An examination of actors that impact technology introduction to FM

Developing and implementing a technology for Facilities Management (FM) can be a complex process. This is particularly the case when a technology impacts on an organisation as a whole. There are often a number of relevant actors, internal and external to FM, who should be engaged. This engagement is guided by the strategy of the organisation which is led by top management decisions. Indeed, it is top management who have the final decision to implement a technology. Actors of top management and other relevant actors will have their own discourses toward the implementation of the technology based on how they foresee the technology befittingly benefitting the organisation. This paper examines actors who play a relevant and necessary part in supporting and implementing a technology to FM. It examines how an actor’s discourse toward the project inhibits or speeds up the implementation of a technology. The methods used for this paper are based on a two year case study in a FM department where a technology development was observed and interviews with key participants were conducted. Critical discourse analysis is used to analyse the data. Prominent discourses that emerge from the data are emphasised during the process of introducing the technology. This research moves beyond focusing purely on project successes but examines the difficulties and the hurdles that must be overcome to reach a successful technology implementation

Planning for sharing neighbourhoods - Negotiating sustainable transition with adaptive governance models

Thorough sharing is discussed as a promise concept to reduce emissions and enable sustainable development, little is known how the diverse approaches of sharing ranging from Collective Commons to the Sharing Economy can be incorporated in the development of the built environment. In this study, we set the spotlight on sharing and how it could be implemented as a guiding principle in neighbourhood development. We build our study on an empirical case study within the new planned zero emission neighbourhood development of Ydalir within the city of Elverum, Norway. Building on document analysis, accompanying research and a one-day workshop with diverse stakeholders, we identified respective sharing solutions to create social value for future Ydalir residents. The findings let us draw the picture of an adaptive governance model to initiate and facilitate sharing within a multi-stakeholder setting of a new planned neighbourhood development.publishedVersio

Configuration Management in Complex Engineering Projects

AbstractDigital technologies are radically transforming project delivery, breaking the mould of 1960s approaches to enable more rapid and agile forms of organizing. Yet the use of large digital data-sets also requires new forms of control. This study compares the leading practices of managing change in digitally-enabled projects in Airbus, CERN and Crossrail. It focuses on configuration management, the process of maintaining system integrity while handling change to both the digital data-set and the related real- world engineering systems. The contribution is to explain: first, why configuration management has become more, rather than less, important in complex engineering in an era of ‘big data’; and second, how approaches to configuration management are shaped by these industrial contexts of civil engineering, nuclear research and aerospace. The paper concludes by considering the implications for managing digitally-enabled projects

Passing the baton? Handing over digital data from the project to operations

From fieldwork conducted ahead of the London Olympic Games, we develop new understanding of how organizations hand over digital data from the project to operations. Prior research explains how practitioners negotiate meaning across boundaries in ongoing work. However, it gives little attention to hand-over, where one group disengages as another engages. We use the analogy of the baton pass in a relay race to articulate how hand-over requires attention to sequence, timing, passing technique and communication within a time-constrained window of opportunity. In our case study, the project delivery team transfer responsibility for sports venues and other facilities, and their associated digital data, to Games operators. We show how delivery professionals both project the nature of future work; and probe how meanings will be interpreted. They seek to extend the window to discuss and negotiate meaning with operators. Our study contributes to research on engineering projects and on the coordination of knowledge work by articulating the baton pass, window of opportunity and projection and probing activities involved in hand-over. Understanding and improving the hand-over of digital data from the project to operations is important to enable owners and operators to better manage built infrastructure

A narrative literature review using placemaking theories to unravel student social connectedness in hybrid university learning environments

Student social connectedness is indicated to be changing with the increasing digitalisation of universities. This narrative literature review aims to bring new meanings to the hybrid university learning environment (HULE), and to develop a framework for the benefit of student social connectedness by using placemaking theories. It searches through the academic literature for evidence of experience with three attributes of social connectedness: socialising, social support, and sense of belonging, in relation to individuals’ sense of place, bringing a range of outcomes, such as identity development, which might contribute to improved social connectedness. This is then expanded in the HULE by looking at the physical and online spaces, with a focus on liminal space and co-design. The findings show that an overly rigid structure of the HULE can cause negative student social connectedness, with co-design being proposed as a way of creating a tailored and connected learning experience. However, this is underdeveloped for learning environment needs and could be enhanced by applying placemaking theories to map levels of student social connectedness in the physical location and in the more-than-real ‘non-places’. This provides an innovative perspective of the HULE based on student social connectedness, impacting the existing pedagogical approach for university courses

Sustainable Building Renovation in Residential Buildings: Barriers and Potential Motivations in Norwegian Culture

