The development of a new four-year Construction Technology and Management Stream at QUT

This paper focuses on the development and delivery of a core construction management (CM) unit, which forms the capstone of a four-unit CM stream in an undergraduate programme in the Faculty of Built Environment and Engineering at the Queensland University of Technology. UDB410 (Construction Management) is a final year unit that consolidates skills students have learned throughout their degree, hopefully graduating them as work-ready construction managers. It was developed in consultation with the Queensland Chapter of the Australian Institute of Building (AIB) and is a final year unit in the undergraduate Bachelor of Urban Development (CM) course. The unit uses various tools such as the OSIRIS business database (Bureau van Dijk Electronic Publishing, 2009), the AROUSAL (UK Version) construction business simulation (Lansley, 2009) and the Denison Organisational Culture Survey (Denison, 2000) to facilitate the development of skills in managing a construction company. The objectives of the paper are: • To track the rationale and development of the UDB410 unit sand describe the way in which this final year unit integrates learning from other parts of the course within which it is located as well as capping-off the CM stream of core units; • To highlight the difficulties of blending a balance of technology and management in a single unit; and • To explain how partnering with the construction industry benefited the learning quality of the unit.

Developing online construction technology resources in tectonic design education

We outline issues of importance in relation to tectonic design within the architectural profession and the relationship to architectural education in Australia. Twelve years of research and curriculum development at Deakin University is discussed, involving the creation of online resources and case studies, digitally-integrated projects relating to building construction and design studio education. The ethos behind the Construction Primer of engaging students as ‘amateur researchers’ in a way that ensures ‘that student research work is worth more than course assessment’ forms the pedagogical foundation of much of this work. A model of Socially Networked Construction Technology education has been developed that integrates social networks and the Internet to engage students in tectonic design within and outside the classroom through authentic curricula. Through the use of Virtual Galleries, Blogs, YouTube and social networks, a culture of peer learning and sharing has been developed. Through shared knowledge facilitated through social networks, great potential lies for expanding the synergies between higher order learning and online resource development for design decision support.

Knowledge Construction Technology through Hypermedia-Based Intelligent Conversational Channel

There have been multifarious approaches in building expert knowledge in medical or engineering field through expert system, case-based reasoning, model-based reasoning and also a large-scale knowledge-based system. The intriguing factors with these approaches are mainly the choices of reasoning mechanism, ontology, knowledge representation, elicitation and modeling. In our study, we argue that the knowledge construction through hypermedia-based community channel is an effective approach in constructing expert’s knowledge. We define that the knowledge can be represented as in the simplest form such as stories to the most complex ones such as on-the-job type of experiences. The current approaches of encoding experiences require expert’s knowledge to be acquired and represented in rules, cases or causal model. We differentiate the two types of knowledge which are the content knowledge and socially-derivable knowledge. The latter is described as knowledge that is earned through social interaction. Intelligent Conversational Channel is the system that supports the building and sharing on this type of knowledge.

Technology strategy for re-engineering design and construction

Automation technology can provide construction firms with a number of competitive advantages. Technology strategy guides a firm's approach to all technology, including automation. Engineering management educators, researchers, and construction industry professionals need improved understanding of how technology affects results, and how to better target investments to improve competitive performance. A more formal approach to the concept of technology strategy can benefit the construction manager in his efforts to remain competitive in increasingly hostile markets. This paper recommends consideration of five specific dimensions of technology strategy within the overall parameters of market conditions, firm capabilities and goals, and stage of technology evolution. Examples of the application of this framework in the formulation of technology strategy are provided for CAD applications, co-ordinated positioning technology and advanced falsework and formwork mechanisation to support construction field operations. Results from this continuing line of research can assist managers in making complex and difficult decisions regarding reengineering construction processes in using new construction technology and benefit future researchers by providing new tools for analysis. Through managing technology to best suit the existing capabilities of their firm, and addressing the market forces, engineering managers can better face the increasingly competitive environment in which they operate.

