no abstract provided by author / M.S.

Master of Science

Current planning and scheduling techniques ignore the requirements of activities for work area or space. Any task or activity requires a specific work space for its execution. This demand is based on the space requirements of each resource allocated to the activity. When such required demand becomes unavailable, the activity or task can not be executed or, in some cases, is performed with a lower productivity rate. This is because performance and maneuvering of either crew or equipment may become difficult and sometimes not possible. This research provides a structured methodology to deal with the problem of limited work space availability. The research’s domain focuses on multi-story building construction with particular focus on the repetitive portion of the facility (i.e. typical floors). The research studies the issues of work space as a new decision factor for schedule generation in this type of construction. A scheduling model is developed to define and incorporate work space availability in the scheduling process. The model includes a method to quantify work space parameters (space demand and space availability) for any activity. The model also presents a procedure to compare space demand to availability and provide scheduling decisions to Sequence each activity based on these two parameters. The model allows for availability limits to be placed on resources required for the work by implementing limited resource scheduling techniques in the scheduling procedures. Horizontal and vertical logic constraints associated with repetitive work are also incorporated in the scheduling process of the model. Work continuity issues and varying productivity rates are used as scheduling decision options. The model adopts a procedure to schedule non-continuous activities using variable length segments along the typical floors. In addition, the model allows for adjusting the initial defined resource demand pools for different activities to account for any modifications that may occur to the activity duration during scheduling. Loss of productivity as a result of the combined effect of travel time and learning curve phenomena is also incorporated in the generation of the schedule by the model. The model is taken to a prototype proof of concept by developing SCaRC (Space Constrained and Resource Constrained) scheduling system. The system is implemented using a knowledge-based approach. / Ph. D.

The green building market has seen tremendous growth in the past decade. Organizations such as the US Green Building Council have emerged to become a dominant leader in the building industry. Although the green building rating systems are cross-disciplinary, much of the focus has been directed towards design-related input. General Contractors play an important role in delivering successful sustainable construction projects. If an integrated project delivery method is chosen, the General Contractor may offer insightful preconstruction assistance by providing ideas on green construction methods and materials. As sustainable building practices become more prominent in the construction industry, General Contractors must remain knowledgeable on current green building standards in order to stay competitive. Two of the most important aspects of business for a General Contractor involve time and money. Through qualitative literature review and quantitative results from a case study, this research analyzes time and cost in sustainable construction projects from a General Contractor's perspective. The research also examines whether the management of a sustainable construction project is substantially different than a non-sustainable construction project for a General Contractor. Finally, because the green building process involves multiple parties, the collaboration effort from all parties involved in a green building project will be studied.

Research report is submitted in partial fulfilment to the requirement of the degree of Master of Science (Building) in the field of Property Development and Management, to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, School of Construction Economics and Management, University of the Witwatersrand, 2016 / The purpose of this study was to explore the type of office spaces in South Africa together with the presence of generational and cultural/ethnic differences in employee’s perception in the office environment on particular aspects. The research was carried out as a single case study of an office using private consultancy firm, located in Johannesburg, South Africa. Questionnaires were sent out to employees based in various segments within the firm. The study showed that the leading office typology is open plan/group office spaces as opposed to all other office configurations within the firm, such as private/cellular offices. The case study highlights the trade-off between collaboration and privacy in the primary office typology, open plan office spaces. The findings demonstrated that no significant differences exist between the different generations’ and cultures’ ability to conduct activities which are influenced by personal and interpersonal aspects of the office spaces. Furthermore, findings illustrated that no generational and cultural differences exist in the environmental, personal and design aspects of the office space. Lastly, findings showed that generational and cultural differences do exist in group cohesion and intension to stay. The main limitation of research is the small sample size which may have resulted in an untrue reflection in the generalisation of the population. The paper’s findings add to the cultural and ethnic differences experienced in open plan offices on personal/interpersonal, environmental and design aspects. Further studies need to explore the possible theoretical links between the workspace, group cohesion, intension to stay and productivity for South African office using firms. Keywords: generational differences, cultural/ethnic difference, employees’ experiences, collaboration, privacy, team work / MT2017

