With rising concern about flooding and water pollution in the Red River and particularly in Lakes Manitoba and Winnipeg in recent years, building rain gardens in cities may become one solution with considerable potential for improving water quality. The literature illustrated the many benefits that can be provided by a rain garden system, not only aesthetically pleasing gardens with educational and biodiversity values, but they also can reduce storm water pollution and flooding in downstream water bodies. In order to address questions of public understanding and perceptions of their usefulness so as to better promote future implementation, the study examined social feedback about rain gardens through a survey at Ecole St Avila, an elementary school in Winnipeg. The findings from the survey indicated that the largest obstacles for rain garden development are funding and the lack of knowledge by the public.

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This thesis describes a theoretical, numerical and experimental heat transfer study of components of construction exposed to fire. Within the computational aspects of the work, one and two-dimensional finite difference and finite element methods have been developed to determine the transient temperature distributions in the cross-section of elements of construction subject to furnace fire tests. Either Cartesian or cylindrical polar coordinates can be used in order to conform to the shape of the element to be analyzed. The convective and radiative heat transfer boundary conditions at the exposed and unexposed sides of components can be simulated. Structures may comprise several materials each having thermal properties varying with temperature. They could be made of traditional construction materials, for example steel, concrete, plasterboard, or novel fire-resistant composite materials, for instance Glass- Reinforced Plastics (GRP) or intumescent coatings. The critical role of the thermal properties of materials with respect to the heat transfer rate was reviewed and the factors which significantly affect the heat transmission, such as the moisture content in hygroscopic materials and the decomposition of plastic matrices, have been investigated in considerable detail. A large number of experimental furnace tests have been conducted in order to reveal the fire-resistant performance of various materials and to verify the numerical modelling. Both the standard cellulosic and hydrocarbon time/temperature regimes have been used to simulate cellulosic and hydrocarbon fires. The comparison between the computational simulation and experimental measurements is generally excellent. In addition, a number of user-friendly, interactive computer programmes have been developed which may be used to predict the behaviour of building elements exposed to a specified fire environment. The general issues and relevant problems associated with the experimental and computational approaches to fire safety design are discussed. Some recommendations for the further improvement of the existing fire resistance standards are proposed and further required research in the subject areas are identified.

I wish to express my gratitude to Professor Martin Betts and Professor Luis Tadeu de Almeida, my joint supervisors, for their support and encouragement throughout the entire period of my research. My special thanks to Dr. David Eaton for his invaluable assistance, continued support, encouragement and patience. I would like to thank all staff from the School of Construction and Property Management of Salford University and from the Departamento de Engenharia e Gestão do Instituto Superior Técnico for their help during this period. My thanks to my colleagues in my Department in Lisbon and to my research colleagues in Salford. Their insights, opinions and support were of great value to my research and for myself. I would like also to express my gratitude to all that contributed to my research, making themselves available for interviewing and also providing material for my research. Thanks to my parents, all my family and friends for their support. Finally, a very special kiss to my sons and daughter: Luis Miguel, Maria Joana and Filipe Manuel for their love, encouragement and patience during this period as my time was short for them.

For equipment or plant replacement, when to replace an existing plant, fleet or a part of it, is one of the main concerns in decision-making. The thesis considers this decision-making problem using capital replacement models with a fixed planning horizon, and we took at the behaviour of optimal policy in this context. Application of the models is considered and we compare replacement models with a fixed planning horizon with replacement models with a variable planning horizon models comprising of two cycles. Capital replacement modelling in general and previous work done in the field are reviewed. The main work of this thesis is the study of the behaviour of optimal replacement policy for a single equipment/fleet over a fixed planning horizon, with a numerical investigation of the behaviour for non-like-with-like replacement. This is extended to describe the behaviour of optimal policy for replacement of a mixed fleet. A case study is presented that applies the fixed planning horizon model to a bus fleet; this fleet is operated by a Malaysian inter-city bus company. Finally we consider the challenger problem. Throughout, we recommend the use of a fixed planning horizon model rather than a two cycle variable-horizon model. The rent criterion is also our favoured criterion for decision-making; the rent criterion exists and is well behaved for all the models described. A dynamic programming approach is implemented for the like-with-like replacement problem over a fixed planning horizon for comparison with the economic life modelling approach of this thesis. We discuss the use of the different replacement decision models for supporting replacement decision-making in practical contexts.

