1,135,258 research outputs found

    Balancing operating revenues and occupied refurbishment costs 1: problems of defining project success factors and selecting site planning methods

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    In planning the refurbishment of railway stations the spatial needs of the contractor and of the ongoing business stakeholders have to be balanced. A particular concern is the disruptive effect of construction works upon pedestrian movement. RaCMIT (Refurbishment and Customer Movement Integration Tool) was a research project aimed at addressing this problem. The objective of the research was to develop a decision protocol facilitating optimisation of overall project value to the client's business. This paper (the first of two) presents a framework for considering public disruption in occupied refurbishment using two case studies in large railway stations as examples. It briefly describes new tools which (combined with existing techniques) assist decision making in the management of disruption. It links strategic with sitebased decision making and suggests how public disruption may be treated as a variable to be jointly optimised along with traditional criteria such as time, cost and quality. Research observations as well as current literature suggest that for overall decision-making, opportunities may be lost (under current practice) for minimising joint project cost/revenue disruption, and, for spatio-temporal site decision-making, effective and efficient tools now exist to model both sides of the construction site boundary

    An exploration of the development of academic identity in a School of Education

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    This paper explores the complex processes involved in the self-construction of academic identity in a UK School of Education. Building on seminal literature in this field and drawing on the research of four academics, it begins by discussing teacher educators’ varying perceptions of the need to re-configure their identity to meet the expectations of a twenty-first-century higher education workforce. The article proposes the formation of this identity to be a dynamic, career-long process. Diverse scaffolds for the development process are proposed, including opportunities for new teacher educators to be apprenticed into an aca- demic role, the centrality of communities of practice and the importance of the 15 supported development of academic skills such as writing for publication.Peer reviewe

    Mining the physical infrastructure: Opportunities, barriers and interventions in promoting structural components reuse

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    Construction is the most resource intensive sector in the world. It consumes more than half of the total global resources; it is responsible for more than a third of the total global energy use and associated emissions; and generates the greatest and most voluminous waste stream globally. Reuse is considered to be a material and carbon saving practice highly recommended in the construction sector as it can address both waste and carbon emission regulatory targets. This practice offers the possibility to conserve resources through the reclamation of structural components and the carbon embedded in them, as well as opportunities for the development of new business models and the creation of environmental, economic, technical and social value. This paper focuses on the identification and analysis of existing interventions that can promote the reuse of construction components, and outlines the barriers and opportunities arising from this practice as depicted from the global literature. The main conclusions that derive from this study are that the combination of incentives that promote recycling and reuse with the provision of specialised education, skills and training would transform the way construction sector currently operates and create opportunities for new business development. Moreover, a typology system developed based on the properties and lifetime of construction components, is required in order to provide transparency and guidance in the way construction components are used and reused, to make them readily available to designers and contractors. Smart technologies carry the potential to aid the development and uptake of this system by enabling efficient tracking, storage and archiving, while providing information relevant to the environmental and economic savings that can be regained, enabling also better decision-making during construction and deconstruction works. However, further research is required in order to investigate the opportunities and constraints of the use of these technologies

    The power and vulnerability of the ‘new professional’: Web management in UK universities

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    Research paper Purpose: To explore the character of an emergent occupational role, that of university web manager. Design/methodology/approach: The primary data used were 15 semi-structured interviews conducted in 2004. These were analysed partly for factual and attitudinal data, but also for the discursive interpretative repertoires in use. Findings: The paper examines the diverse backgrounds, occupational trajectories, organisational positions, job roles and status of practitioners working in ‘web management’ in UK Higher Education. The discursive divide between the marketing and IT approaches to the web is investigated. Two case studies explore further the complexity and creativity involved in individuals’ construction of coherent and successful occupational identities. Research implications / limitations: The paper examines the position of web managers within the framework of the notions of the marginal but powerful ‘new professional’ or ‘broker’ technician. It gives a vivid insight into how the web as a dynamic and open technology opens up opportunities for new forms of expertise; but also explores the potential vulnerabilities of such new roles. In order to examine personal experience in depth, data was gathered for only a relatively small number of individuals. The research was also limited to the UK university sector and to those with a broad responsibility for the web site of the whole institution, i.e. not library web managers and other web authors who work primarily to produce a departmental web presence. These limits imply obvious ways in which the research could be extended. Practical implications: There are implications for how institutions support people in such roles, and for how they can support each other. Originality: There is a vast literature about the web, little about the new work roles that have grown up around it

    Applying HRO and resilience engineering to construction: Barriers and opportunities

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    High reliability organising (HRO) and resilience engineering (RE) have emerged as key concepts in safety management which promise a move away from bureaucracy and a means to manage safety without sacrificing performance. However, attempts to apply these ideas outside the ultra-safe sectors within which they developed have so far been limited. This paper uses the construction industry as a test case to explore the applicability of HRO and RE in a less highly regulated context. Through this discussion the research gaps are highlighted which have prevented the expansion of these new approaches into new sectors. The project-based nature, transient workforce, widespread outsourcing of labour and financial pressure of the construction sector limit opportunities for investment in employees and learning from experience; hence, developing principles advocated by HRO and RE such as management commitment, sensitivity to the frontline, prioritisation of safety, empowerment of employees, and a just culture presents a significant challenge. In spite of these barriers, there are also opportunities to be considered for construction to incorporate aspects of HRO and RE at an employee-centred level rather than organisational: Aspects of mindfulness and imagination; RE’s progressive understanding of accidents; and its holistic approach to cultivating resilience. It is argued that these opportunities offer a useful perspective for reframing safety debates in construction. The paper concludes with a research agenda which puts forward the need to extend and adapt aspects of HRO and RE in order to tackle some of the key characteristics of construction, namely subcontractor networks and temporary projects

    Flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals – A case study

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    This paper discusses the re-development of MSc Civil Engineering and Construction Management of a modern university in the Midlands of the UK in recent years, with the aim to offer flexible future learning opportunities for built environment professionals and address the sector’s skill shortage concerns (Augar Review, 2019 and 2021; DfE, 2020 and 2021; Foresight Review, 2017). The research method is insider action research and a case study approach. It involves interviews with external and internal stakeholders who contributed to this re-development and review of relevant documents related to the development. The research finding showed that both the internal and external stakeholders welcome the proposed re-development of postgraduate courses in Civil Engineering and Construction Management. They found the course offers opportunities for civil engineering and construction professionals to further develop their skills and to address government initiatives on flexible and future learning. The online offer of the course is attractive to potential students. It has brought a substantial financial return to the University and created a new international presence of the course and the University. This paper is a pilot study examining a university’s response to skill shortage and government proposal on flexible learning for adults through re-development and enhancement of the offer of the existing postgraduate courses. It has been argued that an insider research approach may have an advantage in accessing information compared to other research methods. The case study approach may have limitations on generalizability. This research can be used as an example for other universities that aim to enhance their existing offers to address government initiatives and enhance financial viability

    Exploring sustainability research in computing:where we are and where we go next

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    This paper develops a holistic framework of questions mo- tivating sustainability research in computing in order to en- able new opportunities for critique. Analysis of systemat- ically selected corpora of computing publications demon- strates that several of these question areas are well covered, while others are ripe for further exploration. It also pro- vides insight into which of these questions tend to be ad- dressed by different communities within sustainable com- puting. The framework itself reveals discursive similarities between other existing environmental discourses, enabling reflection and participation with the broader sustainability debate. It is argued that the current computing discourse on sustainability is reformist and premised in a Triple Bottom Line construction of sustainability, and a radical, Quadruple Bottom Line alternative is explored as a new vista for com- puting research

    Structure for the classification of disassembly applied to BIM models

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    To consider disassembly from project inception is becoming an essential part of the design process. For it enables the reuse and recycling of materials at the end of the life cycle of buildings. Also, it reduces the need for raw materials for the production of new products, while increasing a building's flexibility concerning reconfiguration. Above all, it contributes to the sustainable development of the sector. However, not much is known about designing for future disassembly. In general, the design phase of construction projects tends to focus efforts on constructability, and the value of disassembly only becomes apparent when it is time to decommission a building. The construction sector is unfamiliar with the disassembly approach, and with the extended information management process, linking design and decommissioning for over 60 years. With regards to this latter aspect, advances in Building Information Modelling (BIM) research offers opportunities for further developing the field of design for disassembly (DfD) of construction projects. Therefore, this research aims to explore the structuring of DfD information enabled by BIM to support integrated design decision-making in construction. This applied research project is inherently exploratory and based on design science research. DfD principles were identified through a literature review that informed the development of an integrated DfD information model for measuring disassembly levels of design solutions. This research presents both a contribution to practice by developing an information model structure that can be used for supporting DfD and integrated design. It also contributes to DfD knowledge by proposing a disassembly classification system

    End-of-life tyre recycling : Going beyond to new circular business models in Latvia

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    Funding Information: Many thanks for the opportunity to conduct and publish this research to BA School of Business and Finance (Latvia) with the research project ?Management of Circular Business Models and Projects within Economy of Latvia?, and Liepaja University (Latvia) with the project ?Promotion of research, innovation and international cooperation in science at Liepaja University (No 1.1.1.5/18/1/018)?. Publisher Copyright: © 2020 Latvia University of Life Sciences and Technologies. All rights reserved. Copyright: Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.The end-of-life tyre recycling industry in Latvia faces significant issues on a national level and on a micro business level. The aim of the research is the clarification of opportunities for new circular business models within the tyre recycling industry in Latvia. The main research methods are literature review, semi-structured in-depth interviews, case studies, content analyses, and quantitative statistical analyses, qualitative and descriptive analyses, allowing providing integrative interdisciplinary assessment. In addition, design-thinking methods contributed to conclusions on future opportunities of new tyre recycling business models. The research shows that the system is insufficiently supervised, and it does not facilitate the development of new environmentally friendly technologies and circular business models. A large share of tyres ends up in waste landfills, are incinerated or illegally stored, whereas only a small number of them are recycled. The traditional tyre incineration methods are ineffective and create adverse effects on the environment. Tyre recycling companies in Latvia are not active in adoption of new technologies and business models. This justifies the topicality of the research problem. The research results reveal that globally new opportunities are being actively explored on how to produce higher added value products from materials obtained in the tyre recycling process. In Latvia, it is possible to develop new financially viable circular business models in tyre recycling industry, for instance, by producing tyre-derived aggregates for construction materials or pavement subbases. Besides the need for dynamic innovation capabilities of entrepreneurs, development of new business models in tyre recycling requires collaboration among various stakeholders. In addition, the government has a significant role in implementing the Green Public Procurement for the industries utilizing products gained as a result of tyre recycling.publishersversionPeer reviewe
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