Understanding green and sustainable construction in Lagos, Nigeria: Principles, attributes and framework

The research examined the concepts, principles and attributes in understanding sustainable and green construction as well as current practices and challenges in Lagos, Nigeria using both quantitative and qualitative methods of data collection. The sample frame is the total number of built industries registered and practising professionals in Lagos. A total number of 85 respondents were randomly selected for study from each group. A 5-point likert scale was used to assess respondents’ judgement on the identified social, economic, bio-physical and technical indicators. Focus group discussions (FGDs) were also conducted with professional groups to corroborate the primary information. For a wider coverage, three different construction sites were selected to reflect income neighbourhoods-Lekki (high income), Yaba (medium income) and Bariga (low income). Data Collected were analysed using the mean item score. A multi- stage framework based on environmental assessment and management systems for construction projects was utilised. Research findings indicate that the most important factors considered for sustainable construction with their mean item scores are quality of working conditions (0.852), strengthening and enforcement of relevant laws and regulations (0.872), encouraging construction waste management (0.819), and design for flexibility and adaptability. Results from the FGDs indicate that the current practice on sustainable construction does not take into consideration integrated design process, acoustic and visual comfort in the planning and construction of sustainable projects. The research therefore, concludes that government should improve existing laws to enhance quality of working life, education, training as well as knowledge management for all stakeholders in sustainable construction.Key Words: Sustainable construction, Green construction, Construction industry, Framewor

Long hours and stress in the UK's IT profession: has the European Union's Working Time Directive offered relief?

Only a small amount of research thus far has investigated the relationship between the working conditions of those employed in technical professions, such as Information Technology (IT), and the implications for their well being (Sonnetag et al., 1994). In particular the IT profession in the UK appears to be at risk from a culture characterised by long working hours (Kodz, 2003). In addition to the established links between long-term computer use and upper extremity musculoskeletal disorders (Punnett & Bergqvist, 1997), previous research has also positively linked working for excessive hours as potential stressor to the mental health of employees (Sparkes et al., 1997; Spurgeon, Harrington & Cooper, 1997). A prevalence of mobile computer technologies has also meant the erosion of traditional boundaries between work and home (Venkatraman, Tanriverdi & Stoke, 1999). Furthermore IT professionals have faced a proliferation of complicated methodologies, a growing guilt reaction to a failure to keep pace with ever-changing technological advancements, and the pressure to develop and deliver software in shorter time scales (Perlow, 1998; Stokes, 1996). These very personal issues associated with the quality of working life also have serious organisational implications in terms of increased costs related to absenteeism, recruitment and training; impaired decision making; job dissatisfaction and low morale (Coolican, 2001). The UK's Working Time Regulations (WTR), implemented in 1998, provide a current, normative representation of reasonable working time. This research paper compares the working patterns of a cluster of IT professionals within a large financial services organisation against this model in order to ascertain their position relative to this tolerable standard. The relationship between the subtleties in the way time is ordered and the reported perceptions of the affect of the WTR and other Human Resource initiatives to reduce the culture of long working hours are studied. Whilst it is acknowledged that individual characteristics are important in determining an affinity and ability to work long hours and cope with stress, they are by no means the overriding aspects. Previous researchers such as Moore (1998) have cited adverse organisational factors as more significant in the etiology of work exhaustion than individual factors. This research examines some of those organisational factors and the perceived value of formal initiatives in reducing incidences of long working hours and concomitant pressures. The perceptions of stress and the efficacy of these formalised schemes are examined by observing and questioning those directly affected with regards to their working time, job stressors and work-life balance. The findings indicate that although the organisation in question has made some high-profile attempts to promote a healthy balance between work and home, the efficacy of these efforts is questionable. The working limits set by the WTR are regularly exceeded and long hours are still entwined, and indeed often subtly promoted, within the organisation. Managers and the Human Resources (HR) department appear to send out confusing and contradictory messages. IT professionals, and their partners, are often publicly rewarded for working long hours while others are penalised for doing the same. The performance management system values those working on high-profile projects, with work on these projects often a key factor in gaining promotion. Yet due to the nature of the profession, the organisational sub-culture, and poorly considered workplace design, this work invariably requires the commitment of sustained long hours amid difficult circumstances. As HR try to drive through the principles of the WTR formally, or informally through initiatives such as Work Smarter Not Harder and Go Home On Time days, the unanticipated consequences of their actions and inactions present IT professionals with a stress-laden dichotomy

