An investigation of barriers and enablers to energy efficiency retrofitting of social housing in London

Carbon emissions, being hazardous, are triggering social concerns which have led to the creation of international treaties to address climate change. Similarly, the United Kingdom under the Climate Change Act (2008) has committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emission by at least 80% over 1990 levels by 2050.  However, being the oldest member of the EU states (before Brexit), the UK has the oldest housing stock, which contributes to 45% of its carbon emissions due to the older dwellings. To address this issue low carbon retrofitting is needed. Therefore, this paper seeks to investigate the barriers and enablers to energy efficiency retrofitting in social housing in London, UK based on the perception of experts employed in National and construction companies with an experience that ranges between 6 to 16 years. Initial literature suggested that the problem of energy efficiency retrofitting in the general building stock has been addressed, however little has been reported on its application to social housing. This paper, therefore, groups the barriers and enablers into seven categories that include: financial matters, Technical, IT, Government policy and regulation, social factors (including awareness of the energy efficiency agenda), quality of workmanship and disruption to residents, using literature review, interviews and surveys with key stakeholders within the housing sector, and draws recommendations to enable effective and efficient retrofitting for social housing projects.&nbsp

A Comparative Study of Energy Performance in Educational Buildings in the UAE

Sustainability has gained popularity and importance around the globe due to the ever-increasing effects of climate change and global warming on Earth. As of the 21st century, human endeavour has caused an enormous amount of damage to the environmental ecological system. Among which, one of the major contributors to the increase in the environmental issues and CO2 emissions are the conventional sources of energy, especially in the built environment. Globally, the built environment accounts for 12 percent of the world’s drinkable water, 40 percent of energy wastage and 35 percent of scarce natural resources, which in turn produces 40 percent of the total global carbon emission. Among which are educational buildings which tend to be a major contributor (as most of these facilities are old and conventionally built in the mid-1900s) Thus, with the education sector being an essential part of society, it becomes important to determine the energy performance and carbon footprint of these buildings. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) vision 2021 highlights the country's approach to the importance of providing the best education and adopting sustainable environmental infrastructure. Therefore, this study adopts a methodological approach based on semi-structured interviews and surveys, in order to compare the energy performance of three educational buildings within Higher Education establishments in the UAE as a case study. The study also evaluates the end user’s awareness of the importance of sustainable practices in the buildings and their preference for these buildings. The findings of this study conclude that Net Zero Energy Buildings (NZEBs) are the most efficient buildings in terms of energy performance, carbon consumption and heat generated. Therefore, it is important that the integration of these types of buildings is considered in educational establishments

The role of organizational culture in construction partnering to produce innovation

Construction firms are faced with problems with learning curve in projects, dissimilarities in organizational culture and business practices with other firms in temporary organizations and distrust in the traditional bidding process.The partnering strategy is being advocated by many literatures as the solution to the many problems in the construction industry.Various studies have collectively added to the current knowledge of known partnering factor, frameworks, possible outcomes and barriers to partnering.Several studies indicate the need for similar organizational culture for partnering organizations to ensure partnering success.This need can be heightened when partnering occurs between firms of varying sizes.However, there seem to be little effort on formulating an organizational cultural based framework for partnering.Apart from that, measure of success is rarely included within these frameworks.The measure is critical as to give the partnering firms an indication whether the partnering venture is succeeding or not, after all guidelines in the framework had been applied.This paper is based on the literature review for a research which aims to develop a new framework that meets the needs of organizational culture in partnering firms which would improve innovation, as a measure of partnering success.This paper proposes that when the elements of organizational culture are present and similar in partnering firms, the partnering effort have a greater chance of succeeding and producing improvements such as innovation in the construction industry. Accordingly, this paper gives a synthesis of literature review on the overview of partnering, the role of organizational culture and how it can help improve innovation in the construction industry.A review of available frameworks for partnering is also included, indicating the lack of focus on the element of organizational culture.By providing an in-depth understanding of the research area, this paper will be adding a significant knowledge to current partnering practices within the construction industry

Effective partnering in construction: A critical literature review

The construction industry has been often criticized as an industry of adverse relationships with negative procurement practices as well as lacking in innovation and knowledge sharing.Many have attributed the adverse relationships to formation of temporary organizations working together towards completing a project.The possibility of a construction firm working with a different set of firms in their next project is always present.Due to this, issues had arisen; where construction firms are faced with problems with the learning curve in projects, dissimilarities in organizational culture and business practices with other firms in the temporary organization and distrust in the traditional bidding process.The partnering strategy is being advocated by many literatures as the solution to the many problems in the construction industry.It has started to gain recognition since the publication of Latham and Egan reports, proposing the strategy as an antidote to the industry's many diseases.Various studies have collectively added to the current knowledge of known partnering factor, possible outcomes and barriers to partnering. The many frameworks and models that has been formulated to act as guidelines for successful partnering to construction firms wishing to enter a partnering agreement has reflected the importance of partnering is to the construction industry.Therefore, this paper will first review the definitions of partnering, then report a synthesis of factors that enables partnering, which includes a brief summary of available frameworks revealed from the literature review conducted for an ongoing postgraduate research.The gap in the current partnering knowledge will be highlighted, indicating the need for further study in the area of organizational culture within partnering firms

Prevalence of Urinary Incontinence and Probable Risk Factors in a Sample of Kurdish Women

