Construction Life Cycle Research Articles

An overview of the Necessities, Challenges & Outcomes of Building Information Modeling (BIM) Framework used in Project Management

Building Information Modeling (BIM) is gaining attention worldwide due to its assistances during the entire building’s construction life cycle covering all phases of project from commencement to accomplishment. BIM integrates different disciplines by effective communication, analyzes the project systems for constructability, estimates the cost and time of projects at any time using quantity takeoffs. Notwithstanding that fact Pakistan like other developing countries is lagging in Building Information Modeling (BIM) adoption. To facilitate the adoption of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the AEC industry, the purpose of this research study is to identify the important factors for BIM adoption among construction engineers of Pakistan to carry out the awareness.
 It is found statistically that Building Information Modeling (BIM) capability is most important factors for the adoption of BIM among the construction engineers in Pakistan having the factors of motivation and management support which positively effect on BIM adoption in Pakistan. The trainings are very important to increase the BIM adoption in the industry.

Suggestions for safety coordinator’s roles at each construction stage (client, designer, supervisor, and contractor) to improve safety and health activities in South Korea

The law and various systems are necessary to efficiently manage safety in the construction process. However, policy almost always focuses on the contractor stage because of the high risk of accidents. The objective of this study is to suggest practical roles to reduce construction accidents by considering the organically linked characterization of each stage (client, designer, supervisor, and contractor) in construction to realize preventive policies. First, the Construction Technology Promotion Act and Occupational Safety and Health Act, overarching laws in South Korea applicable to construction safety, are reviewed. Next, the basic implemented roles of each stage are summarized to satisfy safety and health activities. Subsequently, a questionnaire is developed to diagnose the implementation level under current conditions using multiple-choice questions to easily gather responses and short answers. The survey was conducted with the safety coordinators (clients, designers, supervisors, and contractors) to determine their rates of accidents, contracting rankings, recommendations by the council, and ease of access. Through the surveying results, the current status of South Korea's construction safety system is examined, and rational roles to interconnect the various elements of this system are suggested. This study is significant because it investigates the safety level of the construction life cycle. Our suggestions are expected to play a critical role at each construction stage in reducing the accident rates of construction in South Korea.

Frazil ice jam risk assessment method for water transfer projects based on design scheme

Abstract Frazil ice jam risk assessment is an important method to improve the operational safety of water transfer projects. A frazil ice jam assessment method was developed based on project design conditions to ensure the risk level of frazil ice jam. A frazil ice jam risk assessment indicator system was incorporated into the method that included three first-level indicators, such as ice production, special hydraulic structure and basic design parameters, and 17 third-level indicators for calculation analysis. Then, a standard assessment system was proposed, and an analytic hierarchy process method was used to determine the magnitude of the frazil ice jam risk. Finally, the method was used to study the Middle Route of the South-to-North Water Diversion Project (MRSNWDP) from the Guyunhe to Beijumahe canals. The results showed that all of the canal pools had frazil ice jam risk levels between III and IV, of which approximately 15% of the pools have risk level IV, and the canal pools with risk level IV were reported to have ice jam incidents, and it suggested that the ice condition prediction, engineering operation process in winter, engineering measures for disaster reduction and emergency plan refinement need to be strengthened for the pools with risk level IV. Therefore, the method of frazil ice jam risk assessment based on project design conditions can perform well in both the built-operating stage and the design stage of water transfer projects. Frazil ice jam risk prevention is a task through the full life-cycle of water project construction, it is necessary to do risk assessment work at design stage, and the work should be written into the national standard.

Comparative Assessment of Asphalt Volatile Organic Compounds Emission from field to laboratory

The quantifying evaluations of asphalt volatile organic compounds (VOCs) throughout the road construction process are growing concerned since VOCs are widely recognized for its adverse effects on both human health and environmental issues. This paper made a comparison on VOCs emission assessment between actual construction field and laboratory simulation, aiming to verify their research gap at similar applied conditions. Atmospheric sampling pump and adsorption tube were used to record the VOCs samples from practical construction site, involving in hot asphalt storage tank, mixture plant, and paving site. Correspondingly, a sealed simulator for experimental VOCs collection was set-up in laboratory to investigate the VOCs amount released in different temperatures. Moreover, thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) was applied to analyze the detailed chemical composition and released quantification of VOCs samples. The results indicated that substance varieties and content in asphalt VOCs had considerable dependence on heating temperature. Both oxygen and thermality will trigger the increasing generation of hydrocarbon derivatives (HYD) in asphalt VOCs. For construction site, the investigated scenarios behaved great difference due to the complexity from on-site factors, however, approximating 74% of aliphatic hydrocarbons (ALH) tested in laboratory were fitted with the main components detected in construction site. Therefore, experimental simulation in laboratory could obtain a workable effect in signalling practical VOCs amount and compositions released in construction sites. This study provided a significant reference in connecting construction sites and laboratory research toward asphalt VOCs quantification. It laid down a basis for further total VOCs emission amount estimation and environmental effect assessment in the life-cycle of asphalt pavement construction, which is little concerned in corresponding research field.

