Knowledge-Driven ANP Approach to Vendors Evaluation for Sustainable Construction

This paper presents a multicriteria decision-making approach to evaluate contractor candidates in the open competition of construction project procurement by means of a knowledge-framed analytic network process (KANP), which embeds a construction knowledge framework into a formal analytic network process procedure. An applied KANP model named KANP.BID is set up and used in an experimental case study. The paper concludes that the KANP.BID model is a viable and capable tool for selecting the most appropriate tender alternative under criteria of sustainable construction. It is expected that the proposed KANP.BID model can attract interest from both practitioners and researchers in terms of further research and development.     

Formulating Procurement Selection Criteria through Case-Based Reasoning Approach

An appropriate procurement system is a catalyst to the success of a construction project. In practice, the solutions and outcomes of previous procurement selection decisions could be extremely useful in supporting decision making. As a technique that captures and reuses experiential knowledge, case-based reasoning (CBR) has a high potential for modeling the procurement selection decision within a complex dynamic environment. This paper examines the suitability of CBR approaches for procurement selection. The process involved in procurement selection is examined first. A conceptual framework for case-based procurement selection is proposed. The structure of a prototype model on procurement selection criteria (PSC) formulation is presented in this paper. The model applies the CBR approach to procurement criteria selection irrespective of the variability in the characteristics of the client, project, and external environment.     

Optimizing Material Procurement and Storage on Construction Sites

Efficient planning of materials procurement and storage on construction sites can lead to significant improvements in construction productivity and project profitability. Existing research studies focus on material procurement and storage layout as two separate planning tasks without considering their critical and mutual interdependencies. This paper presents the development of a new optimization model for construction logistics planning that is capable of simultaneously integrating and optimizing the critical planning decisions of material procurement and material storage on construction sites. The model utilizes genetic algorithms to minimize construction logistics costs that cover material ordering, financing, stock-out, and layout costs. The model incorporates newly developed algorithms to estimate the impact of potential material shortages on-site because of late delivery on project delays and stock-out costs. An application example is analyzed to demonstrate the capabilities of the construction logistics planning model in simultaneously optimizing material procurement decisions and storage layout plans.     

企业自行采购物资的计划与管理

介绍了矿山企业自行采购物资的计划与采购管理,重点述说了计划的分类、编制的原则和方法,详细说明了招标采购、比质比价采购、代储代销、单耗承包等采购方式及策略的运用。     

Constructing Relationally Integrated Teams

Worldwide initiatives to improve construction industry performance converge on the common need for more effective teamworking. This is increasingly critical in the context of complex multiparticipant construction projects. Clashes of organizational, operational, national, and/or professional cultures point to the need for “relational integration” as a prerequisite for such synergistic teamworking. This paper draws on recent approaches to promoting trust and cooperation through (1) basic teambuilding techniques in general and (2) partnering and alliancing in construction projects. It then focuses on analyzing the views of Singapore-based contractors as derived from a survey to elicit the hypothesized 28 factors facilitating relationally integrated teambuilding, and 31 factors deterring such integration in construction project teams. On the whole: (1) 27 of the 28 factors facilitating integrated project team, and 26 of the 31 factors deterring integrated project team, are significant; (2) these two sets of factors could be represented by four and five “broad factors,” respectively; and (3) except in a few cases, respondents from large and medium companies, as well as with and without experience in RC, have similar perceptions of the importance levels of different factors. These two sets of critical factors, as identified in this paper, complement two other previously isolated sets of factors that facilitate or deter a “relational contracting” culture. Taken together, they feed into a consolidated strategy for releasing the latent energies and potential synergies that should yield the much higher construction project performance levels that have been called for worldwide.     

Reengineering of Construction Management Process

Applying the business process engineering philosophy, this study focuses on developing a construction management process reengineering (CMPR) method to improve the efficiency of construction management. The CMPR method includes four phases, namely, process representation, process transformation, process evaluation, and reengineering activity. Using CMPR, inefficient operations within a construction company working process can not only be identified, but a new rational operation process can also be developed to improve management efficiency. In this way, the competitive ability of a construction company is also increased. This study argues for the need of a new research agenda in construction management in general. This is illustrated by information technology within construction—in particular, by examining the potential application of the reengineering philosophy. The research possibilities are identified and tested based on the implementation of the CMPR method. To some extent, this study establishes a new agenda of process reengineering for future research.     