Retrofit of existing housing increases the possibility of meeting Sustainable Development Goals. Improving quality of life, minimising energy consumption and increasing productivity in buildings process with the aim of affordable housing (social, environmental, and economic sustainability) set new demands for renovation amongst residential housing in Norway. Most studies to date emphasised on mitigation of CO2 emissions in building sector through building renovations. However, recent studies started evaluating why such renovation plans may not be considered by property owners. This study investigates potential barriers and motivations for Sustainable Building Renovations (SBR) from house-owners’ perspective and discusses the role of urban Facility Management (FM) in promoting SBR. Results from a questionnaire survey with 341 citizens in Trondheim city, Norway, confirm economic issues as the main barrier for SBR with respondents suggesting different forms of financial support to resolve these barriers. Social engagement of citizens with public/private partners and neighbours illustrates the collective motivation for SBR. This requires an intermediary role like urban FM engaging citizens to co-create their needs in urban areas with public/private sectors. The output of this study helps to promote urban FM engaging with SBR targets through renovation of neighbourhoods

Utforskning av samarbeidspraksis for informasjons-styringssystemer fra prosjektoverlevering til Facilities Management

Hovedmålet med forskingsprosjektet «Utforskning av samarbeidspraksis for in¬formasjonsstyringssystemer fra prosjektoverlevering til Facility Management (FM/FDV)» har vært å utforske hvilke prosesser som både muliggjør og begrenser inte¬grasjonen av digitale data fra prosjektering og bygging til bruk i Facility Management og ved bruk av bygninger. Vi har belyst hvordan digital overlevering av data med fokus på FM/FDV og prosjektledelse blir gjennomført i praksis ved studier av tre rehabiliteringsprosjekter. Prosjekt Norge (prosjektnorge.no) har støttet prosjektarbeidet som har vært ledet av Institutt for arkitektur og planlegging ved NTNU i samarbeid med Multiconsult, Statsbygg, Ahus og SINTEF Community. Dataoverlevering fra et byggeprosjekt til drift er fortsatt utfordrende, noe som begrenser utviklingen av eiendomsforvaltning/FM og bruk av teknologier slik som Building Information Models (BIM). I dette forprosjektet har vi undersøkt dagens utfordringer og muligheter ved å se på dataoverføring fra bygging til drift og FDV i et helhetlig livsløpsperspektiv for bygg, anlegg og eiendom (BAE) i Norge. Rappor¬ten inkluderer også et internasjonalt prosjektledelsesperspektiv basert på studier i Storbritannia og Danmark. Prosjektet gir òg en oversikt over aktuelle standarder og veiledninger for livslang datahåndtering i byggeprosjekter. I prosjektarbeidet har vi undersøkt bruken av standardiserte klassifiseringssystemer, utviklet BIM-veiledning og gitt innspill til rammeverket «Neste steg», utviklet av Bygg21. I tillegg til en gjennomgang av litteratur og teori, har vi vektlagt å samle inn praktiske erfaringer ved å se på tre rehabiliteringsprosjekter og gjennomføre en workshop. Vi har intervjuet åtte aktører i FDV, prosjektledelse og byggeledelse, hvor alle aktørene hadde roller og praktiske erfaringer med rehabiliteringsprosjek¬tene. Disse delte sine erfaringer knyttet til datalevering fra de som jobber med det. I workshopen, hvor 12 personer fra ulike BAE-fag deltok, diskuterte vi hvordan bran¬sjen kan forbedre datalevering mellom prosjekt og drift. Vi har identifisert spesifikke utfordringene i praksis ved integrasjon av data fra overlevering av prosjekt til eien¬domsforvaltning i et livsløpsperspektiv. Det som kjennetegner gode prosesser i grensesnittet prosjekt og FM/FDV er ko¬ordinering av informasjonskontroll og veiledning for overlevering av data til FDV-systemer. Dette gjenspeiles i bransjens perspektiv på hvordan en lykkes med prosjek¬ter. Samtidig er det tydelig at gjennomføringen av prosessene ofte er utfordrende, spesielt i små rehabiliteringsprosjekter. Disse prosjektene er avhengig av kompetente prosjektledere ettersom det er mindre ressurser i små prosjekter sammenlignet med store prosjekter. I likhet med store prosjekter har små prosjekter også behov for god kommunikasjon mellom deltakerne i prosjektet for å skape en felles forståelse om hvordan en kan gjennomføre dataleveringsprosesser. FM/FDV har ofte utfordringer med å finne informasjonen de trenger i dataene de mottar fra prosjektfasen, og det resulterer i mye bortkastet tid med datahåndtering FDV-fasen. Dette kan også skyl¬des at terminologien som brukes for objekter i bygningsmodelleringssystemer er an¬nerledes enn terminologien som brukes i FM/FDV. Kunnskapsoverføring fra prosjekt til drift og omvendt er i liten grad systematisert i bransjen. For å utvikle kunnskapso¬verføring er det nødvendig å ha et rammeverk som kan gi bedre samspill mellom de forskjellige faser i livsløpløpet for bygninger. I dag er det ofte slik at kunnskapsoverføring gjennomføres ad hoc fra FDV-perspek¬tivet når de blir invitert til å delta i prosjektet. Og svært ofte kommer invitasjonen til å delta sent, slik at det tidsmessig er vanskelig å delta i de tidlige fasene. FM/FDV-an¬svarlige har ikke en formell rolle for medvirkning i planleggings- og byggefasene, så de blir bare engasjert i prosjektet om de har tid og ressurs. Men uten et skikkelig rammeverk for å engasjere FDV i de tidlige fasene er slikt engasjement ikke alltid mulig. FDV kan bidra til overføring av informasjon fra prosjekter på følgende måter: Definere hvilke typer informasjon FDV trenger fra byggeprosjekter Gi kunnskap om innvirkningen av endringer i data/systemer som er gjort under et rehabiliteringsprosjekter og hvilke innvirkning dette har på eksisterende FDV-systemer Gi kunnskap om FDV-erfaring i eksisterende bygninger som kan brukes til å utvikle rehabiliteringsprosjekter Gjennom forskningsprosjektet har vi sett at det er behov for å utvikle systemer for og dokumentasjon av prosesser for koordinering og kontroll av informasjonsflyten. Det er også nødvendig med et rammeverk for bedre samspill mellom FDV og de som jobber med gjennomføringen av byggeprosjekter. Det er et behov for koordi¬neringsprosesser og samspill for å få et godt samarbeid mellom forskjellige fagper¬soner og for å sikre kontinuerlig bruk av informasjon på tvers av faser i bygningens livssyklus.publishedVersio

