Gomez-Cunya, Luis-Angel; Fardhosseini, Mohammad Sadra; Lee, Hyun Woo; Choi, Kunhee. (2020). Analyzing Investments in Flood Protection Structures: A Real Options Approach. International Journal Of Disaster Risk Reduction, 43.
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Abstract
The soaring number of natural hazards in recent years due largely to climate change has resulted in an even higher level of investment in flood protection structures. However, such investments tend to be made in the aftermath of disasters. Very little is known about the proactive planning of flood protection investments that account for uncertainties associated with flooding events. Understanding the uncertainties such as when to invest on these structures to achieve the most optimal cost-saving amount is outmost important. This study fills this large knowledge gap by developing an investment decision-making assessment framework that determines an optimal timing of flood protection investment options. It combines real options with a net present value analysis to examine managerial flexibility in various investment timing options. Historical data that contain information about river water discharges were leveraged as a random variable in the modeling framework because it may help investors better understand the probability of extreme events, and particularly, flooding uncertainties. A lattice model was then used to investigate potential alternatives of investment timing and to evaluate the benefits of delaying investments in each case. The efficacy of the proposed framework was demonstrated by an illustrative example of flood protection investment. The framework will be used to help better inform decision makers.
Keywords
Decision-making; Flood Protection; Real Options Theory; Investment Decision-making
Parsaee, Mojtaba; Demers, Claude M. H.; Lalonde, Jean-francois; Potvin, Andre; Inanici, Mehlika; Hebert, Marc. (2020). Human-Centric Lighting Performance of Shading Panels in Architecture: A Benchmarking Study with Lab Scale Physical Models Under Real Skies. Solar Energy, 204, 354 – 368.
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Abstract
This study investigates shading panels' (SPs) impacts on daylighting features in a lab scale model in terms of parameters representing potential human eyes' biological responses identified as image forming (IF) and non-image forming (NIF). IF responses enable vision and NIF responses regulate internal body clocks known as circadian clocks. Human-centric lighting evaluates photopic units, representing IF responses, and melanopic units representing NIF responses, combined with correlated color temperature (CCT) of light for potential biological effects. SPs' impacts on such parameters of daylighting have not yet been studied. Previous research mostly studied panels' impacts on visual comfort and glare related to IF responses. This research explores the impact of SPs' color, reflectance, orientation, and openness on photopic and melanopic units and CCT of daylighting inside a 1:50 physical scale model of a space. Approximately 40 prototypes of SPs were evaluated. An experimental setup was designed under outdoor daylighting conditions to capture high dynamic range (HDR) images inside the model. HDR images were post processed to calculate and render the distribution of photopic and melanopic units, melanopic/photopic (M/P) ratios and CCTs in the captured viewpoint of the model. Results reveal the behavior of SPs' color, reflectance, orientation, and openness in modifying daylighting parameters related to biological responses. Bluish panels, in particular, increase daylighting melanopic units and CCTs whereas reddish panels increase photopic units and reduce CCTs. The research results were discussed to provide an outline for future developments of panels to adapt daylighting to occupants' IF and NIF responses.
Keywords
Models & Modelmaking; Shades & Shadows; Daylighting; Color Temperature; Benchmarking (management); Ecological Houses; Eye Tracking; Circadian Rhythms; Adaptive Design; Healthy Lighting; High Performance Façade; Photobiology; Responsive Building; Design; Sensitivity; Illuminance; Systems; Spaces; Impact; Glare; High Performance Facade; Reflectance; Scale Models; Biological Effects; Human Performance; Prototypes; Parameter Modification; Lighting; Shading; Eye (anatomy); Color; Parameter Identification; Light Effects; Panels; Mathematical Models; Images; Biological Clocks; Orientation
Firth, Caislin L.; Baquero, Barbara; Berney, Rachel; Hoerster, Katherine D.; Mooney, Stephen J.; Winters, Meghan. (2021). Not Quite a Block Party: Covid-19 Street Reallocation Programs in Seattle, WA and Vancouver, BC. Ssm-population Health, 14.