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2015. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis I examine the natural building movement in South Africa in an attempt to determine the systemic influences that appear to confine it to a small market operating at the very edge of the mainstream building sector. I make use of the conceptual framework of the multi-level perspective to explore the interrelationships between natural building as a technological niche and the mainstream building sector as the dominant regime. I extend the concept of a technological niche by appending the term 'latent' to form the term 'latent technological niche', to describe a technology with sustainability credentials that fails to break into the mainstream market, despite achieving technological maturity and constant though minimal market share. The research objectives of this thesis are to: identify pathways for the natural building niche to move beyond its latent state; to determine how the translations of natural building practices to the building sector might occur; and how this might transform the building sector regime. I explore how action research involving knowledge sharing between multi-stakeholder, niche and regime actors might stimulate debate and subsequent action to overcome entry barriers; and serve as a catalyst to advance a latent technological niche beyond its confined market. I present an action research method, a 'latent technological mediation', of facilitated 1st and 2nd order social learning. This is used as a mechanism of tapping into the immediate knowledge of actors in the socio-technical regime. The purpose being to identify the external forces and internal processes of a latent technological niche. The status of a latent technological niche is assessed by comparing these processes in the context of external forces against seven processes, presented in this thesis. These seven processes are considered crucial for a technology to break into the mainstream market and are adapted from the internal processes of success, described in the literature on strategic niche management and the characteristics of a successful 'bounded socio-technical experiment' (BSTE) described in the conceptual work on BSTE's. The potential for natural building systems to enter the mainstream building sector, particularly in South Africa, is used as a case study to apply the latent technological mediation method. The findings of this research suggest that the mainstream building sector is undergoing a transition following the path of socio-techical transformation. The uncertainty introduced by the parallel system of informal settlement, which may drive transition along the more dramatic technological substitution or de-alignment and re-alignment transition pathways is briefly explored. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis ondersoek ek die natuurlike gebou beweging in Suid-Afrika in 'n poging om die sistemiese invloede te bepaal, wat neig om dit te beperk tot 'n klein mark teen die rand van die hoofstroom gebou sektor. Ek maak gebruik van die konseptuele raamwerk van die multi-vlak perspektief om die onderlinge verband tussen natuurlike geboue, as 'n tegnologiese nis, en die hoofstroom gebou sektor, as die dominante regime, te verken. Ek brei die konsep van 'n tegnologiese nis uit, deur die aanbring van die word 'latente' om die term 'latente tegnologiese nis' te vorm. 'n Latente tegnologie nis het volhoubaarheid potensiaal maar slaag nie daarin om in die hoofstroom mark in te breek nie, ten spyte van die bereiking van tegnologiese volwassenheid en 'n konstante maar minimale mark aandeel. Die navorsing doelwitte van hierdie tesis is om: roetes te identifiseer waarlangs die natuurlike gebou nis buite sy latente toestand kan beweeg; om te bepaal hoe die 'vertalings' van natuurlike gebou praktyke aan die gebou sektor kan voorkom; en hoe dit die gebou sektor regime kan verander. Ek bestudeer hoe aksie navorsing waarby kennis tussen verskeie belanghebbendes, nis en regime betrokkenes gedeel is, kan debatteer en die daaropvolgende aksie stimuleer inskrywing hindernisse te oorkom; en dien as 'n katalisator om 'n latente tegnologiese nis te bevorder buite sy beperkte mark. Ek bied 'n aksie-navorsing metode, 'n 'latente tegnologiese bemiddeling' van gefasiliteerde 1st en 2de order sosiale leerervaring aan. Dit dien as 'n meganisme van deling in die onmiddellike kennis van die spelers in die sosio-tegniese regime. Die doel is om die eksterne kragte en interne prosesse van 'n latente tegnologiese nis te identifiseer. Die status van 'n latente tegnologiese nis is beoordeel deur hierdie prosesse te vergelyk in die konteks van eksterne kragte teen sewe prosesse, wat in hierdie tesis aangebied is. Hierdie sewe prosesse word beskou as noodsaaklik vir 'n tegnologie om in die hoofstroom mark in te breek en is aangepas uit die interne prosesse van sukses, soos beskryf in die literatuur oor strategiese nis bestuur en die eienskappe van 'n suksesvolle 'begrensde sosio-tegniese eksperiment' (BSTE) beskryf in die konseptuele literatuur oor BSTE. Die potensiaal vir natuurlike gebou stelsels om die hoofstroom gebou sektor te betree, veral in Suid-Afrika, word gebruik as 'n gevallestudie om die latente tegnologiese bemiddeling metode toe te pas. Die bevindinge van die navorsing dui daarop dat die hoofstroom gebou sektor 'n verandering ondergaan op die pad van n sosio-tegniese transformasie. Die onsekerheid veroorsaak deur die parallelle informele nedersetting, wat 'n meer dramatiese tegnologiese substitusie, of ontsporing en herbelyning kan veroorsaak, word kortliks ondersoek.

