Sustainability reporting in construction contractors : a case study

Construction activities have significant impacts on the environment, economy and society. As a result, sustainability has become an agenda in construction related business. This is evidenced by an increasingly number of construction related companies adopting sustainability reporting practice. Construction contractors are no exception. This study aims to investigate the sustainability reporting practices adopted by top Chinese contractors active in the international arena. The focus is placed on those Chinese contractors ranked top 50 by the Engineering News Record (ENR) top 225 international contractors. The results showed that the sustainability reporting practices of these top Chinese contractors, in terms of both approaches and the depth, varied significantly however there is a clear trend of growing level of disclosure of sustainability related information. Similarly, environmental sustainability seems the predominate focus of sustainability reporting exercises of top international contractors from China. These findings help to assist senior management of construction contractors to form business strategies to facilitate disclosure and other sustainability related practices.

Improved earthwork allocation planning for fuel consumption and emissions reduction in linear infrastructure construction – case study data

This document provides data for the case study presented in our recent earthwork planning papers. Some results are also provided in a graphical format using Excel.

Development and validation of a new self-report instrument for measuring sedentary behaviors and light-intensity physical activity in adults

Background Low levels of physical activity and high levels of sedentary behavior (SB) are major public health concerns. This study was designed to develop and validate the 7-day Sedentary (S) and Light Intensity Physical Activity (LIPA) Log (7-day SLIPA Log), a self-report measure of specific daily behaviors. Method To develop the log, 62 specific SB and LIPA behaviors were chosen from the Compendium of Physical Activities. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 32 sedentary volunteers to identify domains and behaviors of SB and LIPA. To validate the log, a further 22 sedentary adults were recruited to wear the GT3X for 7 consecutive days and nights. Results Pearson correlations (r) between the 7-day SLIPA Log and GT3X were significant for sedentary (r =.86, p < 0.001), for LIPA (r =.80, p < 0.001). Lying and sitting postures were positively correlated with GT3X output (r =.60 and r =.64, p < 0.001, respectively). No significant correlation was found for standing posture (r =.14, p = 0.53).The kappa values between the 7-day SLIPA Log and GT3X variables ranged from 0.09–0.61, indicating poor to good agreement. Conclusion The 7-day SLIPA Log is a valid self-report measure of SB and LIPA in specific behavioral domains.

Analyzing and defining information requirements of knowledge intensive construction management tasks on BIM

With the increasing popularity and adoption of building information modeling (BIM), the amount of digital information available about a building is overwhelming. Enormous challenges remain however in identifying meaningful and required information from a complex BIM model to support a particular construction management (CM) task. Detailed specifications of information required by different construction domains and expressive and easy-to-use BIM reasoning mechanisms are seen as an important means in addressing these challenges. This paper analyzes some of the characteristics and requirements of component-specific construction knowledge in relation to the current work practice and BIM-based applications. It is argued that domain ontologies and information extraction approaches, such as queries could significantly bring much needed support for knowledge sharing and integration of information between design, construction and facility management.

Practical framework for measuring performance of international construction firms

The internationalization of construction companies has become of significant interest as the global construction market continues to be integrated into a more competitive and turbulent business environment. However, due to the complicated and multifaceted nature of international business and performance, there is as yet no consensus on how to evaluate the performance of international construction firms (ICFs). The purpose of this paper, therefore, is to develop a practical framework for measuring the performance of ICFs. Based on the balanced scorecard (BSC), a framework with detailed measures is developed, investigated, and tested using a three-step research design. In the first step, 27 measures under six dimensions (financial, market, customer, internal business processes, stakeholders, and learning and growth) are determined by literature review, interviews with academics, and seminar discussions. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey is conducted to investigate weights of these 27 performance measures. The questionnaire survey also supports the importance of measuring intangible aspects of international construction performance from the practitioner’s viewpoint. Additionally, a case study is described to test the framework’s robustness and usefulness. This is achieved by benchmarking the performance of a Chinese ICF with nine other counterparts worldwide. It is found that the framework provides an effective basis for benchmarking ICFs to effectively monitor their performance and support the development of strategies for improved competitiveness in the international arena. This paper is the first attempt to present a balanced and practically tested framework for evaluating the performance of ICFs. It contributes to the practice of performance measurement and related internationalization in the construction industry in general.

