Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 4 - CADD, BIM and IPD

This report discusses findings of a case study into "CADD, BIM and IPD" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. This case study investigated the evolution that has taken place in the Queensland Department of Public Works Division of Project Services during the last 20 years from: the initial implementation of computer aided design and documentation(CADD); to the experimentation with building information modelling (BIM) from the mid 2000’s; embedding integrated practice (IP); to current steps towards integrated project delivery (IPD) with the integration of contractors in the design/delivery process. This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 2 - Road Construction Safety

This report discusses findings of a case study into "Road Construction Safety" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. The Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads (QTMR) has taken a leadership role in developing a safer working environment for road construction workers. In the past decades, a range of initiatives have been introduced to contribute to improved performance in this area. Several initiatives have been undertaken by QTMR as part of their overarching commitment to safety. Three such initiatives form the basis for this case study investigation, in order to better illustrate the nature of R&D investment and its impact on day-to-day operations and the supply chain. These are the development and implementation of: (i) the Mechanical Traffic Aid: (ii) the Thermal Imaging Camera; and (iii) the Trailer-based CCTV (camera). This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian built environment : Phase 2 Case Study Report Part 3 - Green Buildings

This report discusses findings of a case study into "Green Buildings" undertaken as a part of the retrospective analysis component of Sustainable Built Environment National Research Centre (SBEnrc) Project 2.7 Leveraging R&D investment for the Australian Built Environment. The Western Australian Government (WAG) has taken a leadership role for a number of decades in developing more environmentally responsive buildings. In the past decade, considerable initiatives have been introduced to contribute to: (i) greening the stock of government buildings; and (ii) providing leadership in the development of other non-residential buildings developed commercially. This role has been informed by global, national and internal initiatives and research in this area. This case study investigates: (i) the nature of this leadership; and (ii) the role of R&D policy development; and (iii) the dissemination and impact of outcomes in the broader industry. This case study should be read in conjunction with Part 1 of this suite of reports.

Students as advisors in an intervention program for at-risk students : The QUT experience

A managed team of discipline-experienced and trained later year students are used as Student Success Advisors (SSAs) in the Student Success Program, an intervention program that manages student engagement by identifying and supporting first year students at-risk of disengaging from learning. This report focuses on the recruitment and training of SSAs and the day-to-day challenges they and their managers face. The Nuts & Bolts session provides participants with opportunities to discuss the applicability to their institutional contexts of the recruitment and training processes and the “solutions” to the challenges used at QUT.

R&D investment in green building initiatives in Western Australia

This paper reports on a current case study of green building initiatives implemented by the Western Australian government in the past decade. The intent is to provide a qualitative understanding of past R&D investments in the Australian built environment. The case method was selected to illustrate three sector-based investments, one of which is reported on here. The conceptual framework underpinning interview design and data analysis uses dynamic capability, absorptive capacity and open innovation theories to better understand the organisational environment in which these initiatives were implemented. Data has been thematically coded to criteria identified from the literature to illustrate organisational characteristics which may have contributed to dissemination and impact. The results will be combined with two further case studies (construction safety and digital modelling), to inform this research. This industry supported project will conclude by developing policy guidelines for future R&D investment in the built environment.

Gender gap in household investment : a study on Bhutan

Differing parental considerations for girls and boys in households are perceived as one of the primary causes of the gender gap in school enrolment and educational attainment in developing countries, particularly in the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. While there are a number of studies on the gender gap focusing on education and health provision in the countries in South Asia, little is known about Bhutan. This thesis aims to explore the gender gap in the intra-household allocation of resources on schooling and health provision for children in Bhutan. This thesis investigates whether boys are shown preference by their parents in terms of educational opportunities, including enrolment and spending on schooling as well as health. To conduct examination, this study makes use of household data from the Bhutan Living Standard Survey of 2007. Using cross-sectional as well as household fixed and random effect approaches, this study attempts to analyse the gender gap in allocation of resources across households as well as within households. The analysis includes characteristics of children and households such as gender and age of children, family wealth, education and gender of household head, number of dependents and the area of residence. The findings reveal a significant gender gap in schooling of children aged six to sixteen in Bhutan. However, no robust evidence of a gender gap has been found in the allocation of health expenditure on children aged less than sixteen. Policy recommendations to alleviate the gender bias in educational opportunities of females are proposed.

Residential property investment : assessing home ownership long term viability

Home purchase and ownership is seen by the majority of Australians as the basis for a sound investment strategy and to seciure their long term retirement goals. Although home ownership rates in Australia are in excess of 65% of the population, there have been doubts raised as to the effectiveness of purchasing a house as the main source of retirement income. The main issue with this approach is that the house has to be sold to gain access to these funds or the owners have to take out a reverse mortgage to access the capital tied up in their home, which can be more expensive than selling. This paper will carryout a detailed analysis of a number of investment options to determine the effectiveness of home purchase as a long term investment vehicle. This study has found that the long term investment in equities or managed superannuation funds can provide a greater retirement income than the purchase of a residential property for owner occupation

Brokering innovation to better leverage R&D investment

What is the contribution of innovation brokers in leveraging research and development (R&D) investment to enhance industry-wide capabilities? The case of the Australian Cooperative Research Centre for Construction Innovation (CRC CI) is considered in the context of motivating supply chain firms to improve their organizational capabilities in order to acquire, assimilate, transfer and exploit R&D outcomes to their advantage, and to create broader industry and national benefits. A previous audit and analysis has shown an increase in business R&D investment since 2001. The role of the CRC CI in contributing to growth in the absorptive capacity of the Australian construction industry as a whole is illustrated through two programmes: digital modelling building information modelling (BIM) and construction site safety. Numerous positive outcomes in productivity, quality, improved safety and competitiveness were achieved between 2001 and 2009.