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Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed mobility inequities within cities. In response, cities are rapidly implementing street reallocation initiatives. These interventions provide space for walking and cycling, however, other mobility needs (e.g., essential workers, deliveries) may be impeded by these reallocation decisions. Informed by mobility justice frameworks, we examined socio-spatial differences in access to street reallocations in Seattle, Washington and Vancouver, British Columbia. In both cities, more interventions occurred in areas where people of color, particularly Black and Indigenous people, lived. In Seattle, more interventions occurred in areas where people with disabilities, on food stamps, and children lived. In Vancouver, more interventions occurred in areas where recent immigrants lived, or where people used public transit or cycled to work. Street reallocations could be opportunities for cities to redress inequities in mobility and access to public spaces. Going forward, it is imperative to monitor how cities use data and welcome communities to redesign these temporary spaces to be corridors for their own mobility.
Keywords
Covid-19; Equity; Inequalities; Built Environment; Mobility; Cities; Mobility Justice
Wang, Lan; Zhang, Surong; Yang, Zilin; Zhao, Ziyu; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Feng, Huasen; Liang, Junhao; Sun, Wenyao; Cao, Buyang. (2021). What County-level Factors Influence Covid-19 Incidence in the United States? Findings from the First Wave of the Pandemic. Cities, 118.
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Abstract
Effective control of the COVID-19 pandemic via appropriate management of the built environment is an urgent issue. This study develops a research framework to explore the relationship between COVID-19 incidence and influential factors related to protection of vulnerable populations, intervention in transmission pathways, and provision of healthcare resources. Relevant data for regression analysis and structural equation modeling is collected during the first wave of the pandemic in the United States, from counties with over 100 confirmed cases. In addition to confirming certain factors found in the existing literature, we uncover six new factors significantly associated with COVID-19 incidence. Furthermore, incidence during the lockdown is found to significantly affect incidence after the reopening, highlighting that timely quarantining and treating of patients is essential to avoid the snowballing transmission over time. These findings suggest ways to mitigate the negative effects of subsequent waves of the pandemic, such as special attention of infection prevention in neighborhoods with unsanitary and overcrowded housing, minimization of social activities organized by neighborhood associations, and contactless home delivery service of healthy food. Also worth noting is the need to provide support to people less capable of complying with the stay-at-home order because of their occupations or socio-economic disadvantage.
Keywords
Pandemics; Covid-19; Covid-19 Pandemic; Infection Prevention; Stay-at-home Orders; Structural Equation Modeling; United States; Communicable Disease Prevention; Influential Factors; Lockdown; Structural Equation Modeling (sem); Prevalence; Disease; Healthy Food; Social Activities; Counties; Neighborhoods; Housing; Built Environment; Prevention; Minimization; Socioeconomic Factors; Intervention; Health Care; Vulnerability; Occupations; Coronaviruses; Food Service; Disease Transmission; United States--us
Yi, June-Seong; Kim, Yong-Woo; Kim, Ki-Aeng; Koo, Bonsang. (2012). A Suggested Color Scheme for Reducing Perception-Related Accidents on Construction Work Sites. Accident Analysis And Prevention, 48, 185 – 192.
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Abstract
Changes in workforce demographics have led to the need for more sophisticated approaches to addressing the safety requirements of the construction industry. Despite extensive research in other industry domains, the construction industry has been passive in exploring the impact of a color scheme: perception-related accidents have been effectively diminished by its implementation. The research demonstrated that the use of appropriate color schemes could improve the actions and psychology of workers on site, thereby increasing their perceptions of potentially dangerous situations. As a preliminary study, the objects selected by rigorous analysis on accident reports were workwear, safety net, gondola, scaffolding, and safety passage. The colors modified on site for temporary facilities were adopted from existing theoretical and empirical research that suggests the use of certain colors and their combinations to improve visibility and conspicuity while minimizing work fatigue. The color schemes were also tested and confirmed through two workshops with workers and managers currently involved in actual projects. The impacts of color schemes suggested in this paper are summarized as follows. First, the color schemes improve the conspicuity of facilities with other on site components, enabling workers to quickly discern and orient themselves in their work environment. Secondly, the color schemes have been selected to minimize the visual work fatigue and monotony that can potentially increase accidents. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords
Construction Industry Accidents; Industrial Hygiene; Industrial Safety; Empirical Research; Sensory Perception; Work Environment; Demographic Surveys; Job Performance; Color Scheme; Construction Industry; Labor Demography; Perception-related Accident; Accident Prevention; Accidents; Demography; Human Resource Management; Population Statistics; Color Schemes; Construction Works; Dangerous Situations; Rigorous Analysis; Safety Requirements; Temporary Facilities; Work Environments; Psychological Climate; Drivers; Emotion; Model
Gatti, Umberto C.; Migliaccio, Giovanni C.; Bogus, Susan M.; Schneider, Suzanne(3). (2014). An Exploratory Study of the Relationship between Construction Workforce Physical Strain and Task Level Productivity. Construction Management And Economics, 32(6), 548 – 564.