Exploring Critical Factors Influencing Green Development of the Power Grid Based on DEMATEL-ISM Model

Under the background of the Paris Agreement and Energy Revolution, the power grid, as a hub of energy supply, needs to explore the influencing factors of the green development to clear the development path. By analysing the framework of green power grid development, a three-level power grid green development indicator system including the power grid coordination upstream and downstream and the life cycle of power grid construction is constructed. The DEMATEL-ISM integration method was used to analyse the structure of the first-level indicators. Then, the results were analysed from three aspects: deep-rooted influencing factors, middle-level indirect influencing factors and surface-level direct influencing factors. The research results show that 22 influencing factors are interrelated, forming a hierarchical structure with 6 levels of influencing factors, of which 7 indicators are key factors. The study clarifies the impact of the power grid as a configuration and trading platform on the ecological environment, and provides an implementation path for the green development of the power grid to promote the coordinated of the power grid and the environment.

A Study on the Application of Blockchain Technology in the Construction Industry

Blockchain technology has been recognized as one of the emerging technologies that can significantly innovate many industries. Major advantages of using blockchain technology includes reducing transaction costs, preventing data forgery and alteration, and further flexibility. The construction industry is generally considered as an industry that has great potentials for blockchain technology utilization mainly due to the high volume of transactions among various entities. Despite the perceived positive impact, there have been few cases of blockchain applications within the construction industry. This study is conducted with an aim of finding ways to apply blockchain technology to the construction industry. In order to identify potential application areas, construction lifecycle and project management knowledge areas are used in developing a survey questionnaire. Data collected from the survey is analyzed by employing importance performance analysis (IPA) method considering both applicability of the technology and anticipated impact from utilizing the technology. In relation to the construction project lifecycle, ‘Project Cost/Change Management’, ‘Contract Bidding and Formation’, and ‘Procurement Evaluation’ are emerged as top three candidates for blockchain application with high applicability and impact. Regarding the knowledge area, ‘Procurement Management’ and ‘Cost Management’ are identified as the main blockchain application areas with high applicability and impact. All the identified specific construction tasks with high applicability and impact are related to ‘Procurement’, ‘Contract’, and ‘Cost’. Therefore, it is reasonable to start focusing blockchain convergence efforts these areas and then expand them as the technology matures.

LCA evaluation system and benefit analysis of green Highway technology

Aiming at the problem of all kinds of green road technology is difficult to compare with, energy conservation and emissions reduction from the technical feasibility and economic benefits, etc. Build green road technologies LCA evaluation system is put forward, and with G312 Suzhou western engineering comprehensive benefit analysis as an example, the comprehensive benefit of the most significant, have scale, resource investment suitable green road technologies; the breakthrough and innovation of technical bottleneck problem is the fundamental power to promote the development of green highway. The premise of integrating green concept into the whole life cycle of highway construction is not only the preliminary planning layout research according to local conditions, but also the basis of reasonable selection of suitable green highway technology.

BIM-based life-cycle environmental assessment of prefabricated buildings

PurposeThis research aims to propose a comparative environmental analysis of conventional and prefabricated construction techniques utilizing a building information modelling (BIM) technique.Design/methodology/approachA set of indicators are selected to assess the environmental emissions throughout the construction life cycle, based on BIM platform. An existing project involving ten apartment buildings in Shanghai is selected as a case study.FindingsThe results reveal that prefabricated construction demonstrates environment-friendly performance with some exceptions of acidification and mineral resource consumption. Environmental impacts can also be further reduced by increasing the projected area ratio and percentage of project prefabrication.Originality/valueOverall, the proposed method can be used to identify relevant environmental merits and for decision-making of appropriate construction techniques in building construction projects.

