Comparative analysis of the productivity levels achieved through the use of panelised prefabrication technology with those of traditional building system : a thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Construction, School of Engineering & Advanced Technology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Several studies have documented benefits of prefabricated building system compared to the traditional approach. Despite the acknowledged benefits of prefabrication, its application is generally low in the New Zealand construction industry. This low uptake is largely attributed to the fact that the documented benefits of prefabrication technology are anecdotal, or based on investigations of isolated case studies. This study aims to contribute to filling this knowledge gap by analysing cost savings, time savings, and productivity improvement achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building system. A two-phased mixed method of research was adopted for the study. The first phase involved the use of case study-based archival research to obtain qualitative data from records of 151 completed building projects in three cities of New Zealand – Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The second phase involved the use of questionnaire survey to obtain feedback from industry stakeholders. Results showed that the use of panelised prefabrication in place of traditional building system contributed to 21 percent cost saving, 47 percent time saving and 10 percent average improvement in the productivity outcomes in the building projects. Results further showed that 17 factors could significantly influence the levels of benefits achievable with the use of prefabrication technology. ‘Building type’ and ‘location’ were the factors having the most significant influence on the benefits achievable by the use of panelised prefabrication in place of the traditional building systems. Other factors that influence the benefits of prefabrication included (in diminishing order of influence): logistics, type of prefabrication, scale/repeatability, standardisation, contractor’s level of innovation, environmental impact, project leadership, type of procurement, whole of life quality, site conditions, site layout and client’s nature

A Review on Pharmaceutical Waste Pollution in Water: Extent, Management and Removal Strategies

Pharmaceutical waste and presence of hazardous pollutants in them is a growing concern due to their fate, origin, higher rate of utilization and varying nature of active ingredients resulting in water contamination. However, there is few research on the graving nature of the problem. Cascading impacts on human and ecosystems can be expected from contaminated groundwater and other aquatic channels. While, various technologies used and studied for the removal/reduction/sedimentation of pharmaceutical pollutants. At the initial stages, level of toxicity should check with respect to flora, fauna, environment, and human health. Furthermore, the production of by-products from pharmaceutical pollutants should also be checked and regulated. These by-products can be much more toxic, than the original contaminants and can exert significant toxic effects. It was concluded that there should be ongoing efforts to reduce the cost associated with pharmaceutical waste and their pollutants removal processes to ensure sustainability in the environment and human being

Offsite manufacturing as a means of improving productivity in New Zealand construction industry : key barriers to adoption and improvement measures : a research thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Construction Management at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Off-site manufacturing (OSM) of building components could be leveraged to improve the reported low productivity trend in the New Zealand (NZ) construction industry. Despite the numerous known benefits of OSM, the uptake of the technology in the industry has been discouragingly low. Previous studies offer little help in terms of prioritising identified barriers to the uptake of OSM. As a result, improvement efforts have been daunted by numerous barriers in the face of limited resources. This study aims to contribute to bridging the gap in the extant literature by identifying and prioritising the key constraints to the industry-wide uptake of prefabrication and the improvement measures. Through a nation-wide survey of consultants, contractors, employers and manufacturers, feedback was received and analysed using the multiattribute analytical technique. Results show that the broad categories of constraints to the adoption of prefabrication in NZ are (in order of decreasing impact and relative contributions): industry and market culture (16.2%), skills and knowledge (15.5%), logistics and site operations (14.8%), cost/value/productivity (14%), supply chain and procurement (13.7%), process and programme (13.6%), and regulatory (12.2%). The subcomponents of the broad constraint categories and their relative levels of impact on the uptake of the technology were reported. In addition to addressing the key barriers identified in the study, further measures for improving the uptake of the technology in New Zealand include promotion by client through specifying OSM in the design briefs, improved education and training on the use of OSM, more marketing/ awareness campaign on the benefits of the technology and better supply chain management and transportation logistics. To enable a methodical evaluation of the marginal value achievable by the use of a variant of OSM over and above that of the traditional stick-built system at the design and life-cycle phases of the procurement process, a decision support model was developed. The model incorporates the key performance indicators (KP1s) underlying clients’ value system at the development and operational phases and compares the extent to which each variant of OSM delivers each value criterion relative to the conventional system. The sum of the marginal values at each phase of the procurement iii | P a g e system provides the rationale basis for choosing either the OSM variant or the conventional system based on the approach that delivers the highest marginal value. The model application to real life project was demonstrated using the modular variant of the OSM compared to the conventional stick-built system. Results of the model application at the development phase shows that the OSM was more beneficial to the client than the conventional system with an overall marginal value of 34% relative to the conventional construction approach. Individual results showed 22% improvement in the completion time for the project, 9% improvement in quality and 3% reduction in the carbon footprint at the development phase. However, the technology was found to be 2.4% more expensive than the traditional stick-built system. Results of the model application at the operation and life-cycle phases also show that the technology achieved superior value compared to the conventional stick-built system. The overall marginal value achieved by the modular OSM application at the operation phase was 49% compared to the traditional stick-built system; this comprised 23% reduction in the running and maintenance costs, 18% reduction in the maintenance frequency of the structure and fabric, and an annual 8% reduction in the carbon footprint. Overall, the use of modular variant of the OSM was found to deliver superior value to clients compared to the conventional system at the development, operational and lifecycle phases of the procurement process

