Borhani, A., Borhani, A., Dossick, C. S., & Jupp, J. (2024). An Ontological Analysis for Comparison of the Concepts of Sustainable Building and Intelligent Building. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 150(4). https://doi.org/10.1061/JCEMD4.COENG-13711
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Abstract
The concept of intelligent building is emerging in the contemporary built environment. Intelligent buildings aim to leverage digital technologies and information throughout the building’s life cycle (design, construction, and operation phases) to improve the building’s performance and value. In recent years, academic scholars and industry practitioners have made efforts to articulate the intelligent building concept and identify its components. However, there is still no commonly accepted definition for the term intelligent (or smart) building. Furthermore, the term is used interchangeably with similar terms such as sustainable building and high-performance building. The primary gaps in research are the lack of a holistic and clearly defined list of intelligent building components. This gap limits building stakeholders’ abilities to decide which technologies to implement in their buildings, prove its capabilities and advantages, and improve its performance. In response to the identified gaps, this research conceptualizes intelligent building in comparison with the concept of sustainable building. We identified the key components that each concept entails and conducted a comparative analysis of the identified components. The findings of this research include a categorization of intelligent building’s definitions which helps to conceptualize intelligent building and distinguish it from other similar concepts. In addition, the research team used the developed ontologies for intelligent and sustainable buildings to provide a fundamental overview of the structure of building evaluation systems and their different approaches for determining evaluation criteria. Overall, this study contributes to the body of knowledge by identifying and classifying components of intelligent buildings, which is a prerequisite for intelligent buildings’ evaluation. It also makes a distinction between the concepts of intelligent building and sustainable building in order to determine their context and applications.
Kim, Y.-W., & Rhee, B.-D. (2024). Incentive-based coordination for scheduled delivery in prefab construction. Construction Management and Economics, 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2024.2305763.
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Abstract
An increasing number of projects are adopting prefabrication to economize on time, labor, and materials in fixed-position layout operations, such as construction, ship building, and aircraft manufacturing. In such contexts, independent contractor and fabricator make interdependent decisions, which calls for prudent supply chain management because performance relies on coordination between their decisions. Many studies have developed integrated systems and propose various algorithms for scheduling efficiency and reliability. Nevertheless, they pay scant attention to conflicting interests amongst independent partners, which may result in subpar performance not only for the supplier but for the contractor as well. Coordination of conflicting interests has been extensively studied in economics and supply chain management; yet, those studies focus on order-quantity decisions under demand uncertainty for profit maximization, while managers in fixed-position operations are more concerned about delivery decisions under scheduling uncertainty for cost minimization. We consider the case of construction and explore a contractual scheme that aligns the agents' decisions for coordination in a construction supply chain. Specifically, we propose a supplier rebate for coordination: the supplier grants a rebate if the contractor accepts the shipment in accordance with the delivery schedule that the contractor initially chose. We show that the optimal rebate fully coordinates the supply chain to minimize the joint supply chain costs. Thus, both the contractor and supplier benefit from the coordination by negotiating a mutually acceptable way to allocate the savings in joint costs between them. We further show that the rebate motivates the contractor to enhance its work scheduling.
Keywords
Construction supply chain; coordination; delivery schedule reliability; prefabrication; rebate for scheduled delivery
Laishram, B., Devkar, G., Ke, Y., & Aziz, A. A. (2024). Guest editorial: Public private partnerships: past, present and future. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 14(1), 1–3. https://doi.org/10.1108/BEPAM-02-2024-207.
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Kim, S., & Kim, Y. (2023). Allocating Safety Cost using in Construction Site. Tehnički Glasnik, 17(4), 594–597. https://doi.org/10.31803/tg-20230104151203
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Abstract
Environments, Health, and Safety (EHS) activities are strongly linked to the concept of sustainability in the current construction industry and consequently absorb more financial and managerial attention. One of major obstacles in EHS costing is that most EHS costs are buried in general overhead costs. Therefore, EHS costs lacks transparency, making it hard to allocate EHS costs to relevant construction projects. This paper present a recent study in which a method of activity-based costing (ABC) has been applied to safety costs at a contractor's home office. The list of safety activities, their cost drivers as well as their cost information on one of Korean general contractor is provided. The authors expect that the application of ABC will improve transparency in costing EHS costs as well as allocating EHS costs to projects.
Keywords
budget; safety accident; safety management; safety law
Zhang, Z., & Lin, K.-Y. (2023). Applying implementation science to evaluate participatory ergonomics program for continuous improvement: A case study in the construction industry. Applied Ergonomics, 115, 104181–104181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2023.104181
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Abstract
While participatory ergonomics (PE) presents numerous benefits, its empirical effectiveness remains elusive due to the lack of transparency in implementation contexts and processes. This hinders our ability to discern the reasons behind a program's success or failure and to determine optimization and adaptation strategies. To unravel this "black box," we present a case study using implementation science to evaluate a PE program and illuminate the mechanisms linking process to outcome. The study examines a 4.5-year PE program at a construction company, targeting musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) from material-cart handling. Using the RE-AIM framework and Implementation Causal Pathway Model, we evaluated implementation process and catalogued contextual factors through worker surveys (n = 106), safety document review (27 training sessions and 7 construction projects), and key informant observations. We assessed the program's impact using a 42-worker survey and an analysis of 8-year injury data, and determined the return-on-investment (ROI) by monetizing the collected data. The program achieved significant impact: Workers' ergonomic knowledge improved from 73% in baseline to 86% in follow-up; 97% of workers reported at least one positive change in their crews; and no cart handling injuries occurred after the first program change, resulting in a ROI rate of 1.99. Implementation process evaluation revealed that seamless integration, tailored intervention, and ongoing adjustments contributed to the success. Five organizational factors necessary for the effective functioning of these three strategies were identified, along with three moderators that amplified their influence. Finally, this case study demonstrates that implementation science offers a coherent structure for evaluating PE programs, uncovering mechanisms of change, and informing future improvements and adaptations. Our research facilitates knowledge transfer from implementation science to ergonomics, eventually leading to more cost-effective PE programs that are faithfully implemented across various industrial settings to prevent MSDs.
