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Corporate dispositions have been associated with implementing sustainable building construction (SBC). Prior studies have underscored the need for institutions to adopt sustainable development concepts as an integral part of their operations. Nonetheless, there remains ambiguity about the characteristics essential for enabling SBC, particularly for construction companies. Consequently, this study explored the corporate dispositions influencing SBC implementation in South Africa. The respondents included built environment professionals in the Gauteng province of South Africa. Descriptive and principal component analyses were used to determine the essential characteristics or features. The study found that top management support, competency, availability of finance for the project operation, good project management culture, stakeholders' involvement and commitment, and commitment to innovative construction are the most critical corporate disposition features for SBC implementation. These formed a principal cluster called corporate capability and commitment. The insight from the critical corporate dispositions analysis is anticipated to trigger improvement initiatives and mitigate unsustainable practices and the unaffordability of smart houses in the South African construction industry. The findings suggest that mobilising competent human and financial resources for project operation among construction firms will support the adoption of modern building techniques and the erection of smart houses. Similarly, competitive advantage and committed involvement of the relevant stakeholders, including government and community, can lead to subsidy, alignment of local needs and aspirations, and reducing the high price of erecting sustainable/smart buildings and rental costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the construction industry advances technologically, it becomes imperative to introduce the respective information technology tools to present-day curriculum. This research study was conducted to identify any significant differences in student performance contributed by using an information technology tool, specifically the Apple® iPad® tablet. iPad tablets were used to electronically present construction drawings to a treatment group, and a control group was given traditional paper drawings. Following an instructional lecture, students were given a test based on the provided construction drawings. The test results indicate that there was no significant difference in performance between students who used the information technology tool to complete the test and those who used traditional paper drawings to complete the same test. The treatment group also answered a usability survey, which helped to comprehend how students perceive the tablet's usability. Students indicated that they would like to use the tool in the future.

Although the construction industry is a major player in the global economy, it is dealing with problems such as declining productivity, workplace safety, and work disputes. The human element--construction project managers in particular--is key to solving many of these persisting problems. A thorough understanding of construction project managers' performance is important to identifying training needs, and enables executives to better match competent construction project managers with the appropriate projects. This paper examined competencies required for construction project managers and competency identification tools and techniques. Potentially relevant references were searched using appropriate search terms, topics, and publication dates in the ASCE Library. The process resulted in 2,102 references. Titles, abstracts, and contents of the references were examined further to select the most relevant references from the list; 31 of the initial 2,102 references were selected for content analysis. A systematic review and detailed content analysis of the 31 selected references from the ASCE Library published over the last 3 decades was conducted. Results of content analysis revealed that to identify competencies, two information gathering techniques predominantly were used in the selected sources, whereas three techniques seldom were used. A total of 39 competency categories required for construction project managers were identified. The most frequently identified competency categories were technical, leadership, communication, managing, organizing, and planning, teaming/teamwork, and determination. Findings of this study can assist the construction industry in directing its efforts toward key competency development areas and catering training and professional development to the real needs of the workforce.

Under emergencies such as floods and fires or during indoor navigation where cues from local landmarks and a Global Positioning System (GPS) are no longer available, the acquisition of comprehensive environmental representation becomes particularly important. Several studies demonstrated that individual differences in cognitive style might play an important role in creating a complete environmental representation and spatial navigation. However, this relationship between cognitive style and spatial navigation is not well researched. This study hypothesized that a specific type of map orientation (north-up vs. forward-up) might be more efficient for individuals with different cognitive styles. Forty participants were recruited to perform spatial tasks in a virtual maze environment to understand how cognitive style may relate to spatial navigation abilities, particularly the acquisition of survey and route knowledge. To measure survey knowledge, pointing direction tests and sketch map tests were employed, whereas, for route knowledge, the landmark sequencing test and route retracing test were employed. The results showed that both field-dependent and field-independent participants showed more accurate canonical organization in their sketch map task with a north-up map than with a forward-up map, with field-independent participants outperforming field-dependent participants in canonical organization scores. The map orientation did not influence the performance of Field-Independent participants on the pointing direct test, with field-dependent participants showing higher angular error with north-up maps. Regarding route knowledge, field-independent participants had more accurate responses in the landmark sequencing tests with a north-up map than with a forward-up map. On the other hand, field-dependent participants had higher accuracy in landmark sequencing tests in the forward-up map condition than in the north-up map condition. In the route retracing test, however, the map orientation had no statistically significant effect on different cognitive style groups. The results indicate that cognitive style may affect the relationship between map orientation and spatial knowledge acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The architectural profession in the United States is seeing a growing divide between practitioners and their clients, potentially affecting designers' ability to shape the built environment as part of design and construction teams. Likely due to designers' lack in understanding of client priorities, and clients' misunderstanding of design processes and services, client valuations of architectural design services may differ from those of architects. As part of an effort to discover the differences in architectural design service valuations between these parties, this study uses descriptive and inferential analysis to explore how American architects rank established design services in order of importance, and how they believe their clients rank design services. The design services in this study were extracted from the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Documents B101 and B132, standard project agreement forms for owners and architects that include Basic and Supplemental services. Participants were also asked to identify architectural services they believed should be added to the list of services currently included in the AIA documents, and what design services should be excluded. A total of 435 architects responded to the survey, with 85 licensed architects completing the survey. Results show that architects believe their prioritized design services differ slightly from their clients' probable rankings. Most services mentioned by participants as being qualified to be added to the lists of AIA documents services were related to management and design, while participants tended to recommend services related to telecommunications and data design be excluded. More in-depth research may be needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]