Building Projects Research Articles

Optimizing Renewable Energy Integration in Green Building Projects: Addressing Barriers and Enhancing Energy Performance

Optimizing Renewable Energy Integration in Green Building Projects: Addressing Barriers and Enhancing Energy Performance

A NOVEL BIM-ENABLED SOFTWARE-BASED SOLUTION FOR MITIGATING CONSTRUCTION RISK MANAGEMENT

This paper presents a novel Software-based solution to mitigate the most prevalent construction risks with systematic implementation of Building Information Modeling Software at the lifecycle stages of the project and provides practical recommendations for industry practitioners. The construction industry has a complex and uncertain process presenting different opportunities and challenges at various project phases. Incorporating traditional risk management methods with BIM helps identify and manage risks effectively. This research paper presents a systematic approach to implementing BIM throughout the lifecycle of an eight-story building project, from feasibility to construction, to manage major risks in each phase. The paper addresses a gap in the literature by identifying and mitigating prominent risks in the construction industry of Pakistan through BIM modeling, based on a review of 180 common risks and detailed interviews. The research methodology involved surveys and data analysis to identify and prioritize the most significant risks and suitable BIM mitigation measures. The study suggests that BIM’s collaboration software resolves communication issues while Clash Detection mitigates Design-related risks before the start of construction. Simulation of Planned vs. Actual Progress and accurate Quantity Estimates achieved by BIM’s estimation software contribute to the successful completion of the project. BIM and its tools have the potential to revolutionize the construction process if used as a structured risk management tool throughout the project lifecycle. The paper advises designing out most project risks in the Planning and Design phase while reserving monitoring and control for later stages as early identification and management of risks is critical for success.

Research on the Cost Control of Green Building Project Based on the Application of Renewable Energy

Promoting and optimizing green building projects based on renewable energy applications means that green building projects require more investment than traditional buildings. Green buildings using renewable energy are different from conventional construction cost control. Full-life cycle cost management is a way to analyze and manage the planning, construction, operation, maintenance, and residual costs of construction projects. It would be best if you had the law. This study uses mathematical models combined with relevant accounting theories and research methods to analyze the overall situation of green building cost control based on the application of renewable energy.

Promoting resilience in Finland: built environment professionals’ perspectives

ABSTRACT The built environment and various ongoing crises, e.g. climate change, the biodiversity crisis, and declining well-being due to the pandemic, are interconnected. Resilience of the built environment has become increasingly important and construction professionals have a focal role in promoting it. This paper investigates the opportunities that professionals possess to introduce key aspects of resilience in building projects in their everyday practice in Finland. Six targeted focus group interviews for Finnish city planners, housing specialists, housing developers, housing architects, public building and landscape architects, and sustainability specialists were organized, encompassing 32 different professionals. A crisis preparedness checklist was developed and used as a concretization of resilience. Findings show that (1) currently all Finnish built environment professionals, except housing architects, are able to integrate some aspects of resilience in their current work; (2) aspects of resilience should be introduced to building projects and processes in their early stages; (3) all key aspects of resilience cannot be introduced by one profession; (4) interdisciplinary committee work and resulting information products by the Finnish Building Information Foundation provide a feasible opportunity for collaboration and integration of resilience to Finnish building projects and processes. This study highlights the need for dynamic built environment professionals’ engagement.

A Critical Assessment of Material Price Adjustment Clauses for Transportation Design–Build Projects

A Critical Assessment of Material Price Adjustment Clauses for Transportation Design–Build Projects

The potential role of lung microbiota and lauroylcarnitine in T-cell activation associated with checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis

