An investigation of the required skills for the delivery of low and zero carbon buildings within a region

The United Kingdom is committed to a raft of requirements to create a low-carbon economy. Buildings consume approximately 40% of UK energy demand. Any improvement on the energy performance of buildings therefore can significantly contribute to the delivery of a low-carbon economy. The challenge for the construction sector and its clients is how to meet the policy requirements to deliver low and zero carbon (LZC) buildings, which spans broader than the individual building level, to requirements at the local and regional levels, and wider sustainability pressures. Further, the construction sector is reporting skills shortages coupled with the need for ‘new skills’ for the delivery of LZC buildings. The aim of this paper is to identify, and better understand, the skills required by the construction sector and its clients for the delivery of LZC buildings within a region. The theoretical framing for this research is regional innovation system (RIS) using a socio-technical network analysis (STNA) methodology. A case study of a local authority region is presented. Data is drawn from a review of relevant local authority documentation, observations and semi-structured interviews from one (project 1) of five school retrofit projects within the region. The initial findings highlight the complexity surrounding the form and operation of the LZC network for project 1. The skills required by the construction sector and its clients are connected to different actor roles surrounding the delivery of the project. The key actors involved and their required skills are: project management and energy management skills required by local authority; project management skills (in particular project planning), communication and research skills required by school end-users; and a ‘technical skill’ relating to knowledge of a particular energy efficient measure (EEM) and use of equipment to implement the EEM is required by the EEM contractors.

Diffusion of digital innovation in construction: a case study of a UK engineering firm

The UK government is mandating the use of building information modelling (BIM) in large public projects by 2016. As a result, engineering firms are faced with challenges related to embedding new technologies and associated working practices for the digital delivery of major infrastructure projects. Diffusion of innovations theory is used to investigate how digital innovations diffuse across complex firms. A contextualist approach is employed through an in-depth case study of a large, international engineering project-based firm. The analysis of the empirical data, which was collected over a four-year period of close interaction with the firm, reveals parallel paths of diffusion occurring across the firm, where both the innovation and the firm context were continually changing. The diffusion process is traced over three phases: centralization of technology management, standardization of digital working practices, and globalization of digital resources. The findings describe the diffusion of a digital innovation as multiple and partial within a complex social system during times of change and organizational uncertainty, thereby contributing to diffusion of innovations studies in construction by showing a range of activities and dynamics of a non-linear diffusion process.

Interdisciplinary project applied to engineering education: construction of a miniature ceramic industry

The greatest challenge of undergraduate engineering courses is to encourage creativity, cooperation with other students, teamwork, and motivation in the first years of their courses. While students have little or no contact with advanced disciplines, it is very difficult to attract their interests and encourage them to develop the skills in their undergraduate courses. This work aims to achieve these objectives through a mini-factory project involving the construction of a production line of ceramic tiles on a laboratory scale, from the ceramic processing using raw materials to the shipping of the final product. Having been given an established monthly demand for ceramic tiles, the students determined the construction requirements of the mini-factory, as they have created the layout, including the processing equipment, the dimensioning of equipment, and its operational structure. This article intends to describe the successful creation of the ceramic tile mini-factory, including the objectives, benefits, and inherent difficulties of the process and the receptivity of the exercise by the students involved.

The construction of the African perspective: a history of the General History of Africa project (Unesco)

This article analyzes the construction of the African perspective in the General History of Africa project (GHA), focusing on the period between 1965 and 1979. With the participation of over two hundred international experts under the auspices of Unesco, this was one of the greatest intellectual projects of the twentieth century. Based on primary sources, this analysis emphasizes the internal conflicts involved in the construction of the African perspective as a hegemonic line of thought in the GHA. Two critical moments of the project were found in the investigation: the controversial years (1972-78), and the pragmatic years (1978-82). As a result of these disputes, theoretical and methodological parameters were constructed, in addition to eight volumes of material published in the 1980s, and recently republished in Brazil.

