A strategic framework managing challenges of integrating lean construction and integrated project delivery on construction megaprojects, towards global integrated delivery transformative initiatives in multinational organisations

PurposeBuilt environment encounters substantial risks and challenges in its evolution towards sustainable development. International businesses and multinational engineering organisations face global connectivity challenges between business units, especially during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19), which has profoundly disrupted the construction industry throughout the world. That raises the need to manage global connectivity as a main strategic goal of multinational architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) organisations. This study aims to develop a strategic framework managing challenges of integrating lean construction (LC) and integrated project delivery (IPD) on construction megaprojects (CMPs) towards global integrated delivery (GID) transformative initiatives in multinational AEC organisations.Design/methodology/approach"Mixed research methods” involving a two-stage quantitative and qualitative research approach is adopted. The qualitative research methodology consists of a literature review to assess challenges to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs. There is an assessment of conceptualisation of LeanIPD&GID and GID strategy placements, development of LeanIPD&GID integration framework and future of work (FOW) global initiatives with multiple validations. The analysis involved semi-structured interviews and focus group techniques. Stage 2 consisted of an empirical questionnaire survey that shaped the foundation of analysis and findings of 190 respondents from 23 countries with an extensive cosmopolitan experience of megaprojects in construction. The survey examined a set of 20 challenges to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs resulting from a detailed analysis of extant literature after validation. Descriptive and inferential statistical tests were exploited for data analysis and percentage score analysis.FindingsThe research conceptualised LeanIPD&GID principles, proposed GID strategy placements, a framework for managing challenges of LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives, FOW global initiatives and key performance indicators (KPIs). It concluded that the most significant challenges to integrate of LeanIPD&GID on CMPs are "lack of governmental incentives, policies, regulations or legal frameworks”, "lack of client's awareness and IPD experience amongst key stakeholders”, "lack of organisation's senior-management and client's commitment to IPD approaches”, "resistance of industry to change from traditional procurement to IPD” and "lack of integrated synergies between LC, IPD working towards LeanIPD&GID”. Awareness of building information modelling (BIM) in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is higher than LC, and LC awareness is higher than IPD knowledge. While BIM adoption in the MENA region is higher than LC, LC is still taking its first steps, and IPD has little implementation. LeanBIM is slightly integrated, while LeanIPD integration is almost not present.Originality/valueThe research findings, conclusions and recommendations provide a proposed framework for implementation, KPIs and GID strategy placements for LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives to integrate LeanIPD&GID on CMPs and FOW global initiatives. This will allow project key stakeholders to place emphasis on managing LeanIPD&GID challenges identified in this research and commence GID strategies. The study has provided effective practical strategies for enhancing integration of LeanIPD&GID transformative initiatives on CMPs.

The changing role of BIM-facilitated facilities management in the post-COVID era: A systematic literature review

COVID-19 has become a long-term pandemic and pushed the re-interpretation of normality. Fighting against the pandemic and building a new normal in the post-COVID era requires constant and innovative approaches. Building information modeling (BIM) facilitated facilities management (FM) has been advocated as a powerful method to overcome the huge public health-related challenges. However, studies investigating the role of BIM-facilitated FM in the pandemic era are fragmented, and holistic knowledge is limited. Research objectives of this study are twofold: (1) to identify varying FM requirements after the outbreak of COVID-19, (2) to investigate how BIM-facilitated FM copes with changing requests in the pandemic period. To achieve the objectives, a systematic literature review was conducted. Currently, FM tends to be public health-centric, and highly emphasized requirements encompass the flexibility of space transformation for emergency purpose, effective and sufficient ventilation, reliable biosecurity, and strict anti-infection management. Based on centralized database and visualized model, BIM-facilitated FM enables space optimization, simulation and prediction of infection risk, monitoring and managing equipment operation, and effective information management, which enhances both hard and soft FM. This paper sheds light on the applications and directions of future BIM-facilitated FM research in protecting public health in the post-COVID era.

Use of KROQI as a Level-2 Common Data Environment in the French Construction Industry

The implementation of a common data environment (CDE) in the construction industry appears to be crucial for organizing and managing the flow of important information within construction projects effectively. However, it is observed that the investments and the costs associated with setting up such environments are often dissuasive, particularly for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). By launching the Plan BIM 2022 in 2017, the French government aimed to combat the emerging digital divide between large and small construction companies. At the heart of this state-funded plan was the development of a CDE-like collaborative platform called KROQI. The work presented in this article proposes a three-level matrix to characterize common data environments based on computer-supported collaboration work theories. The paper demonstrates how KROQI can be characterized as a level-2 CDE solution. Based on a preliminary study, it explores the perception and satisfaction of practitioners with respect to the features proposed by KROQI. The results show that, among the large variety of features proposed, some are hardly ever used. Therefore, while KROQI appears to be an excellent industry-wide solution aimed at federating initiatives towards digital collaboration centered around BIM models, there is definitely room for improvement.