Technology strategy and competitive performance in bridge construction

Pragmatic construction professionals, accustomed to intense price competition and focused on the bottom line, have difficulty justifying investments in advanced technology. Researchers and industry professionals need improved tools to analyze how technology affects the performance of the firm. This paper reports the results of research to begin answering the question, “does technology matter?” The researchers developed a set of five dimensions for technology strategy, collected information regarding these dimensions along with four measures of competitive performance in five bridge construction firms, and analyzed the information to identify relationships between technology strategy and competitive performance. Three technology strategy dimensions—competitive positioning, depth of technology strategy, and organizational fit—showed particularly strong correlations with the competitive performance indicators of absolute growth in contract awards and contract award value per technical employee. These findings indicate that technology does matter. The research also provides ways to analyze options for approaching technology and ways to relate technology to competitive performance for use by managers. It also provides a valuable set of research measures for technology strategy.

An innovative learning model for teaching architectural technology using building information modelling : a Queensland University of Technology perspective

In architecture courses, instilling a wider understanding of the industry specific representations practiced in the Building Industry is normally done under the auspices of Technology and Science subjects. Traditionally, building industry professionals communicated their design intentions using industry specific representations. Originally these mainly two dimensional representations such as plans, sections, elevations, schedules, etc. were produced manually, using a drawing board. Currently, this manual process has been digitised in the form of Computer Aided Design and Drafting (CADD) or ubiquitously simply CAD. While CAD has significant productivity and accuracy advantages over the earlier manual method, it still only produces industry specific representations of the design intent. Essentially, CAD is a digital version of the drawing board. The tool used for the production of these representations in industry is still mainly CAD. This is also the approach taken in most traditional university courses and mirrors the reality of the situation in the building industry. A successor to CAD, in the form of Building Information Modelling (BIM), is presently evolving in the Construction Industry. CAD is mostly a technical tool that conforms to existing industry practices. BIM on the other hand is revolutionary both as a technical tool and as an industry practice. Rather than producing representations of design intent, BIM produces an exact Virtual Prototype of any building that in an ideal situation is centrally stored and freely exchanged between the project team. Essentially, BIM builds any building twice: once in the virtual world, where any faults are resolved, and finally, in the real world. There is, however, no established model for learning through the use of this technology in Architecture courses. Queensland University of Technology (QUT), a tertiary institution that maintains close links with industry, recognises the importance of equipping their graduates with skills that are relevant to industry. BIM skills are currently in increasing demand throughout the construction industry through the evolution of construction industry practices. As such, during the second half of 2008, QUT 4th year architectural students were formally introduced for the first time to BIM, as both a technology and as an industry practice. This paper will outline the teaching team’s experiences and methodologies in offering a BIM unit (Architectural Technology and Science IV) at QUT for the first time and provide a description of the learning model. The paper will present the results of a survey on the learners’ perspectives of both BIM and their learning experiences as they learn about and through this technology.

China's foreign economic cooperation development : exporting Chinese construction services

Since the movement for economic reform started in China 20 years ago, the nation's GDP had grown on average from seven to nine per cent a year, making China's construction industry one of the largest in the world. This paper presents an overview of China's foreign economic cooperation development (FECD) in the context of exporting three major construction services namely; contracting, labour and design. The paper outlines the export market profile of Chinese contractors and discusses their current position in the international market. It then addresses challenges; they are facing in view of meeting the ambitious strategic targets set out by the Government for the FECD, which cover the export of construction services. Finally, the paper sheds some light on key exporting strategies currently adopted by Chinese contractors.

Analyzing causes for reworks in construction projects in China

Although rework is a common phenomenon in the Chinese construction industry and significantly affects project success, the reasons for rework remain largely unknown and most construction companies are unable to manage the issue effectively. To investigate the causes of rework in construction projects, a total of 39 causes were first identified through a comprehensive literature review and semi-structured interviews with 13 experienced construction professionals in China. A questionnaire survey was further conducted to prioritize these causes, in which unclear project process management, poor quality of construction technology, and the use of poor construction materials rank the highest. Finally, a factor analysis revealed 11 major underlying dimensions of these causes, relating to design management, communication management, field management, project scope management, project process management, active rework, project plan changes, subcontractor management, contract management, owner capability, and the external environment. The contribution of this work lies in its examination of the underlying causes of rework perceived by construction professionals in the world’s largest developing country, which is characterized by its unique economic and social systems. In particular, newly identified causes of contract management, active rework, and scope management help expand existing knowledge of the underlying causes of rework for the global construction community.

