Yoon-Sun Lee

A Cost-Based Interior Design Decision Support System for Large-Scale Housing Projects

In the early stages of a large-scale housing project, many interior design alternatives remain to be confirmed after a rough review of the costs. The project participants move on to the later stages of budgeting and construction without the exact information on the interior costs, and several occasions may arise when costs increase or time delays occur, driven by interior design specification changes resulting from the client’s evolving demands during construction. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the costs during the decision-making process for interior design items in an apartment unit plan. This study implements a decision support system for a large-scale apartment building project in which the clients can make cost-based decisions that meet their requirements, while the builders can control both resource planning and interior design construction costs. To perform a cost review for a housing project with a uniform apartment plan, it is necessary to manage the information for the basic apartment plan constituting the interior information. In this study, we developed an information model to support cost-based decision making in the interior design phase. An interior design object library was developed by analysing the relationship of the housing project hierarchy and interior information attributes. The proposed model was validated in an example study to show that the model could support the decision-making process of various project participants by providing real-time cost information when the interior design was created or changed.

Real-Time Progress Management System for Steel Structure Construction

Abstract Progress management is demanding because of the volume of information exchanged among the various parties involved in a project. In particular, steel structures for high-rise construction projects are among the major work items that require more intensive progress management. This research aims at developing a real-time progress management system through an automated module for scheduling estimates and using an RFID system for real-time construction progress. We propose a new technique that preconstruction engineers can use to build a schedule estimation using 3D-CAD and a Database. By using these tools, engineers can visualize then analyze real-time, actual construction progress with on-site RFID and robot systems. The real-time progress management system developed in this study maintains the continuity of the information from 3D design, the accuracy of lists of materials, the automation of expected progress, and the management of actual progress.

Topological Competiveness Based on Social Relationships in the Korean Construction-Management Industry

AbstractA recent study reported that the construction management market has grown more competitive. In this environment, identifying a company’s competitive position enables a study of competitor strategies and the ability to select the most suitable path to profitability. This study suggests a methodology to analyze topological competiveness based on social relationships between firms modeled according to four subnetworks: Joint contract networks linked directly between firms, public and private networks linked indirectly by owners, and building and civil networks linked indirectly by work type. This study proposes an analytical framework measuring topological competiveness from four perspectives: The network topology among each subnetwork, centralities and structural positions among the firms, cohesive subgroups and strong relations in the subnetwork, and the structural equivalence among firms. Using 2,984 cases of Korean construction management projects from 1997 to 2013, an empirical analysis of topol...

Earth Information System (EIS) for the Reuse of Resources between Construction Sites

Abstract Surplus resources such as earth and rocks are wasted at many construction sites by not being reused at other sites, which increases costs and creates environmental problems. This material could be reused if information on the surplus resources and needs of each construction site were shared. A Web–based earth information system (EIS) has been developed in Korea with the aim of reducing the cost of public work projects to enable real–time sharing of the required resource information among construction sites. This study evaluated the effectiveness of EIS by analyzing whether it could support resource–sharing activities among construction projects and whether these activities could reduce both the waste of resources and the cost of construction. The viability in EIS was examined from a high level system perspective. EIS was reported to cut costs by disposing of surplus resources to other sites through resource transactions. However, an analysis of the actual shared volume of earth and rocks showed that the registered volume was not updated in real time. The problems identified are compared to the conceptual model of EIS, and some improvements are suggested.

Assessing the Risks of Asian Development Projects: A Theoretical Framework and Empirical Findings

The global construction market has been gradually changing from general contracts to development projects. It is necessary to perform risk management for international construction projects because there can be multiple risks for which the degree of risk can be very high. Although international construction project risk management is important, there has been very little research regarding objective and quantitative risk assessment that reflects the project characteristics and decision-making. Therefore, research into risk assessment in Asia-centered international development projects (IDPs) is necessary. The purpose of this study is to identify and analyze key risk indicators (KRIs) through a proposed risk assessment framework for Asian Development Projects (ADPs). The methods and procedures of this study are as follows: First, quantitative indicators of main risk are identified. Second, critical risk indicators are analyzed and assessed by applying Fuzzy theory and the Analytical Hierarchy Procedure (AHP) methods. Finally, risk response attitudes are suggested and 12 risk indicators are selected according to priority evaluation in ADPs.