Constructability obstacles: an exploratory factor analysis approach

Constructability is a concept with relative and not absolute value to increase optimization capacity of resources such as workforce, time, cost, quality, and working environment conditions. Given the growing complexity of projects and the increased number of failed and abandoned projects, the necessity to implement constructability in projects has become more tangible. Although the effects of lack of quantitative definition of constructability role in the traditional construction approaches are evident and have led to lack of coordination in performance of construction projects, so far no comprehensive quantitative approach has been considered to analyze the obstacles to constructability implementation. This study aims to identify and categorize the obstacles to facilitating the presence of contractors in the early stages of planning and design to implement constructability. In this study a comprehensive list of obstacles to constructability implementation is developed as a questionnaire. This questionnaire was presented to the experts, active in the field of construction. Finally, its results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis method. Totally, 63 obstacles were questioned, then they were categorized by some of the experts of this industry into five categories of macro factors, including contractual, environmental, managerial, technical, and organizational. The significance of this study is due to this fact that identifying and categorizing the key obstacles to constructability implementation provides a useful reference for managers and owners of the construction industry to identify and develop solutions to resolve them. Identifying the obstacles to the presence of contractors in the planning and design stage and having a quantitative view toward this issue affects project implementability. In this regard, one can present more effective solutions to facilitate the presence of contractors in the early stages of design and also improves the effectiveness of constructability.Constructability is a concept with relative and not absolute value to increase optimization capacity of resources such as workforce, time, cost, quality, and working environment conditions. Given the growing complexity of projects and the increased number of failed and abandoned projects, the necessity to implement constructability in projects has become more tangible. Although the effects of lack of quantitative definition of constructability role in the traditional construction approaches are evident and have led to lack of coordination in performance of construction projects, so far no comprehensive quantitative approach has been considered to analyze the obstacles to constructability implementation. This study aims to identify and categorize the obstacles to facilitating the presence of contractors in the early stages of planning and design to implement constructability. In this study a comprehensive list of obstacles to constructability implementation is developed as a questionnaire. This questionnaire was presented to the experts, active in the field of construction. Finally, its results were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis method. Totally, 63 obstacles were questioned, then they were categorized by some of the experts of this industry into five categories of macro factors, including contractual, environmental, managerial, technical, and organizational. The significance of this study is due to this fact that identifying and categorizing the key obstacles to constructability implementation provides a useful reference for managers and owners of the construction industry to identify and develop solutions to resolve them. Identifying the obstacles to the presence of contractors in the planning and design stage and having a quantitative view toward this issue affects project implementability. In this regard, one can present more effective solutions to facilitate the presence of contractors in the early stages of design and also improves the effectiveness of constructability

Becoming collaborative: a study of intra-organisational relational dynamics

The intra-organisational relationships of through-life support services providers are complex, especially given the multifaceted nature of the provision required. For example, capabilities within the UK highways maintenance arena must support engineering design, routine maintenance and the ongoing management of the network. While collaboration in construction projects has formed a major research focus in recent years, there is a paucity of work examining collaboration in-flight. Through a micro-practices approach two contracts delivering highway infrastructure maintenance and renewal services are examined to explore the intra-organisational relationships that determine the quality of service delivered. Despite the rhetoric of collaboration and integrated working that pervades the contemporary project discourse, there was a clear focus on addressing immediate technical and commercial concerns rather than on creating the conditions for integrated working to flourish. On the occasions where the collaborative environment was prioritised a more integrated service was delivered. In contrast to other accounts of the ways collaborative working shapes performance, this research reveals an acute need for a sustained collaborative effort; as soon as ‘collaborative working’ was normalised, the level of integration and seamlessness of service was diminished. This questions normative notions of what defines collaborative working in projects, and suggests a need for re-framing it as an ongoing accomplishment of actors involved. Such a perspective resonates with notions of ‘organizational becoming’, particularly in that attempts to foster collaboration are themselves constitutive of the unfolding and shifting nature of intra-organizational relationships that emerge in complex contractual arrangements

Cost Evaluation for Traffic and Transport Infrastructure Projects Taking Account of Project Risks

The realisation of large transport infrastructure projects is influenced by a wide range of different factors. The general expectation that a project should be carried out under defined boundary conditions within the planned period and on budget requires a high level of design, planning and controlling. This paper discusses standardised comprehensible fundamental rules and guidelines for defining project costs and project budgets of infrastructure projects taking into account risk assessment and risk management. Adhering to these guidelines and rules contributes to ensure that the structure can be built in the required quality, on schedule and on budget, as well as to estimate the predicted margin of the budget. The paper is based on the ÖGG Guideline ”Kostenermittlung für Verkehrsinfrastrukturprojekte unter Berücksichtigung relevanter Projektrisiken“ (Cost Estimation of Traffic Infrastructure Projects in Consideration of Relevant Projects Risks) published in 2005. The authors of the present paper chaired the working group responsible for the guideline. The main objective of this paper is to develop an adequate structure of cost in terms of basic costs and risk costs. For the evaluation of risk costs two different methods are described in detail: The deterministic method of risk cost evaluation is based on a certain percentage of the basic costs which is sufficient for simple projects. For complex projects a qualitative risk cost evaluation based on identified risk scenarios is necessary to get a sound basis of the budgeting of the project

