Lee H. Fisher, David John Edwards, Erika Anneli Pärn and Clinton Ohis Aigbavboa
This paper aims to investigate the impact that building design has upon the quality of life for residents of a care home who have dementia. To present a balanced perspective…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the impact that building design has upon the quality of life for residents of a care home who have dementia. To present a balanced perspective, carers within the care home also participate in the research.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study methodological approach was adopted using one care home, ten residents and five staff as a sample frame. During interviews conducted, participants were asked semi-structured questions on how building design features impact upon the quality of life of residents. Questions posed focussed upon key design principles that emerged from a detailed review of extant literature.
Findings
Building design for people with dementia must consider a complex array of features to provide a safe and habitable living space for residents and family members who visit. This living space must also be suitably utilitarian and provide a workable environment for staff. Hence, an appropriate balance between these two competing requirements must be attained, and often a tailor-made solution is required that fits the individual’s level of dementia. Three prominent areas that study participants expressed a desire for were a safe environment; support for wayfinding, orientation and navigation; and access to nature and the outdoors.
Originality/value
The work reports upon the rarely discussed issue of building design for people with dementia and could be used by policymakers and construction firms to enhance their knowledge capabilities in this area. The research concludes with direction for future research which should seek to provide more evidence-based research vis-a-vis perception enquiry and extend this seminal work to a larger sample of care homes or people with dementia living at home.
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Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari, Heng Li, David John Edwards, Erika Anneli Pärn, De-Graft Owusu-Manu, Joonoh Seo and Arnold Yu Lok Wong
Work-related low back disorders (LBDs) are prevalent among rebar workers although their causes remain uncertain. The purpose of this study is to examine the self-reported…
Abstract
Purpose
Work-related low back disorders (LBDs) are prevalent among rebar workers although their causes remain uncertain. The purpose of this study is to examine the self-reported discomfort and spinal biomechanics (muscle activity and spinal kinematics) experienced by rebar workers.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 20 healthy male participants performed simulated repetitive rebar lifting tasks with three different lifting weights, using either a stoop (n = 10) or a squat (n = 10) lifting posture, until subjective fatigue was reached. During these tasks, trunk muscle activity and spinal kinematics were recorded using surface electromyography and motion sensors, respectively.
Findings
A mixed-model, repeated measures analysis of variance revealed that an increase in lifting weight significantly increased lower back muscle activity at L3 level but decreased fatigue and time to fatigue (endurance time) (p < 0.05). Lifting postures had no significant effect on spinal biomechanics (p < 0.05). Test results revealed that lifting different weights causes disproportional loading upon muscles, which shortens the time to reach working endurance and increases the risk of developing LBDs among rebar workers.
Research limitations/implications
Future research is required to: broaden the research scope to include other trades; investigate the effects of using assistive lifting devices to reduce manual handling risks posed; and develop automated human condition-based solutions to monitor trunk muscle activity and spinal kinematics.
Originality/value
This study fulfils an identified need to study laboratory-based simulated task conducted to investigate the risk of developing LBDs among rebar workers primarily caused by repetitive rebar lifting.
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D. Owusu-Manu, E.A. Pärn, K. Donkor-Hyiaman, D.J. Edwards and K. Blackhurst
The purpose of this study is to explore the mortgage affordability problem in Ghana, an issue that has been associated inter alia with high mortgage rates, which results from the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to explore the mortgage affordability problem in Ghana, an issue that has been associated inter alia with high mortgage rates, which results from the high cost of capital, an unstable macroeconomy and unfavourable borrowers’ characteristics. Concurrent improvements in both the macroeconomy and borrowers’ characteristics have rendered the identification of the most problematic mortgage pricing determinant difficult, consequently making the targeting of policy interventions problematic.
Design/methodology/approach
This research sought to resolve this aforementioned difficulty by providing empirical evidence on the relative importance of mortgage pricing determinants. A data set of mortgage rates of selected Ghanaian banking financial institutions from 2003 to 2013 was examined and analysed by applying Fisher’s model of interest rates and an ex post analysis of the standard regression coefficients.
Findings
The risk premium factor emerged as the most important determinant in Ghana compared with the inflation premium and the real risk-free rate, although all are statistically significant and strongly correlated with mortgage rates.
Originality/value
This study provides an insight on the relative importance of mortgage pricing determinates and subsequent macro-economic guidance to support policy interventions which could reduce mortgage rates/enhance mortgage affordability. The paper specifically aims to engender wider debate and provide guidance to the Ghanaian Government and/or private enterprises that seek to provide affordable mortgages. Further research is proposed which could explore ways of reducing mortgage rates as a means of engendering social equality and adopt innovative international best practice that has already been tried and tested in countries such as South Africa and the USA.
