Selection of Sustainable Materials for Energy Savings of Infrastructure-Transportation Project in Ahmedabad, India Using BIM and FCM

This study aims to develop a methodology for the selection of sustainable building materials for the reduction of embodied and operational energy for a complex infrastructure transportation project, i.e., elevated metro rail station of Ahmedabad, India by application of building information modelling (BIM) and factor comparison method (FCM). Evaluation of the alternative building materials and designs to obtain the best energy efficiency has been carried out using Revit Architecture 2018 and Green Building Studio. The achieved average embodied energy savings is about 73%, which is by the suggested alternative materials instead of existing ones. By application of FCM, which is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique, it has been observed that the polished Kota-stone flooring, stone-floor tile cladding, toughened fibre-glass ceiling and insulated fibre-glass door appear to be the most feasible sustainable material for flooring, wall cladding, ceiling, openings and fenestrations for the design of the metro rail station box in Ahmedabad, India. This study contributes significant knowledge in the field by highlighting the application of BIM as a tool for sustainable development and recommends a few alternate building materials and sustainable designs which would result in the reduction of energy usage for the metro-rail-station and other building structures leading to a sustainable future.

Tawsol Symbols 3D – Towards an innovative Picture Exchange Communication Systems PECS

Pictograms (also called symbols) are widely used in daily life as a type of visual language, such as transportation venue signs (airport, rail station, etc.), road signs, care symbols on clothing, or direction symbols. This shows how symbols can communicate information quickly and effectively. Fundamentally, symbols can be understood, regardless of the person's language or literacy skills. Therefore, people with communication difficulties may benefit from using symbols to comprehend what other people are saying, as well as to express themselves. There are many sets of pictograms available online or in the market as printed cards, some of them are free and some must be purchased. Pictogram sets can be considered in several ways including how pictorial, how guessable, how flexible, how consistent, and how visually complex. Each symbol set has strengths and weaknesses, and the choice of a symbol set should be based on the needs and abilities of the person using AAC.

A Python tool and database of Amtrak departure and arrival times with weather information

This article proposes a Python-based Amtrak and Weather Underground (PAWU) tool to collect data on Amtrak (the main passenger train operator in the United States) departure and arrival times with weather information. In addition, this article offers a database, developed with PAWU, of the operating characteristics of 16 Amtrak routes from 2008 to 2019. More specifically, PAWU enables users to retrieve Amtrak departure and arrival times of any train number throughout the United States. It then automatically retrieves weather information from Weather Underground for each rail station and stores the data collected in a local MySQL database. Users can easily select any desired train number(s) and date range(s) without dealing with the code and the raw data from those sources that are in different formats. The database itself can be used, in part, to develop, apply, and benchmark models that assess the performance of rail services such as the one offered by Amtrak.

How rural roads benefit the household’s asset position: A case study in West Bengal, India

An attempt has been made in this study to observe the linkages between rural roads on household assets including material, social and human capital. It has been found that places with better roads and railway systems lead to better asset position of the households and hence an increased livelihood opportunity. The households near main roads and rail stations have a more consistent asset position with lower coefficient of variation (CV) of asset score and having a statistically higher group mean value. Automatically inequality in asset position is more in remote villages. Percentage wise distribution of households according to possession of different household shows the same result. Households adjacent to main road and rail station have higher percentage of consumer durable assets than that of the households who reside away from main road and rail station except possession of different agricultural implements. Other assets position like physical capital consisting of house property status, human capital like educational status, access to health care facilities, sanitation facilities reflect the same picture which indirectly gives a way to a diverse livelihood.

Evaluating the Viability of Intensification Around Three Suburban GO Stations

The updated Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe (2017) requires all GO rail station areas to achieve a minimum density of 150 residents and jobs combined per hectare. Intensification is unlikely to occur without intentional policy and partnerships to encourage development. Mid-rise buildings, the typical residential form needed to meet the intensification target, are often challenging to develop in suburban areas. Similarly, employment intensification can be challenging to achieve without incentives for office location. Policy, politics and market viability all impact intensification. Changes are needed at the provincial, regional and local level to encourage development. Regulatory changes like zoning, partnerships between Metrolinx and developers and/or financial incentives, such as reduced development charges, should be explored to encourage intensification. Suburban GO rail station intensification is an opportunity to achieve multiple policy goals, such as the creation of walkable, affordable communities that increase housing choice. An article on transit station intensification in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area, used the keywords: transit oriented development, intensification, Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area