Workflow for Modeling Prefabricated Building Assemblies in Autodesk Revit

In 2008, by request of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the National Research Council† (NRC) put together a committee of experts to advise a plan that would advance the “competitiveness and productivity of U.S. construction industry in the next 20 years.” Two of those recommendations included the widespread deployment of building information modeling (BIM) and greater use of prefabrication, preassembly, modularization, and off-site fabrication techniques. Case studies on the subject overwhelmingly report faster project delivery, improved quality, and safer working conditions. However, current data indicates that labor productivity has still been significantly lacking, perhaps showing that investment and research in this area have been slow to develop. Barriers include lack of cooperation among teams, late design changes, and other coordination issues. This project addresses these barriers as a practical problem presented by two case studies and provides a flexible solution to both design issues with a plugin to the collaboration tool, Autodesk Revit©. The result is a software tool that alleviates feasibility issues, including pre-construction time, construction tolerances, design complexity, and flexibility, when implementing modular prefabrication on construction projects for integrated project delivery and design bid build

Alternative project delivery in rural Alaska: experiences, quality and claims

Master's Project (M.S.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2015The popularity of alternative project delivery systems has expanded beyond the private sector and into the public sector. Alaska embodies unique challenges that may present obstacles while using alternative project delivery systems. This analysis will provide an understanding of alternative project delivery systems in Alaska and how local experiences, quality and claims are affected. Alaska's unique characteristics present both challenges and opportunities for implementing alternative project delivery systems. This report begins with a discussion of experiences from several rural Alaska projects, and how alternative project delivery systems can be utilized. Some impacts that alternative project delivery systems have on quality are then presented, including a perspective on quality and recommendations for achieving customer satisfaction. A treatment of construction claims is then provided, followed by conclusions and recommendations for stakeholders in selecting an appropriate project delivery system. Alternative project delivery systems were researched by means of scholarly literature reviews, professional interviews and seminars. The report of these findings is intended to provide owners and contractors with a concise presentation of the challenges and advantages for using alternative project delivery systems in Alaska

Work Organisation and Innovation - Case Study: Elica, Italy

[Excerpt] The case chosen is an example of an Italian manufacturing company which has adopted a strategy of innovation through employee participation. Interviews were conducted with a range of managers from production, HR and sales/marketing roles as well as line managers and front line workers in supervisory roles. The Italian company Elica has manufactured cooker hoods since the 1970s. Elica use art, design and innovation to produce some of the most visually striking cooker hoods on the market. The company claims it is redefining the traditional kitchen appliance as a technologically sophisticated object with a unique design that improves quality of life

An office design and employee stress : an office design that reduces employee’s stress and increases employee productivity

We live in times when office space is playing a key role in company and employees' life. Employees productivity is a fundamental element of any businesses' success nowadays. A competitive global environment determines this phenomenon. Workers productivity can be remarkably reduced by high level of stress and poor quality of interior. Both stress and bad working conditions have an influence on employees’ well-being. In addition, they can result in pain and health problems, which as a result can reduce the willingness to work. The main aim of this study was to explore interior design techniques, which can reduce employees’ stress and at the same time increase their productivity. For this purpose, an action-research project was made. The project is composed of a design proposal for an interior design company in Poland. The design solution is based on Biopfilic Design with some elements of Activity Based Working. Biophlic design is a trend in interior design that emphasizes contact with nature. By using this design techniques (plants introduction, sunlight, nice window view for the greenery), it is possible to make workers feel better and at the same time to make them more creative and productive. The role of the Activity Based Working assumption is to match the workplace to the needs of employee. The private and open space, creative room, meeting room, dining room, gym, sauna are designed according to Activity Based Working. Common space is designed to increase collaboration among employee and to reduce the work stress. Ergonomic furniture and introduction of plants are the elements which increase productivity and protect health of both employees and customers. To understand the space and employees’ needs better a questionnaire was made. Using primary data, taking into consideration employees' answers and employers expectations a functional layout was designed. Before doing a design, many books and articles were read to understand an office design subject well. The best office design examples, which came into existence in Poland, were studied and carefully analyzed. Getting acquainted with office projects designed by the best architects was a necessary study which inspired me to continue a design work for Kolanko Company. Two-storey building with specious stockroom was built in Chwaszczyno in Poland. The new building of the company is dedicated to individual customer and architects who want to collaborate with Kolanko Company. New headquarters of Kolanko company may help clients enjoy a better service. Thanks to the showroom clients will be able to see a product before the purchase which makes their choice more conscious. An installation, products exhibitions can facilitate the client’s choice as well as inspire them. The modern office is a mix of twenty years of experience with new technologies in interior design area. The main purpose of new office is to provide the best condition for employee’s well-being and client’s service. There are many studies, which present the influence of office design on workers’ stress and productivity. Poor design can dramatically reduce employee productivity and may contribute to many health problems. There are some design techniques, which can improve work, information flow in an office and well-being of employees. In the project of Kolanko headquarters, office furniture, textures, colors and light, were carefully selected to ensure better working conditions. There are some elements called positive distraction in the project (gym, sauna, dinning area, creative room) that have an impact on reducing stress during work. Plants and the window view have possitive influence on state of being and people's creativit