Article
Green & Sustainable Science & Technology
Arezoo Shirazi, Sidney Newton, Pernille H. Christensen
Summary: Australia's building energy use is a significant contributor to energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Smart and sustainable building management practices can improve efficiency and sustainability. This study examined the energy consumption and management of a university building in Sydney, Australia, using mobile phone applications and portable sensors.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Nikhil Singh Yaduvanshi, June Young Park
Summary: This research examines the impact of citizen involvement in residential building retrofits in the United States, focusing on single-family houses. The study highlights the importance of the residential sector in greenhouse gas emissions and the potential of energy retrofits to mitigate this impact. Through a comprehensive review of 66 retrofit programs and text mining on social media data, the research identifies various citizen involvement approaches and citizen perceptions of retrofit practices. The concept of Citizen Building Scientist is introduced to represent proactive and environmentally aware citizens who actively participate in and share knowledge for sustainable practices.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Nour Haidar, Nouredine Tamani, Yacine Ghamri-Doudane, Alain Boujou
Summary: Optimizing building energy consumption is crucial for reducing environmental impact. Information technology can be used to deploy sensors in buildings and collect data on energy consumption and occupant behavior. A graph mining-based optimization method that combines behavior prediction and reinforcement learning is introduced to predict user behavior, detect errors, and refine the model.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Haoran Wu, Tong Zhang
Summary: The design parameters of a building envelope, such as windows, apertures, shading, and materials, have a significant impact on a building's performance. However, few studies have simultaneously optimized these parameters to find trade-off solutions between energy consumption, indoor daylighting, and thermal comfort. This study presents a multi-objective optimization framework that evaluates various design and performance parameters to investigate their interactive relationships. The results help architects in the design, refurbishment, and renovation of building envelopes by providing optimal solutions for energy performance, thermal comfort, and visual comfort.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Qudama Al-Yasiri, Marta Szab
Summary: Phase change materials (PCMs) have the potential to improve building thermal comfort and save energy in energy-efficient buildings. This study evaluates the passive use of PCM in a thin building envelope in a severely hot location using EnergyPlus software. The results show that PCM effectively reduces temperature fluctuations, levels thermal load, and reduces operative temperature. The integration of PCM also leads to significant energy-saving and environmental benefits, including CO2 emission reduction and electricity cost savings.
SUSTAINABLE CITIES AND SOCIETY
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Canjun Li, Han Zhu, Xiangchao Lian, Yuxin Liu, Xiaohan Li, Yanbo Feng
Summary: To achieve occupant-centric building and control, it is important to consider occupant behavior characteristics and develop operational strategies accordingly. By studying the time-lag of shading behavior, an advanced prediction model was proposed, improving prediction accuracy. Furthermore, an operational logic that meets energy savings and comfort requirements was derived by describing the dynamic distribution of office room occupancy.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2022)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Qudama Al-Yasiri, Marta Szabo
Summary: Recent studies have focused on improvement solutions for building envelopes, particularly new techniques such as phase change materials (PCMs). This work emphasizes the importance and application of PCMs in building envelopes, discussing their thermal behavior through various methods and assessing their potential for reducing cooling/heating loads, energy savings, and enhancing thermal comfort.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Maohui Luo, Qichun Zheng, Ye Zhao, Fei Zhao, Xiang Zhou
Summary: This study introduces the design and benefits of occupant-centric smart thermostats (OCST) in improving energy efficiency and thermal comfort. Through data analysis, it is shown that OCST can significantly reduce energy consumption in single-family houses.
ENERGY AND BUILDINGS
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Nasrollah Nasrollahzadeh
Summary: Past research primarily focused on daylight and energy usage, with interior thermal comfort rarely considered as a third objective. This study, through a multi-objective optimization analysis, emphasizes the importance of balance between envelope parameters for efficient building performance.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2021)
Article
Thermodynamics
Jingsi Zhang, Xiang Zhou, Song Lei, Maohui Luo
Summary: The Personal Comfort System (PCS) aims to enhance thermal comfort satisfaction and reduce air conditioning energy consumption. Through experiments, simulations, and energy analysis, it has been shown that PCS can significantly improve occupants' thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption by 25%-40%.
