Life-Cycle of Structures and Infrastructure Systems contains the lectures and papers presented at IALCCE 2023- The Eighth International Symposium on Life-Cycle Civil Engineering, held at Politecnico di Milano, Milan, Italy, 2-6 July, 2023. This book contains the full papers of 514 contributions presented at IALCCE 2023, including the Fazlur R. Khan Plenary Lecture, nine Keynote Lectures, and 504 technical papers from 45 countries. The papers cover recent advances and cutting-edge research in the field of life-cycle civil engineering, including emerging concepts and innovative applications related to life-cycle design, assessment, inspection, monitoring, repair, maintenance, rehabilitation, and management of structures and infrastructure systems under uncertainty. Major topics covered include life-cycle safety, reliability, risk, resilience and sustainability, life-cycle damaging processes, life-cycle design and assessment, life-cycle inspection and monitoring, life-cycle maintenance and management, life-cycle performance of special structures, life-cycle cost of structures and infrastructure systems, and life-cycle-oriented computational tools, among others. This Open Access Book provides both an up-to-date overview of the field of life-cycle civil engineering and significant contributions to the process of making more rational decisions to mitigate the life-cycle risk and improve the life-cycle reliability, resilience, and sustainability of structures and infrastructure systems exposed to multiple natural and human-made hazards in a changing climate. It will serve as a valuable reference to all concerned with life-cycle of civil engineering systems, including students, researchers, practicioners, consultants, contractors, decision makers, and representatives of managing bodies and public authorities from all branches of civil engineering.

The adverse environmental impacts from inefficient building construction increase if measures to reduce energy and resource use, through stringent building policies and efficient technology, are not implemented in developed and developing countries. To illustrate a holistic approach to reducing buildings’ energy and resources, the comparison of energy efficient and green buildings in terms of their technological aspects and their policy context in developed and developing countries, mainly in Europe, the USA and India, is presented together with a policy package recommendation for Nepal. A quality review of multiple literature sources, supported by various expert opinions, were the methods used for this in-depth analysis. It discusses that mandatory building standards, voluntary labels, information instruments and financial incentives are the most effective combination for the shift towards market transformation, that results in a higher share of energy efficient and green buildings. The lesson such as higher compliance with, and enforcement of, building energy standards can be seen in developed countries (e.g. Germany). Looking at a building’s life cycle perspective, it is not sufficient to focus solely on operational energy reduction in higher energy efficient buildings as this is achieved by the increased use of energy intensive materials. Green requirements must be considered in updating building energy standards and labels, particularly for developed countries. Green building certification will also become more effective when the stringency of energy standards is higher and when the whole building life cycle assessment is considered. Due to the increasing scarcity of energy and resources, many developing countries are forced to face up to the need for holistic green buildings. Although baseline standards are not as high as in most developed countries and national financial support is low, the gradual move towards making the standards more stringent and incorporating the wider scope of resource saving are positive developments in developing countries (e.g. India). However, to achieve significant success, strategies must include the establishment of a suitable funding environment, a political commitment and a strong government vision for long term and sustainable building construction. The challenges faced by Nepal are even greater due to the fast pace of urban growth and the absence of energy and resource efficient buildings policies, highlighting the need for an effective policy package. Overall, this dissertation demonstrates how energy efficient and green buildings are interlinked. Green buildings reinforced with higher levels of energy efficiency and energy efficient buildings incorporating green requirements are stepping-stones for achieving greater building energy and resource efficiencies. And a suitable policy package fosters its development. Nachteilige Umweltwirkungen eines ineffizienten Bausektors nehmen zu, wenn Maßnahmen zur Reduktion des Energie- und Ressourcenbedarfs in Form stringenter Gebäudepolitiken und effizienter Technologie in Industrieländer und Entwicklungsländer nicht umgesetzt werden. Um einen ganzheitlichen Ansatz zur Reduktion des Energie- und Ressourcenbedarfs von Gebäuden abzubilden, werden energieeffiziente und grüne Gebäude hinsichtlich technologischer Aspekte und ihres Politikkontextes in Industrie- und Entwicklungsländern verglichen. Die Analysen beziehen sich hauptsächlich auf Europa, die USA und Indien und werden ergänzt um Empfehlungen für ein Maßnahmenpaket für Nepal. Ein Review unterschiedlicher Literaturquellen, unterstützt durch diverse Expertenmeinungen, stellt die methodische Grundlage für diese detaillierte Analyse dar. Es diskutiert dass Bauvorschriften und -standards, freiwillige Label, Informationsinstrumente und finanzielle Anreize bilden die effektivste Kombination für die Einleitung einer Markttransformation, die schließlich zu einem höheren Anteil energieeffizienter und grüner Gebäude führt. Gute Beispiele einer höheren Beachtung von Gebäudeenergiestandards und deren Weiterentwicklung existieren in verschiedenen Industrieländern wie Deutschland. Unter Berücksichtigung des Lebenszyklus von Gebäuden ist es nicht ausreichend, nur die Reduktion des Energieverbrauchs in der Nutzungsphase der Gebäude zu beachten, weil diese den Einsatz von Materialien mit hohem Energieverbrauch in der Herstellung bedeuten kann. Grüne Anforderungen muss in der zukünftigen Entwicklung von Gebäudeenergiestandards und -labels berücksichtigt werden, insbesondere in Industrieländern. Die Zertifizierung grüner Gebäude wird auch effektiver werden, wenn Energiestandards verschärft werden und wenn vollständige Gebäude-Ökobilanzen berücksichtigt werden. Auf Grund steigender Knappheit von Energie und Ressourcen sind viele Entwicklungsländer gezwungen, sich der Notwendigkeit grüner Gebäude zu stellen. Obwohl das Niveau von Mindeststandards unterhalb dessen der meisten entwickelten Ländern liegt und die finanzielle Unterstützung gering ist, sind die schrittweise Verschärfung der Standards und die Einbeziehung der weiteren Perspektive der Ressourcenschonung positive Entwicklungen in Entwicklungsländer wie Indien. Um erfolgreich zu sein, müssen bestehende Strategien umfasst werden, an die Schaffung eines geeigneten Förderrahmens, die politische Bekenntnis und eine starke Regierungsvision für einen langfristigen und nachhaltigen Bausektor. Die Herausforderungen, mit denen Nepal konfrontiert wird, sind noch umfangreicher. Sie resultieren aus einem schnellen urbanen Wachstum und dem Fehlen von energie- und ressourceneffizienten Gebäudepolitiken. Die Erforderlichkeit eines effektiven Maßnahmenpakets für Nepal wird hierdurch unterstrichen. Insgesamt wird hierdurch der Zusammenhang zwischen energieeffizienten und grünen Gebäuden aufgezeigt. Die verstärkte Berücksichtigung von Energieeffizienz in grünen Gebäuden sowie von Nachhaltigkeitsanforderungen in energieeffizienten Gebäude sind Sprungbretter für die verbesserte Energie- und Ressourceneffizienz von Gebäuden. Eine solche Entwicklung wird durch ein geeignetes Maßnahmenpaket unterstützt.