Reducing the Risk of Alcohol and Other Drugs in Construction : An Australian Assessment

There is increasing concern about the impact of employees’ alcohol and other drug (AOD) consumption on workplace safety, particularly within the construction industry. No known study has scientifically evaluated the relationship between the use of drugs and alcohol and safety impacts in construction, and there has been only limited adoption of nationally coordinated strategies, supported by employers and employees to render it socially unacceptable to arrive at a construction workplace with impaired judgment from AODs. This research aims to scientifically evaluate the use of AODs within the Australian construction industry in order to reduce the potential resulting safety and performance impacts and engender a cultural change in the workforce. Using the Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT), the study will adopt both quantitative and qualitative methods to evaluate the extent of general AOD use in the industry. Results indicate that a proportion of the construction sector may be at risk of hazardous alcohol consumption. A total of 286 respondents (58%) scored above the cut-off score for risky alcohol use with 43 respondents (15%) scoring in the significantly ‘at risk’ category. Other drug use was also identified as a major issue that must be addressed. Results support the need for evidence-based, preventative educational initiatives that are tailored specifically to the construction industry.

Analysis of the design-construction supply chain in the thermal performance of sub-tropical and tropical housing

Background: In sub-tropical and tropical Queensland, a legacy of poor housing design,minimal building regulations with few compliance measures, an absence of post-construction performance evaluation and various social and market factors has led to a high and growing penetration of, and reliance on, air conditioners to provide thermal comfort for occupants. The pervasive reliance on air conditioners has arguably impacted on building forms, changed cultural expectations of comfort and social practices for achieving comfort, and may have resulted in a loss of skills in designing and constructing high performance building envelopes. Aim: The aim of this paper is to report on initial outcomes of a project that sought to determine how the predicted building thermal performance of twenty-five houses in subtropical and tropical Queensland compared with objective performance measures and comfort performance as perceived by occupants. The purpose of the project was to shed light on the role of various supply chain agents in the realisation of thermal performance outcomes. Methodology: The case study methodology embraced a socio-technical approach incorporating building science and sociology. Building simulation was used to model thermal performance under controlled comfort assumptions and adaptive comfort conditions. Actual indoor climate conditions were measured by temperature and relative humidity sensors placed throughout each house, whilst occupants’ expectations of thermal comfort and their self-reported behaviours were gathered through semi-structured interviews and periodic comfort surveys. Thermal imaging and air infiltration tests, along with building design documents, were analysed to evaluate the influence of various supply chain agents on the actual performance outcomes. Results: The results clearly show that in the housing supply chain – from designer to constructor to occupant – there is limited understanding from each agent of their role in contributing to, or inhibiting, occupants’ comfort.

An Arabic instrument to measure medication adherence in Saudi hypertensive patients

Aim: To show the validity and reliability of the translated Hill-Bone scale on 110 hypertensive participants from an Arabic speaking country. Background: With the wide spread availability of treatment, individuals with hypertension have reported various levels of adherence to their medications. Flexible and practical methods of measuring adherence are the use of surveys, scales and interviews. There is a scarcity in Arabic tools and scales that measure levels of adherence to antihypertensive treatments in the Arabic speaking context. Design and Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 110 individuals diagnosed with hypertension and from an Arabic speaking country. The Hill-Bone scale includes three subscales that measure salt intake, medication adherence and appointment keeping. Given the focus on the pharmacological management of hypertensive patients, only items related to medication adherence and appointment keeping subscales were used. The scale was translated by following a comprehensive and accepted method of translation. Results: Instrument reliability was tested by identifying the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. The subscale for medication adherence in the Hill-Bone scale reported an acceptable level of reliability (Cronbach’s alpha =0.76). Compared with other translated versions of the Hill-Bone scale, the scale also reported good reliability and validity. Conclusion: Results indicate that the Arabic translated version of the Hill-Bone scale has an acceptable level of reliability and validity and therefore can be used in Arabic speaking populations.

Development and validation of an instrument to measure organizational cultures' support of business process management

The purpose of Business Process Management (BPM) is to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of organizational processes through improvement and innovation. Despite a common understanding that culture is an important element in these efforts, there is a dearth of theoretical and empirical research on culture as a facilitator of successful BPM. We develop the BPM culture construct and propose a validated instrument with which to measure organizational cultures’ support of BPM. The operationalization of the BPM culture concept provides a theoretical foundation for future research and a tool to assist organizations in developing a cultural environment that supports successful BPM.

Equal employment opportunity and its links to the participation of women in the construction industry : the case of Australia

Australia is currently experiencing a resources boom and jobs in the male dominated fields of construction and engineering are at a premium. Employment in the construction industry, historically and today, is overwhelmingly male and, with an ageing population this predominately older male workforce will be retiring in greater numbers in the coming decade. Despite more that 25 years of anti- discrimination legislation and equal opportunity legislation these industries still employ few women in operational roles. This paper investigates the issue of the low representation of women in the construction industry. Our investigation involves the analysis of 95 organisation progress reports on the equal opportunity strategic programs in the construction industry. Findings indicate that this industry is not engaging with equal employment opportunity programs and further that equity outcomes for women in the industry are not evident.