The place of virtual structures in design of engineer process

In this article the content and essence of the remote work in design of engineer processes is discussed. Design is one of the key stages of life cycle of construction, so it defines the most important parameters of personnel work. Virtual structures in project production have the role of structural units formed by the developed methods, which strive to complete the maximum number of qualitative projects in the shortest time. This method contributes to the empowerment of all independent members, united by a single goal in a working group, what improves the result and quality of the final product. Such progress is due to the improvement of working conditions, because with the creation of virtual structures, it became possible to perform assigned tasks outside the workplace.

BIM-based preliminary estimation method considering the life cycle cost for decision-making in the early design phase

ABSTRACT Prediction of construction cost and life-cycle cost through preliminary estimate is very important for the economic decision-making in the early phase of building projects. However, the conventional preliminary estimate has a high error range and low reliability because it relies only on the basic information of projects. In addition, the consideration of the life-cycle cost of the building is insufficient, causing problems such as budget shortage, inaccurate budgeting, and life-cycle cost increase. In this study, we propose a method of preliminary estimate based on BIM below the level of detail 2 and actual construction cost data to support the decision-making in the early design phase. To verify the proposed method, a web-based prototype was implemented and applied to three test cases. The range of error rate for three test cases was 1.93–7.16% (average error rate: 5.18%). It satisfies the criteria (−30% ~ +50%) of the “American Association of Cost Engineering”. As a result, the feasibility of the proposed model was validated. It is expected to be utilized as useful information in the decision-making occurring in the early design phase, and this allows for a rapid economic review of the design alternatives, a reduced LCC, and a shortened decision-making time.

Potential Review on Energy Analysis Attributes for in 6 Dimension Application in Building Information Modelling (BIM)

Rapid advancement on digitalisation is changing the way buildings are planned, designed, built and managed nowadays. A collaborative computer-based environment known as Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the advancements introduced as a platform to boost up the efficiency of the construction industry. However, poorly designed, constructed and managed building or infrastructure contribute to environmental issues such as CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Thus, attachment of sustainability element in BIM not only increase the efficiency of the project but also can help to plan, design and construct in a more environmentally friendly way. A study on the overall energy use throughout the construction life cycle is needed to identify the most critical stages and to develop energy-reduction strategies via BIM. Thus, this paper provides an intensive review of BIM understanding, its energy analysis practices in the construction phase and existing building environmental assessment tools in BIM. To achieve this, an in-depth review was carried out focusing on the content analysis of a few journal articles related to BIM, energy analysis and sustainability assessment tool. Hence, this paper contributes by discussing the wide variety of building environmental assessment instruments and categorising existing tools to be used in the BIM.

Preface

4th INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON CONSTRUCTION AND BUILDING ENGINEERING & 12th REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN CIVIL ENGINEERING (ICONBUILD & RCCE 2019) is jointly organized by AUN/SEED.net, UTM Construction Research Centre (UTM-CRC) of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Universitas Sriwijaya, and Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM). The joint committee was formed to manage and organized the 4th International Conference on Construction and Building Engineering and the 12th Regional Conference in Civil Engineering. Nowadays construction industries are facing various challenges and issues in terms of sustainability which has an impact towards climate change, future needs and usage of natural resources. The theme of “Innovative and Sustainability - A Way Forward in Construction” for ICONBUILD-RCCE 2019 is timely, where it covers the built environment and discusses various critical issues, perhaps trying to reduce the negative impact produced by the construction activities. The impact on environment such as carbon emission, inclement weather, unsustainable usage of natural resources, and inefficient usage of technology are among issues that require attention of the construction players. This conference has successfully attracted more than 100 technical papers in the related field. The technical session have discussed and deliberated pertinent issues with respect to challenges and improvement to the construction life cycle activities.Technical Editors:1. Prof. Ir. Dr. Mahmood Md Tahir2. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdul Rahman Mohd Sam3. Assoc. Prof. Arizu bin Sulaiman4. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Norhazilan Bin Md. Noor5. Assoc. Prof. Dr. Shek Poi Ngian6. Dr. Nor Hasanah Abdul Shukor Lim7. Dr. Ain Naadia Binti Mazlan8. Dr. Eeydzah Binti Aminudin

A Study of Current situation, Difficulties, and Advantages of implementing BIM in the Construction Sector in Northern Iraq

