Implementing building energy efficiency retrofits (beer) in hotel buildings: a case study of shallow retrofit

Currently, there is a decisive need around the world to retrofit existing buildings to have higher energy performance. Compared to the significant potential for energy conservation in existing buildings, still the level of implementation of Building Energy Efficiency Retrofits (BEER) is comparatively low. The absence of a clearly defined process for ensuring the delivery of BEER; lack of proactive guidance for project teams to ensure that they make the right decisions to achieve the desired Energy Efficiency (EE) outcomes; and execution of BEER projects in ad hoc basis have been identified as some of the key reasons limiting EE improvements over the long term. Hence, this paper is aimed at developing an initial level decision-making process by incorporating the key decisions to be made and key activities to be performed, during each stage of the BEER decision-making process. The study is limited in its focus to existing hotel buildings, due to their level of energy consumption and potential for conservation. Using a case study, the study derived a total of twelve key decisions to be made and twenty-eight key activities to be performed throughout the decision-making process, based upon which an initial level decision-making process is developed. It is hoped that the findings of this study could facilitate the practitioners in the hotel sector to properly undertake and execute BEER projects

Energy retrofits to enhance energy performance of existing buildings: a review

Inefficient buildings use three to five times the energy as efficient buildings. Herein, improving the Energy Efficiency (EE) of buildings, specifically existing buildings that account for a large part of the building sector, has become a major priority. Energy Retrofits (ER) are identified as the main approach to enhance energy performance of buildings to achieve energy reduction targets. Yet, a general lack of awareness exists with respect to ER, types of ER and the possible ER measures through which building EE could be enhanced. Thus, the aim of this paper is to fill this research gap by critically reviewing the relevant literature on ER. With the intention of avoiding the misperceptions on the concept of ER, the paper first analysed various definitions of ER provided by different authors. This had made it clear that in addition to enhancing EE, ER also result in upgraded functionality, improved architectural quality, increased aesthetic value, reduced resource consumption, decreased CO2 emissions and improved indoor air quality. Besides, based on the critical review of literature, the paper also discusses different types of ER that could be adopted to retrofit a particular building and different ER measures that could be used to retrofit different building elements/systems. The findings of this study could be used by practitioners as a basis in understanding the available ER types and measures for the buildings that would be of use in making effective decisions during their endeavours to enhance the EE of existing buildings

Optimising value during construction schedule acceleration

Construction Schedule Acceleration (CSA) can affect not just the time but many other project aspects. During a CSA, there can be many impacts having significant effects on the project value. Previous studies have highlighted the importance of considering quality, productivity and functionality at a CSA along with cost and time. The aim of this research is, therefore, to investigate how value can be optimised during a CSA process. A qualitative research approach was adopted. Altogether, ten semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interview data were transcribed and analysed using a manually performed content analysis. This study has revealed types of CSA based on the purpose (delay minimising purpose or non-delay minimising purpose) and the party who initiates it. Cost, quality, functionality, productivity and profitability were identified as main value considerations during a CSA other than time. Applicability of value management (VM) job plan stages and Earned Value Management (EVM) indicators during different CSA stages to optimise value were also found. Finally, these findings were mapped in a framework to show how VM and EVM concepts could be used in enhancing value during a CSA. The framework conceptualises the relationship between “value” and CSA and how it varies upon distinct parties of a construction project during different stages and types of CSA. The proposed framework can be used as a guidance for optimising the value during the stages of a CSA

Performance comparison of prefabricated building construction projects vs. traditional on-site construction projects

The development of the construction industry has rapidly increased with the introduction of new construction technologies. Among these novel construction methods, Prefabricated Construction (PFC) plays a significant role as it has the potential to cater the increased demand as well as to resolve the current problems in the construction industry. Despite the benefits that PFC offers, still PFC contributes to only a very small percentage of construction activity in the country compared to Traditional On-site Construction (TOC) methods. Lack of records on successful experiences in PFC methods is identified as a major reason for the poor perception of practitioners on PFC. Within this context, evaluating the project performance of PFC projects compared to TOC is crucial to make the practitioners aware whether the actual benefits of PFC have been gained by such projects in practice. Hence, the aim of this study was to evaluate and compare the project performances of PFC with TOC building projects. To attain the research aim, this study employed four case studies wherein both semi-structured interviews and documentary reviews were used to collect the required data. The research findings revealed that the performance of selected PFC projects was lower compared to TOC in terms of time, cost, and quality performance aspects due to different challenges. However, the performance in terms of health and safety criteria was found to be good in PFC cases. Besides, the findings disclosed that by adopting the panelised PFC method rather than the sub-assemblies and component PFC method, successful time, quality performances can be achieved. However, realisation of the stated benefits in the real life scenario might differ., ,

Strategic alliances for the Sri Lankan construction industry - a study of best fit partners

To be sustainable with the fast-moving business environment, currently most of the organisations use strategic alliance as a key strategy. This is indeed essential for the firms in the construction sector that operates in a high-risk and competitive business environment. Simply, strategic alliance is an agreement between the business entities with the purpose of achieving the unreachable benefits/advantages which cannot be attained when they are separate. Selecting the suitable partner for strategic alliance is the extremely important task in the formation of strategic alliances and have significant influence on the success of strategic alliance. However, by far selection of most suitable alliancing parties for the formation of strategic alliance in the construction sector is largely overlooked. Hence, this study is focused on identifying the top most suitable alliancing partners for the Sri Lankan construction projects. To collect required data, structured questionnaires were distributed amongst the key parties of the construction sector on the basis of their level knowledge on the concept of strategic alliance (i.e. engineering consultant, main-contractor, and subcontractor). Findings revealed that the alliancing between the main-contractor and sub-contractor would improve the performance of Sri Lankan construction industry and thus derived as the most suitable strategic alliancing partners

Implementing Energy Retrofits in Existing Hotel Buildings using In-House Teams: The Decision-making Process

Among the existing buildings, hotels use as much as 50% of their total expenses on energy and offer significant opportunities for Energy Efficiency (EE) improvement. Yet, comparatively the level of implementation of Energy Retrofits (ER) in hotels appear to be low. This has been mainly attributed, inter alia, to the absence of clearly defined process for ensuring the delivery of ER and lack of proactive guidance for project teams to make right decisions. Hence, this study aims to propose an effective decision-making process, which could support the successful adoption and implementation of in-house led ER projects in existing hotel buildings. Two in-depth case studies were carried out focusing on ER projects led by in-house teams in existing hotel buildings. Data was collected via 14 semi-structured interviews and was analysed through code-based content analysis. The decision-making process for ER projects led by in-house teams was developed, which presents 39 key activities to be performed and 16 key decisions to be made. The parties responsible for these identified actions and decisions as well as the points at which each decision should be made to ensure the success of ER projects was also identified. Twenty-one new activities and ten decisions relevant for in-house team led ER decision-making processes previously not found in literature were identified. It is hoped that the decision-making process developed in this study will serve as a roadmap for the effective adoption and implementation of ER in existing hotel buildings