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Abstract
The monitoring of construction workforce physical strain can be a valuable management strategy in improving workforce productivity, safety, health, and quality of work. Nevertheless, clear relationships between workforce performance and physical strain have yet to be established. An exploratory investigation of the relationship between task level productivity and physical strain was conducted. Nine participants individually performed a four-hour simulated construction task while a wearable physiological status monitor continuously assessed their physiological condition. Heart rate, relative heart rate, and breathing rate were utilized as predictors of physical strain, and task level-single factor productivity was used as an index of productivity. Numerous regression models were generated using the collected data. This investigation initially unsuccessfully attempted to establish a relationship between physiological condition and productivity at the individual worker level. However, an analysis of the regression models showed that there is a relationship between productivity and either heart rate or relative heart rate at the group level, and that this relationship is parabolic. Breathing rate was proved to not be a significant predictor of productivity. Research results significantly improve understanding of the relationship between work physiology and task productivity. Researchers and practitioners may use the tested monitoring devices, analysis methods, and results to design further applied studies and to improve workforce productivity. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.
Keywords
Heart; Industrial Hygiene; Occupational Risks; Personnel; Regression Analysis; Construction Workforces; Management Strategies; Occupational Health And Safety; Operations Management; Physiological Condition; Physiological Status Monitors; Work Physiology; Workforce
Baek, So-Ra; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Saelens, Brian E.; Kang, Bumjoon; Hurvitz, Philip M.; Bae, Chang-hee Christine. (2016). Comparisons of Physical Activity and Walking between Korean Immigrant and White Women in King County, WA. Journal Of Immigrant & Minority Health, 18(6), 1541 – 1546.
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Abstract
Immigrant and minority women are less physically active than White women particularly during leisure time. However, prior research demonstrates that reported household physical activity (PA) and non-leisure time walking/biking were higher among the former. Using accelerometers, GPS, and travel logs, transport-related, home-based, and leisure time PA were measured objectively for 7 days from a convenience sample of 60 first-generation Korean immigrant women and 69 matched White women from the Travel Assessment and Community Project in King County, Washington. Time spent in total PA, walking, and home-based PA was higher among Whites than Korean immigrants regardless of PA type or location. 58 % of the White women but only 20 % of the Korean women met CDC's PA recommendations. Socio-economic status, psychosocial factors, and participants' neighborhood built environmental factors failed to account for the observed PA differences between these groups.
Keywords
Accelerometer; Gps; Korean Immigrant Women; Objective Measures; Physical Activity; Walking; White Women; Nonleisure Time; Leisure-time; Environment; Transportation; Adults; Women; Socioeconomic Status; Time Use; Home Based; Environmental Aspects; Economic Status; Immigrants; Leisure; Socioeconomic Factors; Bicycles; Psychosocial Factors; Comparative Analysis; Minority & Ethnic Groups; Physical Fitness; Regression Analysis; Accelerometers; Travel; Traveltime; Environmental Factors; Recreation; Neighborhoods; Hispanic Americans; Global Positioning Systems--gps; Social Support; Noncitizens; Data Collection; Asian Americans; Psychological Aspects; Households; White People; Asian People; King County Washington; United States--us
Stewart, Orion T.; Moudon, Anne Vernez; Saelens, Brian E.; Lee, Chanam; Kang, Bumjoon; Doescher, Mark P. (2016). Comparing Associations between the Built Environment and Walking in Rural Small Towns and a Large Metropolitan Area. Environment And Behavior, 48(1), 13 – 36.
