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Signalized urban intersections are key components of urban transportation networks. They are traditionally viewed and designed as primarily motorized traffic facilities, and thus their physical and operational designs have traditionally aimed at maximizing traffic throughput subject to constraints dictated by vehicular safety requirements and pedestrian crossing needs. Seen from a holistic viewpoint, urban intersections are hubs or effective centers of community activities of which traffic flow is only one. Those hubs have direct and indirect impacts on the overlapping traffic functionalities, the environment, public health, community wellbeing, and the local economy. This study proposes a new rating system, the Holistic Intersection Rating System (HIRS), aimed at appraising signalized intersections from a more inclusive viewpoint. This appraisal covers traffic functionality, sustainability, and public health and community wellbeing. This rating system can be used as a guide to conceive, plan, or design new intersections or revamp existing ones. HIRS rates signalized urban intersections based on the level of use of relevant enabling technologies, and the physical and operational designs that allow those intersections to operate holistically, thus leading to a more human-centric and sustainable operational performance. HIRS was validated using a panel of experts in construction, transportation, and public health. The Relative Importance Index (RII) method was used to weigh the HIRS features. The rating system was piloted on a sample of 20 intersections in different cities in the UAE. The results revealed glaring gaps in services to or the consideration of pedestrians, cyclists, and nearby households. The sample intersections scored a mean of 32% on the public health and community wellbeing section, 37% on the pedestrian subsection, and 15% on the cyclist subsection. Such relatively low scores serve as indicators of areas for improvements, and if mapped to their specific features and their relative weights, specific physical and operations designs and technology integration can be identified as actionable items for inclusion in plans and/or designs.
Wesam Saba; Salwa Beheiry; Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh; Mustafa Al-Tekreeti. A Holistic Intersection Rating System (HIRS)—A Novel Methodology to Measure the Holistic Operational Performance of Signalized Urban Intersections. Smart Cities 2021, 4, 1018 -1038.
AMA StyleWesam Saba, Salwa Beheiry, Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh, Mustafa Al-Tekreeti. A Holistic Intersection Rating System (HIRS)—A Novel Methodology to Measure the Holistic Operational Performance of Signalized Urban Intersections. Smart Cities. 2021; 4 (3):1018-1038.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWesam Saba; Salwa Beheiry; Ghassan Abu-Lebdeh; Mustafa Al-Tekreeti. 2021. "A Holistic Intersection Rating System (HIRS)—A Novel Methodology to Measure the Holistic Operational Performance of Signalized Urban Intersections." Smart Cities 4, no. 3: 1018-1038.
As investment increases in capital projects, financial risks increase, and cash flow prediction and control become more paramount. Higher risks could hinder project performance and increase the chances of failure in multiple aspects of a project. While there are models that aim to assess and forecast risks in the construction industry, none present a technique to include the impact of risks on a project’s cash flow. Therefore, cash flow forecasts tend to exceed the actual cash flow of a project due to inaccurate risk assessment. Thus, this paper presents the Cash Flow Risk Index (CFRI) development process quantifying the impact of risks on a project’s cash flow from an owner’s perspective. To that end, the study explored the literature to identify the risk factors that might impact a construction projects’ cash flow and uncovered 44 factors. The study also validated and consolidated these factors to build a CFRI via a Delphi exercise, which reduced the factors from 44 to 36. In further iterations, the 36 factors were also shared with 32 construction industry professionals to rate their relative importance on a five-point Likert scale, from which relative importance index and weights were obtained. As a result, the CFRI was developed to measure the impact of different risk factors on a typical construction project’s cash flow.
Hasan Mahmoud; Vian Ahmed; Salwa Beheiry. Construction Cash Flow Risk Index. Journal of Risk and Financial Management 2021, 14, 269 .
