Whole-Process Project Cost Management Based on Building Information Modeling (BIM)

The whole-process project cost management based on building information modeling(BIM)is a new management method,aiming to realize the comprehensive optimization and improvement of project cost management through the application of BIM technology.This paper summarizes and analyzes the whole-process project cost management based on BIM,aiming to explore its application and development prospects in the construction industry.Firstly,this paper introduces the role and advantages of BIM technology in engineering cost management,including information integration,data sharing,and collaborative work.Secondly,the paper analyzes the key technologies and methods of the whole-process project cost management based on BIM,including model construction,data management,and cost control.In addition,the paper also discusses the challenges and limitations of the whole-process BIM project cost management,such as the inconsistency of technical standards,personnel training,and consciousness change.Finally,the paper summarizes the advantages and development prospects of the whole-process project cost management based on BIM and puts forward the direction and suggestions for future research.Through the research of this paper,it can provide a reference for construction cost management and promote innovation and development in the construction industry.

A game theory based method for inter-plant heat integration considering cost allocation

Inter-plant heat integration is an effective way for energy recovery in process industry. Although inter-plant heat integration can significantly reduce energy consumption, it is not widely applied in the multiple stakeholders’ situation due to profit or cost distribution problems. Therefore, this work considers both the technique aspects of heat integration and its business aspects between stakeholders simultaneously. The new proposed methodology consists of three steps. Firstly the optimal matching of heat integration between plants is obtained through mathematical programming. Then the cost distribution is decided through game theory. Finally the cost distribution obtained previous is corrected by an ideal expert model. A case study is used to illustrate the effectiveness of the method in the end of the work.

Ensuring water security by utilizing roof-harvested rainwater and lake water treated with a low-cost integrated adsorption-filtration system

Drinking water is supplied through a centralized water supply system and may not be accessed by communities in rural areas of Malaysia.This study investigated the performance of a low-cost, self-prepared combined activated carbon and sand filtration(CACSF) system for roofharvested rainwater and lake water for potable use. Activated carbon was self-prepared using locally sourced coconut shell and was activated using commonly available salt rather than a high-tech procedure that requires a chemical reagent. The filtration chamber was comprised of local,readily available sand. The experiments were conducted with varying antecedent dry intervals(ADIs) of up to 15 d and lake water with varying initial chemical oxygen demand(COD) concentration. The CACSF system managed to produce effluents complying with the drinking water standards for the parameters p H, dissolved oxygen(DO), biochemical oxygen demand(BOD5), COD, total suspended solids(TSS), and ammonia nitrogen(NH_3-N). The CACSF system successfully decreased the population of Escherichia coli(E. coli) in the influents to less than 30 CFU/m L. Samples with a higher population of E. coli(that is, greater than 30 CFU/m L) did not show 100% removal. The system also showed high potential as an alternative for treated drinking water for roof-harvested rainwater and class II lake water.

Long Run Relationships, Vertical Integration and International Competition： Can They Contribute to Explaining Regional Construction Cost Differences？

The existence of opportunistic behavior by contractors or sub-contractors in the bidding process encouraged by the governance structure of construction companies as well as the kind of relationship that exist between contractors and clients is thought to have some bearing on the rising construction cost observed in some regions of Sweden. Three hypotheses that are intended to test the impact that long run relationship between contractors and developers, vertically integrated firms, and the increase of international competition could have on the construction cost increase levels were tested on a predetermined number of projects from six cities in different regions. The semi-structured survey produces inconclusive results. Long run and collaborative relationship was prevalent in small region though respondents in this region did not draw strong connection between construction cost increase levels and the kind of observed relationship. In Stockholm region, short-term relationship was mostly prevalent. Vertical integration and foreign competition impacts on construction costs were not significant in either region.

On guaranteed cost control of linear systems with input saturation

This work studies the problem of control design for linear systems with input saturation.It is well known that integral quadratic constraints(IQC) can be used to describe input saturation and that the use of IQC in analysis can lead to less conservative performance bound and larger domain of attraction.In this work,it is shown that a class of commonly used IQCs may not help in control synthesis.That is,the use of these IQCs does not enlarge the guaranteed domain of performance for synthesis.

An Integrated Socio-Economic and Ecological Framework for Evaluating the Societal Costs and Benefits of Fishing Activities in the Pearl River Delta

This paper puts forward a model of Pearl River Delta (PRD) fishery in the South China Sea (SCS) that integrates the ecological, social and economic costs and benefits of fisheries activities in a multidisciplinary framework. In particular, an integrated ECOST model is composed of links between an ecological model constructed by Ecopath with Ecosim (EwE) software and a region Social Accounting Matrix (SAM). Then the costs and benefits of five fishing methods are compared from economic, ecological and social three dimensions base on the ECOST model. The potential effects of fishing effort reduction on fishing communication are explored by a series of dynamic simulations for a 10-year period. Key results from prediction (2005-2015) and policy simulations illustrate that fisheries of PRE are geared toward short-term economic profits at the expense of ecological gains and the whole group of societal benefits associated with fishing. However, the status quo can be improved to better levels by reducing fishing efforts.