Marginal Productivity Gained Through Prefabrication: Case Studies of Building Projects in Auckland

Several studies have documented benefits of prefabrication system (prefab) compared to the traditional building system (TBS). However, the documented benefits have been anecdotal or fragmented with reports of isolated case study projects. Few studies have looked at the objectively quantified benefits from statistical significance point of view and across building types in New Zealand. This study contributes to filling this knowledge gap by analyzing cost and time-savings, and productivity improvement achievable by the use of prefab in place of the TBS. Records of completion times and final contract values of 66 building projects implemented using prefab in Auckland were collected. The building types included commercial, houses, apartments, educational, and community buildings. The project details included final contract sums, completion dates, gross floor areas, and number of floors. Based on these details, the equivalent completion times and the final cost estimates for similar buildings implemented using the TBS were obtained from the Rawlinsons construction data handbook and feedback from some designers and contractors. Marginal productivity outcome for each building project was computed as the product of the cost and time-savings achieved using the prefab. Results showed that the use of prefab in place of TBS resulted in 34% and 19% average reductions in the completion times and costs, respectively. This also translated to overall 7% average improvement in the productivity outcomes in the building projects. Univariate ANOVA-based hypothesis test results showed that ‘building type’ had no significant effects on the cost and productivity improvement outcomes, but had significant effect on the time savings analyzed in the case study projects. The greatest productivity gain of 11% was achieved in house projects. These evidence-based results could guide optimized use of prefab for specific building application. The hypothesis-testing outcome provides insights on one of several potential influences on prefab improvements, which will be analyzed in subsequent research

Blockchain and Information Integration: Applications in New Zealand’s Prefabrication Supply Chain

New Zealand’s rising demand for new and affordable homes is driving innovative and effective methods for project delivery. Prefabrication or off-site construction is considered an innovative approach to project delivery that eliminates the limitations of traditional construction methods. However, the prefabrication industry struggles with several challenges, including poor coordination and low supply chain integration amongst its partner organisations. There has been previous literature on improving the prefabrication supply chain integration, but few studies about the role of technology in this sector. Therefore, this article provides intuitions into the applicability and benefits of advanced technologies, namely blockchain, for improving supply chain integration in the context of prefabrication in New Zealand. A questionnaire survey was used to identify the channels used for information exchange between clients and contractors. Moreover, the questionnaire ascertained the positive effects of blockchain on enhancing supply chain integration between the two partners. Blockchain has proven to be a secure information integration instrument that can improve the integration of the prefabrication supply chain by fostering collaboration between organisations

Incidental detection of acquired unilateral nasolacrimal duct obstruction on I-131 whole body scan following I-131 therapy for thyroid cancer: a case report

Abstract Background Radioactive iodine 131 (I-131) is used in the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancer after thyroidectomy; however, its accumulation in non-thyroidal regions may give false positive results on iodine whole body scan (WBS). Only a few cases of radioiodine uptake in the orbital region in patients with thyroid cancer have been reported, which could be due to metastasis or false positive causes resulting from contamination or inflammatory etiology. Case presentation We describe a case of 49-year-old male with history of papillary thyroid carcinoma. The follow-up I-131 whole body scan showed a focus of increased radiotracer uptake in the region of left orbit. Correlative single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT-CT) showed that uptake was due to stenosis of the left nasolacrimal duct causing obstructive symptoms on left side. Dacryoscintigraphy also demonstrated significant obstruction of left nasolacrimal system. Conclusions The nasolacrimal duct obstruction is a rare adverse event after I-131 therapy that can result in an accumulation of radioiodine on whole body scan, mimicking metastasis. The use of additional spot views and SPECT-CT images along with thyroglobulin levels can help physicians in clarifying the situation in these uncertain cases