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Since 2019, the year of the COVID-19 outbreak, many businesses have been shut down across different industries and geographical locations, and the construction industry is one of those that has suffered more than any other due to its volatile nature. This study emphasizes the impact of COVID-19 on project management within construction companies and the ways it has affected the completion of projects. The literature review was provided with effective theoretical information regarding the research topic by highlighting key concepts, theories, and models after identifying crucial aspects that resulted in cost and time overruns in the context of UK construction projects. This study has been conducted as a primary qualitative method to gather firsthand data employing interviews with five construction project managers from the UK. The researcher has discussed interpretivism research philosophy, the inductive research approach, and explanatory search design and has conducted purposive sampling. In addition, primary qualitative data collection and thematic data analysis have been discussed in this study. The research has identified 10 types of themes focused on the transcript, which were developed through interviews. Further, a detailed comparative discussion was made on three top themes, which were based on cost overrun, and time extension of construction projects during COVID-19. The interviewees have outlined the significant impact of COVID-19 on supply chain management and the labor force. The multimethod approach helps in understanding the diverse point of view across different countries and geographical regions and finally reaching a conclusion with a comparative approach.
ABSTRACT
Identifying factors influencing the viability of medium, small, and micro scale construction firms (MSMSCFs) is a crucial precursor in positioning such firms to aid economic and infrastructural development, especially in developing countries. This article assesses viability factors that are influenced by building information modeling (BIM) in MSMSCFs amidst construction firms' viability factors. Out of a total of 177 workers surveyed from 59 MSMSCFs that were awarded construction project contracts in sampled institutions in Nigeria, 65 staff members from 31 MSMSCFs were accessed. The factors were ranked and reduced to significant ones through principal component analysis. Ten significant factors influence the viability of MSMSCFs and six of them are enhanced by BIM implementations. All eight component factors and 18 of the 27 variables with high factor loadings can be influenced by BIM implementation. BIM can potentially curb corruption in construction projects and enhance MSMSCFs' quality of service, clients' satisfaction, construction management and technology, professional performance, procurement practices, and prompt payment of work certificates. All stakeholders need to pay prompt attention to factors that can be influenced by BIM to improve the viability of MSMSCFs, thereby hastening BIM adoption and utilization, especially in developing countries.
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Purpose>According to the construction literature, the number of projects applying integrated project delivery (IPD) principles is expected to increase in the new-normal era. However, given that the pandemic is not yet fully over, accurate and measurable data are not yet available. Also, there is a lack of empirical studies that could provide guidelines as to the application of IPD principles at the various stages of construction projects. Thus, the goal of this paper is to address this knowledge gap through case studies.Design/methodology/approach>This paper follows a multi-step research methodology, namely, a literature review, case study and focus group discussions in the context of Canadian construction projects.Findings>Based on the conducted literature review and focus group discussions, the authors identified: (1) new challenges in the various stages of the construction projects' life cycle, (2) their related proximity aspects (technological, organizational, geographical and cognitive) and (3) IPD principles that can address the identified challenges within their associated proximities. The results show that IPD relational principles can improve a project's organizational and cognitive proximities, while IPD digital integrative principles can enhance a project's geographical and technological proximities.Originality/value>This study contributes to the theoretical checklists of challenges that the construction industry has experienced since the beginning of the pandemic, and to the practical guidelines of implementation of IPD principles to meet these challenges. The conducted case studies are timely and relevant, and their results provide new insights for key project stakeholders into the application of IPD to tackle new-normal challenges based on their proximity perspectives.
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COVID-19 has intensified the need for faster and more efficient construction in Brazil. In this regard, offsite construction methods are important, in particular, modular construction with steel 3D modules. While extensively discussed in the literature, details, such as the inputs of the process related to modular construction, are rarely provided. The purpose of this paper is to map the process involved in modular construction with steel 3D modules, including the operations and inputs. To this end, based on a literature framework, a case study was performed considering six cases of modular construction with steel 3D modules carried out by three different companies. As a result, the process is described in a flowchart, composed by six stages: 1) design and planning;2) substructure execution;3) production of the modules;4) transport of the modules;5) assembly;and 6) installation. This study shows that the fundamental steps involved in the production of the modules are uniform among the construction projects studied. However, the customization and, consequently, the inputs used to produce the modules vary greatly. Thus, this paper contributes to structuring and documenting the process involved in modular construction with steel 3D modules, including the operations and inputs.
ABSTRACT
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.
ABSTRACT
[...]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.
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The Indonesian construction industry is one of the main sectors to support the economic growth in the country. According to a report published by the World Economic Forum, the construction industry currently accounts for about 6% of the world’s GDP. It is expected to reach around 14.7% by 2030. However, on the other hand, the image experienced by the construction sector is dominated by something low-tech, still relying on craft-based methods, characterized by poor performance and low quality. Therefore, it is essential that to better support the nation’s development, it is necessary for the Indonesian construction industry to invest more in the adoption, development, and application of technology. Material technology plays an essential role in construction projects. Based on a survey conducted to 40 Indonesian contractors, it was found that the priority of using concrete and steel materials ranked at the top during normal conditions and the covid-19 pandemic. Therefore, data about the history of development, utilization, and potential of construction technology, especially concrete and steel materials in Indonesia, is almost non-existent. This study aims to present the technological landscape of concrete and steel construction material, providing an overall view of the historical development of the utilization, contribution, and strategy for developing future construction material technology in Indonesia. In contrast, the information data is considered essential to help formulate policies regarding developing and utilizing construction technology in Indonesia. Therefore, this study will map the landscape of technology material in Indonesia. The methodology to be used is literature studies, interviews, and questionnaires.