Building Information Modeling (BIM) as an effective Technique of construction projects management has been adopted by the AEC (Architectural, Engineering, and Construction) industry. BIM has substantial benefits over the whole construction lifecycle. In spite of the importance of applying BIM in construction projects, It looks there is fewer study presented to rank the difficulties factors of implementing BIM , also there is less study conducted to show the advantages of using BIM in the construction sector in Northern Iraq. The major objective of this study is to investigate the current situation of applying BIM in the construction sector in Northern Iraq, examine the difficulties of implementing BIM and identify the advantages of implement BIM in the construction industry. A questionnaire was prepared and distributed to 276 engineers in three Governorates (Erbil, Kirkuk, and Sulaymaniyah) in both sectors (private and public). The collected data analyzed using the relative importance index (RII) and mean to rank the difficulties and advantages of implement BIM in Northern Iraq. The analysis results revealed that the most significant difficulties factors in adopting BIM in Northern Iraq are lack of education and syllabus in college regarding the sophisticated package, e.g., ArchiCAD and Revit, there is no training and tutoring for BIM applications in government departments and lack of government supporting and encouraging implementing BIM. The results also revealed the most significant advantages of using BIM are reduce risks in the design stage, improve building design and models, and improve the quality of the building.

Decision‐making for the efficient life cycle management of structures

AbstractStructures made of structural concrete are designed to withstand different time‐dependent or time‐independent influences during their expected service lifetime. Most of these influences can be considered in a sufficient manner by mathematical and statistical approaches, while some do appear combined with certain structural, environmental, and material boundary conditions. These can, in most cases, not be foreseen, verified or they change during the lifecycle of a concrete structure. It is therefore obligatory to rely on an efficient conservation strategy for each structure to ensure its safety and overall economic efficiency. For this purpose, the fib Model Code for Concrete Structures 2010 already suggests a general workflow to follow a predefined or provisional conservation strategy and condition control procedure. These existing proposals are yet of very general nature and disclaim practical decision‐making rules to survey and assess existing structures as part of a condition‐based conservation strategy. In this contribution, the main decision‐making options at an early stage of a construction's life cycle management are pointed out, considering their importance for a structure's time‐dependent performance and their relation to continuative decisions for conservation management. Proposals for the implementation of practical advice for condition‐based conservation strategies in international guidelines are made.

Evaluation of Bridge Project Variants from the LCC Perspective

The lowest purchase price is the easiest criterion in tendering for civil engineering. However, in view of the longevity of these buildings and their social significance, this criterion is insufficient. Renovation and maintenance costs play an important role in the construction life cycle and need to be taken into consideration, too. The structural design clearly influences the operating costs of the building, which can be predicted. The paper presents an example of how to approach this issue. The methodology is focused on bridge structures. The paper presents a software application for the calculation of renovation and maintenance costs which are generated from the following structural elements: abutments, pillars, deck (bearing structure), bearings, bridge deck insulation, drainage, roadway, cornice, railing, crash barriers, expansion joints and noise barriers. The structural elements can be specified in the application in predefined type / material variants. If the user uses material that is not included in the database, this situation is solved by adding the appropriate element to the database. If a combination of materials is used for one component, these materials are defined as separate structural elements. Bridge structures are evaluated over a lifetime of 100 years.

AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS (EFA) OF BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING USES TOWARDS BIM ADOPTION FOR BIM-BASED PROJECTS: CONTRACTORS PERSPECTIVE

Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a modelling technology that is associated with a set of processes to produce, communicate, and analyse digital information in a construction life-cycle. BIM is important for various stakeholders including contractors to adopt in order to boost project performance. However, the previous report showed that the adoption of BIM among contractors is still low compared to other stakeholders. This is because the contractors have no profound understanding of BIM and its requirements. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to determine the uses of BIM from the contractors’ perspective by adopting BIM from the planning phase to the construction phase as well as to determine the reliability and validity of the research instrument. A component questionnaire on Building Information Modelling (BIM) had been developed to determine the uses of BIM among contractors in Malaysia. This study was conducted in Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which involved 100 respondents, in order to affirm the development of valid and reliable instrument. The reliability test and Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) were used to measure the instrument to produce an empirical verification of the validity and reliability of the questionnaires. Literature search and a pilot study on contractors involved in BIM-based projects were carried out from which the appropriate items were extracted. From these, twenty (20) items remained and were to be completed in the study: fourteen (14) items were BIM uses from the planning to the designing phase and six (6) items were BIM uses in the construction phase. The fourteen (14) items used to measure from the planning to the design phase comprised existing condition, cost estimation, phase planning, programming, site analysis, design review, design authoring, structural analysis, lighting analysis, energy analysis, mechanical analysis, other engineering analysis, sustainability evaluation (LEED), and code validation. Meanwhile, six (6) BIM uses for the construction phase consisted of 3D coordination, site utilizing planning, construction system design, digital fabrication, 3D control and planning, and record model. All twenty (20) items had high reliability index value, which was between 0.7 and 0.8. Accordingly, the factor analysis outcome resulted in two (2) components, obtained with 40.938% of cumulative variance, while the factor loading for each component ranged from 0.5 to 0.7, reflecting the dimension of the two (2) components. Hence, the result obtained proved that the instrument of this study had high reliability and validity.