La Necesidad De Una Regulacion Legal En España De La Figura Del Director De Proyectos En Edificacion (Project & Construction Manager)

La crisis afecta a todos los sectores, es un terremoto en cadena que se inicio en el sector inmobiliario y se ha ido introduciendo en el resto. Todo esto ha dado lugar a una caída brusca de la demanda de los servicios relacionados con la construcción, con un posicionamiento en “espera” de los Promotores e Inversores, que aún tienen liquidez para invertir, buscando oportunidades que lógicamente se tienen que producir en un entorno escasamente fiable como el actual. Aquellos Inversores que vean oportunidades, se aseguraran de que los productos que van a realizar, tengan una demanda suficiente, sus costes estén en consonancia con el mercado, pero sin que aquello perjudique al resultado final, es decir manteniendo la calidad propuesta al inicio del proceso con los costes previstos, dando lugar a un control exhaustivo del producto a realizar, lo cual obligará a una gran profesionalidad por parte de los agentes implicados. Para todo esto habrá que contar con Empresas especializadas, que aporten garantías en este proceso y aseguren tanto al promotor como al Inversor en todo momento donde y en que se invierten sus recursos. La Dirección Integrada de Proyecto (“Project Management “) aplicada al proceso constructivo es una Técnica Metodológica que ayuda a organizar, controlar y gestionar los recursos de los promotores dentro del proceso edificatorio. Cuando los recursos están limitados (que normalmente es la mayoría de las situaciones) gestionarlos de una manera eficiente se convierte en algo muy importante. Bien, pues nos encontramos con que en esta situación actual, los recursos no solo están limitados, si no que son limitados, por lo que un control y un exhaustivo seguimiento de los mismos se convierte no solo en importante si no en fundamental.

El análisis de la dirección integrada de proyectos (project & construction management) en el marco europeo: propuesta de regulación en España y su inclusión en la ley de la ordenación de la edificación