Sustainable Building Standards, Codes and Certification Systems: The Status Quo and Future Directions in Saudi Arabia

Sustainable building practices are a response to environmental issues. Businesses and industries are assessing how their activities affect the environment. The architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industries have significant impacts on the environment and economy, while the industry is considered one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and has, therefore, been highlighted by researchers as a key area of intervention with a great potential to reduce environmental impacts. This paper critically reviews and evaluates the current state of sustainable building certification systems with the purpose of having a good understanding of the status quo and possibilities for future directions in Saudi Arabia. It reviews the academic literature on Saudi Arabia’s green/sustainable building codes, standards, certification systems, methods and tools. It starts by addressing sustainability in the broadest sense. Then, it investigates sustainability strategies and evaluates the building certification systems in Saudi Arabia, followed by an introduction to the new practice of sustainable healthcare building assessment. Life cycle assessment (LCA) and building information modelling (BIM) techniques have also been investigated. The paper introduces the updated Saudi Building Code (SBC) with further evaluation of the Saudi Green Building Code (SBC 1001-CR). Finally, the paper clearly highlights the key role of sustainable building practices and the need to develop a certification system that considers the new trends and the local context.

Guest editorial: KPIs to help develop the next normal in construction practice, teaching-learning and research

[...]this special issue contributes to priming the construction industry for the next normal by re-examining the emerging needs for reengineering or developing novel and more relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) to better measure the performance of construction projects, online teaching-learning and research following vast digital and other transformations triggered, if not accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic. [...]virtual FAT (vFAT) became a popular substitute for physical FAT. The paper showed construction digitisation such as VR, augmented reality (AR) and building information modelling (BIM) is highly cooperative as it can easily be made available for online learning. [...]the findings support construction educators to use online-based VR learning to promote efficient teaching of design buildability to students. The research papers cover findings related to a wide range of countries such as India, Malaysia, New Zealand, South Africa, Sri Lanka and USA, and the authors of the papers also represent several different institutions within or across countries. [...]this special issue provides a snapshot of various KPIs and metrics proposed for the next normal in construction, considering different contextual factors experienced by various different geographical regions across the world.

Construction Management Supported by BIM and a Business Intelligence Tool

The construction sector generates large amounts of heterogeneous and dynamic data characterized by their fragmentation throughout the life cycle of a project. Immediate and accurate access to that data is fundamental to the management, decision-making and analysis by construction owners, supervisors, managers, and technicians involved in the different phases of the project life cycle. However, since construction project data are diverse, dispersed, uncorrelated, and difficult to visualize, a reliable basis for decision-making can rarely be established by the management team. Aiming to bridge this gap, a methodology for data management during building construction by means of Data with BIM and Business Intelligence (BI) analysis tools was developed in this study. This methodology works by extracting data from 3D parametric model and integrating it with a BI tool, through which data are visualized and interrelated with the same database, the BIM model. To demonstrate the applicability of the methodology, a study case was carried out. It was shown that this methodology provides a collaborative platform for accurate data analysis to the construction management and supervision teams, allowing project stakeholders to access and update data in real-time, in permanent linkage with the BIM model. Additionally, improving the reliability of the decision-making process and ensuring project deliverability, the developed methodology contributes to a more sustainable management process by decreasing errors and resource consumption, including energy. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to present a methodology for data analysis with BIM models integrated with BI for sustainable construction management.

Augmented Reality in AEC Education: A Case Study

Augmented Reality (AR) is a Construction 4.0 technology that is seen as a site-extension of Building Information Modelling (BIM). In addition to the practical aspect within the design and construction processes AR can be used to support teaching through visualizations and interaction. This article presents a new AR platform called “AR-supported Teaching”, applicable for both Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) education and as a Construction 4.0 technology. The aim of this project is to increase the amount of AEC AR content available for education and to introduce students to the productive use of AR. During its development, special attention was paid to the needs of the AEC industry. Users can employ BIM models to create AR scenes before adding animations and annotations without requiring programming skills. The AR platform enables interaction with remote experts and is therefore also suitable for distance learning. In a pilot study, use cases were defined and students tested the usability of the applications. The results were positive and additional suggestions for improvement were made. The feedback and motivation of the students indicate that AR has a future in education, especially if enough AEC AR content and practical use cases are available. The latter also concerns the application of AR in AEC practice.