Checkpoint inhibitor pneumonitis (CIP) is a potentially fatal adverse event characterized by new pulmonary infiltrates in cancer patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy. This study aims to explore the interplay between lung microbiota, dysregulated metabolites, and host immunity in CIP. We recruited thirteen hospitalized CIP patients, eleven idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) patients, and ten new-onset non-small cell lung cancer patients. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid samples were collected for 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The percentages of immune cells were determined using manual counting and flow cytometry. Interactions among microbiota, metabolites, and lymphocytes were analyzed using cultured mouse splenocytes and human T cells. Proteobacteria emerged as the dominant phylum, notably abundant in both the CIP and IPF groups. Vibrio, Halomonas, Mangrovibacter, and Salinivibrio were the predominant microbiota because of their discriminative abundance patterns. Vibrio (r=0.72, P-adj=0.007) and Halomonas (r=0.65, P-adj=0.023) demonstrated strong correlations with lymphocytes. Vibrio metschnikovii and Mangrovibacter plantisponsors were more abundant in the CIP group than in the IPF group. Lauroylcarnitine, a key intermediary metabolite co-occurring with the predominant microbiota, exhibited a potent effect on cytokine secretion by mouse and human T cells, notably enhancing IFN-γ and TNF-α production from CD4 and CD8 cells invitro. Lauroylcarnitine, co-occurring with the predominant lung microbiota in CIP, could activate T cells invitro. These findings suggest potential involvement of lung microbiota and acylcarnitine metabolism dysregulation in the pathogenesis of CIP. This work was supported by Peking University People's Hospital Scientific Research Development Funds (RDJ2022-15) and Provincial Key Clinical Specialty Capacity Building Project 2020 (Department of the Respiratory Medicine).

An Analysis of Achievement and Cost Efficiency in the Implementation of the Green Construction Concept in The Construction of a Public Service Mall in the City of Tegal

Green construction is a concept in the planning and implementation stages of construction aimed at reducing the negative environmental impacts of construction activities. The Public Service Mall Building Project in Tegal City is a building project that requires costs from planning to maintenance. The construction of a project certainly requires substantial costs. The objective of this research is to evaluate the achievements and determine the cost efficiency of using the green construction concept. This research was conducted through a preliminary survey of the involved parties who understand the green construction concept to identify the most applied categories, namely the use of refrigerants without Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP), regional materials, environmental control over cigarette smoke, and pollution from construction activities. This type of research is qualitative, with data collection techniques carried out through interviews and direct observation. The data analysis for cost efficiency involves comparing green construction concepts with non-green construction concepts. The results of the benchmark measurements for using refrigerants without Ozone Depleting Potential (ODP), regional materials, and environmental control over cigarette smoke in the green construction concept achieved 100%, while the benchmark measurement results for green construction concerning pollution from construction activities achieved 50%. Based on the cost usage analysis in the upper structure construction of the Public Service Mall Building in Tegal City, the cost usage of the GC concept is 9.25% more efficient than the conventional concept.

Economic and Institutional Factors Influencing the Selection of Project Delivery Models for Built Heritage Conservation in India

ABSTRACT Selecting a suitable project delivery method is one of the most critical decisions responsible for project success in heritage conservation. This is an area where projects have greater uncertainties and governance issues in comparison to other building projects. India has a huge inventory of built heritage sites, but the heritage conservation sector is highly fragmented, with a wide range of project delivery methods. This paper discusses the selection of project delivery in the Indian context, using the theoretical lenses of agency theory, transaction cost economics (TCE), and institution theory. A conceptual framework has been proposed to explain the selection based on economical and institutional constructs. Our conclusion is that when institutional factors are weak, projects are executed departmentally or through non-priced contracts. In contrast, strong institutional forces discourage non-priced contracts and replace them with priced contracts.

Systematic literature review of BIM application in the whole life cycle of green building projects

ABSTRACT Building information modelling (BIM), as an effective digital method of information representation in the field of construction engineering, helps to deal with a series of works including design optimization, construction planning, and facility management. BIM enhances sustainability through energy simulations, material selection, waste reduction, and energy monitoring. However, challenges like talent shortage, interoperability issues, data management, and lack of standardization hinder its widespread use. Current research lacks systematic exploration of BIM's application in green buildings' life cycle, limiting further development. To fill this research gap, this study aims to provide a systematic review of the application of BIM in the design, construction and operation stages of the whole life cycle of green buildings. As a guideline to conduct this research, the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) model are used to identify the main procedures for literature screening and review. Through the systematic review, the main applications of BIM technology in green buildings are summarized, while the challenges in the current applications and the corresponding solutions are discussed. Finally, the study proposes key points for the future development of BIM to help the construction industry truly realize the development of man and nature and harmony and greenery.