BUILDING SIMULATION
(2022)
Article
Economics
Simon Moeller, Amelie Bauer
Summary: Insulation and sealing of building envelopes are effective strategies to improve energy efficiency and reduce energy consumption. However, these measures may also result in energy performance gaps, where actual consumption exceeds calculated demand. The interactions between occupants and buildings play a crucial role in contributing to these gaps, leading to unintended negative consequences for energy consumption.
Article
Thermodynamics
Soroush Mousavi, Mohammad Hossein Jahangir, Alibakhsh Kasaeian
Summary: The progression of data-driven methods has been accelerating in recent years, with machine learning methods being increasingly applied to load forecasting, energy consumption optimization, and predictive control models. However, the impact of HVAC setpoint temperature in combination with other parameters has been rarely investigated. This study utilized a neural network approach to optimize load based on thermal comfort, and the results showed that significant energy-saving potential exists in HVAC load optimization. The study also conducted economic and environmental analysis on the optimized hybrid renewable energy system.
JOURNAL OF THERMAL ANALYSIS AND CALORIMETRY
(2023)
Article
Energy & Fuels
Kadir Amasyali, Nora M. El-Gohary
Summary: This study proposes a real data-driven method using machine learning and optimization models to evaluate and optimize occupant behavior for reducing energy consumption and improving comfort.
Review
Energy & Fuels
Prativa Lamsal, Sushil Bahadur Bajracharya, Hom Bahadur Rijal
Summary: The thermal environment quality in office buildings plays a crucial role in human productivity, and comfort standards are necessary to create a comfortable indoor environment. Outdoor climatic conditions have a greater impact on thermal conditions in naturally ventilated buildings compared to air-conditioned ones. The study proposes an adaptive comfort equation for both types of office buildings and emphasizes the need for climate-specific standards to achieve energy-efficient design.
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Jin Zhan, Wenjing He, Jianxiang Huang
Summary: This study presents a novel framework, BPO-ANN, for automatically identifying optimal building retrofit schemes using artificial neural networks and genetic algorithms. The framework was tested on a high-performing campus building in Northern China and achieved 4% energy savings and a reduction in thermal discomfort. Sensitivity analysis revealed the key design attributes that influenced building performances.
JOURNAL OF BUILDING ENGINEERING
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Industrial
Xiaoyan Jiang, Haoyu Sun, Kun Lu, Sainan Lyu, Martin Skitmore
Summary: This study uses evolutionary game theory to analyze the construction safety supervisory mechanism (CSSM) in China. The research finds that supervision engineers play a crucial role in the CSSM and excessive inspection and free-market regulation are not wise strategies for government supervision agencies. The study suggests that reducing inspection frequency can be possible when general contractors invest in safety and supervision engineers carry out responsible supervision. However, proper government supervision is still necessary to prevent unlawful behaviors by contractors and rent-seeking by supervision engineers. Additionally, excessive governmental supervision can weaken the role of supervision engineers, thus some supervision powers should be transferred to them.
ENGINEERING CONSTRUCTION AND ARCHITECTURAL MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Business, Finance
Matthew Moorhead, Lynne Armitage, Martin Skitmore
Summary: This study examines the relationships between developer characteristics and the use of hurdle rate metrics. It finds that dominant property type, ownership, organizational structure, and size all influence the selection of hurdle rates.
