Building industry impacts natural cycles and has potential for optimization. While impairment on nature reached a new dimension already some three centuries ago the building industry started to realize the dependency in the second half of the 20th century. With LCA method all life cycle phases can be monitored and the environmental impact of each can be quantified. The energy consuming and emission generating components in the building context can be distinguished in the groups transport, ope...

Rapid and deep changes in society, the economy and policy over the last decades 
are having an increasing impact on the delivery of social housing in North Western Europe. These changes are transforming the way in which social housing providers perform their task and are reshaping their relationships with the State, communities and with other market actors. The combination of continued State withdrawal from service provision, the deep and persistent effects of the global financial crisis th...

This publication covers a doctorate research on characteristics of intercultural competence among international business assignees, based on theory and practice.

Starting point was the notion that failure costs of failed international assignments are high, while at the same time the selection for international assignments is being carried out largely on basis of purely technical competences.

This research considers intercultural competence as an important generic competence for international as...

In the 1980s the performance of Japan’s economy was an international success story, and led many economists to suggest that the 1990s would be a Japanese decade. Today, however, the dominant view is that Japan is inescapably on a downward slope. Rather than focusing on the evolution of the performance of Japanese capitalism, this book reflects on the changes that it has experienced over the past 30 years, and presents a comprehensive analysis of the great transformation of Japanese capitali...

Ideal for students and practitioners working in spatial planning, the Europeanization of planning agendas and regional policy in general Spatial Planning Systems and Practices in Europe develops a systematic methodological framework to analyze changes in planning systems throughout Europe. The main aim of the book is to delineate the coexistence of continuity and change and of convergence and divergence with regard to planning practices across Europe. Based on the work of experts on spatial p...

**WINNER OF THE WELLCOME BOOK PRIZE 2014**A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERSometimes your child - the most familiar person of all - is radically different from you. The saying goes that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. But what happens when it does? Drawing on interviews with over three hundred families, covering subjects including deafness, dwarfs, Down's Syndrome, Autism, Schizophrenia, disability, prodigies, children born of rape, children convicted of crime and transgender people, Andr...

Essentials of Ecology, 4th Edition presents introductory ecology in an accessible, state-of-the-art format designed to cultivate the novice student's understanding of and fascination with the natural world. In a concise, engaging style, this text outlines the essential principles of ecology from the theoretical fundamentals to their practical applications. Full color artwork, simple pedagogical features and a wide range of carefully-chosen examples make this book an ideal introduction to ecol...

With a new author team contributing decades of practical experience, this fully updated second edition textbook summarises the most critical decisions, techniques and steps in creating effective forecasting models. Includes all new theoretical and practical exercises geared at guiding students through the steps of creating forecasting models on their own.

Applied econometrics, known to aficionados as 'metrics, is the original data science. 'Metrics encompasses the statistical methods economists use to untangle cause and effect in human affairs. Through accessible discussion and with a dose of kung fu-themed humor, Mastering 'Metrics presents the essential tools of econometric research and demonstrates why econometrics is exciting and useful.

The five most valuable econometric methods, or what the authors call the Furious Five--random assignmen...