Standardization Framework for Sustainability from Circular Economy 4.0

The circular economy (CE) is widely known as a way to implement and achieve sustainability, mainly due to its contribution towards the separation of biological and technical nutrients under cyclic industrial metabolism. The incorporation of the principles of the CE in the links of the value chain of the various sectors of the economy strives to ensure circularity, safety, and efficiency. The framework proposed is aligned with the goals of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development regarding the orientation towards the mitigation and regeneration of the metabolic rift by considering a double perspective. Firstly, it strives to conceptualize the CE as a paradigm of sustainability. Its principles are established, and its techniques and tools are organized into two frameworks oriented towards causes (cradle to cradle) and effects (life cycle assessment), and these are structured under the three pillars of sustainability, for their projection within the proposed framework. Secondly, a framework is established to facilitate the implementation of the CE with the use of standards, which constitute the requirements, tools, and indicators to control each life cycle phase, and of key enabling technologies (KETs) that add circular value 4.0 to the socio-ecological transition

Requirements for building information modeling based lean production management systems for construction

Smooth flow of production in construction is hampered by disparity between individual trade teams' goals and the goals of stable production flow for the project as a whole. This is exacerbated by the difficulty of visualizing the flow of work in a construction project. While the addresses some of the issues in Building information modeling provides a powerful platform for visualizing work flow in control systems that also enable pull flow and deeper collaboration between teams on and off site. The requirements for implementation of a BIM-enabled pull flow construction management software system based on the Last Planner System™, called ‘KanBIM’, have been specified, and a set of functional mock-ups of the proposed system has been implemented and evaluated in a series of three focus group workshops. The requirements cover the areas of maintenance of work flow stability, enabling negotiation and commitment between teams, lean production planning with sophisticated pull flow control, and effective communication and visualization of flow. The evaluation results show that the system holds the potential to improve work flow and reduce waste by providing both process and product visualization at the work face

Performance Assessment of BIM in University Facilities Management Organisations : Exploring industry perceptions in Australia and Sweden

This thesis explores methodologies for assessing BIM performance in Facilities Management organisations. Limited previous research in this field initiated case studies focussing industry managers of university buildings in Australia and Sweden and their readiness (organisational, capability) for handling BIM in a whole-of-life context. Furthermore, it identifies critical factors affecting their capabilities to implement and effectively use BIM in their operations

A Critical Review of Maturity Model Development in the Digitisation Era

Maturity models assess the prevailing capability level and proffer the necessary capabilities for effective adoption in a systematic roadmap. This is considered essential to achieve diffusion of the emerging technologies. The paper provides a guide to maturity model development in the digitisation era. This study adopted scientometrics and meta-synthesis to critically review and provide guidance on maturity model development. Firstly, bibliographic data was collected from the Scopus database and analysed using Scientometrics. Secondly, developed BIM maturity models were critically reviewed. The study identified areas of maturity model deployment and the industries of deployment. It also identified the present areas of deployment of maturity models. The second aspect critically reviewed selected BIM maturity models through stated parameters and outlined the necessary criteria for maturity model development. Maturity model is widely adopted to achieve optimisation and proper assessment in various industries. The study identified the industries where it is deployed and identified the areas of maturity model deployment in the digitisation era. In addition, it was observed that some existing BIM maturity models do not conform to the various requirements expected of a maturity model. The study is unique in the methods adopted to achieve its results. Also, it identified the areas of maturity model deployment. The study is helpful as it provides the criteria for maturity model development hereafter, while also helping BIM users choose among the existing BIM maturity models. The study is crucial for proper maturity model development in the digitisation era