Procurement of Design-Build Services: Two-Phase Selection for Highway Projects

In the United States, public agencies are adopting the design-build (DB) delivery method for delivering highway projects after having used the traditional design-bid-build method for generations. In the 2002 design-build contracting final rule, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) strongly encourages the use of two-phase selection procedures for DB procurement. This paper takes a case study approach to investigating the use of a two-phase process for selecting providers of highway design-build services. Using two DB projects in central Texas as case studies, the writers have analyzed project documentation and performed interviews with 37 project participants involved in procurement, including owner representatives and legal consultants. For the first case, the writers selected the $1.3 billion SH-130 tolled expressway project in central Texas. Procurement of the SH-130 DB contract was performed before the FHWA rule on DB contracting was released. In addition, the writers examined procurement activities for the $154 million DB contract for the SH-45 SE tolled expressway, which was procured by the same owner in 2004 following procedures identified in the FHWA rule. As a result, a process was developed that included activities to be performed between the delivery method decision and the contract execution. This process model tracks the differences between the SH-130 and the SH-45 SE processes that are attributable to the latter’s adoption of the FHWA Rule.     

Development and Initial Validation of Sustainable Construction Safety and Health Rating System

This paper presents a study to develop and validate a sustainable construction safety and health (SCSH) rating system. The rating system provides an opportunity to rate projects based on the importance given to construction worker safety and health and the degree of implementation of safety and health elements. A Delphi survey using an expert panel of 12 experienced safety and health professionals representing different sectors of the construction industry was employed to develop the SCSH rating system. The study resulted in a rating system consisting of a total of 50 safety and health elements organized into 13 categories. Each category contains safety and health elements which carry credits based on their effectiveness in preventing construction worker injuries and illnesses. The rating system was initially validated based on data from 25 construction projects and found to accurately represent the safety performance of large projects. The SCSH rating system can be used as an effective tool to develop and plan construction safety and health programs and evaluate the potential safety performance of construction projects.     

Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States

The highly influential Brundtland report released in 1987 was the first document to define the three pillars of modern sustainable development as environmental, social, and economic. The Rio Summit in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, and the Johannesburg Meeting in 2002 followed up with primary focus on the needs of society and the environment. Economic issues were secondary at these meetings. This movement was the beginning of what has been passed down to the construction industry as sustainable construction. Within the industry, however, confusion reigns, and attitudes toward sustainable construction vary wildly. Understanding perceptions of sustainability in the industry would help to navigate a path towards a common understanding of the issues, to reach a point from which a reasoned dialogue could ensue concerning the relative merits of different approaches to sustainability and to sustainable construction itself. To understand perceptions of sustainability in the construction industry, a survey of close to 200 practitioners was conducted between July and Sept. 2006. Its results are described and analyzed in this article. Some conclusions are made and recommendations are suggested based on this analysis. In particular, it is clear that a persistent and broad-based effort will be required to introduce sustainability effectively to the profession.     

Generic Process Mapping and Simulation Methodology for Integrating Site Layout and Operations Planning in Construction

The present research is intended to address dynamic construction-process simulation methods, with a focus on how to effectively model resource transit among various activity locations in the site system. Following a review of basic simulation paradigms and recent research developments, we propose a new process mapping and simulation methodology for modeling construction operations. The simulation algorithm is presented and the process mapping procedure is illustrated step by step using an earth-moving example featuring technology and resource constraints. It is straightforward to convert the resultant process mapping model describing workflows and resource flows over site locations into a simulation model. A STROBOSCOPE model is formed for the same problem definition to contrast and cross-validate our methodology with the established activity cycle diagram-based modeling approach. One additional case of modeling the concreting site operations by the hoist and barrow method is also given to demonstrate the application of the proposed methodology in practical settings.     