This thesis contributes to the area of performance measurement in facilities management (FM). The context of the study is FM organisations. Interest in performance measurement increased dramatically during the 1990's in both management and academic literature. Performance measurement systems developed as a means of monitoring and maintaining organisational control, which is the process of ensuring that an organisation pursues strategies that lead to the achievement of overall goals and objectives. A performance measure can also be defmed as a metric used to quantify the efficiency and/or effectiveness of an action. The role of FM in promoting organisational performance, and thereby in providing competitive advantage is widely acknowledged. Although performance measurement concepts are referred to in the FM literature, they have not been applied with the same rigour as with other academic areas, such as production and manufacturing. Institutions will want support services that offer the best possible standards to meet the users' needs. Better coordination between core activities and support services means that institutions can respond faster and more effectively to those demands for services. Herein lies the general theoretical gap, which forms the point of departure for this research. This thesis aims to outline the many different perspectives of performance measurement in FM organisations. A grounded theory approach has been adopted with the aim of building theory as opposed to testing theory. Case studies were conducted at several FM intensive organisations. The identification of performance measurement tools or mechanisms was one of the aims of the case study phase, as well as providing descriptive accounts of the process. These tools and mechanisms were incorporated into a performance measurement questionnaire and were evaluated against the FM organisations in UK. The research uncovered performance measurement constructs in FM which could be categorised under the following four broad perspectives: customer, FM internal processes, FM learning and growth and financial FM. At each level, the FM organisation should strive to make performance measurement visible with the aim of creating new performance measurement constructs. Developed theory was further validated against a panel of experts in the field of FM and in a real life case study. The findings from both the qualitative and quantitative data points to an FM organisational performance measurement process which depends on the existing knowledge base of the FM organisation. The contribution to knowledge in the field may be viewed in terms of a critical examination of the role of performance measurement and the implications these have for the core organisation as the contribution made by FM will ultimately be judged by the organisation's stakeholders over a wide range of performance criteria including both fmancial and non-financial. FM is seen to be able to contribute to performance in many ways: strategy, control of resources, service efficiency, supply chain management and perhaps, most importantly, providing value for money. Furthermore, the constructs and concepts developed in this thesis provide both a point of departure for further research and a practical tool with which to assess performance measurement and management with the FM organisation.

Trapezoidally corrugated sheeting has been previously studied with regard to applications in shear diaphragms, making use of its inherent strength and stiffness properties by suitable connections. The in-plane deflection is an important design factor and the shear distortion component, due to eccentric transfer of fastener force into profile shear, is a major contributor to the total. A design formula is developed for the distortional shear flexibility for _ets fastened in every trough and in intermediate purlins which takes account of the localized distortion at the sheet ends by using an energy method analysis of assumed displacement functions to represent plate bending. For fastening in alternate or multiple of troughs, an additional profile concertina distortion occurs, resulting in a large increase in the shear flexibility. A similar energy method is performed as for the previous case, developing the same basic formula for the distortional deflection. A corresponding study is made for sinusoidally corrugated sheeting. A number of practical design factors have been examined - including the effect of longitudinally overlapping sheets, and purlin restraint on profile distortion. For sheets spanning over rafters into different shear fields, the expressions for shear flexibility have been modified. The strength of diaphragms has been investigated, especially with regard to fastening on two sides only, which includes the torsional and bending stiffness of laterally weak purlins. Diaphragm openings cause an increase in the sheet flexibility and constrain purlins to follow the resulting displaced shape. Consequently locally high purlin bending stresses and sheet-purlin forces may be generated, as revealed by differential equation and finite element studies. Corrugated sheeting has many applications in frameless structures such as folded plates and hyperbolic paraboloids. The flexibility and strength expressions have been used to design a prototype three bay folded plate roof which utilizes specially pressed sheeting to reduce the shear distortion component of roof deflection, The shear buckling strength of corrugated diaphragms is an impottant factor in such construction. For larger roof diaphragms with only periodic intermediate fixings to purlins, buckling may occur over the complete diaphragm depth rather than separately in each bay, and design tables are shown for this condition.

Because of its geographical location, the Arctic environment is considered as pristine. However, expanding industrial activities in the Arctic require assessment of the toxicity of chemicals at low temperature. Biomarkers defined as "biological responses to a chemical or chemicals that give a measure of exposure or toxic effect" were shown to be relevant to measure in situ impact of oil discharges. Most biomarker studies have been performed with temperate organisms. The Arctic is characterised by low stable temperature, strong seasonality in light, resulting in a short primary production in Spring. Therefore, indigenous organisms have developed specific adaptations to live with a hmited food supply in water near freezing point. Conversely, physical properties of petroleum hydrocarbons are affected by low temperature (i.e. reduced solubility). Consequently, the biological adaptation of cold-water organisms together with the altered oil behaviour, may affect typical biomarker responses. Because oil compounds are strongly prooxidant, the research strategy of this work was based on oxidative stress. The antioxidant defences were investigated by measuring the total oxyradical scavenging capacity (TOSC). The impact of reactive oxygen species was investigated by measuring the stability of the cell membranes. Finally, the physiology of the organisms was considered by looking at heart and respiration rates. Invertebrates were selected for study owing to their abundance in the polar ecosystem. They were sampled using dredges and Scuba diving from the research vessel Jan Mayen (University of Tromso) in May and August 1999, and during May and September 2000 in the l^ords of Svalbard and in Antarctica as well in January 2000. In the Arctic, two bivalves, Mya tnincata and Chlamys islandicus, and two crustaceans, Hyas araneus and Sclerocrangon boreas were selected. In this work, the ecophysiology of Arctic and Antarctic marine invertebrates was investigated and compared to temperate organisms. Polar marine invertebrates are characterised by low respiration and heart rates and a high TOSC. The elevated level of antioxidant defences is thought to reflect the oxidative pressure of the polar marine ecosystem; however, it suggested that a high TOSC may help to protect biomolecules from oxidative damage as repair mechanisms are limited due to the lack of food for 9 months. Organisms were exposed to poly aromatic hydrocarbons either dissolved, dispersed injected or via sediment. TOSC, cell membrane stabiHty and heart rate were valid biomarkers to monitor the impact of poly aromatic hydrocarbons in Arctic marine organisms. The biomarker responses obtained in this study provide essential background information for monitoring the potential impact of oil and gas activities in the Arctic.

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