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The Covid-19 pandemic had a huge impact on the way the UK population lived and worked during 2020. This paper explores the challenges faced while boring the west section of the Thames Tideway Tunnel in London, UK, with particular focus on the first national lockdown that began in March 2020. It discusses how the reduction in personnel triggered closure of the site, the technical challenge of safely stopping a tunnel boring machine for extended periods of time and the practical difficulties of creating a Covid-safe environment in a challenging space. This case study can be used to inform other underground construction projects coping with coronavirus.
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Healthy buildings are a deep-level development of green buildings, which can effectively help relieve stress and improve occupants’ physical and mental health. In addition, they are is likely to play an important role in preventing the spread of respiratory infectious diseases. Therefore, healthy buildings have attracted worldwide attention. This article reviews the research and development of healthy buildings in China. First, it briefly introduces the definition of healthy buildings, the key elements of evaluation standards, energy conservation measures and new technology applications for healthy buildings, and lessons learned from the global outbreak of SARS-CoV-2. Secondly, it presents the milestones of healthy building development and healthy building projects in China, and the benefits of healthy buildings were also discussed. Finally, the differences in the evaluation systems of healthy buildings between China and other countries were analyzed, the problems of the current policy system of healthy buildings in China were identified, and suggestions for future development were provided.
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This Complete Evidence-based Practice paper evaluates the impact of learning communities on the academic success of first-year engineering students. The Engineering Learning Community (ELC) at a large urban university is a program that purposefully recruits talented high school applicants with financial need. The ELC enrolls these applicants into cohort-specific sections of classes and provides mentoring and additional resources for the students' first year of college. The results of the first three years of the ELC program were presented at ASEE 2020. Currently in its fifth year, the ELC program has undergone numerous revisions and improvements based upon student and faculty feedback, best practices, and increased financial resources. The main feature of the fourth year ELC program is the addition of up to $20,000 in scholarship from a S-STEM NSF award. Another significant change in the fourth year is the re-design of the mentorship program. COVID-19 hit in the second semester of the fourth year of ELC and added its own challenges to the program. The impact of COVID-19 on the students' response to the pandemic has been studied as well. To take a first look at the efficacy of the ELC program over four iterations, grade point averages (GPAs) of ELC students from each cohort were compared. We hypothesize that students from cohort 4 will have the highest overall GPA given that they have accessed the most recent iteration of the ELC, which includes scholarship funding, improved student-to-mentor ratios and a newly redesigned special topics course. Analysis of Variance of GPAs reveals that cohort 4 has a significantly higher GPA after one year in the ELC than cohorts 2 and 3, but no significant differences between other cohorts were found. Further analysis shows no significant differences in high school GPA between the cohorts, indicating that the improvements in cohort 4 are not due changes in recruiting practices. Additionally, ELC cohort 4 showed greater academic resiliency during COVID-19 than their non-ELC counterparts, as revealed through statistically significant lower utilization of the modified grading policy, as well as higher observed completion rates in Spring 2020. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021
ABSTRACT
The Responsible Mining, Resilient Communities project is a multi-country, interinstitutional, and interdisciplinary global research collaboration whose goal is to co-design socially responsible and sustainable gold mining practices with communities, engineers, and social scientists. A key component of this work is engineering education research that investigates how situated learning enhances undergraduate students' global sociotechnical competency, especially as it relates to their ability to define and solve problems with people from diverse disciplinary backgrounds and life experiences. Situated learning refers to how students learn under different a) configurations of social relations (e.g., graduate/undergraduate;expert/non-expert;US/non-US students, etc.);b) pedagogical strategies for engineering problem definition and solution (e.g., remote vs. in-person;in-class vs. in-field);and c) different geographical contexts (e.g., in the US vs. in Colombia) affect faculty and student learning. Global sociotechnical competency refers to having the knowledge, skills, and attitudes to define and solve engineering problems as socio-technical in different international settings. Knowledge is understanding how engineering problems are always socio-technical and shaped by the historical, cultural, economic, and physical dimensions of a place. Skills are learning to define and solve problems with perspectives different than their own. Attitudes are the desires to continue engaging other expert and non-expert perspectives, working abroad, and serving communities after graduation. In 2019 a diverse group of engineering undergraduate students from the Colorado School of Mines, United States Air Force Academy, and Universidad Nacional de Colombia - Medellín participated in a two-week field session in Colombia, where they visited mine sites and processing facilities, in addition to the partner university in Colombia. In 2020, however, the burgeoning COVID-19 pandemic made international fieldwork impossible. This paper will describe how we developed and executed a meaningful distance-based fieldwork experience that maintained direct engagement with international students and community members. We will offer a preliminary assessment of these methods' efficacy for developing global sociotechnical competency through remote community engagement and learning. We will analyze the situated learning of the student participants as they differently identified stakeholders for engineering projects and changed their understanding of mining as a sociotechnical process as a result of the summer session. As a part of this analysis, we will also compare 2019 (in the field) and the 2020 (virtual) learning outcomes for the two different sets of students. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2021
ABSTRACT
The government’s supervision of new residential building projects’ (NRBPs) energy-saving can promote carbon neutrality policies within its jurisdiction. A scientific and systematic evaluation of NRBPs energy-saving reflects a government’s management performance. However, achieving accurate and reasonable results with unitary evaluation standards without considering regional characteristics is not easy. This study proposes an evaluation method of intelligently evaluating the effectiveness of government energy-saving supervision with regional characteristics weighted in. Consequently, these evaluation indicators can reveal the key issues in carrying out local energy-saving policies and provide concrete guidance for local governments to manage the energy-saving of NRBPs better. The method was tested with ten projects and found to be effective.
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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.