Benedict Ilozor

Identifying preferences of apartment dwellers: a case study in Michigan, USA

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the current affordable apartment dwelling quality attributes, and the preferences of eastern Michigans urban young and poor, with a view to making recommendations for improvement based on findings.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through the questionnaire instrument administered to a representative sample of 32 apartment dwellers. Some ordinal ranking scales were developed and treated in a quantitative manner by assigning ordered Likert scores to them, while others were measured using ratio scales. Spearman rhos correlation and Kruskal–Wallis H test were conducted on the data.Findings – Among the key conclusions, it was observed that the choice to dwell in an apartment may be simply deliberate and a real preference, and not necessarily connected with income, gender or age. The overwhelmingly majority of apartment occupants rejected to pay more for environmentally sustainable apartments.Research limitations/implications – It is acknowle...

A Quantitative Study of the Relationship between Project Performance and BIM Use on Commercial Construction Projects in the USA

ABSTRACT This article reports the findings of a quantitative study on the relationship between various project performance outcomes and the use of Building Information Modeling (BIM), within the commercial construction industry. The literature review identified inconsistent results among prior qualitative and quantitative work concerning the relationships of key project performance measures and BIM use. Data on 13 variables from 93 completed construction projects were collected and examined through a causal comparative research design. Projects that used BIM (in design or construction) were not found to experience significant performance outcomes when controlling for the contribution of other independent variables and covariates at the 95% confidence level (CL). At the lower 90% CL, however, projects using BIM in construction experienced significantly higher levels of schedule growth than projects that did not use BIM in construction. Recommendations are made for training of construction management staff as a step to avoid unwanted schedule growth associated with BIM use during construction. This study is one of a very small group of rigorous quantitative analyses of BIM project performance outcomes conducted to date; additionally, it is the only study that has analyzed BIM in a multivariate context that controlled for the contribution of other project variables not directly related to BIM use.

Design Economics for the Built Environment: Impact of Sustainability on Project Evaluation

The drive towards environmentally friendly buildings and infrastructure has led to a growing interest in providing design solutions underpinned by the core principles of sustainability to balance economic, social and environmental factors. Design Economics for the Built Environment: Impact of sustainability on project evaluation presents new directions, reflecting the need to recognise the impact of climate change and the importance of sustainability in project evaluation. The aim is to provide a new approach to understanding design economics in the context of the changing policy environment, legislative and regulatory framework, and increasing economic, environmental and social pressure as result of the sustainability agenda. The book follows a structured approach from theories and principles in the earlier chapters, to the practical applications and emerging techniques focusing on value and social, economic and environmental considerations in making design decisions. It starts with the policy context, building on various theories and principles such as, capital cost, value of design and resource-based theories, the new rules of measurement (NRM) to explore cost planning, the relationship between height and costs, key socio-economic and environmental variables for design appraisal, eco-cost/value ratio (EVR), whole life theory and the treatment of carbon emission as external costs, productivity and efficiency, fiscal drivers and legal framework for carbon reduction, procurement and allocation of risks in contracts. Case studies, practical examples and frameworks throughout reinforce theories and principles and relate them to current practice. The book is essential reading for postgraduate students in architecture, building and quantity surveying and is also a valuable resource for academics, consultants and policy-makers in the built environment.

Environmental Assessment Tools

The drive towards environmentally friendly buildings and infrastructure has led to a growing interest in providing design solutions underpinned by the core principles of sustainability to balance economic, social and environmental factors. Design Economics for the Built Environment: Impact of sustainability on project evaluation presents new directions, reflecting the need to recognise the impact of climate change and the importance of sustainability in project evaluation. The aim is to provide a new approach to understanding design economics in the context of the changing policy environment, legislative and regulatory framework, and increasing economic, environmental and social pressure as result of the sustainability agenda. The book follows a structured approach from theories and principles in the earlier chapters, to the practical applications and emerging techniques focusing on value and social, economic and environmental considerations in making design decisions. It starts with the policy context, building on various theories and principles such as, capital cost, value of design and resource-based theories, the new rules of measurement (NRM) to explore cost planning, the relationship between height and costs, key socio-economic and environmental variables for design appraisal, eco-cost/value ratio (EVR), whole life theory and the treatment of carbon emission as external costs, productivity and efficiency, fiscal drivers and legal framework for carbon reduction, procurement and allocation of risks in contracts. Case studies, practical examples and frameworks throughout reinforce theories and principles and relate them to current practice. The book is essential reading for postgraduate students in architecture, building and quantity surveying and is also a valuable resource for academics, consultants and policy-makers in the built environment.

Renewable energy sources for generation of electrical power in developing and emerging nations

Renewable energy is a viable option for electrical power in developing and emerging nations. In most of these nations, there is a huge demand for energy that far exceeds what the countries are currently able to generate. While some nations are exploring renewable and alternative energy to reduce the impact their energy consumption has on the environment, others are still seeking avenues to boost energy generation to support economic and developmental activities. Renewable energy comes in various forms and has different implications and applications. This study aims to examine various renewable sources and ascertain their suitability for generation of electrical power in developing and emerging nations. Social, political, economic, climatic and environmental factors that will inform a decision to prefer and adopt particular sources of renewable energy are identified. The study setting is in Nigeria, West Africa, which by analogy reflects situations prevalent in most developing and emerging nations. Recommendations are provided on the sources of renewable energy that can best be utilised in developing and emerging nations for electrical power, in cognisance of their social, political, economic, climatic and environmental realities.

Open‐plan attributes and effective facilities management

Presented is a path analysis of causal connections between several open‐plan attributes and discrete effective facilities space management aspects of commercial offices in Sydney. The aim is to use quantitative estimates to demonstrate in structural equations the effect coefficients of the complex connections between selected open‐plan and effective facilities space management variables. Over one hundred open‐plan offices in the Sydney CBD were examined. Some open‐plan attributes were found to have direct impacts on several effective facilities space management variables, while others exhibited indirect effects through management control aspects. In most cases, management control reduced the effect coefficients. This paper concludes that, with dedicated management control, the impact of open‐plan on facilities space management may be less extensive. The implication of this result is for re‐engineering of work environments to consider aspects of management that invariably moderates and/or intervenes in the relationship of space, people and work process.