Caroline M. Clevenger and John R. Haymaker
Advanced design strategies supported by iterative engineering performance calculations expand the number of alternatives designers can analyze by orders of magnitude. Yet, in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Advanced design strategies supported by iterative engineering performance calculations expand the number of alternatives designers can analyze by orders of magnitude. Yet, in the face of vast, under‐constrained design challenges with wide ranging and sometimes ill‐defined implications related to sustainability, it is not possible to replace building design with automated search. The purpose of this paper is to assist designers in their selection of strategies that have been shown to be effective in promoting sustainability.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper applies and extends the design exploration assessment methodology (DEAM) to compare the value of distinct design strategies. The authors use DEAM to demonstrate that designers face non‐trivially distinct challenges, even in the well‐defined arena of design for energy efficiency. They next evaluate and compare the effectiveness of strategies such as point‐analysis, screening, trend analysis, and optimization. They identify associated process costs, and extend DEAM to assess the relative value of information that each strategy provides for a given challenge.
Findings
Findings empirically rank six strategies for two challenges and demonstrate the relatively high value of trend analysis for energy‐efficient design.
Originality/value
The implication of the findings is that advanced computer analysis strategies should be pursued to support high performance, energy‐efficient design. Such conclusions motivate future research to assess the value of various strategies in the context of the broad and qualitative fields of sustainable design and development.
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Matt Feuer, Scott Glick and Caroline M Clevenger
The purpose of this paper is to explore how implementing a standardized/owner-mandated template for Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) contract amendments can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore how implementing a standardized/owner-mandated template for Construction Manager/General Contractor (CM/GC) contract amendments can minimize errors. The focus is on public owners who manage multiple CM/GC projects at any one time.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study format was used to compare contract amendments errors using a baseline project, transition project and best practices project. Six metrics were identified, including factual recital errors, summary formatting errors, schedule of values errors, construction services fee errors, allowance schedule errors and data consistency errors.
Findings
The baseline and transition projects both had an average of seven errors per amendment, while the best practices project produced zero errors. The amendment template creation process helped design out common errors. The use of the template can be contract-mandated, while transition projects require owner commitment.
Research limitations/implications
Future research should focus on completed projects’ closeout data that have been consolidated since the transition project was in its final stage and the best practices project was relatively early in the construction process.
Practical implications
The findings of this research indicate that by implementing a mature owner-mandated CM/GC contract amendment template, owners can greatly reduce errors that arise during the amendment process. It should be noted, however, that challenges will most likely occur during the implementation phase.
Originality/value
No similar studies were found and the results of the research informs Facilities Management departments that they can significantly reduce errors by utilizing a mature, owner-mandated template for CM/GC contract amendments.
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Clement Boakye Danquah, Alex Acheampong and Theophilus Adjei-Kumi
In the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI), the option for stakeholders to adopt formwork design as a building construction requirement is uncommon place. This is due to the low…
Abstract
Purpose
In the Ghanaian construction industry (GCI), the option for stakeholders to adopt formwork design as a building construction requirement is uncommon place. This is due to the low level of awareness and practice of formwork design. As a result of this, there have been formwork accidents, cost and time overruns in construction. This paper aims to solicit the view of stakeholders on the awareness of formwork design practices in the GCI.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopted the interpretivism research philosophy and inductive reasoning. Through a semi-structured interview guide, data was collected. The data (interview) recorded was transcribed using the Amberscript web application. This study used thematic analysis in analyzing the data collected using Nvivo 10 software.
Findings
The data collected from the 22 professionals indicated that the respondents were unaware of the concept of formwork design and its practice, neither could they speak to the existence of any specific regulation nor code of practice. However, the respondents established that there was a need to design formwork and stated some benefits of it.
Originality/value
From the literature, little research has been done on formwork design and its context in the GCI is yet to be explored. This research attempts to fill this gap. The findings indicate that to practice formwork design, there must be education and training of human resources for formwork design, there must be a code of practice to guide the design process and legal backing through policies and regulations to mandate the design.
