User participation in the performance assessment of school buildings : a study of six primary schools in the Bellarine Peninsula region

Young children spend a significant portion of their lives at primary school. This research traces the development of school facilities in Victoria and examines the performance of six primary schools from the users\u27 perspective. Performance assessments were carried out using participatory evaluation methods that included Touring Interviews with small groups of students aged from six to twelve years. The study found that participatory evaluation methods with both student and staff users generate significant information to improve school facilities. User comments were analysed with respect to 14 aspects of building quality and serviceability including character, thermal environment, privacy and flexibility. The study concludes that school buildings do not meet a number of key user requirements. Children expressed dissatisfaction with furniture and equipment in their classrooms and the playground, and to a lesser extent with student toilets, security of their school bags and personal privacy. Staff were dissatisfied with the provision of withdrawal areas and specialist spaces. Department of School Education facilities guidelines do not address the concerns of school users or meet user needs

Measuring pathways to university : success factors in construction management education

Past research has shown that many students find navigating pathways from TAFE to university difficult. This paper proposes a framework for evaluating the success of the pathways. Student enrolled in higher education courses responded to a questionnaire on the nature of their experiences in VET and how this impacted on their decision to articulate to university. The survey covered a sample of three universities across Australia. The results showed that students generally had positive experiences, but that some pathways had better outcomes than others. The framework developed in this research is capable of identifying issue that lead to poor outcomes. The results indicate that matrix developed contained three factors that were good measures of the success of the pathways. The paper concludes by suggesting that universities need a greater awareness of the impact of pathways on identifying pipelines for their students.<br /

The driving force of government in promoting BIM implementation

The adoption of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the greatest technological innovations in the construction industry to date. However, the implementation of BIM lags far behind its potential due to the existence of various barriers. Strong government support is critical for the successful development and deployment of complex technology systems. BIM could seek government support to drive its implementation process and overcome the barriers. Through a survey, this paper aims to discover stakeholders&rsquo; expectations of the government role in BIM implementation and explores specific ways for governments to promote BIM implementation. The research findings are expected to assist related departments to accelerate BIM implementation

Innovative unit delivery : the supported cloud

Deakin University has recently moved to an academic calendar of three trimesters. This change aims to provide students with greater flexibility to plan their study around work or life commitments, create options for students to commence their degree and enable students to fast track their study. It has been found for students in the Bachelor of Construction Management that engagement and satisfaction during summer (Trimester 3) are less than when those same units are delivered during other trimesters. This research addresses the use of Supported Cloud learning to improve learning and the relationship with students. The School of Architecture and Built Environment used two units as case studies to examine different innovative unit delivery strategies that combined cloud and located learning. The research design included evaluation surveys, questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews as well as reflection by participating teachers. The findings show that students&rsquo; results are improved when the cloud based learning is supported by well-developed resources, structured delivery and availability of some face-to-face contacts. This innovation will serve as a benchmark for Cloud delivery in the School in all trimesters

Investigation of the challenges facing public-private partnership projects in Australia

The practice of implementing infrastructure projects through a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement is widely employed around the world with successful outcomes. However, this practice is not without challenges related to cost, time and quality variations, which the public is forced to bear. This study aims to explore factors influencing the termination of the East West Link project in Melbourne and present time and cost variation challenges facing the Sydney Light Rail project. This paper utilizes literature, investigating the critical success factors (CSF) for PPP infrastructure projects in an international context, and other readily available data sources such as Australian government publications, the case projects’ reports, news articles, and websites as the sources of data. The data gathered from these sources was then analysed to understand the project challenges and to investigate the relationship between CSF and the challenges. Four challenges were identified, including insufficiency of the business case, political interference, non-independence of implementing organizations and insufficient risk profile identification. The findings can assist to cover the loopholes that might cause similar failures in project planning, risk management, and policy and guideline frameworks. However, efforts should be made in improving the existing policies to accommodate political interests as part of risk measures under the national PPP guidelines.&nbsp

The log mean divisia index based carbon productivity in the Australian construction industry

Environmental protection and economic growth are two indicators of sustainable global development. This study aims to investigate the performance of environmental protection and economic growth by measuring carbon productivity in the construction field. Carbon productivity is the amount of gross domestic product generated by the unit of carbon emissions. The log mean Divisia index method is used to investigate influential factors including carbon intensity, energy intensity and regional adjustment that impact on changes of carbon productivity. The study utilises a range of data from the Australian construction industry during 1995-2004 including energy consumption, industry value added and carbon dioxide equivalent consumption. The research indicates carbon productivity in the Australian construction industry has clearly increased. Energy intensity plays a significant positive role in promoting carbon productivity, whereas carbon intensity and regional adjustment have limited influence. Introducing advanced construction machinery and equipment is a f easible pathway to enhance carbon productivity. The research method is generic and can be used to measure other performance indicators and decomposing them into influential factors

Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Iran: an exploratory study

BIM has received considerable attention from academics and innovative construction companies in recent years within the Iranian context. However, there is a conspicuous lack of studies, which give a picture of the current state of BIM in Iran. To address this gap in the body of the knowledge, this study intends to present an account on the current state of BIM with a focus on barriers and drivers associated with its adoption in Iran based on the perceptions of Iranian construction practitioners. Drawing upon a questionnaire survey completed by 44 construction practitioners and through deploying data visualization alongside statistical analyses, it came to light that industry practitioners in Iran are inexperienced as to BIM&rsquo;s use and the level of BIM implementation in the country is at the lowest level of BIM maturity. That is, 29.5% of construction companies are involved in some level of BIM adoption whereas 56.8% have had no exposure to BIM and 36.4% do not even have any plans to adopt BIM in the near future. The findings also showed that the highest ranked barriers to adoption of BIM in Iran are almost entirely associated with the structure of the Iranian market, the nature of the construction industry and the predominant business environment in the country as well as lack of attention by policy makers and the government. On the other hand, major drivers were found to be associated with monetary gains and enhancing competitiveness in the market. The clear message is that widespread adoption of BIM in Iran will not occur in the absence of a supportive regulatory environment and financial assistance by policy makers. The paper contributes to the field by sharing the preliminary findings of the first study conducted on BIM adoption in Iran, which provides a sound basis for further inquiries on the topic