SUSTAINABLE GREEN BUILDING INITIATIVES IN MALAYSIA: ISSUES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES

In recent years, green building practices have received tremendous global attention for their ability to protect the environment and foster sustainable development, and Malaysia, one of the fastest-growing countries, is enthusiastically embracing the green building movement. However, throughout the construction period of this green building, many issues occurred that contributed to the deterioration of the performance of the building itself. This research aims to identify the main issues faced by green building projects in Malaysia to ensure the performance of the building can be maintained and improved, by using a questionnaire survey that collects the views of 72 experienced participants. The findings reveal that operation and maintenance are urgent issues that need to be addressed in Malaysian green building projects, underscoring the need for policy intervention. Overall, this study can support the regulation of green building maintenance, underlining the critical nature of recognizing and addressing these issues collectively to foster the growth and success of green building initiatives in the Malaysian construction industry, thereby contributing to a more sustainable construction environment throughout the country.

A Practical Study of LEED Certification for the Shanghai Tower Building Project

A Practical Study of LEED Certification for the Shanghai Tower Building Project

Identification of Sources of Complexity in Various Types of Building Projects in India Based on Design and Performance Attributes

Building projects as sub-sect of construction projects are complex and different in design and performance attributes. The prominent classes of building projects are high-rise residential buildings, hospitals, hotels, general offices, retail buildings/malls, educational institutions, and warehouses. In this study, building projects have been classified based on their end use. Complexities vary between construction projects and within various types of building projects, as well as across regions and countries. Understanding the sources of complexity is imperative to strategize their successful development. This research paper attempts to identify the sources of complexities using the design and performance attributes of seven prominent building types. A survey was conducted through experienced architects and construction professionals (the mean years of experience being approximately 13.88 years) over 34 different attributes or parameters under six categories. These attributes have been shortlisted from past research work by various authors, and the pilot study for this project. The Kruskal-Wallis Test was used to calculate the mean ranking and to confirm that the medians of each building type were not the same when compared against each attribute, irrespective of the level of complexity. Using data analysis and the mean ranking scores as a representation of relative complexity, primary sources of complexity in each class of buildings have been identified and listed. The results indicate that hospitals (as a building typology) are relatively the most complex building facilities in terms of design and performance attributes, showing the highest mean ranking towards 16 attributes (with only one shared ranking). Hospitals are followed by retail/malls (10 with one shared ranking), hotels (3), high-rise residential buildings (4), educational institutions (2), general offices (0), and warehouses (0). Strategies to manage these attributes have been proposed for each building typology so that the risks emanating from the complexities of these building projects can be mitigated and effectively managed at the design stage.

A novel approach to establishing bottom-up LCA-based limit values for new construction

The global construction industry, a significant contributor responsible for 37 % of greenhouse gas emissions (GHGe), necessitates immediate and relevant policies to reduce emissions. Consequently, several countries are implementing GHGe limit values in building regulations to initiate mitigation measures. To support this development and the efforts to mitigate GHGe, this study provides a method for defining a representative case sample of conventional practice and bottom-up Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)-based limit values for policy measures. Based on a dataset of 291 actual building projects, a representative case sample of 163 conventional case studies is defined, and their related life cycle GHGe is calculated with LCA, resulting in a variation from 8.3 to 11.8 kg CO2e/m2/year. Cumulative distribution functions are computed with share factors, which consider the construction activity in a country and reflect the physical output of completed construction work from which limit values are derived. A general limit value is calculated at 9.0 kg CO2e/m2/year, corresponding to the median where the ambition level targets 50 % of new construction to perform mitigation efforts. Across building types, limit values vary between 8.2 and 11.5 kg CO2e/m2/year, and more ambitious limit values for residential buildings are derived starting at 4.9 kg CO2e/m2/year based on examples of best practice case studies. Comparing the general bottom-up limit value against top-down targets reveals a gap, suggesting a necessary increase in the ambition level. Yet, limit values should be introduced and gradually tightened to reach net zero in 2050 across several building typologies to support the adaptation of mitigation strategies.

