Cultures of Glass Architecture (Design and the Built Environment)

Product Description
When designing, architects are responding to and creating a relationship between identity, culture and architectural style. This book discusses whether the extent of the use of glass facades has increased, or indeed enhanced, the creation of meaningful place-making, thereby creating a cultural identity of ‘place’.

Looking at the development of perceptions of glass facades in different cultures, it shows how modernist ‘glass’ buildings are perceived as an expression of technical achievement, as symbols of global economic success and as setting a neutral platform for multi-cultural societies - all of which are difficult for urban developers and policy makers to resist in our era of globalisation. Drawing on a number of modern and heritage design projects from Europe, the USA, the Middle East and South East Asia, the book reviews efforts of some regional towns and local places to move up the economic ladder by adopting a more ‘global’ aesthetic.

About the Author
Professor Hisham Elkadi is Professor of Architecture and Head of the Architecture Programme in the School of Art & Design at the University of Ulster, Northern Ireland.

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Light Zone City: Light Planning in the Urban Context

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The Complete Real Estate Encylcopedia

Product Description

Everything you need to know about real estate - no matter what your role - in one complete guide

Bonus online material!

From AAA-Tenant to Zoning Regulations, this alphabetically organized resource covers the laws, language, and concepts of real estate. You’ll also have access to an exclusive online tool that makes it simple to calculate, transact, and profit from real estate.

Authors with more than 65 combined years in real estate give you:

• Jargon-free definitions of almost 3,500 terms and topics
• Up-to-the-minute information on everything from mortgages to accelerated tax write-offs
• 250 illustrations covering architectural design, completed formulas, charts, and graphs
• Valuable lists such as 100 concepts to be an effective real estate agent, 50 must-know terms for homebuyers and sellers, 100 tax terms important to investors and homeowners, and secret buzz words and slang used by experienced real estate professionals
  • 75 fill-in-the-blank, legally binding real estate forms
  • 100 interactive real estate formulas
  • Real estate calculator for over 50 problems
  • Spreadsheet formulas for common real estate functions
  • Links to more than 450 real estate websites

The unique online real estate component gives you fast access to tools such as:

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Wastewater Treatment in Constructed Wetlands with Horizontal Sub-Surface Flow

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Constructed wetlands with horizontal sub-surface flow (HF CWs) have been used for wastewater treatment for more than four decades. HF CWs are used around the world for many types of wastewater, including municipal sewage, agricultural and industrial wastewaters, runoff waters, wastewaters containing endocrine-disrupting chemicals, and landfill leachate.

This book fills a gap in the literature by providing an extensive, worldwide overview of this treatment technology. Special attention is paid to assessing the use of this treatment technology in individual countries and treatment performance of various HF CWs with respect to major pollutants in different types of wastewater.

The book provides a broad base of knowledge, including:

• processes occurring in wetland soils and overlying water
• various types of constructed wetlands for wastewater treatment
• detailed information about design parameters, functioning, operation and maintenance, and costs of HF CWs
• evaluations of treatment efficiency of HF CWs under diverse conditions
• information on the global use of HF CWs for various types of wastewater

The inclusion of case studies from over 50 countries and more than 250 colour photos that illustrate the science makes this an invaluable text.

This book will be useful not only to wetland scientists, teachers, and engineers, but also to landscape planners, ecologists, wastewater-treatment designers and governmental decision-makers.

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Facility Siting: Risk, Power and Identity in Land Use Planning (The Earthscan Risk in Society Series)

Product Description
* Examines the social, political and environmental issues at stake and the acute conflicts over the siting of industrial facilities and infrastructure
* Essential reading for all involved in land use planning and facility siting at all levels and in all situations
* New in the Risk, Society and Policy Series
From dams to landfill sites and power plants to radioactive waste repositories, the siting of facilities is a veritable minefield of conflicting data, politics, perception and controversy for industry, planners and authorities and citizens. This penetrating new edited collection examines risk, power and identity in contests over the siting of infrastructure and industrial facilities. Going beyond nimby-ism, experts in a variety of fields bring a multi-perspective analysis to case studies from the UK, US and Europe and expose the political and cultural dimensions of siting conflicts. In the process they show how place attachment and notions of landscape and local identity play a prominent role in resistance to ‘development’.

About the Author
Åsa Boholm is Professor of Social Anthropology at the School of Public Administration, Göteborg University, Sweden.

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Design of Wood Frame Structures for Permanence

When properly designed, wood frame structures will resist damage by moisture and living organisms. Recommendations for control of moisture and protection against decay and insect infestations are contained in this document. Many of the recommendations are established practice among architects, engineers, and builders.

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Managing the Test People

Product Description Managing the Test People was written for managers, leads, and people who may soon find themselves in a technical leadership position. It focuses on some of the unique problems in the software quality assurance profession, yet the bulk of the book is applicable to any technical management job. It provides practical advice for the novice and affirmation for the expert. It contains real world stories illustrating the concepts discussed in the text. This book is written from a practitioner’s viewpoint. The author has been in software management for over 20 years, working in a variety of companies, and has always been struck by the lack of practical, real world advice found only in general management books. Yes, all those methods should theoretically work, until you add in the politics of the environment, the technical work that must be done and, of course, those pesky people who seem intent on fouling up your plans. Managing the Test People is real - it’s about the real world where there are real problems and real people, and it provides viable solutions that can actually be implemented. download

Commodity Investing: Maximizing Returns Through Fundamental Analysis

Product Description
Straightforward and accessible, Commodity Investing balances academic-quality analysis with clear, compelling prose, and provides those interested in this fast-growing field with unparalleled investment insights. Page by page, you’ll acquire a deeper understanding of this discipline and discover how to make more informed decisions when investing in such a dynamic environment. With this book as your guide, you’ll benefit from the lessons of experienced practitioners and quickly come to grips with what it takes to make it in today’s commodity market.

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Ambient Findability by Peter Morville

Product Description
How do you find your way in an age of information overload? How can you filter streams of complex information to pull out only what you want? Why does it matter how information is structured when Google seems to magically bring up the right answer to your questions? What does it mean to be “findable” in this day and age? This eye-opening new book examines the convergence of information and connectivity. Written by Peter Morville, author of the groundbreaking Information Architecture for the World Wide Web, the book defines our current age as a state of unlimited findability. In other words, anyone can find anything at any time. Complete navigability.

Morville discusses the Internet, GIS, and other network technologies that are coming together to make unlimited findability possible. He explores how the melding of these innovations impacts society, since Web access is now a standard requirement for successful people and businesses. But before he does that, Morville looks back at the history of wayfinding and human evolution, suggesting that our fear of being lost has driven us to create maps, charts, and now, the mobile Internet.

The book’s central thesis is that information literacy, information architecture, and usability are all critical components of this new world order. Hand in hand with that is the contention that only by planning and designing the best possible software, devices, and Internet, will we be able to maintain this connectivity in the future. Morville’s book is highlighted with full color illustrations and rich examples that bring his prose to life.

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