El presente trabajo de Tesis Doctoral surge de la Figura de la Dirección Integrada de Proyecto en Edificación (“Project & Construction Management”) y su analisis de la situación regulatoria en la legislación española. El primer planteamiento fue pensar en la situación actual de esta figura en el contexto internacional, para analizar su repercusión en el sector de la edificación, lo cual me llevo a cabo las siguientes preguntas que he reuelto en esta investigación. ¿ Como surge el ¨Project & Construction Management”? ¿ Cuales son sus actividades, funciones y cometidos? ¿ Existe el ¨Project & Construction Management” en otros países? ¿Hay regulación del ¨Project & Construction Management” en esos paises? ¿Cómo es la regulación del ¨Project & Construction Management”? ¿Existe demanda del ¨Project & Construction Management” en España? ¿Cómo es esa demanda en España, y como se puede cuantificar? ¿Existe regulación del ¨Project & Construction Management” en España? ¿ Como debería ser la regulación del ¨Project & Construction Management” en España? Todas las preguntas anteriores las he ido respondiendo con el presente trabajo, llegando a una serie de respuestas, que están reflejadas en el desarrollo del presente trabajo y que resumo: - EL ¨Project & Construction Management” surge a principios del siglo XX en USA, desarrollándose como una disciplina con metodología propia y extendiéndose por otros países. - EL ¨Project & Construction Management” es una disciplina, basada en una metodología propia con herramientas y técnicas para organizar cualquier 14 proyecto de cualquier tipo, pero en este caso un proyecto de edificación, para lo cual he definido con todo detalle esta figura. - El origen del ¨Project & Construction Management” es anglosajón, concretamente en USA, extendiendose luego al Reino Unido, a Europa (Francia y Alemania), a Asia, a América del Sur y a Oceanía. - En todos los paises estudiados (Estados Unidos, Reino Unido, Francia y Alemania) existe una regulación sobre el ¨Project & Construction Management” que me ha servido de base comparativa para introducirla en España. - Hay muchas empresas en España (Nacionales e Internacionales) que ejercen su actividad dentro de este sector, por lo que para realizar un estudio más profundo, hice una muestra de las 30 empresas más significativas, prepare un cuestionario, dividido en 5 apartados: Organizativo, Sectorial, Cualitativo, Cuantitativo y Profesional para obtener una radiogradía de la situación real del sector, y así valorar cual es la importancia de este agente. - Estudié las posibles regulaciones del ¨Project & Construction Management” en España y no encontré ninguna. - El lugar idóneo para que se regule al ¨Project & Construction Management” es la Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación (LOE), ya que la jurisprudencia (sentencias de los tribunales de justicia españoles) le ha asimilado con los agentes de la LOE y se ha basado para absolver o condenar en la Ley de Ordenación de la Edificación. Por lo que el Objetivo fundamental de esta tesis ha sido regular la figura del ¨Project & Construction Management”, traducirla al Castellano, definirla y realizar una estructura de Agente de la Edificación, según la LOE, para poder introducirla dentro de la Legislación Española, con el objeto de mejorar la calidad de la edificación, proteger al usuario, estableciendo responsabilidades y garantías y proteger al ¨Project & Construction Management” de las responsabilidades solidarias. ABSTRACT This Doctoral Thesis figure emerges from the Integrated Building Project ("Project & Construction Management") and his analysis of the regulatory situation in the Spanish legislation. The first approach was to think of the current situation of this figure in the international context, to analyze its impact on the building sector, which I conducted the following questions that I have met in this research. - How did the “Project & Construction Management "? - What are your activities, functions and duties? - Is there a “Project & Construction Management "in other countries? - Is there regulation “Project & Construction Management "in these countries? - How is regulation of ¨ Project & Construction Management "? - Is there demand “Project & Construction Management "in Spain? - How is that demand in Spain, and as you can quantify? - Is there regulation “Project & Construction Management "in Spain? - How should regulation ¨Project & Construction Management "in Spain? All the above questions have been answered with this study, leading to a series of responses, which are reflected in the development of this study and are summarized: - The ¨ Project & Construction Management "comes early twentieth century in the USA, developed as a discipline with its own methodology and extending other countries. - The ¨ Project & Construction Management "is a discipline based on a metodology own tools and techniques to organize any project of any kind, but in this case a building project, for which I have defined in detail this figure. - The origin of ¨Project & Construction Management "is Anglo-Saxon, particularly in USA, then spreading to the UK, Europe (France and Germany), Asia, South America and Oceania. - In all countries studied (USA, UK, France and Germany) there is a regulation on ¨Project & Construction Management "has helped me to introduce comparative base in Spain. - There are many companies in Spain (National and International) who perform work within this sector, so for further study, I made a sample of the 30 most important companies, prepare a questionnaire, divided into five sections: Organizational , Sector, Qualitative, Quantitative and Professional radiography for a real situation of the sector, and thus assess which is the importance of this agent. - Study the possible regulations ¨Project & Construction Management "in Spain and found none. - The place to be regulated to ¨Project & Construction Management "is the Law of Construction Planning (LOE), as the case law (judgments of the courts Spanish) has assimilated LOE agents and has been based to absolve or condemn Law Construction Planning. So the objective of this thesis has been regular figure ¨ Project & Construction Management ", translated to spanish, define and perform an Agent structure of the Building, as the LOE, to enter into Spanish law, in order to improve the quality of the building, protecting the user, establishing responsibilities and guarantees and protect the ¨ Project & Construction Management "solidarity responsibilities.

