Building Information Modeling as Tool for Enhancing Disaster Resilience of the Construction Industry

As frequencies of the disasters are increasing, new technologies can be used to enhance disaster resilience performance of the construction industry. This paper investigates the usage of BIM (Building Information Modeling) in enhancing disaster resilience of the construction industry and in the establishment of the resilient built environment. In-depth literature review findings reveal BIM’s contribution to the disaster resilience in the pre-disaster and post-disaster phases especially through influencing the performance of the supply chain, construction process, and rescue operations. This paper emphasises the need for BIM’s integration to the education and training curriculums of the built environment professionals. Policy makers, construction professionals, professional bodies, academics can benefit from this research

Eco industrial Development: As a Way of Enhancing Sustainable Development

The world’s habitat is being deteriorated especially due to the unsustainable production. The need for sustainable development and reducing humanities’ environmental footprint have been addressed in various international frameworks, meetings and reports (e.g. Kyoto protocol, the Resource Efficiency and Cleaner Production Program, the Ten Year Framework of Programs on Sustainable Consumption and Production, the UN Resource Panel, and the Green Economy Initiative, Rio+20, green building certificates, “UNEP Green Economy” in 2011, “Green New Deal” in 2012, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s report etc.). EIDs (the eco industrial development) can act as catalysts in sustainable development and in reducing environmental footprint of the production processes. Based on an in-depth literature review, this paper aims to analyze how EID can be supported so that environmental footprint of the production processes can be reduced contributing sustainable development. With this aim, the objectives include: analysis of the need for the EID; need for the sustainable development enhanced by sustainable production and sustainable products; key success factors for, barriers against and drivers for the EID. The policy makers, companies, and researchers are expected to get benefit from this paper

Pronalaženje i utvrđivanje raskoraka između suvremenoga lean (agilnog) i zelenoga marketinga u građevinskoj industriji

Purpose – This paper aims to enhance sustainable development in the construction industry by presenting a literature review from the perspective of sustainable development goals (SDG) on marketing in the construction industry, its importance on management strategies, marketing capabilities, and the relationship between SDG and lean and green marketing (LGM) management in the construction industry. Design/methodology/approach – A structured literature review was used as the research methodology to find out how the determinant topics were addressed in state-of-the-art of the literature. A total of 21 combinations of different keywords were applied to the search engine in the title, abstract, and keywords to gather research and review articles published within a period of ten years. As a result, 114 academic papers were examined. Findings and implications – Articles were examined in three stages, focusing on: marketing and construction industry, marketing and its importance on management, and LGM. The gaps in the literature were identified and potential future research areas were highlighted. Limitation – Using Elsevier (www.sciencedirect.com) as the database and focusing on research and review articles written in English only are the limitations of this research. Originality – This research contributes to the construction industry marketing literature, green marketing, and LGM in the construction industry. This research reviews the literature based on a large sample of papers in three stages. It outlines the gaps in the literature and may serve as a guide for further research of marketing and LGM strategy implementation in the construction industry.Svrha – Cilj je rada unaprijediti održivi razvoj u građevinskoj industriji (CI) i predstaviti pregled literature iz perspektive ciljeva održivog razvoja (SDG) u marketingu u građevinskoj industriji (CI), njegovoj važnosti za strategije upravljanja, marketinške sposobnosti i odnos između održivoga razvoja (SDG) i upravljanja lean (agilnim) i zelenim marketingom (LGM) u građevinskoj industriji (CI). Metodološki pristup – Kao metodologija istraživanja korišten je strukturirani pregled literature kako bi se saznalo na koji način su adresirane najznačajnije teme u suvremenoj literaturi. Korištena je kombinacija 21 različite ključne riječi pomoću tražilice i pretraživanja po naslovu, sažetku i ključnim riječima radi prikupljanja istraživačkih i preglednih članaka objavljenih u vremenskom razdoblju od deset godina. Ispitano je 114 znanstvenih radova. Rezultati i implikacije – Članci su ispitivani u tri faze s naglaskom na marketingu i građevinskoj industriji (CI), marketingu i njegovoj važnosti za upravljanje te lean (agilni)i zeleni marketing (LGM). Utvrđene su jazovi u literaturi. Istaknuta su potencijalna buduća područja istraživanja. Ograničenje – Ograničenja istraživanja vezana su uz korištenje Elseviera (www.sciencedirect.com) kao baze podataka i fokusiranje na istraživanja i pregledne članke napisane na engleskom jeziku. Doprinos – Rad doprinosi marketinškoj literaturi u području građevinske industrije (CI), zelenom marketingu te lean (agilnom) marketingu u građevinskoj industriji (CI). Istraživanje daje pregled literature na temelju velikog uzorka radova u tri faze. Prikazuje jazove u literaturi te može služiti kao vodič za daljnja istraživanja u marketingu te provedbi strategije lean (agilnog) i zelenog marketinga (LGM) u području građevinske industrije (CI)