A Survey of DEA Applications in Measuring the Efficiency Performance of Construction Organizations

Abstract : Data envelopment analysis (DEA) measures the relative efficiency of decision making units (DMUs) with multiple performance factors that are grouped into outputs and inputs. DEA has proven to be superior to simple aggregation of performance measures, and is also useful for evaluating the performance of construction companies for comparison with competitor performance. The purpose of this study was to survey literatures on the application of DEA methodology and to propose a methodological scheme to measure the performance of construction organizations. Articles on previous studies were surveyed and examined as part of a comprehensive review. The survey revealed that the application of DEA in the construction industry was limited. Further, the survey indicated that there is a need for the development of a methodological framework on the special goals and subjects of performance measurement, methods of data structure and collection, selection of appropriate DEA models, analysis of results, and post-test. Based on the survey, this study identified and discussed the types of major issues and topics for future studies from a methodological perspective, which could be helpful to researchers interested in using DEA to study performance issues in construction organizations.

Improving the Performance of Innovation in a Knowledge-based Design Service Industry Using DEA-Tier - Focused on the Architectural Design Offices -

Knowledge-based Service Industry is an industry that creates added value through the production, processing, and use of knowledge. Comparing to other service industries, it is innovation-oriented business endeavors having the characteristics that exert the great influences on other fields. Meanwhile, however, research efforts thereof are yet insignificant. In this study, we analyzed the innovation performance of architectural design office which creates knowledge services, having raised the necessity of innovation of the design office. The innovation performance were classified according to the extent of efficiency of the architectural design office making use of DEA-Tier analysis, and, for those architectural design offices that showed significant differences in efficiency, we presented the case studies of the firms that were substantial benchmarking targets from short, medium, and long-term perspectives.

Development of Methods for Extracting Space Information from 3D CAD

The aim of this study is to establish plans for transferring information to GIS System by extracting general space information on public buildings. For this purpose, conducted researches on studies on object oriented 3D Data and collected information on plans for extracting 3D data, plans for exchanging data between systems and the status of using object-oriented 3D Data. I studied visualization of space information and methods of exporting property information based on these studies on papers. I analyzed 3D space data structure of ArchiCAD and IntraMap and decided methods of integrating 3D CAD and 3D GIS.

A Cost-Based Information Model for an Interior Design in a Large-Scale Housing Project

In a large-scale housing development project with hundreds or thousands of similar apartment units, unexpected cost overruns occur due to option changes. Even changing small details in the apartment plan can have a large follow-on effect as the change is implemented in hundreds or thousands of apartment units in the whole project. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the costs during the decision-making process for interior design options in an apartment unit plan. To perform a cost review for a housing project with a uniform apartment plan, it is necessary to manage the information on the basic apartment plan, which forms the interior information. In this study, we developed an information model to support cost-based decision making in the interior design phase. An interior library was developed by analyzing the relationship of the housing project hierarchy and interior information attributes. The proposed model was validated in a case study to show that the model could support the decision-making process of various project participants by providing real-time cost information when the interior design was planned or changed.

A Conceptual Information Management Model for SOC Projects

Abstract This paper presents a conceptual information management model for the efficient management of social overhead capital (SOC) projects. Case studies were conducted on SOC projects currently under construction to investigate information infrastructure, operational processes and programs, and project management information system (PMIS) operation and maintenance aspects. On the basis of the case studies, improvements to the current PMISs were suggested and reflected in the model developed in this paper. The suggested model can integrate and manage the enormous amount of information generated in the different construction project phases and project management functions during an SOC project.