Confined Site Construction: A qualitative investigation of critical issues affecting management of Health and Safety

The construction industry is inherently risky, with a significant number of accidents and disasters occurring, particularly on confined construction sites. This research investigates and identifies the various issues affecting successful management of health and safety in confined construction sites. The rationale is that identifying the issues would assist the management of health and safety particularly in inner city centres which are mostly confined sites. Using empiricism epistemology, the methodology was based on qualitative research approach by means of multiple case studies in three different geographical locations of Ireland, UK and USA. Data on each case study were collected through individual interviews and focus group discussion with project participants. The findings suggest that three core issues are the underlying factors affecting management of health and safety on confined construction sites. It include, (i) lack of space, (ii) problem of co-ordination and management of site personnel, and (iii) overcrowding of workplace. The implication of this is that project teams and their organisations should see project processes from a holistic point of view, as a unified single system, where quick intervention in solving a particular issue should be the norm, so as not to adversely affect interrelated sequence of events in project operations. Proactive strategies should be devised to mitigate these issues and may include detail project programming, space management, effective constructability review and efficient co-ordination of personnel, plant and materials among others. The value of this research is to aid management and operation of brownfield sites by identifying issues impacting on health and safety management in project process.

Environmental Assessment of Rammed Earth Construction Systems

Present concerns for sustainable development have led to a revival of traditional building practices using natural or recycled resources. There is a perception that buildings constructed from such materials are environmentally benign. This perception is questionable, as often no evaluation is undertaken to assess the associated environmental impacts. Rammed earth is one such construction technology that has seen renewed interest in recent years. The energy required to manufacture materials (i.e. embodied energy) is a significant component of the life cycle energy associated with buildings. This paper assesses the embodied energy of rammed earth construction relative to brick veneer and cavity brick construction. Rammed earth was found to have significantly less embodied energy than cavity brick construction (to which it is closer in thermal performance), but was approximately equivalent to brick veneer construction. Topics of further research identified include thermal performance and strategies for reducing the embodied energy of cement used for earth stabilisation.

The Australian construction linkages in the 1990s

Abstract: During the 1990s, the construction sector played an important role with its growing contributions to the gross national product, gross domestic product and employment in the Australian economy. Using the newly released 1998-99 input-output table and four previously published tables by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, this paper aims to measure the sectoral linkages of the Australian construction sector in the 1990s in relation to other industrial countries. Results describe the increase in construction volume was mainly due to the increase in governmental and non-residential construction expenditures and lagging construction technology. The technical level of the non-residential construction sub-sector was a drag to the total construction, while the non-residential construction sub-sector presented a stronger economic push than that of the residential construction sub-sector. In the 1990s, the inputs and outputs' components of the construction sector were stable. The linkages of the Australian construction sector are discussed from an international point of view.

Malmquist indices of total factor productivity changes in the Australian construction industry

Construction is an important industry and forms a vital part of national economics in the world. Factors affecting the productivity of the construction industry should be measured appropriately to reflect its development situation and economic performance. The Malmquist index method with a novel decomposition technique is employed to estimate the total factor productivity of the Australian construction industry during the period 1990-2007 and to analyse the factors affecting the technological change in the industry. Research results exemplified by two input variables and one output variable elaborate how construction technology, pure technical efficiency and scale economy take effect in the change of construction productivity. In addition, based on temporal and spatial comparisons, the analysis for construction productivities reveals their changes over time and across the country. Proposals and recommendations are expected to be beneficial for policy making and strategic decisions to improve the performance of the Australian construction industry.

The value of experiential learning for providing a contextual understanding of the construction process

This research investigates effectiveness of real site visits within an undergraduate course. Experiential learning is a process of providing education, based on the experiences and observations of real-world examples. Some of the theory of experiential learning has been used to examine whether site visits assist the students learning experience.

The results of the research show that students generally have a positive attitude towards site visits and see them as beneficial. Although the study identified that some aspects of construction technology could be easily replaced by computer simulations and the like, other aspects of the curriculum are more effectively taught by retaining real site visits. The research was intended to provide a more structured approach to determining the value of site-based learning in construction-related courses.