Defining a BIM-Enabled Learning Environment—An Adaptive Structuration Theory Perspective

Digitalization of the AEC-FM industry has resulted in the reassessment of knowledge, knowledge management, teaching and learning, workflows and networks, roles, and relevance. Consequently, new approaches to teaching and learning to meet the demands of new jobs and abilities, new channels of communication, and a new awareness are required. Building Information Modelling (BIM) offers opportunities to address some of the current challenges through BIM-enabled education and training. This research defines the requisite characteristics of a BIM-enabled Learning Environment (BLE)—a web-based platform that facilitates BIM-enabled education and training—in order to develop a prototype version of the BLE. Using a mixed-methods research design and an Adaptive Structuration Theory (AST) perspective for interpreting the findings, 33 features and 5 distinct intentions behind those features were identified. These findings are valuable in taking forward the development of the BLE as they suggest a BLE requires the integration of functions from three existing types of information technology application (virtual learning environments, virtual collaboration platforms, and BIM applications). This study will inform the design of a web-based BLE for enhanced AEC-FM education and training, and it also provides a starting point for researchers to apply AST to evaluate the use of a BLE in different educational and training contexts.

METHODOLOGY OF IMMERSIVE VIDEO APPLICATION: THE CASE STUDY OF A VIRTUAL TOUR

A Virtual Tour is an interactive presentation of real places accessible directly with an Internet browser with no additional installations of apps of plugins. Once, 360° photos are recorded and processed (stitched into spherical panoramas), editing of a Virtual Tour (walk) enables connection of spherical panoramic photos (or videos) into interactive presentations. For an enhanced experience and stand-alone presenting ability, features are added, like natural-sounding voice for text-to-speech descriptions and embedded videos. During multiple virtual tour presentations, users, viewers and presenters reported exceptional usability and an immersive experience. Virtual Tours have great potential to reshape the future education process and establish a new benchmark for presentation. The Virtual Tours application is expected to be used in education, tourism and future building sites or industry, as a key component for workforce briefings, and "as build" documenting of various stages of build, with the possibilities to integrate into Building Information Modelling (BIM) models.Alternate :Virtualni ogled je interaktivna predstavitev resničnih krajev, dostopnih neposredno z internetnim brskalnikom brez dodatnih namestitev aplikacij ali kakršnihkoli vtičnikov. Ko so 360 -stopinjske fotografije posnete in ustrezno obdelane, sledi urejanje virtualnega ogleda (sprehoda), ki omogoči povezavo sferičnih panoramskih fotografij (ali videov) v interaktivne predstavitve. Za boljšo izkušnjo in samostojno predstavitev je posameznim panoramam dodan naravni zvok glasu, ki opisuje prostor ali predstavi željeno področje. Po večkratnih predstavitvah uporabniki, gledalci in predstavitelji poročajo o izjemni uporabnosti platforme. Virtualni sprehod ima zaradi poglobljene izkušnje velik potencial za preoblikovanje novodobnega izobraževalnega procesa in vzpostavitev novih meril predstavljanja. Pričakuje se, da se bodo virtualni ogledi uporabljali predvsem v izobraževanju, turizmu, na gradbiščih prihodnosti ter v industriji kot ključna tehnologija za napotke delovni sili in dokumentiranje različnih stopenj gradnje in razvoja z možnostjo vključitve posnetkov v modele gradbenega informacijskega modeliranja (BIM).

A Review of Building Information Modelling (BIM) for Facility Management (FM): Implementation in Public Organisations

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been extensively studied and applied within the AEC sector, particularly in design and construction. In recent years, Facility Management (FM) processes are becoming more digitalised, thus requiring effective BIM-FM integration. BIM adoption in many countries, such as the UK, Italy and Brazil, has been publicly driven. Generally, adoption was targeted at design and construction implementation, with little effort in framing public action for FM implementation. The lack of an integrated approach for BIM-FM implementation resulted in numerous bespoken implementation approaches that mimic the private sector and hinder knowledge exchange. Therefore, there is a need for assessing and amalgamating knowledge about BIM-FM for public organisations. This research aims to leverage knowledge about BIM-FM in the public domain by analysing and classifying articles published between 2010–2021. The research was carried out through a systematic review and comparative thematic analysis investigating the use of BIM for different public buildings (e.g., schools and hospitals) and the implementation for FM purposes. Research results outline prevalent trends and areas of research from three perspectives: people, process and technology. Results show an increasing number of publications about BIM-FM. However, the divide between BIM-FM for public and private organisations is unequal. BIM-FM research for public organisations is still limited and lacks standardisation. This state-of-the-art review makes an incremental contribution to knowledge by identifying progress, gaps and new industry directions on the subject matter.

