Michael Gbolagade Oladokun

Structural equation modelling of energy consumption in buildings

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the complex interrelationships among thedifferent variables purporting to explain household energy consumption and carbon emissions. Energy consumption and carbon emissions in dwellings have been argued to be a complex socio-technical problem that involves interaction of many variables that are interdependent on one another. Design/methodology/approach – The paper investigates the explanatory power of these variables through the use of structural equation modelling which has the advantage of handling complex real-life problems that cannot be modelled by other multivariate analysis methods. This study uses the publicly available datasets of the Scottish House Condition Survey and the Scottish Environmental Attitudes and Behaviours datasets. Findings – This paper found that floor area, energy efficiency in terms of standard assessment procedure value, number of occupants in the dwelling, household income, dwelling age, consumption behaviour and age of househ...

Key Performance Indicators of Design and Build Projects in Nigeria

Abstract The Nigerian Construction Industry has witnessed the evolution of many procurement systems including Design-Build, mainly due to perceived failures of the one-way traditional Design approach. The study, therefore, aims to develop a set of key performance indicators for measuring Design and Build projects in Nigeria. The specific objectives are to determine the key performance indicators for Design-Build projects, examine the importance of these indicators on performance outcomes of Design-Build projects and ascertain the degree of agreement among the key stakeholders on the indicators. In the study, a set of key performance indicators were identified from a literature search and subjected to the views and opinions of respondents using a structured questionnaire. Ninety-seven copies of the questionnaire representing 64% were received and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical tools. Findings reveal that eight Key Performance Indicators were identified. They are among others, job cost reporting, time performance and quality of work in that order. Also, eight most important Key Performance Indicators were also found to be relevant. They include among others, Health and Safety, Quality of Work and Cost per Unit. Besides, test of agreement conducted using Mann Whitney U test indicate that there was no significant difference in the rankings of time performance, Turnover, Rework/Quality of work among others while there was significant difference in the rankings of cost per/unit, job cost reporting, health and safety among others. It was recommended among others, that fundamental changes be made to reduce the high cost overruns associated with Design-Build projects.