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Technical integration is regarded as one of the major approaches to improve data interoperability. The Web-based integration approach used in this study is a relatively new approach in this field, but it possesses great potential. Web-based front-end integration is based on XML technology. This study investigates the use of a construction document as a 'malleable frame' that can be adjusted according to the user's needs. The study also determined that a malleable frame system is technically feasible and that the key is to have a neutral data format built on a standard 'Construction Markup Language.' In addition, a pilot study was conducted to determine whether processing a malleable frame construction document is more efficient than processing a standard document. Overall, it is still inconclusive as to whether using the malleable frame system is more efficient than using the standard system, because other features of the malleable frame need to be studied as well. However, this research presents an alternative to achieve construction data interoperability via the Web and shows that the approach used will improve construction document processing in certain cases.

The purpose of this study is to provide industry practitioners with a better understanding of the impacts of high-temperature conditions on construction labor productivity. Such information could assist in the establishment of plans to prevent heat-stress injuries and help improve the safety and comfort of construction labor working environments. On-site WBGT (Wet Bulb Globe Temperature) data and labor productivity data related to direct work time, indirect work time and idle time were measured for two construction projects involving 16 rebar workers in the summer of 2014 in Beijing, China. The period from 14:00 to 15:00 was identified as the most hazardous for workers throughout the day, and the period from 07:00 to 09:00 was identified as the least hazardous time. Productivity models were further used to analyze the collected data. The model results demonstrated that high-temperature environments decrease labor productivity, with the percentage of direct work time decreasing by 0.57% and the percentage of idle time increasing by 0.74% when the WBGT increased by 1 °C. Moreover, the percentage of direct work time increased by 0.33% when the workers' experience increased by 1 year and decreased by 0.72% when the workers' age increased by 1 year. Overall, the results demonstrated that high-temperature environments impose heat stress on the human body and decreases labor productivity in the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry has a considerable share in overall resource and energy consumption. Consequently, decision-makers try to achieve environmentally conscious construction by integrating environmental objectives into the selection of construction elements. Due to the complexity of construction projects, it is a known challenge to provide an effective mechanism to select the most feasible construction methods. Thus, it is crucial to learn the interdependency between various resource alternatives, such as material and equipment type, under various project conditions like unavailability of resources. An analytic network process (ANP) was used in this study to construct a decision model for selecting the most feasible construction method. Data collected via interviews with highway construction experts were used to model the dependency between decision parameters, such as project conditions and resource performance indicators. The proposed ANP model output the relative importance weights of decision parameters so that they can be used to identify environmentally conscious construction methods. The proposed mechanism is a valuable asset for construction decision-makers especially when their ability to select construction methods is limited by project constraints. Although the model was tested in a highway project in this paper, it can be further extended to benefit building construction and sustainable decision-making problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current advances in technology and cyberspace capacity coupled with emerging research in science education are creating new opportunities to enhance architectural education in the science and technology areas and prepare students for effective collaboration with other stakeholders in the building industry. The project described in this paper addresses the need for the improvement of science and technology education and proposes that using advances in digital technology to engage students in interactive learning is a necessary step. One of the most promising and youngest applications of computer technology has been in developing in educational games. Using new technologies to re-think the education of the architect in the relation to matter as energy reinforces the role of architecture in science, technology and mathematics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The success of an architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) project largely depends on the effective collaboration of project participants. This characteristic of the industry requires that AEC education shall foster multidisciplinary collaboration skills of students. On the other hand, many AEC education programs have started using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate teaching and learning such as distance learning. One of the challenges in a computer-mediated learning environment arises from the need for computer systems to determine whether a common understanding regarding a certain subject is established among a group of students. To achieve this goal, ICT needs to be able to detect changes in the knowledge structure of students in order to provide better mediation. This paper presents a study on the development of a concept similarity measure that has less computational complexity than graph-based similarity analyses. The similarity measure is intended to determine the similarity of multiple knowledge structures [e.g., concept maps (CMAPs)] of students. The concept similarity measure is developed based on the feature-based method in which propositions associated with a concept are considered as features of the concept. Therefore, the similarity of concepts can be measured by comparing the propositions of the concepts. In addition, since concepts are the key component of a knowledge structure, the common understanding of students can be determined by measuring the similarity of concepts in the knowledge structure of the students. The proposed measure is evaluated by (1) comparing it with the Dice coefficient for analyzing two sets of concepts; (2) analyzing its performance in a generic case of four CMAPs; and (3) applying it to a case using “photovoltaic system” as an example. In this case, results are intuitively obvious so that calculation results can be corroborated by human judgment. Finally, the concept similarity measure is applied to derive the similarity of CMAPs in the case study. Based on the initial evaluations, this study shows that the proposed measure has demonstrated promising features for determining the similarity of multiple knowledge structures or the common understanding of students. However, when the number of knowledge structures increases, concept similarity analyses become more complicated because uncertain situations arise due to ambiguous human perception to propositions that are shared by multiple concepts. Future research is thus needed to understand and clearly define concept similarity in those situations. In addition, other studies are also identified for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many practitioners and researchers believe that the application of information systems in the construction industry lags behind that of other industries such as the manufacturing industry, because the construction industry is mainly composed of small to medium size companies. Besides, to many people, the value of information systems to their business is vague and elusive. Existing studies on the value of information systems are not specifically focused on small to medium size specialty contractors such as electrical contractors. In addition, with