AMA StyleHasan Mahmoud, Vian Ahmed, Salwa Beheiry. Construction Cash Flow Risk Index. Journal of Risk and Financial Management. 2021; 14 (6):269.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHasan Mahmoud; Vian Ahmed; Salwa Beheiry. 2021. "Construction Cash Flow Risk Index." Journal of Risk and Financial Management 14, no. 6: 269.
Numerous decision support systems have been developed to address the decision-making process in organizations. However, there are no developed mechanisms to track commitment down the line to the decisions made by corporate leaders. This paper is a portion of a study that establishes a framework for a comprehensive metric system to assess commitment to Sustainable Development (SD) decisions down the line in capital projects, and sets the groundwork for further development of performance indicators for SD outcomes. This ultimately leads to investigating the relationship between commitment to corporate decisions and better project performance in SD parameters. Hence, this study explores the literature to extract relevant parameters that reflect the degree of the project participants’ commitment to SD decisions and to develop commitment indicators. The study created then validated an index to track this commitment along the project stages: the Sustainable Development Commitment Tracking Tool (SDCTT). The SDCTT was tested on an infrastructure project case study. In this paper, techniques relevant to the first stage of projects (planning and definition) are presented. The SDCTT is the groundwork for the future development of performance indicators for SD outcomes, and within the postulated model should ultimately contribute towards reducing project waste, energy use, and carbon emissions.
Mustafa Al-Tekreeti; Salwa Beheiry; Vian Ahmed. A Framework for Assessing Commitment Indicators in Sustainable Development Decisions. Sustainability 2021, 13, 5234 .
AMA StyleMustafa Al-Tekreeti, Salwa Beheiry, Vian Ahmed. A Framework for Assessing Commitment Indicators in Sustainable Development Decisions. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (9):5234.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMustafa Al-Tekreeti; Salwa Beheiry; Vian Ahmed. 2021. "A Framework for Assessing Commitment Indicators in Sustainable Development Decisions." Sustainability 13, no. 9: 5234.
The UAE went through a huge building boom in the last twenty years, resulting in extensive useful infrastructure, yet not necessarily all were built with green design parameters in mind. As these buildings reach their retrofitting milestones, it is an opportunity for owners/developers to retrofit the necessary components for improved energy efficiency and reduced carbon footprints. Thus, this paper summarizes the rationale behind the basic elements identified in a study to develop a green retrofitting toolkit for commercial buildings in the United Arab Emirates. The study focused on refurbishing the passive systems, such as the building envelope (wall enclosures and roofs), and the active systems (lighting and HVAC systems). The methodology that was followed involved looking at the purpose of retrofitting a building for each criterion and examining the necessary issues to be considered, as well as providing the optimum solutions along with a performance matrix for the UAE climate in terms of energy and cost savings. Moreover, a Revit based model was used on a prototypical commercial building design to assess the energy efficiency and resultant cost savings. The study emphasized an all-inclusive retrofitting approach.
Mariam Ibrahim; Eilin Rachid; Yousef Awera; Salwa Beheiry. Green Building Retrofitting in the UAE. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems 2020, 637 -642.
AMA StyleMariam Ibrahim, Eilin Rachid, Yousef Awera, Salwa Beheiry. Green Building Retrofitting in the UAE. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems. 2020; ():637-642.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMariam Ibrahim; Eilin Rachid; Yousef Awera; Salwa Beheiry. 2020. "Green Building Retrofitting in the UAE." Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems , no. : 637-642.
The conventional method in construction has many limitations and therefore needs modification. Not only is this method inefficient, but it is also harmful to the environment due to its high energy consumption. Therefore, there is a rising need for automation in construction. This need is accentuated in specific structures, such as museums, that are more creatively designed and have more specific maintenance and operation requirements. The purpose of this paper is to create a tool kit for automating the design, construction, and operation of museums while considering sustainability measures. The main methodology is research on the application of Building Information Modeling (BIM), robotics, and 3D printing during the design and construction stages, and examination of the integration of the Internet of Things (IOT) and indoor air quality management into the operation stage. The results are workable guidelines for the automated museum. The tool kit is beneficial as it will save time and cost and increase the efficiency of operation. It will also increase awareness of the necessity of new job opportunities for labor within the technology sector.