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De-Graft Owusu-Manu, David John Edwards, Erika Anneli Pärn, Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari and Clinton Aigbavboa
This research aims to investigate and identify knowledge transfer (KT) enablers within the developing country of Ghana. These enablers act as mechanisms to stimulate knowledge…
Abstract
Purpose
This research aims to investigate and identify knowledge transfer (KT) enablers within the developing country of Ghana. These enablers act as mechanisms to stimulate knowledge creation, knowledge protection and build effective knowledge-sharing (KS) behaviour in construction companies – consequently, they are crucial to business survival in a globally competitive market.
Design/methodology/approach
A perception questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from construction practitioners using purposive and snowballing non-probability sampling techniques. Summary statistical analysis and a chi-square test was used to uncover relationships between the independent and dependent variables.
Findings
An empirical examination of data collected indicated that knowledge strategy, organizational culture, information technology and knowledge leadership as knowledge enablers have a significant positive relationship with KT. Future research is however required to measure transfer within an organization vis-à-vis measure perception of such.
Originality/value
The work presents a rare glimpse of the relationship between knowledge enablers and KT (particularly in a developing country context) and as such provides utility to policymakers and construction firms to enhance their knowledge capabilities.
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Erika A. Parn, David Edwards, Zainab Riaz, Fahad Mehmood and Joseph Lai
This paper aims to report upon the further development of a hybrid application programming interface (API) plug-in to building information modelling (BIM) entitled confined spaces…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to report upon the further development of a hybrid application programming interface (API) plug-in to building information modelling (BIM) entitled confined spaces safety monitoring system “CoSMoS”. Originally designed to engineer-out environmental hazards associated with working in a building’s confined spaces (during the construction phase of a building’s life-cycle), this second generation version is expanded upon to use archival records to proactively learn from data generated within a sensor network during the building’s operations and maintenance (O&M) phase of asset management (AM).
Design/methodology/approach
An applied research methodological approach adopted used a two-phase process. In phase one, a conceptual model was created to provide a “blueprint map” to integrate BIM, sensor-based networks and data analytics (DA) into one integral system. A literature review provided the basis for the conceptual model’s further development. In phase two, the conceptual model was transposed into the prototype’s development environment as a proof of concept using primary data accrued from a large educational building.
Findings
An amalgamation of BIM, historical sensor data accrued and the application of DA demonstrate that CoSMoS provides an opportunity for the facilities management (FM) team to monitor pertinent environmental conditions and human behaviour within buildings that may impact upon occupant/worker safety. Although working in confined spaces is used to demonstrate the inherent potential of CoSMoS, the system could readily be expanded to analyse sensor-based network’s historical data of other areas of building performance, maintenance and safety.
Originality/value
This novel prototype has automated safety applications for FM during the asset lifecycle and maintenance phase of a building’s O&M phase of AM. Future work is proposed in several key areas, namely, develop instantaneous indicators of current safety performance within a building; and develop lead indicators of future safety performance of buildings.
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M. Reza Hosseini, Rogier Roelvink, Eleni Papadonikolaki, David John Edwards and Erika Pärn
Integrating building information modelling (BIM) into facility management (FM) has generated fervent debate within the extant literature given an increasing realisation amongst…
Abstract
Purpose
Integrating building information modelling (BIM) into facility management (FM) has generated fervent debate within the extant literature given an increasing realisation amongst practitioners that the majority of BIM benefits reside within the whole lifecycle management. Converting a building’s in-use data and information into tangible business knowledge to augment FM performance is crucial for business growth and prosperity. Yet curiously, scant academic attention has been paid in investigating the data and information hand-over process through BIM required by FM. The purpose of this paper is to address this knowledge gap.
Design/methodology/approach
The research approach adopted draws upon pertinent BIM in the FM literature and a qualitative discourse accrued via focus group meetings of Australian FM experts.
Findings
The study’s findings are presented as a data and information typology matrix that captures the associations among different forms of data ownership, FM service delivery categories and data and information typologies for using BIM in FM.
Practical implications
The analysis results will prove invaluable for policy-makers, researchers and practitioners by providing a relevant data and information typology and capturing the complex associations in the process of integrating BIM into FM.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the field by providing a better understanding of different forms of data and information, required by members of a FM team. The original insight shared here is the necessity to consider a distinctive array of interests and the potential for using different forms of data and information when integrating BIM into FM.
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Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari, Heng Li, David John Edwards, Erika Anneli Pärn, JoonOh Seo and Arnold Wong
Repetitive lifting tasks have detrimental effects upon balance control and may contribute toward fall injuries, yet despite this causal linkage, risk factors involved remain…
Abstract
Purpose
Repetitive lifting tasks have detrimental effects upon balance control and may contribute toward fall injuries, yet despite this causal linkage, risk factors involved remain elusive. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effects of different weights and lifting postures on balance control using simulated repetitive lifting tasks.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 20 healthy male participants underwent balance control assessments before and immediately after a fatiguing repetitive lifting tasks using three different weights in a stoop (ten participants) or a squat (ten participants) lifting posture. Balance control assessments required participants to stand still on a force plate with or without a foam (which simulated an unstable surface) while center of pressure (CoP) displacement parameters on the force plate was measured.