• This case study employs implementation science to assess a participatory ergonomics program within the construction industry.
• The evaluation encompasses the implementation process and context, program outcomes, and the return on investment.
• We delve into the mechanisms of change, establishing a link between the process and its intervention outcomes.
• We identify critical implementation strategies, including their preconditions and moderating factors.
• Through the lens of implementation science, we provide a structured framework for evaluating the execution of ergonomic intervention, thereby guiding improvements and future adaptations
Keywords
Case study; Implementation science; Participatory ergonomics
UW researchers explore using public-private partnerships to convert bus bases for electric-powered vehicle charging. Conversion of bus base facilities, the heart of transit operations, for electric vehicle charging is a large-scale project with many players and complex needs. One option for transit agencies working to shift to a zero-emission fleet is a public-private partnership model (P3), which defers upfront capital construction costs and has the potential to help agencies meet long-term sustainability and resiliency goals. This research out of the…
Borys, A.M., & Dossick, C.S. (2023). 15. Integrated Studio: Trade-offs as a Mechanism for Collaboration. In Kim, J. (Ed.), Interdisciplinary Design Thinking in Architecture Education. Routledge. ISBN 9781032283241.
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Abstract
This book explores the creative potential for architecture curricula to integrate solid interdisciplinary thinking in design studio education.
Annotated case studies, both from academic institutions and from professional practices, provide examples of interdisciplinary engagement in creative design work, highlighting the challenges and opportunities of this approach. Cases are from a diverse selection of international collaborators, featuring projects from the United States, Australia, Mexico, Germany, and Italy, and cover a range of project types and scales. Chapters by invited experts offer speculations on current and future models, situating examples within the broader context, and encouraging dialogue between practice and pedagogy. The collection of voices in this book offers critical and provocative lenses, learning from history while forging inventive and creative roles for the architect as practitioner, entrepreneur, strategist, choreographer, activist, facilitator, leader, and teacher.
Interdisciplinary Design Thinking provides insights into the potential of interdisciplinary engagement at the level of foundational undergraduate education, making it ideal for faculty in architecture schools. It will also be of interest to design professionals concerned with interdisciplinary collaboration and how to incorporate similar efforts in their own practices.
Associate Dean for Research and P.D. Koon Professor of Construction Management Carrie Sturts Dossick was interviewed and featured in a NPR Freakonomics Radio episode entitled “566. Why Is It So Hard (and Expensive) to Build Anything in America?” View the College of Built Environments LinkedIn post about this podcast feature. Episode description: “Most industries have become more productive over time. But not construction! We identify the causes — and possible solutions. (Can you say … “prefab”?) RESOURCES: “The Strange and…
Hu, Y., & Dossick, C. S. (2023). Decoding the dynamics of BIM use practice in construction projects. Construction Management and Economics, 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1080/01446193.2023.2277925
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Abstract
Over the past two decades, thought leaders positioned Building Information Modeling (BIM) as a driver to change the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry. However, instances of unexpected BIM use have surfaced, with projects often shifting from BIM to hybrid or even solely 2D practices midway. What technology use conditions cause these practice-based rejections of BIM use and how these happen have not been fully explored and make BIM cannot fully play its role in a project. To fill this gap, we use structuration theory as a theoretical lens to analyze the interactions between BIM and project teams and explore how three technology use conditions, (interpretive, technological, and institutional), impact the interactions, which finally shape technology use practices. Specifically, a case study method has been selected. The research team attended a project for two years, collected meeting observations, and conducted surveys and interviews to track the emergent and situated BIM use practice in an integrated project setting with technology use conditions that changed over the course of the project. We analyzed how the three technology use conditions impacted the interactions between BIM and project teams in different ways and how these impacted change in different project phases. We conclude that the sustained use of BIM requires the alignment of project organizations with BIM features and alignment with both top-down and bottom-up investment in practice change, which includes motivation for senior management investment in a sustained project team, in individual capability training, and in early planning.
Keywords
Building information modeling; structuration theory; technology-in-practice; practice lens
Population Health Initiative awarded a Climate Change Pilot Grant to two teams that includes CBE researchers. Projects will begin January 2024, and were awarded $50,000. Read the full story here. Project title: “Sustainable metamaterials for insulation applications.” Project team: Eleftheria Roumeli, Materials Science & Engineering Tomás Méndez Echenagucia, Architecture Project abstract: Amidst an urgent global shift towards a circular economy, the demand for sustainable materials has reached a critical juncture. This transformation requires materials sourced from renewable sources, processed via…