09:51:09Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Salinas_PatriciaJosedeAlmeida_D.pdf: 1815159 bytes, checksum: aa658b2fda26bd025fb4554eba99b3b5 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2009 / Resumo: O objetivo central desta tese é analisar as relações de arrendamento e parceria no meio rural brasileiro nas últimas duas décadas. Observou-se a presença do arrendamento e da parceria em todo país, com grande heterogeneidade em formato, resultados da produção e provavelmente em ganhos de eficiência. A hipótese que orientou a pesquisa é que tal heterogeneidade não se explica apenas a partir das conhecidas diferenças regionais, e que por isto é necessário conhecer - como se tentou fazer neste trabalho - os principais condicionantes que regem as relações contratuais entre arrendatários, parceiros e proprietários. Sustenta-se que o arrendamento e a parceria, que no passado tiveram presença marcante no sistema agrário brasileiro, perdem expressão como mecanismos de acesso de pequenos produtores à terra de médios e grandes proprietários. Segundo a hipótese discutida no trabalho, o arrendamento e parceria estariam cada vez mais restritos ao contexto institucional (sócioeconômico, político, cultural) dos produtores mais capitalizados e experientes, os quais teriam condições produtivas e financeiras de aproveitar oportunidades de negócios e para se inserir nas cadeias agroindustriais mais complexas e estruturadas (por exemplo, soja, milho, cana de açúcar e álcool, pecuária bovina, arroz irrigado) sem a necessidade de imobilizar capital na compra de terras. Para os proprietários a opção pelo arrendamento (e parceria) encontra uma variedade de motivações, desde eliminar as preocupações relacionadas à gestão da atividade produtiva, evitar os riscos inerentes à agricultura até suprir a falta de capacidade (gerencial) e condições (financeiras) para explorar diretamente um negócio que é cada vez mais complexo e exigente. Conclui-se que a utilização do arrendamento e da parceria no Brasil voltado para pequenos produtores é um fenômeno geograficamente localizado e que, em geral, os contratos envolvem produtores mais capitalizados. O pequeno produtor geralmente não consegue obter um desempenho satisfatório em decorrência da dificuldade de acesso aos mercados, do nível de riqueza, da falta de qualificação e experiência para se consolidar na atividade produtiva. Nota-se um freqüente burlamento dos contratos, embora estejam regulamentados pela legislação para atender às reivindicações dos contratantes. Os prazos são diluídos em favor de interesses pontuais dos proprietários, principalmente, a recuperação de solos degradados e ocupação de áreas passíveis de conflitos agrários. Admite-se que sem a superação da instabilidade da propriedade (i.e., melhor definição dos direitos de propriedade) e a criação de mecanismos de incentivos para os próprios beneficiários, dificilmente os contratos de arrendamento e parceria tornar-se-ão uma opção viável de acesso à terra. Pelo contrário, esses contratos limitar-se-ão a um instrumento paliativo para tratar da grave questão agrária brasileira. O corolário disso seria um aumento da ineficiência na alocação dos recursos e das desigualdades sociais no meio rural. / Abstract: The central objective of this thesis is to analyze leasing and sharecropping relationships in the Brazilian rural areas in the last two decades. The presence of leasing and sharecropping in every state of the country with great heterogeneity in format, production results and probably in won of efficiency was observed. The hypothesis that guided this research is that such heterogeneity is not just explained by regional differences. But this work also tried to discover the main factors that govern the contractual relationships between tenants, sharecroppers and landlords. It is considered that leasing and sharecropping practiced in the Brazilian agrarian system in the past, lost influence as an access mechanism of small producers to the lands of medium and big landlords. According to the hypothesis discussed in this work, leasing and sharecropping became more and more restricted to the institutional context (socioeconomic, political, cultural) of producers who were more capitalized and had more expertise. Only they would have productive and financial conditions for taking advantage of business opportunities and to participate in the agro-industry chains that became more complex and structured (for instance, soy, corn, cane of sugar and alcohol, bovine livestock, irrigated rice) without the need of investing capital in the purchase of lands. For the landlords, the option of leasing and sharecropping has a variety of reasons ranging from eliminating the concerns related to the administration of the productive activity, to avoiding the inherent risks to agriculture like the lack of managerial capacity and financial conditions for developing businesses that are more and more complex and demanding. The study concluded that leasing and sharecropping in Brazil for small producers is a