Editorial

Abstract

I start with a mention of the papers in this issue. In any country the national health provision is the or one of the most important issues. Finland is a country with a small population but is highly organised and we can learn a lot from how they manage their health programmes. In two papers here by Reijula et al. and Ruohoaho et al. we learn how user centric design and mapping value streams can reduce waiting times and meet the needs of staff and patients more effectively. Social care is a continuing problem for society to deal with effectively. This involves some critical decision-making. Huisman et al. in the Netherlands have developed a structural approach which involves healthcare professionals contributing to the design process to ensure the needs of older people who are often frail are accounted for. Climate change are words on everyone’s lips today. Buildings contribute about 39% to world emissions according to the UN so every effort is needed to propel the use of renewable energy sources forward at a faster pace. Solar energy is and will continue to play an important role in this. Ali Khan et al. from India describe ways in which photovoltaic systems can operate more efficiently. Building better homes, towns and cities is another international theme but here focused on Auckland in New Zealand. Ghaffarianhoseini et al. propose a conceptual model to help Auckland to realise this. And now some current debates. Buildings use 50% of materials and generate 45% waste. Developments in materials science and in the processes for making materials are going to impact design and construction. Off site construction using 3D printing saves time, waste and manpower so the embodied energy is less whilst also reducing on site pollution. Traditional materials like hemp, straw and wood remain important. Concrete and brick can reduce their embodied energy by embedding graphene for example in their mix. Film coatings like Titanium Dioxide and other chemical compounds can affect solar reflectance dramatically so reduce cooling loads. Self-healing and self-cleaning materials are now available. The use of biomaterials is another area offering significant advances in sustainability terms. Materials also affect people’s health via emissions of their volatile compounds but they also positively contribute to the look and feel of the space. They affect sound distribution and quality as well as thermal performance. All these issues are the substance of the British Council for Offices Report Making the Future Workplace: Materials and methods towards a circular economy, launched on 3 December 2019, written by professionals from AKT II; AHMM and Reading University The application of digital twins is now frequently in the news. A digital twin is a digital representation of a physical asset and uses data from surveys, BIM and other sources. Emily Ashwell (see New Civil Engineer, December 2019, pages 38–39) describes how a 4D digital twin has been used to model changes to an asset over time and predict its future behaviour. This can result in reductions in costs, time, manpower, waste besides reducing the risk of errors accumulating over time as exemplified on the Thames Tideway tunnel project in London. Another related development is Blockchain which makes the handling of lots of data easier and more efficient. Put simply it is a ledger of all transactions carried out on a project. Once a record is created it cannot be changed without leaving evidence of the change, thus making fraud virtually impossible. This is a transformative technology which can streamline the process of carrying out