Integrated Model for the Stressors and Stresses of Construction Project Managers in Hong Kong

Construction projects involve multistakeholders (e.g., architects, structural engineers, surveyors, contractors, suppliers, etc.) completing a large number of unpredictable tasks in a complex process within a limited period of time. Construction project managers (C-PMs) are the key persons in achieving project success throughout the construction process, as they are responsible for planning the construction program, organizing human resources, controlling operations and the budget, and forecasting probable difficulties. Hence, C-PMs always encounter a great deal of stress in construction projects. Apart from the subjective feelings experienced by individual C-PMs, C-PMs may also feel objective stress due to the deviation between their actual abilities and their expected abilities on tasks or projects. To understand the integrated relationships between the various stressors and stresses of C-PMs, a survey was conducted of 108 C-PMs in Hong Kong. This paper attempts to investigate the causal relationships between stressors and stresses (both subjective and objective). The study reveals seven stressors of C-PMs in the industry. Based on the results of a correlation coefficient, an optimized stressor–stress structural equation model is established. Four critical stressors were found to have significant impact on both the subjective and the objective stresses of C-PMs, including work overload, poor interpersonal relationships, poor work environment, and poor nonwork environment. A number of recommendations were made for both construction companies and individual C-PMs in their offices and at home in order to optimize their work performance in the real world.     

Merging Architectural, Engineering, and Construction Ontologies

Ontologies have emerged as a means of facilitating semantic interoperability among computer systems. However, recognizing that no single universally agreed-on ontology can ever be defined for a domain, a tool that allows ontologies to interoperate becomes essential to semantic interoperability. This paper presents an ontology integrator (Onto-Integrator) for facilitating ontology interoperability within the architectural, engineering, and construction (AEC) domain. The Onto-Integrator offers a heuristic for ontology merging, including the merging of concept taxonomies, relations, and axioms. Unlike existing tools, the integrator addresses ontology merging requirements that are specific to the AEC domain. The integrator heuristic was implemented into a prototype Web-based tool and was evaluated through a focus group.     

Project Procurement Competence and Knowledge Base of Civil Engineering Consultants: An Empirical Study

This paper reports the findings of a survey designed to capture information on the construction project procurement systems (CPPSs) knowledge base of civil engineering consultants, specifically on their level of competence in terms of advising clients to make appropriate choices of CPPSs. The study included an examination of whether the civil engineering consultants’ advice on CPPSs and CPPSs services fulfilled the client’s needs and also the degree to which the client’s project requirements were being met. The selection criteria used by civil engineering consultants when choosing an appropriate procurement system was investigated. Also included in the study was an investigation into the degree to which civil engineering consultants communicate and inform clients of the range of CPPSs available to them. A postal questionnaire survey was administered to the clients (property developers) and civil engineering consultants in South Africa’s Western Cape Province. The results show that civil engineering consultants are unaware of or underinformed about the various construction project procurement systems available. Their selection criteria for procurement systems is based on biased past experience and conservative choices, with the result that incorrect decisions with unfortunate consequences are made.     

Ontology-Based Approach to Context Representation and Reasoning for Managing Context-Sensitive Construction Information

The construction industry is an information-intensive industry and heavily relies on documents, including physical and virtual documentation and models, to exchange context-sensitive information among different project participants. Many research efforts have been made to help manage construction information; however, few of them considered the context-sensitive nature of the information. In this paper, the writers propose a new approach to facilitate the management of context-sensitive construction information that is stored in different textual documents. The approach addresses the context-sensitive nature of construction information by representing contexts in ontologies and by using contexts as indices of the information. The approach also presents a reasoning mechanism that leverages the semantically rich features of ontologies to reason about contexts to evaluate their applicabilities. Two case studies were conducted, and the results showed the proposed approach can effectively retrieve, classify, and manage construction information. Finally, the writers discuss the limitations of the proposed approach and future research directions.     

Intra- and Interorganizational Knowledge Services to Promote Informed Sustainability Practices

To promote sustainable construction, the construction industry needs to intensify its efforts to move to a knowledge intensive mode. Sustainability goals can only be achieved if new resources of knowledge and expertise inform construction activities. Some of this comes in the form of good practice and standards, but much will have to come from situated and contextual appreciations of sustainability goals and local practices developed across organizational, professional, and multicultural boundaries. The paper describes a knowledge management environment based on the web-services model aimed at promoting informed sustainability practices. This validation of the knowledge environment provided the basis for formulating recommendations for promoting knowledge-based sustainable construction.     

