Norshakila Muhamad Rawai

Cloud Computing for Green Construction Management

Integrated information, innovation and collaboration are the key factors for the sustainable development of construction organizations nowadays. The advancement of cloud computing technology offers construction organizations great potential for developing a collaborative and integrated environment for construction management. This paper presents an in-depth literature review of cloud computing in construction management. Findings from this review have shown that the benefit of using cloud computing technology for construction collaboration will reduce both energy consumption and CO2 emissions, indeed, it is more towards a green mission as it also provides both a financial return and a tangible environmental benefit. Thus, the main objective of this paper is to investigate the most valuable construction collaboration tools as the cloud computing technology along with the main concepts of sustainable project management. The findings in this research illustrate that with implementing the cloud computing in construction industry, it will facilitate the construction processes, collaborations, communications, relations and networks through the construction industry. Firstly, it is hoped that this study will contribute on improvements in construction industry collaboration which could ultimately improve and enhance the competitive advantages within the construction industry. Secondly, it introduces the new visions of construction industry integration and most significantly collaboration in an efficient way that will eventually maximise the productivity, enhance the efficiency and improve the effectiveness towards a green construction industry.

Mobile Information System for Sustainable Project Management

The construction industry is an information-based industry, the progression of which requires the most effective and efficient tools in management, more specifically in managing the information flow between project team members. These tools become essential to a project management team dealing with the complexity and changing needs in the construction industries. Advances in information and communication technologies (ICT), especially mobile phones, offer an alternative way to overcome the limitation on effective collaboration in construction projects. A review of previous research, case studies and also technology reports shows how mobile information technology has the potential to provide improvements in construction communication and information collaboration. This paper discusses the implications of mobile information systems in sustainable project management. The findings show that there is a high potential for improving sustainability projects, the effects on construction resources and the potential impact of improving sustainable project management in construction industries.

The Potential of Cloud Computing Technology for Construction Collaboration

A major barrier to successful construction project delivery has been the fragmentation and poor relationships existing between players in the construction industry. This significant issue has exerted a negative influence on project objectives, especially those which are predetermined, such as time, specified budget and standard quality. Construction projects require intensive efforts and processes, which it is often a challenge to provide to parties within the construction industry, to access accurate information and efficient communications. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the construction collaboration tools along with concepts of context-aware computing and cloud computing. The findings in this research are based on a thorough review of the comprehensive literature on IT, computing and construction. Consequently, this study sets out to introduce and develop the concepts of potential innovative collaborative tools, such as Context-Aware Cloud Computing Information Systems (CACCIS), for facilitating the construction supply chain processes and networks by enhancing the opportunities for achieving better competitive advantages. Firstly, it is hoped that this study will lead to improved construction collaboration to enhance the competitive advantages and opportunities for the internationalisation and globalisation of the construction industry. Secondly, it presents an effective method to provide new insights into the process of integration and, most significantly, to improve the productivity, efficiency and effectiveness of the construction industry.

The potential of augmented reality technology for pre-construction

Construction project management covering various aspects such as planning, coordinating, directing, scheduling, monitoring and control. Pre-construction services are used in planning a construction project before the actual construction begins. However, various problems happened at the pre-construction planning stage. This paper present an overview of the major problems in pre-construction stage and look at the potential of using augmented reality technology to overcome those problems. It was found that, at the pre-construction stage, good planning can not be done by the project teams especially to engineers and contractors due to the lack of supporting data, particularly when it involves information relating to underground utilities such as telecommunications, gas, electricity, water and sewerage. There are several approaches that can been undertaken in pre-construction services, especially in making an informed decision. The potential technology is using Augmented Reality (AR)-based approach in pre-construction service. Augmented reality is the integration of digital information with the users environment in real-time. It was one of the tool that support the concept of cyber-physical systems (CPS). CPS is the integration systems between computational network and physical processes. Currently, there are many fields utilised the application of AR such as medical, militiry, vehicles, gaming and navigation. This paper presents the applications of an AR-based approach to medical and gaming industry and explore the potential of using AR in pre-construction. The finding shows that the AR is a potential decision support tool that will speed up the planning process of the project team in the pre-construction phase in real-time.

Cloud Computing Information System Architecture for Precast Supply Chain Management

The precast construction industry is associated with a lot of activities, vast effort, many parties and numerous processes. The parties involved in the precast supply chain including the planning, design, manufacturing, transportation, installation and construction should have efficient communication and access to precise and latest information contributing to the enhanced collaboration, sustainability and improving the integration. The aim of this study is to explore the collaboration tools with proposing the cloud system architecture for the precast supply chain management. The research findings are according to the comprehensive review of the literature on supply chain management, precast construction industry and cloud computing. Findings demonstrates the major problems within the precast supply chain phases comprised of poor planning, ineffective communications among designers and manufacturers, incompetent employees and damage to raw materials, large size and heavy precast components and the poor on-site coordination. These major problems within the precast supply chain phases could contribute to negative consequences on the efficiency, productivity and effectiveness of precast delivery. Therefore, to mitigate and overcome these major problems within the precast construction, the cloud computing implementation as the valuable alternative could be delivered to enhance the efficiencies and effectiveness of the collaboration systems. This research propose and establishes the concepts of valuable collaborative tools, for instance the Cloud Computing Information Systems (CCIS), for assisting the processes, activities, information and networks within the precast supply chain management through increasing the opportunities to attain higher competitive advantages. Initially, it is anticipated that this research will result to the enhanced collaboration in order to deliver more competitive advantages and increase the opportunities for the globalisation of the construction industry. Secondly, it proposes an effective technique to establish innovative visions, enhanced productivity, increased effectiveness, improve integration and sustainability leading to efficient collaboration within the construction industry.