The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between school building condition and student achievement as measured by their performance on the Standards of Learning (SOL) examinations at the middle school level in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Three major data components were used to complete this study. The first component was the condition of the school buildings. To obtain this information, principals were asked to complete the Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) assessment instrument. The second component was the percentage of passing scores from SOL examinations for each middle school in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The third component was the socioeconomic status of the students attending the schools as measured by the percentage of students participating in the free and reduced lunch program. Three research questions were used to examine this topic. The first research question examined the differences in the SOL results of students in school buildings rated as standard and substandard. The second research question examined the differences in the SOL results of students in school buildings rated cosmetically as standard and substandard. The third research question examined the differences in the SOL results of students in school buildings rated structurally as standard and substandard. This study found that building condition is related to student achievement. Students performed better in newer or recently renovated buildings than they did in older buildings. The percentage of students passing the Commonwealth of Virginia Standards of Learning Examination at the middle school level was higher in English, mathematics and science in standard buildings than it was in substandard buildings. One of the largest differences in percentage of students passing was in English at 6.10 percentage points. This difference was significant at the .05 level of significance. This is noteworthy because student's ability to read affects all other academic areas. Building age, windows in the instructional area, and overall building condition were positively related to student achievement.Finally the data from this study were compared to the results of earlier studies that examined high schools in the Commonwealth of Virginia, finding that these results were consistent with the findings of other studies. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between selected budgetary expenditures for facilities and debt service and building conditions in the Commonwealth of Virginia. One research question and three sub-questions for selected school divisions were used to investigate this topic. The major data components used in this study were provided by the Virginia Department of Education. Twenty -two school divisions in the Commonwealth of Virginia were selected for the study, based on a previous study conducted by Crook (2006). Crook identified and classified selected school divisions as standard or substandard pursuant to the responses of principals who responded to the Commonwealth Assessment of Physical Environment (CAPE) assessment instrument. The line items of "facilities and debt service" were analyzed over a five year period for fiscal years 2000-2005. An independent t-test drawn from SPSS software was used to determine statistical significance between combined per-pupil expenditures for facilities and debt service. A comparison of the (1) means of total expenditures in the facilities and debt service line items, (2) total per-pupil expenditures, and (3) annual per-pupil expenditures was used to determine statistical significance. Analysis of the VEA measure of fiscal capacity and effort was conducted to ascertain the similarity of the two groups of school divisions. The findings of the study indicate that an analysis of total expenditure and per-pupil spending during the fiscal years of 2000-2005 reveal strong statistical significance in spending between school divisions with buildings classified as satisfactory and unsatisfactory in the line items of facilities and debt service. Analysis of five year total expenditure mean revealed there was strong statistical significance found in the two financial line items. Analysis of yearly per-pupil expenditures revealed that there was no statistical significance in the budget line item of facilities. Statistical significance was found in the financial line item of debt service during the academic year of 2000-2001 with a p value of (.025). / Ph. D.

Our future is moving towards a stricter energy requirement and this means that more and more focus is placed on energy-efficient heating systems in new and existing homes. The most common heating system in Sweden is district heating, and second place comes heatpumps. District heating is, for the most part, an environmentally friendly heating system. The combustion for district heating is usually from biofuel and waste, these two being the main core of district heating production. But in extreme cold during the winter, more heat is needed, which then has its basis in fossil fuels such as oil. The purpose of this thesis is to determine specific energy use for a newly designed villa (116) and then compare it with a nine year old villa (Trubaduren) .

Building for concrete is temporary. The building of wood and steel stands against the concrete to give form and then gives way, leaving a trace of its existence behind. Concrete is not a building material. One does not build with concrete. One builds for concrete. / Master of Architecture

Thesis: B.S., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Building Engineering and Construction, 1936 / by Angelo M. Tremaglio and John D. Viola. / B.S. / B.S. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Building Engineering and Construction

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According to the government, the Swedish economy is in a strained situation. High inflation and rising interest rates are leading to reduced purchasing power for households, putting many companies in a difficult position with a higher number of layoffs and bankruptcies as a result. Regarding timber prices, they increased heavily in 2021 due to sanctions against Russia after their invasion of Ukraine. The eliminated import of Russian timber, alongside problems with bark beetles in Canada and Central Europe, led to a drastic increase of timber prices. The prices of timber products increased by 61.4 percent during the period January 2021 to January 2022, and by 13.5 percent for concrete products. Due to these circumstances, there is an interest in keeping down construction-related costs, where one approach is to choose building materials with low costs and high strength. This case study examined the differences between an existing school building made of CLT and a corresponding building made of RC, in terms of material prices and the structure of the load-bearing elements.  Based on drawings of an existing school building, a model was created in Strusoft FEM-Design. A corresponding building made of RC was then modeled based on a realistic execution in terms of dimensions and placement of load-bearing elements. Both buildings were then analyzed and designed until the utilization rate, deflection and stability reached acceptable levels. The total material cost was then calculated for each building, and structural properties were compared.  The results of the study showed that the building made of CLT required larger dimensions for the load-bearing elements but weighed approximately 50 percent less than the RC building. However, the overall utilization rate was lower for the loadbearing elements in the building made of CLT. Material costs were approximately eight percent higher for the building made of CLT than the RC building.  The conclusion of the study indicates it would have been more expensive to build the school building from CLT than RC in terms of material prices, but more indepth studies investigating all related construction costs should be conducted. Both the CLT frame and the RC frame had load-bearing elements with a maximum utilization rate of 99 percent. However, the CLT frame generally had a lower utilization rate than the RC frame. In addition to the RC frame being cheaper, acceptable strength could be achieved with smaller dimensions of the load-bearing elements and sparser placement. This creates larger space for the activities the building is intended for. Overall, the study suggests it would have been beneficial if the school building had been built of RC instead of CLT from an economic and structural perspective.

The 2003 invasion of Iraq was one of the great blunders in American foreign policy. This thesis examines Neoconservative thought and policy, and its effect on the nation and state building effort in Iraq. It provides an analysis of the Iraqi Constitution and uses the faults of the Constitution to paint a picture of the larger instabilities and difficulties in Iraq today.