geographically located phenomenon and usually, the contracts involve more capitalized producers. The small producer does not usually get satisfactory results due to his difficult access to markets, his level of wealth, his lack of qualification and experience to be able to consolidate productive activity. Frequent noncompliance of contracts is noticed, even though they are regulated by legislation to assist the claims of the contracting parties. The periods are altered in favor of the punctual interests of the landlords, mainly, the recovery of degraded soils and occupation of areas susceptible to agrarian conflicts. It is admitted that without the elimination of the instability of property (i.e., better definition of the property rights) and the creation of mechanisms of incentives for beneficiaries, it will be difficult for leasing agreements and partnership to become a viable option of access to land. On the contrary, these contracts will be limited to a palliative instrument for treating the serious Brazilian agrarian problem. The corollary of that would be an increase of inefficiency in the allocation of resources and the creation of more social inequalities in the rural area. / Doutorado / Desenvolvimento Economico, Espaço e Meio Ambiente / Doutor em Desenvolvimento Economico

With issues such as energy crises, climate change and environmental degradation becoming evermore prevalent on national and international levels, industrialized societies are beginning to take heed of the impact they are having on the natural environment and we are beginning to see movements towards socially and environmentally responsible decision-making. With the impact that buildings have on the environment, it is important to understand what barriers are preventing or slowing investment in socially and environmentally responsible property. The present study was conducted to determine whether LEED certification has a significant impact on the market value of office buildings in Toronto, Ontario – value determined by the average net asking rent for each building. For some 68 subject and control buildings, we matched information on the net asking rent for 16 LEED certified (subject) buildings to 52 otherwise comparable properties (control buildings). Using ordinary least squares (OLS) analysis, we looked to find what relationship exists between net asking rent and the LEED label. Controlling for other variables historically shown to have an impact on property value, we expected the results of this study to determine whether there is a business case for LEED certification in the downtown Toronto office market. The results of the study have shown that LEED certification has had no impact on the market value of the sample of office buildings in Toronto. This is a surprising result, given the growth in the number of LEED buildings in Canada, but interviews with three senior executives in the industry have helped to provide insight into this trend. It seems that with time LEED will likely have an impact in this market, but it hasn‘t arrived yet.

The aim of my master’s thesis is to determine the factors, that influence the market rent for agricultural land in Bolehošť and its surroundings. The theoretical part discusses ways to obtain the basic price of agricultural land. Followed by derivation of market rent as a percentage part the of the price agricultural land. Another part of this work is the practical part, where are individual factors influencing the market rent analyzed first generally and then there is described the influence of individual factors directly for agricultural land in Bolehošť and its surroundings. The influence of these factors on the market rent is documented by calculations derived from a database of rent in the contracts. Followed comparison of rents depending on individual factors and their evaluation.

Public housing companies in Sweden find it difficult reaching their tenants with relevant information. This problem might hinder the tenants to participate in the management of their housing. This thesis aimed to explore and analyse the everyday communication practices between a municipal housing company and its tenants. The aim is fulfilled through three research questions focusing on understanding through which communication channels that the communication is practiced and how the everyday communication practices are perceived by the tenants. The study is conducted as a qualitative case study with interviews as main method, interviewing employees and tenants at Svenska Bostäder, a municipal housing company in Stockholm. It is found that the everyday communication practices depend on the matter, the type of information needed and the purpose. Furthermore, an ambition to use communication channels with in-person meetings is found among the interviewees as a good strategy to come closer to the tenant. Lastly, it is noted that effectivization is a central theme in the communication practices. The effectivization can be seen as a consequence of trends in the Swedish public housing system.