Leveraging R&D Investment for the Australian Built Environment : Industry Report

The overarching goal of this project is to better match funding strategies to industry needs to maximise the benefits of R&D to Australia’s infrastructure and building industry. Project partners are: Queensland Department of Public Works; Queensland Transport and Main Roads; Western Australian Department of Treasury and Finance; John Holland; Queensland University of Technology; Swinburne University of Technology; and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland (Prof Göran Roos). This project has been endorsed by the Australian Built Environment Industry Innovation Council (BEIIC) with Council member Prof Catherin Bull serving on this project’s Steering Committee. This project seeks to: (i) maximise the value of R&D investment in this sector through improved understanding of future industry research needs; and (ii) address the perceived problem of a disproportionately low R&D investment in this sector, relative to the size and national importance of the sector. This research will develop new theory built on open innovation, dynamic capabilities and absorptive capacity theories in the context of strategic foresighting and roadmapping activities. Four project phases have been designed to address this research: 1: Audit and analysis of R&D investment in the Australian built environment since 1990 - access publically available data relating to R&D investments across Australia from public and private organisations to understand past trends. 2: Examine diffusion mechanisms of research and innovation and its impact on public and private organisations – investigate specific R&D investments to determine the process of realising research support, direction-setting, project engagement, impacts and pathways to adoption. 3: Develop a strategic roadmap for the future of this critical Australian industry - assess the likely future landscapes that R&D investment will both respond to and anticipate. 4: Develop policy to maximise the value of R&D investments to public and private organisations – through translating project learnings into policy guidelines.

Impacts of foreign direct investment on China’s construction industry

China’s national construction industry is now preparing to face the challenges, and to seize the opportunities, resulting from China’s entry to the World Trade Organisation (WTO). With the foreign direct investment (FDI) hitting a record high of around US$52.7 billion in 2002, China is believed to have now surpassed the USA as the world’s favorite destination for foreign investment. This fact, coupled with the huge potential for infrastructure development, indicates that the relatively large proportion of FDI flowing into the national construction industry will continue to increase in the foreseeable future. Positive aspects of FDI flowing will definitely help forging new industrial capabilities for China’s construction industry, thus helping it to achieve the ambitious strategic targets set by the Government for exporting construction goods and services. To shed some light on the position of the national industry in the global economy, this paper briefly presents the current international standing of China’s construction industry and qualitatively appraises potential positive influences of, and challenges associated with, FDI on the national industry.

Re-framing infrastructure investment decision-making processes : a preliminary scoping study for urban flood risk management in Jakarta, Indonesia

Jakarta, Indonesia’s chronic housing shortage poses multiple challenges for contemporary policy-makers. While it may be in the city’s interest to increase the availability of housing, there is limited land to do so. Market pressures, in tandem with government’s desire for housing availability, demand consideration of even marginal lands, such as those within floodplains, for development. Increasingly, planning for a flood resilient Jakarta is complicated by a number of factors, including: the city is highly urbanized and land use data is limited; flood management is technically complex, creating potential barriers to engagement for both decision-makers and the public; inherent uncertainty exists throughout modelling efforts, central to management; and risk and liability for infrastructure investments is unclear. These obstacles require localized watershed-level participatory planning to address risks of flooding where possible and reduce the likelihood that informal settlements occur in areas of extreme risk. This paper presents a preliminary scoping study for determination of an effective participatory planning method to encourage more resilient development. First, the scoping study provides background relevant to the challenges faced in planning for contemporary Jakarta. Second, the study examines the current use of decision-support tools, such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), in planning for Jakarta. Existing capacity in the use of GIS allows for consideration of the use of an emerging method of community consultation - Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) support systems infused with geospatial information - to aid in engagement with the public and improve decision-making outcomes. While these methods have been used in Australia to promote stakeholder engagement in urban intensification, the planned research will be an early introduction of the method to Indonesia. As a consequence of this intervention, it is expected that planning activities will result in a more resilient city, capable of engaging with disaster risk management in a more effective manner.

ACE research vignette 030 : Is venture capital investment the key to success?

This series of research vignettes is aimed at sharing current and interesting research findings from our team of international Entrepreneurship researchers. This vignette, written by Professor Per Davidsson, reports on a paper which synthesizes available research on the effects of VC funding on the performance of the funded firm.

Does sustainable housing construction provide the home owner with a greater investment return?

Over the past 20 years there has been a considerable push at all three tiers of Government and private industry in Australia to improve the energy efficiency and sustainability levels of residential housing. A number of these initiatives have been voluntary, such as solar power and solar heating rebates, with other mandatory measures being incorporated into building standards and codes. Although the importance of energy efficiency and sustainable materials have been widely conveyed both at the academic and public level, it does not always reflect in the residential house purchase decision by typical house buyers, including residential property investors. This paper will analyse a range of housing markets in Brisbane to determine the investment performance of those markets over the past 3 years to determine any significant differences between new residential suburbs and older residential suburbs where houses have not been constructed to the current energy efficiency and sustainability guidelines. The range of suburbs to be analysed will focus on middle to lower high value suburbs, with a particular focus on residential housing in Master Planned Communities to determine if socio-economic factors and development size and scope have an impact of the purchase and investment performance of sustainable houses in comparison to older housing stock. The paper confirms that the residential property market shows a higher capital return for residential property built under stricter sustainability guidelines than similar located and type of property built prior to the BCA 2004 and older style project type homes erected prior to 2000.