Intelligent Decision-Making System Frameworks for a Digital Plan of Work: A Theoretical Investigation for the Construction Industry

The construction industry is characterised by fragmentation and suffers from lack of collaboration, often adopting adversarial working practices to achieve deliverables. For the UK Government and construction industry, BIM is a game changer aiming to rectify this fragmentation and promote collaboration. However it has become clear that there is an essential need to have better controls and definitions of both data deliverables and data classification. Traditional methods and techniques for collating and inputting data have shown to be time consuming and provide little to improve or add value to the overall task of improving deliverables. Hence arose the need in the industry to develop a Digital Plan of Work (DPoW) toolkit that would aid the decision making process, providing the required control over the project workflows and data deliverables, and enabling better collaboration through transparency of need and delivery. The specification for the existing Digital Plan of Work (DPoW) was to be, an industry standard method of describing geometric, requirements and data deliveries at key stages of the project cycle, with the addition of a structured and standardised information classification system. However surveys and interviews conducted within this research indicate that the current DPoW resembles a digitised version of the pre-existing plans of work and does not push towards the data enriched decision-making abilities that advancements in technology now offer. A Digital Framework is not simply the digitisation of current or historic standard methods and procedures, it is a new intelligent driven digital system that uses new tools, processes, procedures and work flows to eradicate waste and increase efficiency. In addition to reporting on conducted surveys above, this research paper will present a theoretical investigation into usage of Intelligent Decision Support Systems within a digital plan of work framework. Furthermore this paper will present findings on the suitability to utilise advancements in intelligent decision-making system frameworks and Artificial Intelligence for a UK BIM Framework. This should form the foundations of decision-making for projects implemented at BIM level 2. The gap identified in this paper is that the current digital toolkit does not incorporate the intelligent characteristics available in other industries through advancements in technology and collation of vast amounts of data that a digital plan of work framework could have access to and begin to develop, learn and adapt for decision-making through the live interaction of project stakeholders.

The Impact of BIM on the Distribution of Cost and Return on Investment in UK Construction Projects

It has been widely documented that when Building Information Modelling (BIM) is used, there is a shift in effort to the design phase. Little investigation into the impact of this shift in effort has been done and how it impacts on costs. It can be difficult to justify the increased expenditure on BIM in a market that is heavily driven by costs. There are currently studies attempting to quantify the return on investment (ROI) for BIM for which these returns can be seen to balance out the shift in efforts and costs to the design phase. The studies however quantify the ROI based on the individual stakeholder’s investment without consideration for the impact that the use of BIM from their project partners may have on their own profitability. In this study, a questionnaire investigated opinions and experience of construction professionals, representing clients, consultants, designers and contractors, to determine fluctuations in costs by their magnitude and when they occur. These factors were examined more closely by interviewing senior members representing each of the stakeholder categories and comparing their experience in using BIM within environments where their project partners were also using BIM and when they were not. This determined the differences in how the use and the investment in BIM impacts on others and how costs are redistributed. This redistribution is not just through time but also between stakeholders and categories of costs. Some of these cost fluctuations and how the cost of BIM is currently financed are also highlighted in several case studies. The results show that the current distribution of costs set for traditional 2D delivery is hindering the potential success of BIM. There is also evidence that stakeholders who don’t use BIM may benefit financially from the BIM use of others and that collaborative BIM is significantly different to the use of ‘lonely’ BIM in terms of benefits and profitability.

Traffic controls for construction and maintenance worksites: a research reference report. Volume I - project report. Final report.

Federal Highway Administration, Office of Research and Development, Washington, D.C.

Construction of a limited geographic location code; a report of a project sponsored by the Manpower Branch, Human Resources Division, Office of Naval Research, Contract N 7 onr-422.

Mode of access: Internet.

Contract volume for the construction of intercepting sewer and sewage treatment project. Sewage treatment plant. P. W. A. Project no. N. Y. 1034-R. Engineers: Greeley and Hansen.

Cover titles.

Contract volume for the construction of intercepting sewer and sewage treatment project. Intercepting sewer. P. W. A. Project no. N. Y. 1034-R. Engineers: Greeley and Hansen.

Cover titles.

Construction management information system report : project directory.

Shipping list no.: 87-448-P.