Design phase collaborative risk management factors: a case study of a green rating system in South Africa

PurposeWe explore the design risk factors and associated managerial practices driving collaborative risk management for design efficacy in green building projects. By illuminating project design risk as an important project risk category in its own right, the study contributes to our understanding of optimising design efficacies for collaborative project risk management.Design/methodology/approachThe study comprises exploratory interviews conducted with 27 industry project practitioners involved in the design and delivery/implementation of Green Star-certified building projects in South Africa.FindingsThe findings discursively highlight seven sources of design risk. We also identify seven specific collaborative risk management practices for design efficacy emerging from a consideration of how risk environments vary in the Green Star-certified projects, each with its own project design risk implications.Originality/valueThe study advances our understanding of how collaborations emerging from particular relational yet context-specific practices can be optimised to strengthen project risk management.

Deploying Value Engineering Strategies for Ameliorating Construction Project Management Performance: A Delphi-SWARA Study Approach

This study was carried out to rank and prioritize the aspects that have been shown to have an impact on the improvement of construction project management (CPM) performance based on value engineering. This analysis was carried out with the Iranian construction industry’s current situation in mind. The respondents and the Delphi panel were chosen from among Iranian managers and project management professionals with a focus on building projects. These professionals had more than 20 years of experience working on international projects, and in addition to their expertise in project management, they also understood the principles of earned value analysis and value engineering. Thus, the components extracted from the literature review were used as the basis for designing a structured interview based on 39 important effective components previously determined as identified factors. The questionnaires were distributed among the experts, and the returned questionnaires were analysed using the SWARA technique to rank the weight and importance of the factors. Using the SWARA method, the opinions of the expert panel members consisting of 20 engineers and a semi-structured questionnaire was used to gather expertise in project management and managers, with a focus on Iranian CPM. As shown by the results, stakeholder management, time value of money, and worth, allocated the first to the third rank to themselves with respective weights of 0.104, 0.103, and 0.087. The sub-criteria of cost objective, function objective, and value objective were in the 37th to 39th ranks with respective weights of 0.00050, 0.00033, and 0.00021.

Bringing “Religion as Such” to the City: Sacred History and Nation Branding in Contemporary Germany

Abstract This article focuses on a multireligious building project named House of One in contemporary Berlin. Initiated in 2012 by a Protestant community at the center of Berlin, House of One consists of a synagogue, a church, a mosque, and a communal room. My central suggestion is that House of One is invested in a pluralist re-branding of (liberal) Protestantism, a rebranding that underlies the post-unification emergence of a new national German imaginary: out of “soil” marked as historically Christian spreads an “Abrahamic” future that transcends its particularity via its assumed ability to incorporate Islam and Judaism. Liberal, Christian-secularized norms and affects are thus being rearticulated in a language of religious pluralism, so that a normative, Christian-secularized category of religion can be extended to Christianity’s “monotheistic brothers.” Elaborations of this building project’s intended purpose, I argue, are thus animated by a broader question about the appropriate relation between religion and the state, and conjointly, between the self and culture at a moment in time in which hitherto normative, Christian-secularized assumptions concerning this relation are challenged. As such, the discursive representation that sustains the yet-to-be-built House of One is conducive to the making of a new national imaginary: it is driven both by the desire to renounce past evil through a recognition and inclusion of alterity into the body politic, as much as by the simultaneous de-politization and scrutinization of such alterity.