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Abstract
The association between the built environment (BE) and walking has been studied extensively in urban areas, yet little is known whether the same associations hold for smaller, rural towns. This analysis examined objective measures of the BE around participants' residence and their utilitarian and recreational walking from two studies, one in the urban Seattle area (n = 464) and the other in nine small U.S. towns (n = 299). After adjusting for sociodemographics, small town residents walked less for utilitarian purposes but more for recreational purposes. These differences were largely explained by differential associations of the BE on walking in the two settings. In Seattle, the number of neighborhood restaurants was positively associated with utilitarian walking, but in small towns, the association was negative. In small towns, perception of slow traffic on nearby streets was positively associated with recreational walking, but not in Seattle. These observations suggest that urban-rural context matters when planning BE interventions to support walking.
Keywords
Physical-activity; Utilitarian Walking; Transportation; Obesity; Adults; Travel; Urban; Prevalence; Strategies; Physical Activity; Walkability; City Planning; Urban Design; Community Health; Gis (geographic Information System); Gps (global Positioning System); Accelerometer; Effect Modification
McAndrews, Carolyn; Pollack, Keshia M.; Berrigan, David; Dannenberg, Andrew L.; Christopher, Ed J. (2017). Understanding and Improving Arterial Roads to Support Public Health and Transportation Goals. American Journal Of Public Health, 107(8), 1278 – 1282.
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Abstract
Arterials are types of roads designed to carry high volumes of motorized traffic. They are an integral part of transportation systems worldwide and exposure to them is ubiquitous, especially in urban areas. Arterials provide access to diverse commercial and cultural resources, which can positively influence community health by supporting social cohesion as well as economic and cultural opportunities. They can negatively influence health via safety issues, noise, air pollution, and lack of economic development. The aims of public health and transportation partially overlap; efforts to improve arterials can meet goals of both professions. Two trends in arterial design show promise. First, transportation professionals increasingly define the performance of arterials via metrics accounting for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and nearby residents in addition to motor vehicle users. Second, applying traffic engineering and design can generate safety, air quality, and livability benefits, but we need evidence to support these interventions. We describe the importance of arterials (including exposures, health behaviors, effects on equity, and resulting health outcomes) and make the case For public health collaborations with the transportation sector.
Keywords
Arterial Roads; Public Health -- United States; Public Health -- Social Aspects; Road Construction; Transportation & Society; Health; Air Pollution; Social Cohesion; Influence; Physiological Effects Of Noise; Interprofessional Relations; Metropolitan Areas; Motor Vehicles; Public Health; Transportation; Low-birth-weight; Air-pollution; Land-use; Policy
Liang, Huakang; Lin, Ken-yu; Zhang, Shoujian; Su, Yikun. (2018). The Impact Of Coworkers’ Safety Violations On An Individual Worker: A Social Contagion Effect Within The Construction Crew. International Journal Of Environmental Research And Public Health, 15(4).
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Abstract
This research developed and tested a model of the social contagion effect of coworkers' safety violations on individual workers within construction crews. Both situational and routine safety violations were considered in this model. Empirical data were collected from 345 construction workers in China using a detailed questionnaire. The results showed that both types of safety violations made by coworkers were significantly related to individuals' perceived social support and production pressure. Individuals' attitudinal ambivalence toward safety compliance mediated the relationships between perceived social support and production pressure and both types of individuals' safety violations. However, safety motivation only mediated the effects of perceived social support and production pressure on individuals' situational safety violations. Further, this research supported the differences between situational and routine safety violations. Specifically, we found that individuals were more likely to imitate coworkers' routine safety violations than their situational safety violations. Coworkers' situational safety violations had an indirect effect on individuals' situational safety violations mainly through perceived social support and safety motivation. By contrast, coworkers' routine safety violations had an indirect effect on individuals' routine safety violations mainly through perceived production pressure and attitudinal ambivalence. Finally, the theoretical and practical implications, research limitations, and future directions were discussed.
Keywords
Health-care Settings; Job Demands; Attitudinal Ambivalence; Industry Development; Workplace Safety; Behavior; Climate; Model; Risk; Employee; Social Contagion; Situational Safety Violations; Routine Safety Violations; Social Learning; Social Information Processing