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Tianqi Wang, Moatassem Abdallah, Caroline Clevenger and Shahryar Monghasemi
Achieving project objectives in constructionprojects such as time, cost and quality is a challenging task. Minimizing project cost often results in additional project duration and…
Abstract
Purpose
Achieving project objectives in constructionprojects such as time, cost and quality is a challenging task. Minimizing project cost often results in additional project duration and might jeopardize quality, and minimizing project duration often results in additional cost and might jeopardize quality. Also, increasing construction quality often results in additional cost and time. The purpose of this paper is to identify and analyze trade-offs among the project objectives of time, cost and quality.
Design/methodology/approach
The optimization model adopted a quantitative research method and is developed in two main steps formulation step that focuses on identifying model decision variables and formulating objective functions, and implementation step that executes the model computations using multi-objective optimization of Non-Dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithms to identify the aforementioned trade-offs, and codes the model using python. The model performance is verified and tested using a case study of construction project consisting of 20 activities.
Findings
The model was able to show practical and needed value for construction managers by identifying various trade-off solutions between the project objectives of time, cost and quality. For example, the model was able to identify the shortest project duration at 84 days while keeping cost under $440,000 and quality higher than 85 percent. However, with an additional budget of $20,000 (4.5 percent increase), the quality can be increased to 0.935 (8.5 percent improvement).
Research limitations/implications
The present research work is limited to project objectives of time, cost and quality. Future expansion of the model will focus on additional project objectives such as safety and sustainability. Furthermore, new optimization models can be developed for construction projects with repetitive nature such as roads, tunnels and high rise buildings.
Practical implications
The present model advances existing research in planning construction projects efficiently and achieving important project objectives. On the practical side, the optimization model will support the construction industry by allowing construction managers to identify the highest quality to deliver a construction project within specified budget and duration, lowest cost for specified duration and quality or shortest duration for specified budget and quality.
Originality/value
The present model introduces new and innovative method of increasing working hours per day and number of working days per shift while analyzing labor working efficiency and overtime rate to identify optimal trade-offs among important project objectives of time, cost and quality.
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Ron van Oers and Ana Pereira Roders
This article is an editorial to JCHMSD's Volume 3, Issue 1 and aims to provide an overview to its selection of papers.
Abstract
Purpose
This article is an editorial to JCHMSD's Volume 3, Issue 1 and aims to provide an overview to its selection of papers.
Design/methodology/approach
The article builds upon a previous editorial on the implementation of the new UNESCO Recommendation on the Historic Urban Landscape (HUL). It discusses a research and training programme under development by the World Heritage Institute of Training and Research in Asia and the Pacific (WHITRAP) and Tongji University's Advanced Research Institute for Architecture and Urban Planning, in Shanghai, China, to help determining a strategy for the application of the HUL approach in China.
Findings
The HUL approach facilitates a structuring and priority setting of competing needs and demands for the integration of urban development and heritage management processes, which is perhaps most pressing in the current Chinese context of rapid and large‐scale urbanization. However, its precise meaning, and therefore its merit, is still poorly understood in China due to confusing conceptual foundations and interpretations, primarily related to the terminology of “cultural landscape”.
Originality/value
This research paper outlines a series of pertinent issues and questions as part of a critical path –a “road map”– for the application of the HUL approach, as promoted by UNESCO, in China and it outlines key areas for further research, in particular as concerns the development of a toolkit.
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Azadeh Lak, Mina Ramezani and Reihaneh Aghamolaei
The fast development of urban movement infrastructures has created neglected urban places in cities. This study aims to provide users’ preferences for designing lost spaces that…
Abstract
Purpose
The fast development of urban movement infrastructures has created neglected urban places in cities. This study aims to provide users’ preferences for designing lost spaces that are a by-product of elevated urban highways (UHs) and bridges to develop a conceptual model for better environmental design.