Findings
Results reveal that: increased weight (but not lifting posture) significantly increases CoP parameters; stoop and squat lifting postures performed until subjective fatigue induce a similar increase in CoP parameters; and fatigue adversely effected the participant’s balance control on an unstable surface vis-à-vis a stable surface. Findings suggest that repetitive lifting of heavier weights would significantly jeopardize individuals’ balance control on unstable supporting surfaces, which may heighten the risk of falls.
Originality/value
This research offers an entirely new and novel approach to measuring the impact that different lifting weights and postures may have upon worker stability and consequential fall incidents that may arise.
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Marwan Mohamed, Erika Anneli Pärn and David John Edwards
The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of the potential impact of Brexit upon the UK construction industry. Specifically, the work analyses the construction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present an understanding of the potential impact of Brexit upon the UK construction industry. Specifically, the work analyses the construction industry’s reliance upon European Union (EU) skilled labour and seeks to determine the potential impact that Brexit poses upon EU skilled labour entering the sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A perceptual questionnaire survey was used to elicit responses from construction professionals using the two techniques of opportunity and snowballing non-probability sampling. Summary statistical analysis of Boolean and Likert item scale data accrued was employed to elucidate upon respondents’ perceptions.
Findings
The majority of survey participants either “strongly agreed” or “agreed” that the UK construction industry relies upon EU skilled labour and that a career in the sector would not be attractive for foreign skilled labour post-Brexit. Future research proposed includes: predicting future trends in labour supply and demand and deriving new policies to address skills shortage imbalances that may be created by Brexit.
Originality/value
Original insight into an historic and unprecedented moment for the UK construction industry is presented. The work also provides pragmatic recommendations to policy makers and Higher Education Institutes to prevent the risk of Brexit further exacerbating skilled labour shortages within the industry.
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Erika A. Parn and David Edwards
Smart cities provide fully integrated and networked connectivity between virtual/digital assets and physical building/infrastructure assets to form digital economies. However…
Abstract
Purpose
Smart cities provide fully integrated and networked connectivity between virtual/digital assets and physical building/infrastructure assets to form digital economies. However, industrial espionage, cyber-crime and deplorable politically driven cyber-interventions threaten to disrupt and/or physically damage the critical infrastructure that supports national wealth generation and preserves the health, safety and welfare of the populous. The purpose of this paper is to present a comprehensive review of cyber-threats confronting critical infrastructure asset management reliant upon a common data environment to augment building information modelling (BIM) implementation.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist, methodological approach to reviewing pertinent literature (that contained elements of positivism) was adopted. The ensuing mixed methods analysis: reports upon case studies of cyber-physical attacks; reveals distinct categories of hackers; identifies and reports upon the various motivations for the perpetrators/actors; and explains the varied reconnaissance techniques adopted.
Findings
The paper concludes with direction for future research work and a recommendation to utilize innovative block chain technology as a potential risk mitigation measure for digital built environment vulnerabilities.
Originality/value
While cyber security and digitization of the built environment have been widely covered within the extant literature in isolation, scant research has hitherto conducted an holistic review of the perceived threats, deterrence applications and future developments in a digitized Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operations (AECO) sector. This review presents concise and lucid reference guidance that will intellectually challenge, and better inform, both practitioners and researchers in the AECO field of enquiry.
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Erika Anneli Pärn and David Edwards
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of laser scanning and 3D modelling devices, modes of delivery and applications within the architecture, engineering…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a literature review of laser scanning and 3D modelling devices, modes of delivery and applications within the architecture, engineering, construction and owner-operated sector. Such devices are inextricably linked to modern digital built environment practices, particularly when used in conjunction with as-built building information modelling (BIM) development. The research also reports upon innovative technological advancements (such as machine vision) that coalesce with 3D scanning solutions.
Design/methodology/approach
A synthesis of literature is used to develop: a hierarchy of the modes of delivery for laser scan devices; a thematic analysis of 3D terrestrial laser scan technology applications; and a componential cross-comparative tabulation of laser scan technology and specifications.
Findings
Findings reveal that the costly and labour intensive attributes of laser scanning devices have stimulated the development of hybrid automated and intelligent technologies to improve performance. Such developments are set to satisfy the increasing demand for digitisation of both existing and new buildings into BIM. Future work proposed will seek to: review what coalescence of digital technologies will provide an optimal and cost-effective solution to accurately re-constructing the digital built environment; conduct case studies that implement hybrid digital solutions in pragmatic facilities management scenarios to measure their performance and user satisfaction; and eliminate manual remodelling tasks (such as point cloud reconstruction) via the use of computational intelligence algorithms integral within cloud-based BIM platforms.
Originality/value
Although laser scanning and 3D modelling have been widely covered en passant within the literature, scant research has conducted a holistic review of the technology, its applications and future developments. This review presents concise and lucid reference guidance that will intellectually challenge, and better inform, both practitioners and researchers.