The conversion of rental apartments to tenancy-owned housing has been a common phenomenon in the housing market in Stockholm during the last two decades. Rental apartment-tenants have the opportunity to purchase their unit for a hefty discount. The existence of the discount has further resulted in banks providing a mortgage that allows the tenant to purchase the apartment with full leverage and without any cash contribution. The households have been able to sell their apartment with high profit and then reinvest it in other housing alternatives at better locations, in better technical condition and with larger living space. The main reason for the discount can be explained by the difference in the valuation methods used by property investors and private households. The property owners value the rental property through the yield method that results in a price that other property investors would be willing to pay. The return generated in a rental property consists of rental revenues. These rental revenues are state regulated according to the use-value method, which means that rents, especially in primary locations, are reduced in order to minimize the segregation in the Swedish society. A price gap appears and consists of the price difference between the present value of the running rental income and the price of each individual apartment on the secondary housing market. The tenant owned association that is willing to buy the property and the private property investor who is willing to sell, usually negotiates a price that both parties are satisfied with. The negotiated price usually results in both parties sharing the profit that arises from the price gap. This study aims to investigate how large the price gap is between the conversion price and price generated through sales of the individual units on the open housing market. The study includes completed conversions in Stockholm within the city customs during the period of January 2010 and January 2016 and condominiums sold in the same associations during the same period. The discount results to an average of 44 % in relation to conversion price and 57 % in relation to the deposit (Sw. Bostadsrättsinsats). On average, the difference between the value of the property during conversion and the value of tenant owned-housing units on the open property market results to 24,444 SEK/m². The difference between the conversion price and the market value of the deposit on the open housing market amounts to 31,231 SEK/m². This means that the average discount that an apartment holder receives amounts to SEK 1,924,025. Among the converted properties, 38 % of the total gross floor area have been sold on the open housing market within the two first years after the conversion. The value difference has resulted in a total realized discount amounting to SEK 5,279,523,434 in relation to conversion price and SEK 6,672,510,151 in relation to the deposit value. / Ombildningar har under de senaste två decennierna varit ett vanligt förekommande fenomen på Stockholms bostadsmarknad, där hyresgästerna erbjudits köpa sin hyresrätt till ett kraftigt rabatterat pris. Rabatten har inneburit att hyresgästerna sällan behövt betala kontantinsats och därmed kunnat köpa lägenheten till full belåning. Efter genomförd ombildning har hushållen haft möjlighet att sälja sin lägenhet på andrahandsmarknaden med hög vinst, vilken sedan har kunnat återinvesteras i bostäder med ett bättre geografiskt läge, skick och med större boarea. En av anledningarna till att rabatten uppstår är att fastighetsägaren värderar hyresfastigheten enligt avkastningsmetoden. Avkastningsmetoden resulterar i ett pris som en annan hyresfastighetsägare skulle vara beredd att betala. Den avkastning som genereras i en hyresfastighet består av hyresintäkterna. Dessa hyresintäkter är statligt reglerade enligt bruksvärdesmetoden vilket innebär att hyrorna, framförallt i primära lägen, är reducerade med syftet att minska segregation i samhället. En prisdifferens skapas av skillnaden mellan värdet av de löpande hyresintäkterna och priset på varje enskild lägenhet på andrahandsmarknaden. Den bostadsrättsförening som vill köpa fastigheten och den privata fastighetsägaren som vill sälja förhandlar fram ett pris som båda parter är tillfreds med. Det framförhandlade priset brukar oftast resultera i att båda parterna delar på vinsten som uppstår av prisdifferensen. Denna uppsats har till syfte att utreda storleken på prisdifferensen mellan förvärvspriset vid ombildning, jämfört med individuella bostadsrättsförsäljningar på andrahandsmarknaden. Studien omfattar genomförda ombildningar i Stockholms innerstad (innanför tullar) mellan januari 2010 och januari 2016 och bostadsrätter som är sålda i föreningarna under samma tidsperiod. Den genomsnittliga rabatten är 44 % för bostadsrättsföreningar och 57 % för individuella hushåll. I genomsnitt är skillnaden mellan förvärvspriset vid ombildningsdatum och bostadsrättens försäljningspris 24 444 kr/m² (bostadsrättsföreningarnas rabatt). Jämförs försäljningspriset med bostadsrättsmedlemmars insats blir rabatten 31 231 kr/m² (hushållens rabatt). Detta innebär att ett hushåll som är med om en ombildning får en rabatt som motsvarar 1 924 025 kr jämfört med förvärvspriset, och 2 431 673 kr jämfört med bostadsrättsmedlemmarnas insats. Av den totala ombildade boytan har 38 % sålts vidare på andrahandsmarknaden inom 24 månader efter ombildningsdatum. Den realiserade rabatten har totalt uppgått till 5 279 523 434 kr för bostadsrättsföreningar och 6 672 510 151 kr för individuella hushåll.