KNOWLEDGE-BASED DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEM QUALITY FUNCTION DEPLOYMENT (KBDSS-QFD) TOOL FOR ASSESSMENT OF BUILDING ENVELOPE MATERIALS AND DESIGNS IN THE EARLY DESIGN STAGE

Ph.DDOCTOR OF PHILOSOPH

Modeling a Decision Support Tool for Buildable and Sustainable Building Envelope Designs

Sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelope design have significantly gained more importance nowadays, yet there is a lack of an appropriate decision support system (DSS) that can help a building design team to incorporate these requirements and manage their tradeoffs at once. The main objective of this study is to build such a tool to facilitate a building design team to take into account sustainability and buildability criteria for assessment of building envelopes of high-rise residential buildings in Singapore. Literature reviews were conducted to investigate a comprehensive set of the sustainability and buildability criteria. This also included development of the tool using a Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) approach combined with fuzzy set theory. A building design team was engaged to test the tool with the aim to evaluate usefulness of the tool in managing the tradeoffs among the sustainability and buildability criteria. The results from a qualitative data analysis suggested that the tool allowed the design team to effectively find a balance between the tradeoffs among the criteria when assessing multiple building envelope design alternatives. Main contributions of using this tool are achievement of a more efficient assessment of the building envelopes and more sustainable and buildable building envelope design

Modeling a decision support tool for buildable and sustainable building envelope designs

Sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelope design have significantly gained more importance nowadays, yet there is a lack of an appropriate decision support system (DSS) that can help a building design team to incorporate these requirementsand manage their tradeoffs at once. The main objective of this study is to build such a tool to facilitate a building design team to take into account sustainability and buildability criteria for assessment of building envelopes of high-rise residential buildings in Singapore. Literature reviews were conducted to investigate a comprehensive set of the sustainability and buildability criteria. This also included development of the tool using a Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) approach combined with fuzzy set theory. A building design team was engaged to test the tool with the aim to evaluate usefulness of the tool inmanaging the tradeoffs among the sustainability and buildability criteria. The results from a qualitative data analysis suggested that the tool allowed the design team to effectively find a balance between the tradeoffs among the criteria when assessing multiple buildingenvelope design alternatives. Main contributions of using this tool are achievement of amore efficient assessment of the building envelopes and more sustainable and buildable building envelope design

Applying a fuzzy consensus scheme to enhance the group decision making of a building envelope design team

This study applies a fuzzy consensus scheme integrated with a multicriteria decision making method and fuzzy set theory to mitigate groupthink and disagreements among members of a building envelope design team. This fuzzy consensus scheme consists of freezing conditions and a standardized procedure to govern group decision making. The study employs a case study as a research design to test effectiveness of the fuzzy consensus scheme in mitigating groupthink and disagreements among the building design team members. In the case study, the design team is engaged and then tasked to apply the fuzzy consensus scheme when assessing different building envelope designs of a representative building project. A semi-structured interview is conducted to collect perspectives of the design team members regarding the effectiveness of the fuzzy consensus scheme applied in the case study in relation to their previous experience in similar actual projects. Results from the case study suggest that the fuzzy consensus scheme is useful in promoting group cohesiveness and generation of a variety of decision solutions. The scheme also assists the team members to express their opinions, listen to each other voices, and seek the optimal solutions that everyone in the team agrees with. These as a whole help mitigate both groupthink and disagreements among the teammembers. The main contributions of this study lie in the achievement of more effective group decision making and agreed design solutions. Future studies can incorporate the fuzzy consensus scheme into decision support tools to promote integration among project team members in several project development phases

Modeling a decision support tool for buildable and sustainable building envelope designs

Sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelope design have significantly gained more importance nowadays, yet there is a lack of an appropriate decision support system (DSS) that can help a building design team to incorporate these requirementsand manage their tradeoffs at once. The main objective of this study is to build such a tool to facilitate a building design team to take into account sustainability and buildability criteria for assessment of building envelopes of high-rise residential buildings in Singapore. Literature reviews were conducted to investigate a comprehensive set of the sustainability and buildability criteria. This also included development of the tool using a Quality Functional Deployment (QFD) approach combined with fuzzy set theory. A building design team was engaged to test the tool with the aim to evaluate usefulness of the tool inmanaging the tradeoffs among the sustainability and buildability criteria. The results from a qualitative data analysis suggested that the tool allowed the design team to effectively find a balance between the tradeoffs among the criteria when assessing multiple buildingenvelope design alternatives. Main contributions of using this tool are achievement of amore efficient assessment of the building envelopes and more sustainable and buildable building envelope design