Managing change in complex projects: configuration management, asset information and big data

As we enter an era of ‘big data’, asset information is becoming a deliverable of complex projects. Prior research suggests digital technologies enable rapid, flexible forms of project organizing. This research analyses practices of managing change in Airbus, CERN and Crossrail, through desk-based review, interviews, visits and a cross-case workshop. These organizations deliver complex projects, rely on digital technologies to manage large data-sets; and use configuration management, a systems engineering approach with mid-20th century origins, to establish and maintain integrity. In them, configuration management has become more, rather than less, important. Asset information is structured, with change managed through digital systems, using relatively hierarchical, asynchronous and sequential processes. The paper contributes by uncovering limits to flexibility in complex projects where integrity is important. Challenges of managing change are discussed, considering the evolving nature of configuration management; potential use of analytics on complex projects; and implications for research and practice

Contextualizing learning approaches which shape BIM for maintenance

Purpose: Studies of BIM examine the potential benefits in maintenance. There is also a perspective maintenance teams should be involved early in the building project process. There is little understanding on learning processes for BIM in maintenance in the early building project stage which this paper sets out to address. Methodology: Case study is used to examine the context maintenance learn about BIM. Maintenance managers and project managers were interviewed where discussions centered on a new build project which introduced BIM and how it would impact current practices. Findings: Learning happens at the early building project stage for BIM into maintenance influenced by external and internal contexts. The external context focuses on the UK government on being a catalyst for explorative learning. Meaning is added by maintenance teams through exploiting what is learnt from the external influence which is contextualized within current activities. Internal shaping of BIM is explored through building scenarios and exploitation learning occurs from past experiences of change which are inferred onto BIM. There is a necessary balance between exploration and exploitation learning in order to shape BIM for maintenance. Research limitation/implications: The paper is limited to one case study however, it takes an in-depth look at the development of BIM in maintenance and how it is understood in maintenance. Originality/value: The contribution of the paper examines the context of learning in which BIM is shaped in maintenance

Innovation in facilities management: from trajectories to ownership

Purpose – Innovation in facilities management (FM) is a complex process as FM is a diverse discipline. This paper aims to use innovation trajectories to explore this complex process through the introduction of a technology innovation in two FM services of security and workspace management. It also aims to consider the discourse of individuals within their trajectory to understand their positions toward the innovation. Design/methodology/approach – A two-year case study was conducted and it was based in an in-house FM department that was part of a financial institution. The specific methods used for the paper were semi-structured interviews with key participants of the project. Critical discourse analysis was used to examine the data. Findings – Individuals who were involved in introducing the technology to the FM department were both internal and external to FM as innovation in FM does not happen in isolation to the organisation. Innovation trajectories were often intertwined or occurred simultaneously during the process of a project which sometimes resulted in conflict. Tensions within the discourse of ownership of the project were particularly apparent as this discourse had a power dimension in driving the project through to implementation. Research limitations/implications – The research is limited by being a single case study so it is not possible to generalise findings but the findings may have resonances with other organisations. Originality/value – The paper presents an original idea about how to understand innovation processes in FM services