How Do Children Affect the Need to Save for Retirement?

Children consume a substantial portion of a household’s income while living at home, but are usually financially independent by the time the parents reach retirement age. Relatively little attention has been paid to how children affect parents’ need to save for retirement. In this paper I use expenditure data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics to construct life cycle expenditure patterns from households with children and childless households, comparing the two to gain insights on how children affect household consumption and how these differences may affect retirement planning strategies for parents versus childless adults. For households who had children, expenditures from ages 65 through 69 are 3 percent lower than from ages 45 to 49, while for childless households expenditures rise 33 percent from ages 45 to 49 through ages 65-69. Similarly, parental household expenditures at age 65-69 are equal to about 80 percent of earnings from ages 45-49, versus 94 percent for nonparental households. These life cycle expenditure patterns appear sufficiently distinct that both households planning for retirement and analysts evaluating the adequacy of household retirement saving should consider the presence of children in the household as a factor affecting the wealth necessary for retirees to maintain their pre-retirement standard of living in retirement.

GIM and BIM

Geospatial information modelling (GIM) is used for decades to document phenomena of the real world. Visualizing and analysing GIM data are usually accomplished by geographic information system tools. The construction industry, on the other hand, uses usually computer-aided design (CAD) tools to plan buildings. With the introduction of building information modelling (BIM), modelling in CAD was enhanced to the entire life cycle of constructions. BIM and GIM are not independent of each other, e.g. BIM uses geospatial data for planning purposes. However, integrating both is challenging since the modelling methods differ. The paper describes approaches to establish interoperability between models of both domains. A literature review reveals the problems and challenges different researchers tackled to achieve interoperability.

Research on Creating Ecological Highway for Serving Construction of Powerful Transportation Country

Green transportation is an important feature and intrinsic requirement of a powerful transportation country. Therefore, we shall fully implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, effectively implement the new development concept, further promote the development of green transportation and serve the construction of a powerful transportation country. An important part of green transportation system is the ecological highway. Therefore, this paper firstly clarifies the concept, connotation and characteristics of ecological highway, defines the whole life cycle of ecological highway construction, that is, different control points in each stage from planning, design, construction to operation, management and maintenance, introduces the built ecological highway in China, proposes the implementation scheme of ecological highway construction based on the specific requirements and key technologies and finally elaborates the safeguard measures for ecological highway construction. Besides, this paper also provides a reference for clarifying the idea and development of ecological highway construction.

Stakeholder Participation in Project Planning: Prerequisite to Effective Completion of Urban Road Transport Infrastructure Projects in Kenya

Stakeholder involvement in the project planning process should include a variety of actors with different roles and responsibilities at the planning phase of the project life cycle. Failure to adequately plan greatly reduces the project’s chances of successfully accomplishing its goals. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of stakeholder participation in project planning on the completion of urban road transport-infrastructure projects in Kenya. Pragmatic research paradigm was utilized for this study to facilitate mixed research methods. The study adopted descriptive survey and correlational research design. The target population was 1593. A sample size of 309 respondents was drawn utilizing purposive and simple random sampling procedures. A five point Likert type scale questionnaire was used to collect quantitative data while interview guides were used to collect qualitative data. The study found that stakeholder participation in project planning had a positive and significant influence on the completion of urban road transport infrastructure projects in Kenya (r = 0.838, R2 = 0.703, F (4, 209) = 123.43, p < 0.001 < 0.05). R2 = 0.703 indicating that stakeholder participation in project planning explains 70.3% of the variations in the completion of urban road transport infrastructure projects in Kenya. The study concluded that stakeholder participation in project planning significantly influences completion of urban road transport-infrastructure projects in Kenya. The study recommends the need to increase training and awareness on participation in project planning. The study also recommends the need to develop a guiding policy document detailing the importance of stakeholder participation in road construction life cycle in order to curb any future misgivings in implementation of these important socio-economic projects.