Whole life thinking and engineering the future

Flanagan, R. (2014) Whole life thinking and engineering the future. Frontiers of Engineering Management, 1 (3). pp. 290-296. ISSN 2095-7513 doi: 10.15302/J-FEM-2014040

Abstract/Summary

Whole-life thinking for engineers working on the built environment has become more important in a fast changing world.Engineers are increasingly concerned with complex systems, in which the parts interact with each other and with the outside world in many ways – the relationships between the parts determine how the system behaves. Systems thinking provides one approach to developing a more robust whole life approach. Systems thinking is a process of understanding how things influence one another within a wider perspective. Complexity, chaos, and risk are endemic in all major projects. New approaches are needed to produce more reliable whole life predictions. Best value, rather than lowest cost can be achieved by using whole-life appraisal as part of the design and delivery strategy.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://reading-clone.eprints-hosting.org/id/eprint/39319
Identification Number/DOI	10.15302/J-FEM-2014040
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of the Built Environment > Organisation, People and Technology group
Uncontrolled Keywords	Whole life appraisal
Publisher	Chinese Academy of Engineering
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