Effective Communication

In the article “Smart Buildings: What 'smart' really means”, Lecomte (2019) states that having certification with standardized metrics is fundamental for smart buildings to wholly emerge in the "built environment". According to the article, the lack of unanimity from various stakeholders has delayed the drafting of standardized rubrics. Hence, private and public sectors design their own metrics to assess smart buildings but their rubrics vary from one another. However, the article also states that current private and public metrics are unsuccessful in tackling the complicated and expanding aspect that buildings will perform in "smart cities". Lecomte emphasizes that one crucial component needed to be included in the standardized rubrics will be cyber risk management as cyber threats "increase exponentially" along with more advanced and integrated technology in smart buildings. Lecomte concludes that holistic and reliable "smart building certi...

In the article 'Smart Buildings: What 'smart really means', Lecomte (2019) states that a standardized metric is required for smart buildings to wholly emerge in the 'built environment'. Currently, private and public sectors use their own standards to assess smart buildings, but their rubrics vary from one another. Private sector standards are biased to their sponsors, while public sectors' Key Performance Indicators (KPI) are exclusive to engineering features. Efforts to standardize rubrics are unsuccessful thus far as different parties involved could not agree on a standard rubric. Lecomte also emphasized the importance of including the assessment of cyber-risks in the rubric. There was an incident where hackers managed to steal millions of dollars (USD) from a corporation. Such risks increase exponentially along with more advanced and integrated technology. All in all, holistic and reliable 'smart building certifications and rubrics' will be the found...

Dear Professor Blackstone, My name is Chiew Kang Le, and I am writing this letter to introduce myself as one of your students in your effective communication classes. I am a year 1 student undertaking a degree in Sustainable Infrastructure Engineering (Building Services). I have graduated from Singapore Polytechnic with a diploma in Hotel & Leisure Facilities Management. When I was young, I always conversed in mandarin with my parents. I prefer to converse in mandarin whenever possible as I feel more comfortable speaking in mandarin. With the 'practice' I have for mandarin since I was young, I think this is the reason why I am able to converse more naturally in mandarin than in english. I feel that a person can portray their image to others base on the way they speak, and therefore I have huge admiration for individuals that are able to speak with confidence and clarity. English has always been my weakest subject. The two learning goals I have for this effective co...

"I contend that we (engineers) are undervalued because of our widespread inability to explain what we do to the general public (and why is it so important). It is one of the hardest goal to accomplish, to be able to boil down difficult concepts into a short and easily understood presentation or elevator pitch." Marybeth Miceli, President, Miceli Infrastructure Consulting, USA (2011) I would like to share my views on this quote. I agree that it is hard to explain what the engineers do to the general public. To begin with, there are difficult concepts which might be hard for the general public to understand and to break down into easily understood concept is not an easy task. I think one of the reasons for engineers' inability to explain might be the usage of 'engineer language' which will create complication. I feel that this is why effective communication is important as it allows us to craft speech that will enhance the audiences' understanding(speaking in ...