Comparative Cost Benefit Analysis of Different Solid Waste Management Scenarios in Basrah, Iraq

Solid Waste Management (SWM) system in Basrah has deteriorated recently to the point that only limited waste collection is undertaken in certain urban areas and disposal is largely to uncontrolled dump sites. In this study, the technical, economical, and environmental aspects of three SWM scenarios were investigated aiming to compare the scenarios and select the most appropriate one for implementation. Scenario 1 was to consider waste disposal into a sanitary landfill. Scenario 2 added waste transportation to transfer station before disposal to a sanitary landfill. Scenario 3 considered waste sorting, recycling and composting followed by landfill disposal in an integrated treatment disposal facility. The current open dumping practice was considered as the baseline scenario. According to economic analysis, the benefits from the revenues of selling the produced recyclables and compost did not improve the ranking of scenario 3. However, scenario 3 has gained positive recognition due to the environmental benefits of waste recycling. Therefore, final recommendations were in favour of scenario 3, which has been approved by the UNICEF, as well. Currently the recommended scenario is under implementation in Basrah, Iraq.

An optimal stacking order for mid-bond testing cost reduction of 3D IC

In order to solve the problem that the testing cost of the three-dimensional integrated circuit(3D IC)is too high,an optimal stacking order scheme is proposed to reduce the mid-bond test cost.A new testing model is built with the general consideration of both the test time for automatic test equipment(ATE)and manufacturing failure factors.An algorithm for testing cost and testing order optimization is proposed,and the minimum testing cost and optimized stacking order can be carried out by taking testing bandwidth and testing power as constraints.To prove the influence of the optimal stacking order on testing costs,two baselines stacked in sequential either in pyramid type or in inverted pyramid type are compared.Based on the benchmarks from ITC 02,experimental results show that for a 5-layer 3D IC,under different constraints,the optimal stacking order can reduce the test costs on average by 13%and 62%,respectively,compared to the pyramid type and inverted pyramid type.Furthermore,with the increase of the stack size,the test costs of the optimized stack order can be decreased.

An Integrated Rehabilitation Model: An Ideal Framework for Limiting Health Care Costs

The financial crisis has caused a severe limitation of resources for the public health service and rehabilitation. The proposal of integrated diagnosis and treatment in rehabilitation, involving the introduction of new therapeutic models alongside orthodox models, could lead to a reduction in health care costs through better patient compliance. In rehabilitative assistance in health care, the limiting of financial resources can be simplified, given its multifaceted nature and the need to integrate clinical experience with research. In addition, the phases of rehabilitative recovery do not focus on organ damage, but improved participation and the reduction of disability. For this reason, we have considered incorporating narrative based medicine (NBM) and Psycho-Neuro-Immuno-Endocrinology (PNEI) in the rehabilitation process through an empathetic approach, taking evidence based medicine (EBM) into account, thus creating a “framework” of reference. Managing patients through this “framework” would be a move towards an integrated model of care that could lead to a reduction in health care costs, given the aging population and the rise in patients with chronic pain. The decision to modify health care in rehabilitative assistance through a new “framework” will require time, organizational capacity and experimentation, but may represent the appropriate response for an improved quality of life for patients and a better allocation of resources.

Effects of Information Technologies Over Decision-Making Process About Cost Controlling at Food and Beverage Departments at Five-Star Hotels

Information technologies play an important role in many business areas. One of these areas is hotel information system. Many operations, such as check-in, check-out, and food and beverage, are performed owing to information technologies. Package programs are used for managing hotel operations. Software provides reporting, filtering, remote accessing, and cost control services which are important key parameters of decision-making processes of hotel managers. Cost control is one of the most important operations in hotel management. Cost control service of package programs assists managers in monitoring overall cost and computing each department＇s partial cost and serves information to the different departments of hotels using information technologies. Cost control is important in the departments which are profitable in a hotel. Food and beverage is one of these profitable departments, which is the second profitable department in hotels. It makes profit between mostly 20% and 40%. This research aims to understand effects of information technologies during decision-making processes. The sample of study is food and beverage managers in five-star hotels in Istanbul. Questionnaire was applied to 45 participants.

From Urban-Rural Division to Urban-Rural Integration： A Systematic Cost Explanation and Chengdu＇s Experience

There is a considerable urban-rural divide in economic wellbeing in China. Since it was established as an urban-rural reform zone in 2007, Chengdu has seen significant reduction in the disparity in its urban and rural household incomes. From 2007 to 2010, Chengdu adopted urban-rural coordination policy by defining rural land property rights and establishing a rural land market. After 2010, Chengdu adopted an urban- rural integration strategy and allowed villager and business enterprises to participate in land consolidation. The transition from urban-rural division to urban-rural integration involves reducing systematic costs. The degree of urban-rural integration depends on the extent of the reduction in systematic costs.