JOURNAL OF PROPERTY INVESTMENT & FINANCE
(2023)
Article
Environmental Sciences
Jiabin Chen, Xinyao He, Caiyun Cui, Bo Xia, Martin Skitmore, Yong Liu
Summary: Public acceptance plays a crucial role in the provision of potentially hazardous facilities, and factors such as perceived risk, benefit, stress, fairness, and public trust can influence it. This study examined the underlying mechanism of perceived stress on public acceptance of waste-to-energy incinerators through a face-to-face questionnaire survey of 1066 urban residents in three regional central cities in China. The results show that perceived stress affects acceptance by influencing perceived risk, fairness, and public trust. Additionally, the influence of individual perceptions on acceptance varies between cities with different economic, cultural, and social characteristics.
ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND POLLUTION RESEARCH
(2023)
Article
Engineering, Civil
Jeffrey Boon Hui Yap, Karen Pei Han Lee, Martin Skitmore, Yoke Lian Lew, Wah Peng Lee, Danielle Lester
Summary: Despite efforts to improve health and safety management, accidents and injuries are still major problems in the construction industry. This paper examines the predictors influencing the successful adoption of safety technologies in the construction industry, using a survey involving 133 Malaysian construction professionals. The most influential predictors are identified, and four dimensions of these predictors are uncovered, including organizational commitment/technology orientation, supporting technological attributes, personal perception/performance expectancy, and government support. This paper fills the knowledge gap and sheds light on the factors influencing technology adoption in a developing country to improve construction safety.
JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Environmental Studies
Min Xu, Yong Liu, Caiyun Cui, Bo Xia, Yongjian Ke, Martin Skitmore
Summary: NIMBY facilities play a significant role in the sustainable development of countries, and their successful introduction and operation are increasingly influenced by local communities. Two mainstream research approaches, public acceptance (PA) and social license to operate (SLO), have been proposed to enhance this. This study introduces the emerging SLO framework and discusses its applicability to NIMBY facilities in China based on a questionnaire survey. The findings enrich the existing literature on social acceptance assessment and management of industry-community relationships in the provision of NIMBY facilities.
Review
Development Studies
Hongyang Li, Tingting Jiang, Tongyuan Wu, Martin Skitmore, Nima Talebian
Summary: The outbreak of COVID-19 has led to changes in research focus, including residential energy use and energy dependency. A bibliometric analysis of 497 articles using VOSviewer identified four keywords: building occupants, coronavirus, sustainability, and monitoring and management. There has been a significant increase in residential energy consumption due to increased in-home activity, with variations in growth rate across neighborhoods, times of day, and energy usage. Recent studies have focused on the impact of lockdowns, new cases, and social distancing on residential energy consumption. Policy implications are provided for maintaining normal operation of residential energy systems during public health emergencies.
JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENTAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Management
Alan Patching, Martin Skitmore, Rosemarie Rusch, Danielle Lester
Summary: The increased interest in BIM and related technologies highlights the need for enhanced education in integrated construction disciplines. This case study developed a novel university degree course that combines BIM, IPD, and Lean concepts, incorporating important soft skills. The course was successful, with all 53 graduates becoming employed as BIM professionals within two months of graduation.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Rebeca Lambers, Fiona Lamari, Martin Skitmore, Darmicka Rajendra
Summary: This study proposes a new method for identifying the most recurrent defects in residential construction work and their correlated causes, with the aim of improving practical management of defect risks. The method involves a literature review, analysis of archival data, and a questionnaire survey to rank the key defects and determine their causes.
CONSTRUCTION INNOVATION-ENGLAND
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Zhikang Bao, S. Thomas Ng, Gang Yu, Xiaoling Zhang, Yifu Ou
Summary: Traffic congestion is considered an unavoidable consequence of global urbanization, resulting in significant negative impacts on the economy and the environment. Existing studies have mainly focused on the relationship between traffic congestion and built environment in major cities, neglecting the situation in satellite cities. This study investigates the temporal and spatial evolution of traffic congestion in Foshan, a typical satellite city of Guangzhou, China, and provides insights for urban planners on improving traffic conditions by considering the characteristics of land use and transportation network.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Xue Xiao, Martin Skitmore, Weixin Yao, Yousuf Ali
Summary: In this study, Modal Linear Regression (MODLR) is combined with Case-based reasoning (CBR) for early-stage construction cost estimation. Compared with conventional CBR models using genetic algorithm (GA) and ordinary least squares (OLS), results show that MODLR-CBR has significantly less variance in attribute weight, demonstrating its superior knowledge stability in handling changes in the case-base. This study not only enhances the robustness of CBR models, but also prepares construction cost practitioners for the increasing volume of cost data. The findings can further contribute to the area of multidimensional optimization in CBR.