Using new tools for building construction teaching during the sanitary emergency

Covid-19 pandemic has originated that a great number of countries’ governments demand universities to teach online classes, presenting a challenge to redesign the courses that had construction site visits included in the curricula. The purpose of this work is to present the successful strategies employed on the teaching of building construction, applied in a third-year civil engineering program of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. The methodology was designed so that one can adapt the pandemic and post-pandemic stages proposing a balanced use of virtual platforms and software for video conferences and laboratories, incorporating tools like Building Information Modeling, Lean construction, among other systems. Given the sanitary emergency, the construction site visits were replaced by virtual visits to construction projects generated with scanner laser technology, photogrammetry, and BIM, generating digital twins that were stored in online platforms. Students toured the construction project virtually and in an interactive manner, and along with the description of the professionals in charge of the project they were able to reach a good level of comprehension of the organization and the construction processes. In addition, students developed the layout plans of the temporary works with BIM models. On the other hand, the course taught to generate and analyze the unit prices and quantity surveying of activities using the BIM methodology with 5D software, developing the project budget. The success of this methodology is shown through the notable quality of papers and evaluations taken, through the results of surveys taken on students--which had an effectiveness rate of 96.4 % --, and on the improvement opportunities determined. This paper presents tools relevant that may be adapted by the academia and practitioners related to building constructions, for virtual or face-to-face learning.

Teaching Design Management tools during a pandemic: A Peruvian case study

During the year 2020, the sanitary emergency norm forced universities to teach under the remote learning method, representing a challenge of designing courses that require high effectiveness. The purpose of this work is to present the strategies that were successfully applied during the teaching of design management tools for a building project, implemented in a course part of the Civil Engineering master of the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru. The methodology considered the effect of the Covid-19 Pandemic and had as objective to develop soft skills and employability, for which a balanced use of virtual platforms as well as software was proposed for videoconference and laboratories. On the other hand, during this course, students developed a proposal for integrated planning and management of the design phase using tools of norms and guidelines of project management systems such as ISO 21500, Lean Construction, Building Information Modeling, PMBOK of the Project Management Institute, Integrated Project Delivery, among others. Under this framework, the participation of stakeholders, multicriteria decision making, development of project design deliverables and project sequence was analyzed, which presented an important change under the collaborative contracts. The success of this methodology is reflected in the high quality of final papers and expositions, the result of surveys taken - effectiveness of 99%-, and in the improvement opportunities detected. This paper presents important information that may be adapted by academic and practitioners during the phases of the pandemic and post-pandemic.

Assessment of Disused Public Buildings: Strategies and Tools for Reuse of Healthcare Structures

The aim of this paper, in line with the 2030 European Agenda and 2021 Italian “Recovery and Resilience Plan” objectives, is to define an evaluation methodology and tool to support public administrations to detect buildings, currently unused or underused, that might be apt for transformation interventions. The focus is on historical Italian healthcare buildings since these show widespread decay and neglect. A five-step methodology has been developed: screening of public assets;classification, evaluation, and identification of buildings, based on the “potential index”;GIS mapping and inventory;selection of buildings for in-depth analysis;BIM digitization and definition of the “transformability index”. In the fifth phase, an evaluation tool is integrated into the BIM software to automatically calculate the transformability index of each building using six indicators: usability, fragmentation, modifiability, roof implementation, external envelope, and window-to-wall ratio. The “transformability index” helps define the most appropriate buildings to intervene with for reuse. Building transformation is connected to construction features and layout organization and it is limited by architectural, structural, and artistic constraints.

Digital Twins in Built Environments: An Investigation of the Characteristics, Applications, and Challenges

The concept of digital twins is proposed as a new technology-led advancement to support the processes of the design, construction, and operation of built assets. Commonalities between the emerging definitions of digital twins describe them as digital or cyber environments that are bidirectionally-linked to their physical or real-life replica to enable simulation and data-centric decision making. Studies have started to investigate their role in the digitalization of asset delivery, including the management of built assets at different levels within the building and infrastructure sectors. However, questions persist regarding their actual applications and implementation challenges, including their integration with other digital technologies (i.e., building information modeling, virtual and augmented reality, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and cloud computing). Within the built environment context, this study seeks to analyze the definitions and characteristics of a digital twin, its interactions with other digital technologies used in built asset delivery and operation, and its applications and challenges. To achieve this aim, the research utilizes a thorough literature review and semi-structured interviews with ten industry experts. The literature review explores the merits and the relevance of digital twins relative to existing digital technologies and highlights potential applications and challenges for their implementation. The data from the semi-structured interviews are classified into five themes: definitions and enablers of digital twins, applications and benefits, implementation challenges, existing practical applications, and future development. The findings provide a point of departure for future research aimed at clarifying the relationship between digital twins and other digital technologies and their key implementation challenges.