Objectives: The most common manifestation of pelvic floor dysfunction is urinary incontinence (UI) which affects 15–50% of adult women depending on the age and risk factors of the population studied. The aim of this study was to determine the probable risk factors associated with UI; the characteristics of women with UI; describe the types of UI, and determine its prevalence. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted between February and August 2011, in the Maternity Teaching Hospital of the Erbil Governorate, Kurdistan Region, northern Iraq. It included 1,107 women who were accompanying patients admitted to the hospital. A questionnaire designed by the researchers was used for data collection. A chi-square test was used to test the significance of the association between UI and different risk factors. Binary logistic regression was used, considering UI as the dependent variable. Results: The overall prevalence of UI was 51.7%. The prevalence of stress, urgency, and mixed UI was 5.4%, 13.3% and 33%, respectively. There was a significant positive association between UI and menopause, multiparity, diabetes mellitus (DM), chronic cough, constipation, and a history of gynaecological surgery, while a significant negative association was detected between UI and a history of delivery by both vaginal delivery and Caesarean section. Conclusion: A high prevalence of UI was detected in the studied sample, and the most probable risk factors were multiparity, menopausal status, constipation, chronic cough, and DM

A multi-attribute utility decision support tool for a smart campus—UAE as a case study

The advancement in technologies in the education sector has improved living standards and acts as a sustaining factor for future development. Recently, the integration of technologies into the campus to transform it into a Smart Campus has experienced exponential growth in interest from researchers. Though various definitions of the concept of ‘Smart Campus’ have been proposed, the integration of the end users’ perception is always lacking in the concept. This study, therefore, intends to build on the theory to classify the most significant criteria that underpin the ‘Smart Campus’ by considering the institute’s stakeholders’ perceptions. A multi-step methodological approach is adopted to develop a decision support tool that allows the decision makers to invest in the optimum solution to transform a traditional campus into a smart campus. The study initially looks into the criteria and sub-criteria from the literature that defines a ‘Smart Campus’. Secondly, a survey was conducted by targeting a sample of students, faculty, administrative staff, and IT support personnel from a leading institute in the UAE region as a single case study. Thirdly, an AHP analysis was performed among different stakeholders. The findings suggested that there exists a consensus among the perception of a diverse group of participants who perceive smart security and safety, campus navigation, and adaptive learning as the most important criteria and applications to transform the traditional campus into a smart campus. Finally, the decision support tool development on the Utility function model allows the decision makers, i.e., Network Managers, IT Managers, Systems and Cloud Managers, and Senior Managers from the Finance departments, to make informed and strategic decisions in terms of the optimum solution for the transformation from a traditional campus to a smart campus

Faculty perception of online education: considerations for the post-pandemic world

In the post-COVID era, academic institutions adapted curricula, utilizing aspects of the online delivery in full or partially. Consequently, this research focuses on identifying the factors that influence faculty perceptions of effective online delivery in higher education and comparing them with students’ perceptions. The study involves semi-structured interviews with 15 faculty members at a renowned university to gain insights into their online teaching experiences during the pandemic. Additionally, 51 faculty members participated in a survey using the Relative Importance Index (RII) method to determine the most significant practices impacting online delivery. The results indicate that the most concerning factor for faculty during online delivery is facilitating students’ engagement and interactions in class, with an RII of 0.94. Controlling academic dishonesty during assessments receives a relatively lower concern with an RII of 0.67. Making lectures interactive is identified as the most challenging practice for faculty. Comparing the findings with students’ perceptions based on previous studies, both groups emphasize the significance of effective communication, interaction, and the use of technology. Faculty prioritize the delivery and organization of lectures, while students focus on engagement and interactive elements. Faculty value organization and relevance in assignments, while students emphasize instructor qualities and responsiveness

Partnering awareness in the Malaysian construction industry: A study on consultant engineers

The traditional procurement system which is applied through the formation of temporary organizations has led to the segmented approach in construction projects delivery in the Malaysian construction industry.Consequently, in dealing with these issues, the Malaysian Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has identified and recommended partnering as a method to overcome the problems in the construction industry. Partnering is believed to be a viable approach to integrate the construction industry and construction project implementation, as well as creating conducive environment for innovations. The awareness of the consultants towards partnering is crucial as they are at a pivotal stage of introducing innovation in construction projects.This paper aims to explore the awareness of consultants towards partnering in the Malaysian construction industry through the use of qualitative methods.Findings indicate that although the consultant in Malaysia are positive towards partnering, there exists some hesitation in fully engaging in partnering ventures due to dissimilarities in organizational culture among firms in the partnering team

A Socio-cultural Perspective to BIM Adoption: A Case Study in South Africa

The implementation of BIM in construction organisations requires various strategic and change management processes. The effect of organisational culture, manifested through external survival issues, internal integration issues and underlying assumptions, on BIM adoption are absent in the literature. This paper aims to illustrate that a focus on these three level of cultural manifestation within AEC organisations could lead to improved analysis of BIM adoption. An architectural organisation based in South Africa is used as a case study. A mixed method of data collection was adopted to analyse BIM’s manifestation in an architectural organisation’s culture. Interviews were conducted with key members in the organisation, and survey data of 29 respondents was used to triangulate and develop consensus about the underlying assumptions relating to BIM. The results showed how each of the three levels of cultural manifestation is influencing BIM adoption. In particular, the findings revealed that leaders’ perceptions greatly impact the adoption of BIM through the three levels of the organisational culture