Thesis (MBA)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research assignment was done to determine the status and awareness of green building solutions in Gaborone, Botswana for the year 2014. In a third world country like Botswana, design and development of ‘green building’ is low on the agenda. As with many other third world countries, other basic needs and services are missing and many people believe that all of those should be sorted out before items such as green building solutions can be looked at. Interviews were conducted with executives of companies in the property development industry or companies that make use of commercial office space. Through these executives, access was gained to the employees who were requested to complete an online survey. The focus of the interviews and surveys was to gain information of the companies’ awareness of and involvement in green building solutions, their view on the willingness to pay for such solutions and on its implementation in the future. In the findings, it became clear that cost is the most important aspect, especially when renting, while when investing, most participants were willing to contribute towards green building solutions with the understanding that this would contribute to lower running costs, and therefore returns on the investment made.

The existing buildings in the UK are not designed to be functionally adaptive to fit a spectrum of purposes. Alternatively, scrapping these buildings and building anew does not appear to be an economically viable and environmentally sustainable solution either. Proactive solutions to respond to future potential changes of use are rare in previous and current building designs, which ultimately make these buildings functionally redundant. At present, curiosity about adaptable buildings is spreading among owners, developers and policy makers; however, no detailed investigation has been undertaken to identify the economic costs and benefits of adaptability in new buildings. Thus, the present endeavour was designed to bridge this gap. The research exploited both case studies and survey designs to explore the answers to the above problem. Two case studies were undertaken to establish that building changes occur over time, as well as to assess their economic implications in the current built environment at both macro and micro levels. Three web-based surveys (WBS) were designed and circulated among quantity surveyors and architects of the 100 leading consultancy practices in the UK to identify both the design and economic aspects of adaptability in buildings. The total numbers of respondents to WBS1, WBS2 and WBS3 were 13, 32 and 42, respectively. In addition, data was collected from semi-structured interviews with two policy makers, two structural engineers, a quantity surveyor and a facilities manager. Unstructured interviews with a senior planner, a project manager, two architects and a services engineer were used to clarify the issues of design and planning for adaptability in buildings. The findings were interwoven to develop a conceptual framework to identify the economic considerations for adaptability in new buildings. Two workshops were undertaken with the industry partners for the Adaptable Futures research project to verify the results obtained from the case studies and to test the usability of the developed conceptual framework. The group members had multi-disciplinary backgrounds of architecture, quantity surveying and structural engineering, allowing a robust grounding for verification. The results contribute to the body of knowledge in two ways. Firstly, the developed conceptual framework identifies the economic considerations (costs and benefits) for change of use in buildings within the wider context of adaptability over the lifecycle aspects. This will assist owners/clients and developers in their economic decisions for designing new buildings for potential adaptations. Secondly, the research findings strengthen the reliability of the existing body of knowledge whilst confirming the urgent need for designing new buildings towards potential adaptations. In addition, the findings strongly emphasise plan depth and floor to ceiling height as the most influential design parameters for building change of use, the details of which are not highlighted in the previous literature.