Amina Hammodat; Fadia Ajjan; Faris Zakieh; Salwa Beheiry. Automation in Museum Construction and Operation. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems 2020, 451 -456.
AMA StyleAmina Hammodat, Fadia Ajjan, Faris Zakieh, Salwa Beheiry. Automation in Museum Construction and Operation. Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems. 2020; ():451-456.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAmina Hammodat; Fadia Ajjan; Faris Zakieh; Salwa Beheiry. 2020. "Automation in Museum Construction and Operation." Plant-Microbes-Engineered Nano-particles (PM-ENPs) Nexus in Agro-Ecosystems , no. : 451-456.
Construction practices tend to have an adverse impact on the environment through their contribution to CO2 emission, increased waste and energy consumption. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has launched many initiatives to encourage green design over the past years and to work towards a sustainable community. Nonetheless, such initiatives require a considerable amount of time to penetrate the professional psyche and showcase real results that are easily utilised by the construction community. The aim of this research was to study the current degree of use of Green Design Parameters (GDPs) in the UAE construction projects and to identify the main constraints that hinder their application. To achieve the study's objective, a survey was designed and distributed to engineering design professionals in different consulting and contracting companies in the seven emirates of the UAE. Feedback from 112 projects was examined and statistically analysed. The analysis showed a degree of awareness and use of some key GDPs. Moreover, the data showed no correlation between the degree of using GDPs in a project and its cost and schedule. Not surprisingly, the lack of knowledge about green parameters and the lack of trust in recycled materials are the main constraints that featured in the responses.
Monia N. Gharzeldeen; Salwa M. Beheiry. Investigating the use of green design parameters in UAE construction projects. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 2014, 8, 93 -101.
AMA StyleMonia N. Gharzeldeen, Salwa M. Beheiry. Investigating the use of green design parameters in UAE construction projects. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering. 2014; 8 (2):93-101.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMonia N. Gharzeldeen; Salwa M. Beheiry. 2014. "Investigating the use of green design parameters in UAE construction projects." International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 8, no. 2: 93-101.
The highly influential Brundtland report released in 1987 was the first document to define the three pillars of modern sustainable development as environmental, social, and economic. The Rio Summit in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the Johannesburg Meeting in 2002 followed up with primary focus on the needs of society and the environment. Economic issues were secondary at these meetings. This movement was the beginning of what has been passed down to the construction industry as sustainable construction. Within the industry, however, confusion reigns, and attitudes toward sustainable construction vary wildly. Understanding perceptions of sustainability in the industry would help to navigate a path towards a common understanding of the issues, to reach a point from which a reasoned dialogue could ensue concerning the relative merits of different approaches to sustainability and to sustainable construction itself. To understand perceptions of sustainability in the construction industry, a survey of close to 200 practitioners was conducted between July and Sept. 2006. Its results are described and analyzed in this article. Some conclusions are made and recommendations are suggested based on this analysis. In particular, it is clear that a persistent and broad-based effort will be required to introduce sustainability effectively to the profession.
Wai Kiong Chong; Sanat Kumar; Carl T. Haas; Salwa M. Beheiry; Lonnie Coplen; Marvin Oey. Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States. Journal of Management in Engineering 2009, 25, 143 -154.
AMA StyleWai Kiong Chong, Sanat Kumar, Carl T. Haas, Salwa M. Beheiry, Lonnie Coplen, Marvin Oey. Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States. Journal of Management in Engineering. 2009; 25 (3):143-154.
Chicago/Turabian StyleWai Kiong Chong; Sanat Kumar; Carl T. Haas; Salwa M. Beheiry; Lonnie Coplen; Marvin Oey. 2009. "Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States." Journal of Management in Engineering 25, no. 3: 143-154.