an intention to demonstrate the value of information systems to the improvement of operations or business of all relevant companies, those studies typically do not look into the impact of information systems on the competitive advantage of individual companies. This paper argues that such a generalization of the value of information systems, although valuable to both practitioners and researchers, may have overlooked the fact that the value of information systems needs to be reflected through improved competitive advantage of a company and the competitive advantage is company specific. Thus, the examination of different effects of information systems on individual companies can generate useful insight into the value of information systems because such a strategy leads to a better understanding of the relationships between information systems and the competitive advantage of individual companies. With such a perspective, this study applies a case study strategy to study five small to medium size electrical construction companies based on the resource-based view theory. The case studies show that the observed electrical construction companies are well equipped in terms of physical information infrastructure in relation to their business objectives regardless of company size. However, their capabilities of strategically integrating information systems with their business plans and with their external business partners are general lacking, compared with their physical information system infrastructure. This is partly because many electrical contractors do not fully understand that there are many different forms of information systems that have different impacts on gaining and sustaining competitive advantage. This paper then conjectures that the existing imbalanced application of information systems may not lead to the improved competitive advantage of electrical construction companies, which in turn prevent many contractors from clearly seeing the value of the information systems. Thus, the paper further points out that a plan for the systematical implementation of information systems in a company is very important. However, the successful development of such a plan depends on a better understanding of electrical contactors on the concepts of information system capabilities, competitive advantage, and their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The construction industry uses both structured and unstructured information for communication, whether they are in paper or electronic format. As the paradigm begins to shift from using paper-based media to electronic media, the difference between structured and unstructured data becomes more prominent as computers are more adept at handling structured data or information. The challenge is the effective management of both types of information in a fragmented data environment. To maintain efficiency and flexibility for project participants, this paper discusses a method by applying metadata modeling to the creation of views towards unstructured information related to building components, construction process or project management information. By using this method project participants may be able to quickly locate relevant information needed to understand and process a construction document such as an Request for Information (RFI). This study finds that by utilizing industry standards such as Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) it is technically feasible to develop such a method. However, further studies are needed to validate the idea and the system in practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

To provide an integrated information system for decision support, many previous studies focused on a strategy of sharing a common semantic model among heterogeneous data sources. Such a strategy has many advantages; however, it works only when it is possible for the heterogeneous data sources to share a common semantic model. For collaborating systems that cannot assume a prior knowledge of heterogeneity among them, a different strategy is needed. This paper, discussing a hybrid integration strategy and its applications to the architecture-engineering-construction industry, is focused on the development of a framework of semantic mappings so that high-level applications can use the mappings for data retrieval and processing. Based on a case study of integrating schedule and cost information, a prototype is developed to demonstrate the use of the framework, as well as to test the framework. Limitations and future studies are also discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prefabrication technology has been heavily promoted by the Chinese government due to its potential to improve construction quality and productivity. However, there is an urgent need to assess the environmental performance of prefabrication technology to identify whether it is an effective method that is conducive to sustainable development. This study considered two typical residential projects using the two technologies to conduct a fair comparison between prefabrication technology and cast-in-situ technology. Various measuring methods, including content analysis, face-to-face interviews and on-site measurements, were used for data collection. Environmental impact (EI) categories selected for the study included resource depletion, energy consumption and construction waste discharge. Two life cycle assessment (LCA)-based models, the construction environmental performance assessment system (CEPAS) and the building health impact assessment system (BHIAS), were integrated to measure the EI of the two construction technologies based on three damage categories, namely, ecosystem damage, resource depletion and health damage. Finally, social willingness to pay (WTP) was applied to integrate the damage categories for comparisons. The results indicated that the sample prefabricated residential building (PRB) construction was more efficient in energy use, with a 20.49% reduction in total consumption compared to the sample traditional residential building (TRB) construction. The use of prefabrication demonstrated a certain degree of advantages in EI, including a 35.82% reduction in resource depletion, a 6.61% reduction in health damage and a 3.47% reduction in ecosystem damage. Prefabrication technology was more environmentally friendly because of its advantages in reducing damage to the environment compared with traditional cast-in-situ construction technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better understand the environmental performance of columns and assist construction designers in achieving a balance between structural requirements and environmental protection, this paper assessed and compared the EI of columns constructed with two concrete types (CFST and RC) and three cross-sections (circular, rectangular and square) under different combinations of compression and bending. The BEPAS model categorized the columns' EI into two safeguard areas—ecosystem and natural resources, and then expressed the impacts using the EIV index in unit of “yuan”. Based on the assessment results and M-N interactive curves, M-N-EI interactive curves were developed to present the EI of columns under various combinations of axial force (N value) and bending moment (M value). Thus, structural performance and environmental performance can be shown in a single figure to conveniently contribute decision-making. The M-N-EI interactive curves were also compared to optimize choices of environmentally friendly concrete types and cross-sections to satisfy structural bearing capacity requirements. Moreover, the influences of various parameters, the H/B of rectangular columns, steel ratio of RC columns, steel strength, steel recycling rate and solid waste recycling rate, were analyzed. An engineering scenario was served as a case study to test the application and operation of the assessment methodology and M-N-EI interactive curves. The results indicate that the new curves can effectively express the EI of columns under different combinations of compression and bending and can potentially be used by the construction industry to achieve environmental goals and provide clear implications for practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]