ABSTRACT
PurposeThis research presents a comprehensive review of the literature on the barriers to incorporating indoor environmental quality (IEQ) principles into building designs. The aim was to identify these barriers in the literature and subsume them under broad categories for the development of a framework showing the interrelationships among the barriers.Design/methodology/approachThe research design used a systematic desktop review which comprised of three levels of screening. The first level allowed for a broad selection of papers;the second level of screening was done to limit the results to papers within the construction industry, and the third level of screening limited the documents strictly to the publication period of 2000–2021.FindingsTwenty-four (24) barriers were identified in the literature, including lack of integrated design teams, which ranked the highest in appearance, high initial costs, poor market for IEQ buildings and higher design charges among others. The identified barriers were classified into six (6) categories namely capacity barriers, economic barriers, process-related barriers, cultural barriers, client-related barriers and steering barriers.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study would enable practitioners and policymakers to better understand what is preventing the widespread adoption of IEQ designs in the built environment and devise actionable strategies to overcome them. It adds to the body of knowledge on IEQ research by categorizing the various barriers that prevent the delivery of IEQ projects.Social implicationsThe developed barriers in this research can serve as a useful checklist to future researchers who may want to validate the barriers to IEQ designs in empirical studies and in different settings.Originality/valueThe interconnectivity revealed by the web-like framework allows for an appreciation of the various barriers of IEQ adoption which would help in expanding the current knowledge on IEQ beyond the narrow scope of isolated barriers. The fact that the papers selected in this study are not limited geographically, underscores the wide applicability of the findings in the global construction industry.
ABSTRACT
The year 2020 has been an exceptional one worldwide;it has imposed new norms on the ways of living and business as usual practices. With the outbreak of COVID-19 in December 2019, a sudden shift was witnessed in many sectors such as education, transportation, tourism, construction, health and business. Health and safety measures enforced either the abandonment of some buildings such as schools, theaters, malls, and other public buildings, or the stay-at-home option in many nations. Residential buildings, therefore, became places to rest, study, work, and entertain, and public buildings witnessed alternating occupancy based on the health protocols. This research investigates how COVID-19 has altered and impacted the use of buildings in cases of crisis and lockdown. It then investigates the future of buildings post COVID-19, referring to sustainable and smart buildings as the way ahead. Features of sustainable and smart buildings are compared to the requirements of buildings post COVID-19 based on the literature review. Finally, this paper also provides an insight into Bahraini architects’ vision of public buildings post COVID-19. A survey was used to obtain how designers and architects in Bahrain envision buildings post COVID-19. The survey also measures if any changes have already been applied to buildings during this period. The survey results indicate that around 60% percent of architects believe that the future of the building stock in Bahrain will change to incorporate smart and sustainable buildings. © 2022 by authors. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Data collection and review are the building blocks of academic research regardless of the discipline. The gathered and reviewed data, however, need to be validated in order to obtain accurate information. The Delphi consensus is known as a method for validating the data. However, several studies have shown that this method is time-consuming and requires a number of rounds to complete. Until now, there has been no clear evidence that validating data by a Delphi consensus is more significant than by a general consensus. In this regard, if data validation between both methods are not significantly different, then just using a general consensus method is sufficient, easier, and less time-consuming. Hence, this study aims to find out whether or not data validation by a Delphi consensus method is more significant than by a general consensus method. This study firstly collected and reviewed the data of sustainable building criteria, secondly validated these data by applying each consensus method, and finally made a comparison between both consensus methods. The results showed that seventeen of the valid criteria obtained from the general consensus and reduced by the Delphi consensus were found to be inconsistent for sustainable building assessments in Cambodia. Therefore, this study concludes that using the Delphi consensus method is more significant in validating the gathered and reviewed data. This experiment contributes to the selection and application of consensus methods in validating data, information, or criteria, especially in engineering fields.