Thomson, D S (2000) The development of packaged, reusable building services components: A pilot study in the UK National Health Service. PhD thesis, Heriot-Watt University, UK.
Abstract
This thesis investigates a potential response to the growing need to service buildings in new, more adaptable ways that are better able to support increasingly dynamic building use. A response to the increasing numbers of services components that are becoming functionally obsolete is presented by proposing their reuse to recover their residual physical and economic properties. The technical feasibility and economic viability of reusing building services components is modelled by a pilot study, deployed in the UK National Health Service. The principles of building services component reuse are exposed and issues requiring further investigation identified. An understanding of the provision required before services components reuse can become a standard construction industry practice, and the willingness of construction industry members to adopt that practice, is contributed. Package, reusable building services components are proposed. The steps required to package a services component to promote its reusability are identified as a combination of design and procurement practice revisions. The infrastructure required to facilitate component exchange between organisations for reuse is anticipated. A component reuse mechanism linking building operators with members of a new industry sector possessing the specialised skills to recondition components prior to reuse is described. An information system co-ordinating these industry sectors is also proposed. Models of revised organisation function when practising component reuse anticipate the technical feasibility of the practice. Cost models are also constructed and predict the potential economic viability of component reuse, when practised in accordance with the proposals of this thesis. The study concludes that component reuse is a potentially practical solution to industry needs. Industry members are willing to implement it, provided that a number of issues are clarified by more detailed research.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | UK; information system; reuse; skills |
| Index terms: | proposal, industry sector, cost model, information system, construction industry practice, building service, package, becoming, health service, investigation, construction industry |
| Subjects: | philosophical process, contractual arrangements, project planning, industry analysis, information systems, management, public and environmental health, financial and cost management, data collection methods, engineering systems |
| Topics: | Procurement, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Health and Safety, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Digital Applications |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here