E-Waste in construction: a comprehensive bibliometric analysis and review of the literature

Purpose The global construction industry faces both challenges and opportunities from electronic waste (e-waste). This study aims to present a bibliometric analysis and comprehensive literature assessment on e-waste in concrete construction materials. Design/methodology/approach This study studies 4,122 Scopus documents to examine garbage generation in different countries and inventive ways to integrate e-waste into construction as a sustainable strategy. This study lists famous researchers and their cooperation networks, demonstrating a robust and dynamic area with a surge in research output, notably from 2018 to 2022. Data is visually represented using VOS Viewer to show trends, patterns and study interests throughout time. Findings The findings imply that e-waste can improve construction materials’ mechanical characteristics and sustainability. The results are inconsistent and suggest further optimization. e-Waste into construction has garnered scientific interest for its environmental, life cycle, and economic impacts. This field has great potential for improving e-waste material use, developing sophisticated prediction models, studying environmental implications, economic analysis, policy formulation, novel construction methods, global cooperation and public awareness. This study shows that e-waste can be used in sustainable building. It stresses this area’s need for research and innovation. This lays the groundwork for using electronic trash in buildings, which promotes a circular economy and environmental sustainability. Research limitations/implications The findings underscore the critical role of ongoing research and innovation in leveraging e-waste for sustainable building practices. This study lays the groundwork for integrating e-waste into construction, contributing to the advancement of a circular economy and environmental sustainability. Social implications The social implications of integrating e-waste into construction are significant. Using e-waste not only addresses environmental concerns but also promotes social sustainability by creating new job opportunities in the recycling and construction sectors. It fosters community awareness and responsibility towards sustainable practices and waste management. Additionally, this approach can reduce construction costs, making building projects more accessible and potentially lowering housing prices. Originality/value This research contributes to the field by offering a bibliometric analysis and comprehensive assessment of e-waste in concrete construction materials, highlighting its global significance.

Seeking the “best CLCs practice” in China: A case study based on a conceptual framework of education entrepreneurship

AbstractRural adult schools, implemented by Community Learning Centers (CLCs) as part of the Capacity Building Project, face inadequate and irregular funding in China. Moreover, these schools lack technical guidelines for project implementation, posing additional challenges. This study employed the “entrepreneurship‐impact” matrix conceptual framework to conduct a case study and identify best practices related to CLC operation. Revealed through the study is an educational entrepreneurship model for implementing CLC projects. Resources, regulations, and outsider technical support shape educational entrepreneurship, with all factors influencing project implementation through the mediation of entrepreneurship. However, this influence is conditioned by loosened regulation. This study concludes that best practices emerge only when external conditions favor entrepreneurship and suggests that greater attention should be directed toward fostering circumstances conducive to educational entrepreneurship.

Automat Bill of Quantities for School Buildings Projects Using BIM

Automat Bill of Quantities for School Buildings Projects Using BIM

Adaptability of BIM technology to mitigate the cost overruns in design and build projects

Purpose Cost overruns are an inevitable issue in design and build (D&B) projects. In D&B projects, causes for cost overruns can be managed by adopting appropriate building information modelling (BIM) functions. Because there is a research gap in synergy between the use of BIM for mitigating cost overruns in D&B projects, this study aims to evaluate the adaptability of BIM to manage cost overrun issues in them. Design/methodology/approach Research objectives were attained through a quantitative research approach adopting the Delphi technique, which consists of three rounds of a questionnaire survey. Through statistical tools, the collected data were analysed. Findings This research revealed the ten most crucial causes for cost overruns in D&B projects, where continuous changes in designs and drawings are the top causes. Change and revision management and interoperability are the most crucial BIM functions to address the aforementioned cause. Subsequently, 16 enablers, 26 barriers and 19 strategies to implement BIM to manage the identified significant causes of cost overruns were overviewed. Originality/value This study addresses the literature gap pertaining to the cost overrun in D&B projects and the application of BIM by studying the causes for cost overrun, suggesting BIM functions to mitigate the above cause. Moreover, this study assessed the probable barriers and enablers for BIM adoption in construction projects from D&B perspective.