Review of the LEED Points Obtained by Canadian Building Projects

The expansion and advancement of businesses, cities, municipalities, and populations in Canada are increasingly demanding the effective usage of land and resources in building development. Companies, organizations, and individuals are seeking to construct more environmentally responsible buildings to help minimize the negative effects that structures place on the natural environment, as well as on the people that have either direct or indirect contact with them. In an effort to set a benchmark for what constitutes a green building, the Canada Green Building Council provides a certification system called Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), which is a point scheme that seeks to measure sustainability. Many stakeholders in the construction industry in Canada are increasingly employing this system to validate their achievement in sustainable development. This paper reviews the usage of the LEED system in Canadian building construction and the potential challenges and barriers associated with LEED implementation that specifically pertain to Canadian circumstances. Information from 42 new construction projects across Canada that achieved LEED certification were collected and analyzed. The points most often awarded, as well as those that are granted the least frequently, were tabulated. The percentages of points obtained were compared to American projects. Credit frequency indicators (CFIs), which were used to depict the achievement of credits by each project, can provide decision makers with information on credits awarded in the past and insight into credit implementation in future projects with similar goals. The energy and atmosphere and materials and resources categories proved to have the lowest CFIs, whereas the innovation and design process and water efficiency categories yielded the highest CFIs. The study also found that there were differences in the points obtained by LEED projects in Canada and the United States as some credits are influenced by climate, such as weather and temperature, as well as regional location.     

Integration of Low-Impact Development into the International Stormwater BMP Database

Low impact development (LID) strategies are being encouraged in many communities as an approach to reduce potential adverse impacts of development on receiving streams. Many questions exist regarding how well various LID strategies perform in different settings, just as similar questions have been raised regarding performance of traditional stormwater best management practices (BMPs). Whereas historical focus on BMP performance has been water quality concentrations or loads, characterization of volume reduction benefits for both conventional and LID practices is increasingly an objective of researchers and stormwater managers. More than a decade ago, Urban Water Resources Research Council (UWRRC) members worked to develop a set of standardized monitoring and reporting protocols for traditional BMPs and to establish a master database for the purpose of evaluating BMP performance and the factors affecting performance. This effort culminated in the International Stormwater BMP Database (www.bmpdatabase.org), which contains data for more than 360 BMPs and continues to operate as a clearinghouse for stormwater BMP data and performance analyses. During 2008–2009, the International Stormwater BMP Database project expanded to better integrate LID into the database and develop a set of metrics that can be used to characterize BMP performance with regard to surface runoff volume reduction. This paper provides a condensed overview and progress report on the LID-focused effort, including the following topics: (1)?monitoring guidance for LID at the overall site development level, (2)?an overview of recent changes to the International Stormwater BMP Database to better accommodate LID studies, (3)?a summary of LID studies currently included in the database, and (4)?a proposed approach for evaluating performance of LID studies with regard to reducing surface runoff volumes.     

Building Integrated Architecture/Engineering/Construction Systems Using Smart Objects: Methodology and Implementation

Integrated project systems hold the promise for improving the quality while reducing the time and cost of architecture/engineering/construction (AEC) projects. A fundamental requirement of such systems is to support the modeling and management of the design and construction information and to allow the exchange of such information among different project disciplines in an effective and efficient manner. This paper presents a methodology to implement integrated project systems through the use of a model-based approach that involves developing integrated “smart AEC objects.” Smart AEC objects are an evolutionary step that builds upon past research and experience in AEC product modeling, geometric modeling, intelligent CAD systems, and knowledge-based design methods. Smart objects are 3D parametric entities that combine the capability to represent various aspects of project information required to support multidisciplinary views of the objects, and the capability to encapsulate “intelligence” by representing behavioral aspects, design constraints, and life-cycle data management features into the objects. An example implementation of smart objects to support integrated design of falsework systems is presented. The paper also discusses the requirements for extending existing standard data models, specifically the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC), to support the modeling of smart AEC objects.