Design/methodology/approach
This research is conducted by a combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods. In the first phase, to explore the citizen’s environmental preferences based on the Q-sort technique and in-depth interviews, the ideas of 50 users were considered up to data saturation. The preferences of people for designs under urban bridges were extracted by content analysis in the qualitative phase. In the quantitative phase, to validate these preferences, the extracted themes and sub-themes were examined by 144 experts in design studies using the web-based questionnaire based on the first phase outcomes. The validity of the model was confirmed by confirmatory factor analysis in SPSS22 and Lisrel software.
Findings
The findings show that users’ preferences emphasize design strategies such as safety and security, physical coherence, visibility, vitality, richness, a sense of belonging and comfort to the design of lost spaces. Overall, this study highlights an empirical study into user’s needs and expectations of lost urban spaces.
Originality/value
The findings show that users’ preferences emphasize design strategies such as safety and security, physical coherence, visibility, vitality, richness, a sense of belonging and comfort to the design of lost spaces. Overall, this study highlights an empirical study into user’s needs and expectations of lost urban spaces.
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Malindu Sandanayake, Wei Yang, Namita Chhibba and Zora Vrcelj
The issue of building defects is a growing concern that affects all major construction stakeholders as a result of costs and time implications of reworks. The magnitude of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The issue of building defects is a growing concern that affects all major construction stakeholders as a result of costs and time implications of reworks. The magnitude of the problem is severe with statistics highlighting defects often result in 4% of the total cost of construction of a building. Despite the importance of this problem, studies have seldom considered development of systematic approaches to enhance the quality control process in construction.
Design/methodology/approach
Building defects is a growing concern that affects all major construction stakeholders because of costs and time implications of reworks. Magnitude of the problem is severe with statistics highlighting defects often result in 4% of the total cost of construction of a building. Despite the importance, studies have seldom considered development of systematic approaches to enhance the quality control process in construction.
Findings
Results indicated that poor workmanship is the main cause of building defects and incomplete works is a frequently detected defect type. Results categorised defects based on cost and frequency to identify the severity. Findings also identified four focus areas including control measures, technology use audit and inspections and promotion of best knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
The study lacks generalisation as it covers only Victorian scenario and further studies are needed to generalise the findings.
Originality/value
The study provides a deeper understanding of the challenges currently facing the residential construction industry in Victoria, Australia, and underlines the need for developing quantitative models and methodologies to improve current processes, practices and policies for effective defects minimisation in Victoria, Australia. The systematic methodological framework can also be adopted by researches across the globe to effectively analyse the options for minimising residential building defects.
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Conor Drummond, Thomas O'Toole and Helen McGrath
Digitalisation has increased the importance of online forms of marketing, including social media (SM) marketing, for entrepreneurial firms. This paper aims to identify digital…
Abstract
Purpose
Digitalisation has increased the importance of online forms of marketing, including social media (SM) marketing, for entrepreneurial firms. This paper aims to identify digital engagement strategies and tactics in developing SM marketing capability.
Design/methodology/approach
The study uses ethnographic content analysis of an entrepreneurial firm and a network of business-to-business (B2B) actors to classify 1,248 B2B Facebook posts and Twitter tweets from a case of an artisan food producer in addition to semi-structured interviews with 26 networked actors.
Findings
The authors derive a range of digital engagement strategies (8 in total) and tactics (15 in total) for the four defining layers of SM marketing capability, namely, connect, engage, co-ordinate and collaborate.
Research limitations/implications
This research focuses on a case study and a network of B2B actors within the artisan food sector. However, the strategies and tactics are applicable to other entrepreneurial firms and contexts.
Practical implications
The digital engagement strategies and tactics are of direct practical benefit to entrepreneurial firms willing to learn and develop SM marketing capability in interaction with their B2B partners.
Originality/value
This study investigates three under-researched areas, SM as it relates to B2B relationships, and entrepreneurship, and marketing capability gaps in an era of rapid digitalisation. The definition of SM marketing capability and associated digital engagement strategies and tactics are new to the extant literature moving forward the understanding of SM B2B marketing in theory and practice.