Integrating sustainability and buildability requirements in building envelopes

10.1108/02632771111120556Facilities295255-26

Effects of firm characteristics on enterprise risk management : case study of Chinese construction firms operating in Singapore

The objective of this study is to investigate the effects of regulatory pressure, firm ownership, and firm size on enterprise risk management (ERM) implementation in international construction firms. To achieve this objective, a questionnaire survey was conducted with 35 professionals from Chinese construction firms (CCFs) operating in Singapore. Partial least-squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data. The analysis results confirmed the three constructs of ERM implementation: commitment and involvement of top management (CITM), communication and understanding (CU), and execution and integration (EI). Additionally, the results showed that: (1) higher regulatory pressure led to a higher level of CITM and EI; (2) a higher level of government ownership contributed to a higher level of CITM, CU, and EI; and (3) larger firm size led to a higher level of CITM and EI. The quantitative results were complemented by qualitative evidence from six semistructured interviews, which validated the proposed framework. These findings are arguably the first to be presented for the construction industry and therefore add to the existing body of knowledge on ERM. Additionally, the findings can help management teams tailor their ERM practices in accordance with firm characteristics, thereby contributing to current ERM practices. Although this study is focused on ERM in Singapore-based CCFs, a similar research design and method can be used to investigate the role of firm characteristics in ERM implementations in construction firms located in other countries. The future development of the ERM body of knowledge can, for enhancement purposes, take into account various firm characteristics for implementation. Therefore, this study contributes to the ERM body of knowledge

Development of a knowledge-based quality Function Deployment tool for group decision making

Zhao, X ORCiD: 0000-0003-0153-5173A team of decision makers (DMs) in any organization has always faced with lack of efficiency and consistency when making hard decisions. An absence of a Knowledge Management System (KMS) in a decision support tool accounts for a significant portion causing this problem. This study developed an automated Knowledge-based Quality Function Deployment (KB-QFD) tool to facilitate the team to mitigate such a problem. This study established a KMS and embedded this into a modified QFD tool. The focus of this study is on assessing different building envelope design alternatives of a high-rise residential building. Both literature reviews and semi-structure interviews with senior building designers in Singapore were conducted to acquire knowledge stored in the KMS. The study employed a case study of a building design team as a research design to test the KB-QFD tool. Semi-structured interviews were applied as a data collection method to gather perspectives of team members towards using the tool to mitigate inefficiency and inconsistency in assessing the building envelopes. Findings from the interviews suggested that the KMS of the tool facilitated members of the design team to overcome cognitive limitation of knowledge, to increase consensus and confidence of the team, to reduce bias when dealing with similar decisions, and to make a prompt response. The tool therefore enhances efficiency and consistency in assessing the building envelopes. Future research is recommended to apply the development of the KB-QFD tool to build other decision support tools in their study domain

Development of a knowledge-based quality Function Deployment tool for group decision making

A team of decision makers (DMs) in any organization has always faced with lack of efficiency and consistency when making hard decisions. An absence of a Knowledge Management System (KMS) in a decision support tool accounts for a significant portion causing this problem. This study developed an automated Knowledge-based Quality Function Deployment (KB-QFD) tool to facilitate the team to mitigate such a problem. This study established a KMS and embedded this into a modified QFD tool. The focus of this study is on assessing different building envelope design alternatives of a high-rise residential building. Both literature reviews and semi-structure interviews with senior building designers in Singapore were conducted to acquire knowledge stored in the KMS. The study employed a case study of a building design team as a research design to test the KB-QFD tool. Semi-structured interviews were applied as a data collection method to gather perspectives of team members towards using the tool to mitigate inefficiency and inconsistency in assessing the building envelopes. Findings from the interviews suggested that the KMS of the tool facilitated members of the design team to overcome cognitive limitation of knowledge, to increase consensus and confidence of the team, to reduce bias when dealing with similar decisions, and to make a prompt response. The tool therefore enhances efficiency and consistency in assessing the building envelopes. Future research is recommended to apply the development of the KB-QFD tool to build other decision support tools in their study domain

A review of the risks associated with building information modelling adoption

Building information modelling (BIM) has been seen as one of the most promising recent developments in the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) industry. Although BIM can bring about a number of benefits to users, it also inevitably involves diverse risks. This study attempts to provide a critical review of the risks associated with BIM adoption in the AEC industry. Content analysis was applied in the literature review, and a total of 16 risks were identified from 20 analyzed literatures. “Unclear ownership of the BIM data”, “uncertainty over design liability”, “technological interface among programs” and “professional licensing issues” were mentioned most frequently in these literatures. This study can set a foundation for future research that would assess these risks and develop a networking of risk paths associated with BIM adoption