Rebecca J. Yang

Innovation in Construction: A Critical Review and Future Research

The construction industry has been recognized for its conservatism and lack of innovation. In order to improve the success rate of construction innovation, the implementation of innovations within the context of construction has been discussed and developed. Literature in this area focuses extensively on construction innovation, and yet does not contain a systematic review. This paper looks to fill this gap by providing a systematic review of construction innovation. The review synthesizes the conclusions and shows the implementation of construction innovation. Collaboration, culture, innovation process, and drivers are identified as critical factors to improve the performance of construction innovation. Finally, the limitations of prior studies in construction innovation are discussed and recommendations made for areas of future study.

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV): costs, benefits, risks, barriers and improvement strategy

Building integrated photovoltaics (BIPV) refers to photovoltaic or solar cells that are integrated into the building envelope (such as facade or roof) to generate ‘free’ energy from sunshine, and it is one of the fastest growing industries worldwide. However, up until now, there have been limited studies that analysed cost‒benefit and risk factors/barriers of BIPV from a supply chain perspective; and there have also been limited studies that provide strategies to industry and academics in order to encourage BIPV diffusion and application. The aim of this research is to identify the costs, benefits and risks of BIPV and propose suggestions for greater BIPV application, from a stakeholder perspective, through a comprehensive review of current literature. The results of this research show that whilst BIPV have high initial investment capital costs, there are significant long-term benefits to be achieved for clients, end users and the entire society. Further, the results also show that BIPV costs decrease and government policy support and incentives are required in order to promote wider BIPV application. In addition, this research has identified the fact that there was a lack of detailed BIPV cost data (including individual component costs) and lack of methods for BIPV cost‒benefit analysis, and there are risks and barriers in BIPV applications. Following this, this research provides a strategic framework and a number of suggestions to industry stakeholders for integration and collaboration within the BIPV supply chain in order to facilitate the cost reduction of BIPV. Finally, this study proposes several topics for future research. It is anticipated that the results presented in this paper have implications not only for government policy and product development and application, but also for academic research.

Improving sustainability of residential homes: occupants motivation and behaviour

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate residential occupants’ motivations and behaviour on energy savings. Energy consumption in residential buildings is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Design/methodology/approach – By using an online survey questionnaire instrument, this research collected 504 sets of responses from households in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Findings – Through statistical analysis of the data collected, this research found that construction cost and government incentive were considered as the major influencing factors on achieving energy-efficient residential building development, and the lower bills resulted from the reduced energy and water consumption were considered as the most important benefits. The research also found that many households exhibited a high level of awareness and had implemented some sustainability improvement measures. It is suggested, based on these research findings, that governments should articulate, by means of education, the rat...

A Feasibility Study and Assessment: Distributed Solar System in High-Density Areas

Solar photovoltaic (PV) energy has emerged as an innovation for greenhouse gas reduction in the building and construction industry due to the calculable advantages it possesses. Although there is evidence supporting the inclusion of small-scale roof-mounted PV systems in detached houses, limited studies have been conducted on the implementation of PV in the commercial sector especially within high-density urban areas. This study conducted a detailed value assessment to optimize the cost of applying PV systems in a high-density city area of Melbourne. The Net Present Value results evidence the feasibility to apply roof-mounted polycrystalline PV products in the case study buildings. This research supports investors’ decisions by understanding the financial values of prefabricated PV systems in high-density regions and provides suggestions to building professionals on value-for-money design.

Opportunities for improving construction health and safety using real-time H&S management innovations: a socio-technical-economic perspective

Abstract The potential health and safety (H&S) benefits of advanced technologies are not currently being optimized in the construction industry. This research aims to identify the technical, economic and social issues and their respective solutions of real-time H&S management technologies during their implementation and operation. A comprehensive literature review is conducted to analyse the technical, economic and social aspects of a number of example real-time H&S management technologies. Using the information gathered from the literature review, Social Construction of Technology approach is used to theoretically analyse each real-time H&S management technology by considering four aspects: technology, social groups who utilize or interpret the technology, problems encountered by each social group and solutions or mechanisms to solve those problems. The study shows that the most common technical issues are occlusions, background disturbances, disturbed line-of-sight and low battery power. Most of these systems have high implementation cost. There is a considerable resistance to physical tagging due to health and privacy concerns. Researchers continue to explore ways to solve the technical issues. However, attention to solving the economic and social issues is relatively low in comparison. The research outcomes will contribute to future innovations and improvements in performance and productivity associated with construction H&S.

Conflicts and management styles in the Sri Lankan commercial building sector

The Sri Lankan commercial building industry is currently experiencing a construction boom after thirty years of civil war. Creating a dispute free environment through well conflict management is one of the main ways to keep the continuous demand and development of construction. However, the Sri Lankan construction sector is arranged in such a way that they directly approach the dispute resolution rather than avoiding the dispute initially through proper conflict management. The aim of this research is to understand the prevailing conflict management styles in Sri Lankan commercial building industry from the main stakeholders’ perspective. The dual concern theory is applied to this study as a theory foundation. Four cases are selected for this study with the intention of conducting meetings with three main stakeholders of each case who represented client, consultants and contractors respectively. The research findings reveal that compromising is the most common conflict management style used by the industry. Forcing style obtained the second place in the ranking whereas obliging and avoiding received third and fourth places. This study is conducted to provide a full picture of conflicts faced by the Sri Lankan commercial building industry and their proper management so that the future projects will use this information to diminish the destructive effects of conflict situations and provide a real value for money. Key Words: Conflict Management; Dual Concern Theory; Commercial Building Sector; Sri Lanka

A network theory-based analysis of stakeholder issues and their interrelationships in large construction projects: a case study

Large construction projects are characterized by numerous stakeholders and conflicting interests involved. Previous stakeholder management studies placed great emphasis on stakeholder identification and analysis based on individual stakeholder attributes, which are confined in completeness without taking into account stakeholder-related issues and their interrelationships. In real situations, a project environment is a network of interconnected stakeholder issues, where stakeholder perception and salience are affected by the propagating influences of these issue interactions. This paper conducts a network theory-based analysis to investigate the underlying network of stakeholder issues in large construction projects, as well as to identify key issues and relationships impacting project execution. Network analysis procedures are illustrated through a case study of a large building project. Recommendations and lessons learnt are drawn for future large public construction projects. This paper provides a network perspective to analyse stakeholder issues and interrelationships, eventually increasing the overall accuracy and effectiveness of project stakeholder management.