Operation Cost Optimization Method of Regional Integrated Energy System in Electricity Market Environment Considering Uncertainty

In the electricity market environment,the regional integrated energy system(RIES)can reduce the total operation cost by participating in electricity market transactions.However,the RIES will face the risk of load and electricity price uncertainties,which may make its operation cost higher than expected.This paper proposes a method to optimize the operation cost of the RIES in the electricity market environment considering uncertainty.Firstly,based on the operation cost structure of the RIES in the electricity market environment,the energy flow relationship of the RIES is analyzed,and the operation cost model of the RIES is built.Then,the electricity purchase costs of the RIES in the medium-and long-term electricity markets,the spot electricity market,and the retail electricity market are analyzed.Finally,considering the risk of load and electricity price uncertainties,the operation cost optimization model of the RIES is established based on conditional value-at-risk.Then it is solved to obtain the operation cost optimization strategy of the RIES.Verification results show that the proposed operation cost optimization method can reduce the operation cost of high electricity price scenario by optimizing the energy purchase and distribution strategy,constrain the risk of load and electricity price uncertainties,and help balance the risks and benefits.

Inflation and time value of money in a vendor-buyer inventory system with transportation cost and ordering cost reduction

The article presents a single-vendor and a single-buyer integrated production inventory system with inflation and the time value of money.The main focus is on the effect of ordering cost reduction dependent on lead time and lead time reduction.Two integrated continuous review models are developed.For both cases,our objective is to minimise the total integrated system cost by simultaneously optimising the order quantity,safety factor,lead time and number of shipments.We take the transportation cost as a function of the shipment lot size and it is taken to be in an all unit-discount cost format.Thus we incorporate transportation cost explicitly into the model and develop optimal solution procedure for solving the proposed inventory system.An efficient algorithm for finding the optimal solution is developed and numerical examples are given to illustrate the model.

Devising optimal integration test orders using cost-benefit analysis

Integration testing is an integral part of software testing.Prior studies have focused on reducing test cost in integration test order generation.However,there are no studies concerning the testing priorities of critical classes when generating integration test orders.Such priorities greatly affect testing efficiency.In this study,we propose an effective strategy that considers both test cost and efficiency when generating test orders.According to a series of dynamic execution scenarios,the software is mapped into a multi-layer dynamic execution network(MDEN)model.By analyzing the dynamic structural complexity,an evaluation scheme is proposed to quantify the class testing priority with the defined class risk index.Cost–benefit analysis is used to perform cycle-breaking operations,satisfying two principles:assigning higher priorities to higher-risk classes and minimizing the total complexity of test stubs.We also present a strategy to evaluate the effectiveness of integration test order algorithms by calculating the reduction of software risk during their testing process.Experiment results show that our approach performs better across software of different scales,in comparison with the existing algorithms that aim only to minimize test cost.Finally,we implement a tool,ITOsolution,to help practitioners automatically generate test orders.

A watershed-based adaptive knowledge system for developing ecosystem stakeholder partnerships

This study proposes a Watershed-based Adaptive Knowledge System(WAKES) to consistently coordinate multiple stakeholders in developing sustainable partnerships for ecosystem management.WAKES is extended from the institutional mechanism of Payments for Improving Ecosystem Services at the Watershed-scale(PIES-W).PIES-W is designed relating to the governance of ecosystem services flows focused on a lake as a resource stock connecting its inflowing and outflowing rivers within its watershed.It explicitly realizes the values of conservation services provided by private land managers and incorporates their activities into the public organizing framework for ecosystem management.It implicitly extends the "upstream-to-downstream" organizing perspective to a broader vision of viewing the ecosystems as comprised of both "watershed landscapes" and "marine landscapes".Extended from PIES-W,WAKES specifies two corresponding feedback:Framework I and II.Framework I is a relationship matrix comprised of three input-output structures of primary governance factors intersecting three subsystems of a watershed with regard to ecosystem services and human stakeholders.Framework II is the Stakeholder-and-Information structure channeling five types of information among four stakeholder groups in order to enable the feedbacks mechanism of Framework I.WAKES identifies the rationales behind three fundamental information transformations,illustrated with the Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis and the Strategic Action Program of the Bermejo River Binational Basin.These include(1) translating scientific knowledge into public information within the Function-and-Service structure corresponding to the ecological subsystem,(2) incorporating public perceptions into political will within the Serviceand-Value structure corresponding to the economic subsystem,and(3) integrating scientific knowledge,public perceptions and political will into management options within the Value-and-Stakeholder structure corresponding to the social subsystem.This study seeks to share a vision of social adaptation for a global sustainable future through developing a network to adopt contributions from and forming partnerships among all ecosystem stakeholders.