AUTOMATION IN CONSTRUCTION
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Prince Antwi-Afari, S. Thomas Ng, Ji Chen, Benjamin I. Oluleye, Maxwell F. Antwi-Afari, Benjamin K. Ababio
Summary: Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a crucial method for evaluating the environmental impact of materials. However, applying LCA to assess other dimensions of circular economy (CE) poses significant challenges. This study extended the LCA system boundary to cradle-to-cradle and combined it with a predictive building systemic circularity indicator to assess the environmental, technical, functional, and system dimensions of a modular steel slab in a residential building in China. The findings showed varying levels of recyclability and environmental impact across different case scenarios, highlighting the importance of using an integrative approach for inclusive and sustainable decision-making in CE assessments.
BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Business
Mohd Azrai Azman, Nor Nazihah Chuweni, Faridah Muhamad Halil, Ku Mohammad Asyraf Ku Azir, Boon L. Lee, Farah Nazira Juhari, Martin Skitmore
Summary: This study uses a sample of 55 publicly listed construction Malaysian firms (2009-2022) to examine the impact of institutional regulations on construction productivity. It finds that the institutional regulation framework influences the total factor productivity (TFP) of construction firms, with property rights and the rule of law and budget balance and change in wages having a positive impact on TFP. The study concludes that institutional regulation plays a vital role in determining long-term construction firm productivity and should be taken into account by policymakers.
CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS
(2023)
Article
Management
Rebeca Lambers, Fiona Cheung, Martin Skitmore
Summary: This study examines the defect management strategies of small and medium residential building enterprises (SMEs) in Queensland, Australia. A defects causation topology is combined with survey results from 427 construction trade respondents and validated by a focus group of experienced building practitioners. The findings highlight the importance of communication and information sharing about defects, as well as the resistance of SMEs to new trends and innovative defect management strategies.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTRUCTION MANAGEMENT
(2023)
Article
Construction & Building Technology
Jin-Cheng Liu, Md. Uzzal Hossain, Dongxing Xuan, Hafiz Asad Ali, S. Thomas Ng, Hailong Ye
Summary: This paper presents a comparative study on the mechanical and durability properties of concrete mixtures containing different supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs), with a focus on volcanic ash, volcanic ash-limestone blend, and metakaolin-limestone blend. The metakaolin-limestone concrete exhibits the best performance in terms of strength development, water absorption capacity, and chloride penetration resistance. The inclusion of volcanic ash reduces compressive strength and increases water absorption, but its chloride diffusion coefficient is lower than that of reference concrete. Concretes with volcanic ash or volcanic ash-limestone blend also show improved performance in controlling alkali-silica reaction-induced expansion.
DEVELOPMENTS IN THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT
(2023)
Article
Geosciences, Multidisciplinary
Huige Xing, Ting Que, Yuxin Wu, Shiyu Hu, Haibo Li, Hongyang Li, Martin Skitmore, Nima Talebian
Summary: Giving full play to the public's initiative is crucial for sustainable disaster reduction under a government-led top-down approach. This study uses the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB) to analyze the factors influencing public intention to participate in geohazard mitigation activities. The results reveal that attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and participatory cognition significantly predict public intention to participate, while disaster experience has a negative association. Such findings contribute to improving geohazard risk management and achieving sustainable disaster reduction.
NATURAL HAZARDS AND EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCES
(2023)