Search results

Successful performance and execution of construction projects depend highly on a good project control system capable of tracking and reporting project status on a desired time interval. The purpose of this paper is to propose such a control system by integrating spreadsheet and Visual Basic for Application to produce a customized tracking system for Pipeline Relocation Programs under Engineering, Procurement and Construction Management (EPCM) contracts.

The project status reporting system (PSRS) proposed here was developed to produce a single page summary report that would include scope information, financial status, descriptive status updates and top-level task schedules. This information is retrieved from various sources and transformed further utilizing specific formulas and algorithm needed to compute the budget and schedule status of the pipe relocation project. A practical case study is used to demonstrate its unique application.

The system has successfully integrated project finance and schedule information into a central control hub. Financial and schedule performance of a project is tracked and monitored by the PSRS automatically.

The proposed system utilizes the powerful computing capability of MS Excel and the user-friendly VBA programming tool to customize the reporting needs of a project and program environment. The proposed system, whose functionality has been validated by the intended users, tries to achieve a balance between simplicity, accuracy and effectiveness for the flow of information at a much lower cost compared to the other readily available project control software.

Vacation rental homes, in general, have different energy usage characteristics than traditional residential homes mainly because of the occupancy pattern that changes on a weekly basis. These homes, predominantly larger in size, offer a greater scope for energy savings also because of the wasteful habits of their seasonal occupants. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the causes of energy inefficiencies prevalent in these homes so that appropriate retrofit choices can be offered to homeowners.

This research presents a case study of a vacation rental home whose energy consumption was investigated in depth and energy inefficiencies identified through modeling using energy modeling software, eQUEST. Simulations were performed to identify viable retrofit scenarios.

While improvement in the building envelope such as providing shades/overhangs on the windows, reducing infiltration and increasing insulation of the exterior wall did not show promising results for savings on energy cost, other improvements such as use of highly efficient lamps, tank-less water heater system and occupancy sensors showed viable investment options with shorter payback periods. It was also found that energy use intensity of sampled houses was about half of the average of US residential buildings, which could primarily be attributed to the seasonal nature of occupancy of these houses.

There is a dearth of literature pertaining to energy efficiency-related retrofits of coastal vacation homes. This research fills that gap to some extent by addressing this issue with an ultimate aim of assisting homeowners in retrofit decision-making.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how effectively the cost appraisal system proposed measures the cost of poor quality (COPQ) in a construction project. The paper first formulates how COPQ can be measured and later clarifies the relationship between COPQ, labor productivity, and profitability.

In order to measure COPQ, the researchers prepared data entry forms for recording COPQ items on a daily basis and formulated the cost contribution of lost material, lost man-hours, lost machinery hours, and lost overhead on the overall COPQ for the project. The proposed method was then applied in a case study.

The results showed that, for the 60-days study period, COPQ decreased by about 24 percent while labor productivity and profitability increased by about 17 and 11 percent, respectively, after the implementation of COPQ measuring system. This study further supports the use of the COPQ system in construction projects as a mechanism to facilitate continuous improvement.

COPQ is a major cost that is often ignored in construction projects due to the difficulty of measuring it. This paper presents a COPQ measuring and recording system capable of identifying COPQ. The implementation of the system is shown to increase productivity and profitability as demonstrated by the project used for the case study.