An investigation on the improvement of construction expenditure forecasting

This study aims to determine the accuracy of the cash flow models and to investigate if these models could be more accurate if they accounted for the potentially influential variables specific to individual construction projects. An analytical case study research strategy has been implemented in collecting data for the construction projects. The data collected has been tested against recognised models. Statistical analyses have been carried out on the data for the specified variables, culminating in the potential proposal of an improved model with respect to these identified variables. The results revealed that the independent variables (type of construction, procurement route and type of work) affect the cash flow forecast. The findings suggested that a model could be more accurate with the input of more job-specific variables and that Hudson's DHSS model is best suited to a construction project procured traditionally. Adopting the ‘trial and error’ approach, Hudson's DHSS model has been recognised as an accurate model that could be adapted slightly, through changing the parameter values. The clients and the contractors are the main beneficiaries approached for this study

Challenges and opportunities in developing sustainable communities in the North West of England

Origins of sustainable communities lie in agendas set in a motion passed by the United Nations nearly forty years ago. As part of a sustainable development strategy and to tackle negative aspects of post industrial cities, in 2003, the UK government launched a Sustainable Communities Plan, accompanied by regional action plans, of which a major objective has been to implement regeneration projects aiming to improve quality of life in several areas of England, including the North West. This paper aims to review sustainable development agendas and to establish what needs to be done to improve quality of life indicators for communities of Stockbridge Village (SV), Murdishaw (M) and Halton Brook (HB) in Knowsley Metropolitan Borough (MBC) and Halton Borough Councils (BC), which have been identified as the most deprived post industrial areas in the North West of England. An investigation has been carried out by comparing the economic, social, physical and environmental indicators. Study findings reveal existing challenges and highlight problems that need to be addressed when implementing sustainable development strategy

An Investigation into Energy Performance with the Integrated Usage of a Courtyard and Atrium

Offices and retail spaces are among the most energy-intensive building typologies. Designing office buildings without proper consideration of their form, orientation, envelope, and other variables can lead to a considerable increase in energy usage. This research investigates how integrated usage of an atrium and courtyard can improve a building’s energy performance. Thermal performance of both atrium and courtyard spaces as well as their energy-efficient integrated usage in office buildings have been investigated within the scope of this research. DesignBuilder as an interface and EnergyPlus (based on ASHRAE, the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration, and Air-Conditioning Engineers) as analytical software have been used to investigate the thermal behavior of an atrium and courtyard in two stages. From the results it appeared that a courtyard with 40% window-to-wall ratio and triple glazing has the best energy performance, while those with single glazing and an 80% window-to-wall ratio represent maximum energy consumption in all climates. The findings also revealed that the integrated usage of a courtyard and atrium can save energy if it is used as a courtyard type of building during summer in all climates and if it is used as an atrium in the cold months. This research is original and will contribute to the literature, as it investigates the integrated usage of an atrium and courtyard with respect to energy efficiency. This research is expected to be beneficial to professionals and academics, especially with respect to the energy-efficient use of courtyards, atria, and their integrated modes. Furthermore, the findings can contribute to the sustainability performance of the built environment through an integrated atrium-courtyard building, resulting in minimal energy consumption

Environmental effects of shipping imports from China and their economic valuation: the case of metallic valve components

This paper aims to consider the total cost, including polluting environmental emissions, of imports from China to Europe of five valve components in aluminium, steel and iron. These are compared with locally produced alternatives to investigate whether internalising such external costs affects their price competitiveness. Seaborne trade represents 90% of international trade and is growing faster than the world’s economy, but marine pollution emissions are not reflected in market prices. Chinese aluminium, iron and steel production are about 2.5 times more polluting than their European counterparts, but this is also not reflected in prices. In this paper both types of extra emissions are calculated, valued and added to the cost of the components analysed, for comparison with locally produced alternatives. The locally produced components generally remain uncompetitive with Chinese imports for all likely values of external cost, except for heavy aluminium components under high external cost assumptions. The Chinese iron components analysed are simply too low in cost for European (in this case Spanish) equivalents to be competitive even allowing for environmental costs; while the stainless steel ones are so small and light that transport cost, even including externalities, is not significant. While these specific results are of limited generalizability, they provide insight into an issue of considerable and growing importance. Some suggestions are offered for further research