A dynamic approach for evaluating earthwork hauls in construction

A graph theoretic approach is developed for accurately computing haulage costs in earthwork projects. This is vital as haulage is a predominant factor in the real cost of earthworks. A variety of metrics can be used in our approach, but a fuel consumption proxy is recommended. This approach is novel as it considers the constantly changing terrain that results from cutting and filling activities and replaces inaccurate “static” calculations that have been used previously. The approach is also capable of efficiently correcting the violation of top down cutting and bottom up filling conditions that can be found in existing earthwork assignments and sequences. This approach assumes that the project site is partitioned into uniform blocks. A directed graph is then utilised to describe the terrain surface. This digraph is altered after each cut and fill, in order to reflect the true state of the terrain. A shortest path algorithm is successively applied to calculate the cost of each haul and these costs are summed to provide a total cost of haulage

Decision making guidelines for sustainable construction of industrialised building systems

The construction industry has an obligation to respond to sustainability expectations of our society. Solutions that integrate innovative, intelligent and sustainability deliverables are vital for us to meet new and emerging challenges. Industrialised Building Systems (IBS), or known otherwise as prefabrication, employs a combination of ready-made components in the construction of buildings. They promote quality of production, enhance simplification of construction processes and minimise waste. The unique characteristics of this construction method respond well to sustainability. Despite the promises however, IBS has yet to be effectively implemented in Malaysia. There are often misconceptions among key stakeholders about IBS applications. The existing rating schemes fail to assess IBS against sustainability measures. To ensure the capture of full sustainability potential in buildings developed, the critical factors and action plans agreeable to all participants in the development processes need to be identified. Through questionnaire survey, eighteen critical factors relevant to IBS sustainability were identified and encapsulated into a conceptual framework to coordinate a systematic IBS decision making approach. Five categories were used to separate the critical factors into: ecological performance; economic value; social equity and culture; technical quality; and implementation and enforcement. This categorisation extends the "Triple Bottom Lines" to include social, economic, environmental and institutional dimensions. Semi-structured interviews help identify strategies of actions and solutions of potential problems through a SWOT analysis framework. These tools help the decision-makers maximise the opportunities by using available strengths, avoid weaknesses, and diagnose possible threats in the examined issues. The recommendations formed an integrated action plan to present information on what and how to improve sustainability through tackling each critical factor during IBS development. It can be used as part of the project briefing documents for IBS designers. For validation and finalisation the research deliverables, three case studies were conducted. The research fills a current gap by responding to IBS project scenarios in developing countries. It also provides a balanced view for designers to better understand sustainability potential and prioritize attentions to manage sustainability issues in IBS applications.

Of dogs, fish, birds and turds : the social construction of sewage pollution by recreational boaters

Animals are often used as ‘evidence’ of marine pollution. Take for instance the ubiquitous images of miserable oil-soaked marine birds following high profile oil spills such as the Exxon Valdez, Pacific Adventurer and Deepwater Horizon incidents or the images of bloated floating fish carcasses which are used to signal the presence of toxic pollutants. In recent years waste discharges from vessels have come under increased public and regulatory scrutiny both in Australia and around the world. International, regional, national and local restrictions are becoming more stringent for high profile marine pollutants such as oil as well as previously overlooked vessel-sourced pollutants such as sewage. Drawing upon media reports and recreational boater responses to government attempts to regulate the discharge of sewage from recreational vessels, this paper considers the important role played by animals in constructions of marine pollution by sewage and attributions of blame for this pollution. Specifically, this study found that recreational boat owners disputed claims their sewage management practices posed an environmental threat arguing that the sewage discharged was readily and eagerly consumed by fish in the receiving environment. Boat owners also argued that increased levels of bacteria which indicate the presence of faeces within the marine environment could be directly attributed to the excrement of marine mammals and birds or were the result of dog faeces being washed through municipal storm water systems rather than the result of vessel discharges. By contrast the contamination of oysters was provided as evidence of sewage pollution by other stakeholders.

An examination of the independent certification processes of a construction contract

Construction contracts often provide that the decision of an independent certifier is final and binding. The effect of a contractual term like this has been debated in the courts over time. This paper considers the binding nature of certificates in the context of traditional construction contract arrangements and also considers the implications for more complex contracts like those entered into to facilitate public private partnerships. This article considers the response of the courts and the drafting implications and argues that a different focus would be advantageous.