A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2016 / Since the latter part of the 20th century to the present, we have seen growing concerns about the potential collapse of socio-ecological systems due to climate change. On the other hand, palaeoenvironmentalists, archaeologists and anthropologists consistently point to evidence of how Homo-sapiens have survived within climate variability underpinned by an embodied/embedded relationship to their environments. Archaeological data shows how indigenous groups such as the Bushman have inhabited landscape features such as caves for longer than 10 000 years and thus survived through periods of climate variability. Another well researched element of Bushman life is their ritual practices. Given the low supply of livelihood resources within the contexts where such communities have survived, this study hypothesised a possible relationship between Bushman ritual practices and their long-term resilience when faced with variability. Using the Holocene habitation of the Wonderwerk Cave as the main case study, this study explored the relationship between people, place and ritual. Furthermore, the study applied phenomenology as the primary data collection method. The resultant first-person experience guided the researcher in engaging with secondary data from archaeology and ethnography. The study found that Bushman ritual practices such as trance constituted a critical adaptation tool in response to perpetually variable environments. Through such practices and their related tools such as art, space and myth, such communities managed to sustain a synchronised dialogue with place thus facilitating for ongoing dissolution of maladaptive behaviour. Another key finding is that our inability to change constitutes a key characteristic of our species today as we have been seduced into the trap of our deep psychic longing for existential continuity. The study argues for an architecture for resilience whose primary role would be to facilitate higher fluidity in our embeddedness to place and allowing for faster and trauma-free transitioning in synchronicity to our changing environments. In conclusion, the study finds that our own contemporary climate change has implications far beyond the techno-scientific understanding which has prevailed so far and is instead calling to be understood as an existential phenomenon to be primarily resolved through relevant/responsive ritual practices to facilitate our own transitioning and continued resilience. / MT2017

Thesis (M.Arch (Professional)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, 2016 / ABSTRACT The basis of this study pivots around the notion that cultural knowledge holds a certain value and aims to demonstrate that the diversity of cultures within South Africa is the fingerprint of the nation and that this is worth storing. With each passing generation, coupled with inter-cultural relationships, the future of the single cultural practice is gradually dissolving and finding itself transforming into a hybrid culture. I have therefore engaged in a narrative around building meets culture and what spacial requirements it pertains to. The theoretical review hosts a discussion around the surfacing of hybrid cultures in place of the existing Pure Cultures which hold an important intricacy and identity. An analysis of the discussion points towards the necessity of cultural preservation while simultaneously addressing the reality of a surfacing hybrid culture brought about through the post-apartheid ‘born-free’ generation. In order to productively complete the research element of this dissertation, I engaged in a qualitative data collection approach which allowed for insights into problems surrounding the development of possible design ideas. A secondary data collection technique was the visual site analysis conducted by myself and stored in the form of extensive mapping exercises. The combination of these two techniques aided the design extensively allowing for a clear forward-moving design strategy. Finally, the discussions, recommendations and deductions of this thesis point unswervingly towards the construction of a proposed Cultural Knowledge and Research Centre in the Vilakazi Precinct of Orlando West, Soweto. The design of this Center addresses the aims of the study by using the research to govern in which ways architecture can be used as a storage device for the (declining) passing down of cultural knowledge. The performance of this building strives to create a platform whereby the cultures within the city of Johannesburg can be successfully showcased and accessed by the public in an interactive and commemorative manner. / NM (2016)