More Discussion on High Efficiency & Low Cost Clean Steel Production Platform

The construction of high efficiency, low cost clean steel platform is one of the common key technologies concerning efficiency, quality and cost. It is basic and universal and not only applicable in the R&D and production of "high-end" products, but also in the production of bulk ordinary steel products. The platform of high efficiency, low cost clean steel is the important direction of modern steel technology progress and has great significance on the competitiveness of each steel plant. The research of high efficiency, low cost platform not only involves the production and management of the steel plant, but also the academic research field (process engineering and dynamic operation) and theories and methods innovation of engineering design (theory and method of dynamic-precision design). The integrated theory and method of high efficiency and low cost clean steel platform is the binding point of metallurgical process engineering and material engineering. Different types of high efficiency, low cost clean steel platform should combine with the corresponding rolling process and iron making process so that high efficiency, low cost clean steel manufacturing system would come into being.

Optimal Scheduling for Flexible Regional Integrated Energy Systemwith Soft Open Point

The Regional Integrated Energy System(RIES)has brought new modes of development,utilization,conversion,storage of energy.The introduction of Soft Open Point(SOP)and the application of Power to Gas(P2G)technology will greatly deepen the coupling of the electricity-gas integrated energy system,improve the flexibility and safety of the operation of the power system,and bring a deal of benefits to the power system.On this background,an optimal dispatch model of RIES combined cold,heat,gas and electricity with SOP is proposed.Firstly,RIES architecture with SOP and P2G is designed and its mathematical model also is built.Secondly,on the basis of considering the optimal scheduling of combined cold,heat,gas and electricity,the optimal scheduling model for RIES was established.After that,the original model is transformed into a mixed-integer second-order cone programming model by using linearization and second-order cone relaxation techniques,and the CPLEX solver is invoked to solve the optimization problem.Finally,the modified IEEE 33-bus systemis used to analyze the benefits of SOP,P2G technology and lithium bromide absorption chillers in reducing systemnetwork loss and cost,as well as improving the system’s ability to absorb wind and solar and operating safety.

Sensitivity of tropical cyclone damage costs to integrated wind profile

The dramatic tropical cyclone(TC)damages in coastal areas around the world have gained significant attention from asset owners,policy makers and engineers.The estimate of TC damage for a specific region of interest is informative of the preparedness and resilience of the area subjected to TC hazards,and thus should be conducted using a quantitative approach.A reasonable indicator of TC damage should incorporate not only the TC characteristics(e.g.,intensity,frequency and duration)but also the vulnerability of the TC-prone areas.In this paper,a new indicator is proposed to measure the TC threat,which takes into account both the TC characteristics and the vulnerability of the area.The indicator has two forms:the first one considers the maximum wind speed only and the second incorporates the integrated wind speed profile.The historical damage scenarios along the US East Coast,as well as those in Hong Kong,China,are examined to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed indicator.Results show that the proposed indicator is capable of representing the impact of TC wind field profile on the TC damage costs.The proposed indicator could be further used to project the future TC damages for areas subjected to TC hazards.

Holonic Manufacturing System:the Holonic Revolution

This work shows how to develop a methodology to support and integrate the concepts and projects of the Holonic Manufacturing System(HMS)with the other areas of the organization for full organizational management success,being a new entrepreneurial management,with support of this new technology in the reduction of costs and increased value added.HMS is in the process of being developed in the so-called"Consortium of the Rich Countries for the 21st Century",which involves governments,companies and universities from the first world countries,developing technology and knowledge related to the Holonic Manufacturing System(HMS).This new concept,under development by the above consortium,will allow the countries that hold this advancement to overcome the challenges of the globalized market and gain even more international competitiveness.

考虑多种负荷需求响应的综合能源系统优化运行

考虑冷热电多种负荷需求响应(Demand response, DR),引入碳排放成本,并以日总成本最小为目标,构建了一个含先进绝热压缩空气储能(Advanced adiabatic compressed air energy storage, AA-CAES)的冷电热综合能源系统(Integrated cold-electricity-heat energy system, ICEHS)优化运行模型。首先,考虑冷热电3种负荷的需求响应,对AA-CAES产生的电能、热能和冷能进行建模。其次,对源荷不确定性采用拉丁超立方采样与K-means聚类相结合的方法进行处理。最后,以ICEHS购能成本、运维成本、需求响应成本、碳排放成本之和最小为目标函数进行研究。以一个典型的社区综合能源系统作为算例,设置4种典型场景对所提模型的有效性进行验证。结果表明:AA-CAES和DR能有效降低ICEHS成本和碳排放量。