Interoperability of Digital Tools for the Monitoring and Control of Construction Projects

Monitoring the progress on a construction site during the construction phase is crucial. An inadequate understanding of the project status can lead to mistakes and inappropriate actions, causing delays and increased costs. Monitoring and controlling projects via digital tools would reduce the risk of error and enable timely corrective actions. Although there is currently a wide range of technologies for these purposes, these technologies and interoperability between them are still limited. Because of this, it is important to know the possibilities of integration and interoperability regarding their implementation. This article presents a bibliographic synthesis and interpretation of 30 nonconventional digital tools for monitoring progress in terms of field data capture technologies (FDCT) and communication and collaborative technologies (CT) that are responsible for information processing and management. This research aims to perform an integration and interoperability analysis of technologies to demonstrate their potential for monitoring and controlling construction projects during the execution phase. A network analysis was conducted, and the results suggest that the triad formed by building information modeling (BIM), unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and photogrammetry is an effective tool;the use of this set extends not only to monitoring and control, but also to all phases of a project.

THE SIXTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SMART CITY APPLICATIONS: PREFACE

This Conference Proceedings volume contains the written versions of the contributions presented during the 6th International Conference on Smart City Applications.The event had been planned to organized in Safranbolu Campus of Karabuk University, Turkey. Then, it has been converted to the online conference because of the Covid-19 situation. It took place with the motto of “Virtual Safranbolu” by inspiring historical UNESCO Heritage city Safranbolu, on October 27–29, 2021. The conference provided a setting for discussing recent developments in a wide variety of topics including Geo-Smart Information Systems, Smart Cities, 3D City Modeling and Visualization, Smart Building and Home Automation, Smart Environment and Smart Agriculture, Location Based Services, GeoInformation for Mobile, Wearable Technologies and Wireless Sensor Networks, Building Information Modeling, Virtual and Augmented Reality, Big Data and Urban Data Analytics, Smart Healthcare, Smart Economy and Digital Business, Smart Education and Intelligent Learning System, and etc.The event has been a good opportunity for the more than 400 participants coming from 43 countries of the world to present and discuss topics in their respective research areas. In addition, five keynote speakers presented latest achievements on their fields;Domingos Santos “Smart Cities Strategies: Critical Sucess Factors”, Mohsen Kalantari Soltanieh “Smart buildings to Smart cities – The role of BIM and GIS integration”, Ksentini Adlen, “Zero Touch Management and Orchestration of Network Slices in 5G and Beyond Networks”, Bakr M.Aly Ahmed, “Smart Sustainable Urbanism”, Yusuf Arayıcı, “Design for Energy:Prosumer Buildings”.The 86 papers that were selected as a result of review process and presented during the conference were accepted for the final publication in the ISPRS Archives.We would like to thank all participants, organizing and scientific committee members, and session chairs for their contributions to the conference program and these Proceedings.

Low-Invasive CO2-Based Visual Alerting Systems to Manage Natural Ventilation and Improve IAQ in Historic School Buildings

Children spend a large part of their growing years in schools, and as they are more sensitive to some pollutants than adults, it is essential to monitor and maximize the indoor air quality (IAQ) in classrooms. Many schools are located in historic and heritage buildings, and improving the IAQ, preserving the architectural features, poses a great challenge. The aim of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a low-invasiveness, low-cost, smart CO2-based visual alerting systems to manage natural ventilation and improve IAQ in historic school buildings. Indoor and outdoor parameters were monitored for three weeks in four schools with different levels of education (two classrooms per school;device installed in one only). Based on indoor CO2 concentration, air temperature and relative humidity, the device suggests when windows should be opened to ventilate. The comparison between the two classrooms show that the effectiveness of the device is highly dependent on the occupants: (i) reduction in the average CO2 concentrations of up to 42% in classrooms with frontal lesson and full occupancy, (ii) the device is not the most ideal solution for kindergarten due to the young age of the pupils, and (iii) it is more used during mild outdoor temperatures.