The book outlines the processes of calculating and critically reviewing construction costs and times for clients and contractors in different project phases. Any project or structural analysis should yield accurate information on times, costs, and prices. The related database is more or less uncertain depending on project complexity and the circumstances of work performance. It is thus recommended to use ranges of key input parameters. This approach consistently considers uncertainties within a holistic project view, thus enhancing the plausibility and validity of specific values. Only the integration of probabilistic methods will allow for calculating and graphically representing the chance/risk ratio as a crucial project variable ultimately influencing the entire business. This book examines the systemic modeling and consideration of uncertainties when determining construction costs and times, and life-cycle costs. It contains detailed descriptions of other decision-making processes, including project preparation and planning (developer calculation, soil survey, cost estimate), work preparation (costing, pricing, construction time evaluation, resource identification, comparison of construction methods, bid analysis, contract award), and project execution (site logistics, construction method selection, construction process planning, work coordination, sourcing, determination of additional costs, trend analyses), as well as for project portfolio management as a tool relevant to all phases.

The subject of this PhD-thesis is the transferability of Facility Management (FM) by using the example of hospitals in Germany and Iran. The intention is to determine the status and significance of facility management in the project countries, to analyse similarities, semblances and differences in order to develop a system transferability model.

Site Automation extends the new technology of robotics in building-component manufacturing and construction to on-site structured environments and on-site automated factories.

The Cambridge Handbooks on Construction Robotics series focuses on the implementation of automation and robot technology to renew the construction industry and to arrest its declining productivity. The series is intended to give professionals, researchers, lecturers, and students basic conceptual and technical skills and implementation strategies to manage, research, or teach the implementation of advanced automation and robot-technology-based processes and technologies in construction. Currently, the implementation of modern developments in product structures (modularity and design for manufacturing), organizational strategies (just in time, just in sequence, and pulling production), and informational aspects (computer-aided design/manufacturing or computer-integrated manufacturing) are lagging because of the lack of modern integrated machine technology in construction. The Cambridge Handbooks on Construction Robotics books discuss progress in robot systems theory and demonstrate their integration using real systematic applications and projections for off-site as well as on-site building production. Robot-Oriented Design and Management introduces the design, innovation, and management methodologies that are key to the realization and implementation of the advanced concepts and technologies presented in the subsequent volumes. This book describes the efficient deployment of advanced construction and building technology. It is concerned with the coadaptation of construction products, processes, organization, and management, and with automated/robotic technology, so that the implementation of modern technology becomes easier and more efficient. It is also concerned with technology and innovation management methodologies and the generation of life cycle-oriented views related to the use of advanced technologies in construction.