This book has been created on the basis of contributions to the 54th International Conference of Machine Design Departments that was held for the 60th anniversary of Technical University of Liberec. This international conference which follows a tradition going back more than 50 years is one of the longest-running series of conferences held in central Europe, dealing with methods and applications in machine design. The main aim of the conference was to provide an international forum where experts, researchers, engineers and industrial practitioners, managers and Ph.D. students could meet, share their experiences and present the results of their efforts in the broad field of machine design and related fields. The book has seven chapters which focus on new knowledge of machine design, optimization, tribology, experimental methods and measuring, engineering analyses and product innovation. Authors presented new design methods of machine parts and more complex assemblies with the help of numerical methods such as FEM. Research, measurements and studies of new materials, including composites for energy-efficient constructions are also described. The book also includes solutions and results useful for optimization and innovation of complex design problems in various industries.

This guide gives surveyors an insight into how to differentiate between houses built using modern methods of construction and those built using more 'traditional' site-based methods.

This new textbook has two main themes. The first is Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) which is the off-site manufacture of a wide spectrum of products, ranging from whole buildings to be transported onto site, down to smaller units or components for site integration. The second theme describes the innovation and progress towards carbon zero by the major generators of CO2 in the construction industry – namely cement, steel and masonry. The first section of the book describes and illustrates with photographs, the major forms of Modern Methods of Construction. These include fully completed 3D units, panelised systems, pods, sub-assemblies and on-site MMC. The section on Innovative Materials then describes a wide range of construction products which are entering into the built environment sector. Some new entrants are variants on well-established construction materials such as steel and concrete. Materials such as these will remain major construction materials for the foreseeable future, but their composition and manufacturing processes will inevitably have to change. Timber also will remain a major construction material, but sustainable sourcing is key and its utilisation as cross-lamination timber (CLT) or as modified timber is rapidly developing. As a result, students and practitioners must familiarise themselves with these materials, their composition, and various uses. The book goes on to describe variants of other traditional building products, such as glass, plastic and insulation, which are undergoing major developments leading towards enhanced environmental sustainability, as well as many emergent materials, some of which are likely to be significant in future. Modern Methods of Construction and Innovative Materials is the only book combining these important elements of the future of the industry in an easy-to-read guide for students and new practitioners. It is essential reading for anyone studying and working in the built environment, be they architects, construction managers, surveyors or engineers.

During the past several decades, the manufacturing and service industries significantly increased their levels of productivity, quality, and profitability through the application of process improvement techniques and information technology. Unfortunately, the construction industry lags far behind in the application of performance improvement and optimization techniques, as well as its overall competitiveness. Written by Lincoln H. Forbes and Syed M. Ahmed, both highly regarded for leadership and innovation, Modern Construction: Lean Project Delivery and Integrated Practices offers cutting-edge lean tools and other productive strategies for the management of people and processes in the construction industry. Drs. Forbes and Ahmed focus mainly on lean construction methodologies, such as The Last Planner(R) System, The Lean Project Delivery System (TM), and Integrated Project Delivery(TM). The tools and strategies offered draw on the success of the world-renowned Toyota Production System (TPS) adapted to the construction environment by construction professionals and researchers involved in developing and advocating lean construction methods. The book also discusses why true lean construction can best occur when all the construction stakeholders, owners, designers, constructors, and material suppliers are committed to the concept of optimizing the flow of activities holistically while de-emphasizing their self-interest. The authors also reintroduce process improvement approaches such as TQM and Six Sigma as a foundation for the adoption of lean methodologies, and demonstrate how these methods can improve projects in a so-called traditional environment. The book integrates these methods with emerging interest in "green construction" and the use of information technology and Building Information Modeling (BIM), while recognizing the human element in relation to motivation, safety, and environmental stresses. Written specifically for professionals in an industry that desperately needs to play catch up, the book delineates cutting-edge approaches with the benefit of successful cases and explains how their deployment can improve construction performance and competitiveness.

The book brings together surveys and analyses that increase awareness of wooden buildings in terms of sustainability and the benefits offered by modern wood-based construction systems in terms of building efficiency. The volume’s contribution to the understanding of efficient and sustainable wood-based constructions arises from the explanation of the authors’ methodology for the evaluation of sustainability and efficiency within selected phases of the life cycle of buildings, a technique that can be used for the evaluation of different types of structural systems and their comparison from various perspectives.