scholarly journals INTERNATIONAL TRENDS AND CURRENT CHALLENGES OF CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS MARKET DEVELOPMENT

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yulia Orlovska ◽  
◽  
Daria Havrylenko ◽  

The main international trends in the world market of construction materials and services have been analyzed. The dynamics of world GDP and exports of construction services for the period 2000-2019 has been studied and a conclusion is made on the impact of economic crises on their growth rates. It has been determined that the dynamics of world exports of construction services is characterized by high instability with peaks of growth and decline, and is more sensitive than GDP growth. It has been noted that overcoming the crisis in the export sector of construction services takes more time and occurs with an approximate two-year time lag compared to GDP dynamics. The share of the construction industry in the world GDP by the degree of development has been analyzed. The reasons for the decline in the share of the construction industry in countries with economies in transition have been substantiated. It has been noted that in the developed countries the share of the construction sector is accounted for by real estate management activities related to maintenance, rent, purchase and sale and other transactions with land and real estate. The forecast values of growth of the market of building materials and services till 2030 have been given. The essence of the term «wide construction» has been revealed and the structure of this sector in different countries of the world is shown. The main exporters in the world construction market have been given and the structural distribution of the largest construction companies in the world ranking by country of origin has been analyzed. The dynamics of income level in the construction industry market for the period 2011-2018 has been studied. It has been noted that an important area of the construction sector is the market of roofing and facade materials and the world's largest companies for the production of this type of construction materials have been revealed. Conclusions on the essence of global transformations of the market of building materials and services have been made, and also it has been defined that they are caused by transnationalization of corporate structure of the market, influence of scientific and technical progress and information and communication technologies on world centers as well as the emergence of the concept of «sustainable construction» in the course of humanity for sustainable development.

The key players in the construction industry around the globe are very enthusiastic in producing better construction materials that are cost-effective, durable, excellent thermal insulation, lightweight and long lasting without jeopardizing the environment. One of the best ways in producing such building materials are by incorporating industrial waste materials such as Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fiber in foamed concrete (FC). In recent years, the spotlight has been given towards the use of natural fiber reinforced concrete-based materials especially in Malaysia in a quest of economic and environmental upkeep particularly in the construction sector itself. Hence, this study intended to recognize the influence of Empty Fruit Bunch (EFB) fiber of four different contents (0.15%, 0.30%, 0.45% and 0.60 %) by mix volume on thermal properties of FC. There were three densities of 800kg/m3 , 1100kg/m3 and 1400kg/m3 we cast and tested. The mix design of FC (sand: cement: water) is fixed at the ratio of 1:1.5:0.45. The investigation focuses on three parameters which were thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity and specific heat capacity. Results showed that the addition of EFB in FC plays an important role to improve the thermal performance holistically. The results demonstrated a great potential possesses by the EFB fiber to be utilized in cement-based materials such as the FC mix which is beneficial in reducing the thermal property or the transfer of heat in a produced concrete.


2021 ◽  
Vol 352 ◽  
pp. 00001
Author(s):  
Stanislava Gašpercová ◽  
Linda Makovická Osvaldová ◽  
Erik Richnavský

The future of the whole world focuses on reducing waste produced by people. As the construction sector is one of the biggest producers of waste, a great deal of effort has been made to introduce this trend in modern construction. The “green” building sector, therefore, draws attention to natural and recyclable building materials. These include natural thermal insulation such as cork, fiberboard, hemp insulation, and even sheep wool insulation. Almost all types of such insulation are made from waste materials which, were they not reused in the form of thermal insulation, would end up as municipal or biodegradable waste. At the same time, we should point out that almost all “green” construction materials are flammable. This feature is not very advantageous from the point of view of fire protection and it can significantly affect the fire safety of a construction. It is for this reason that the main objective of this research was to determine the impact of a radiant heat source on various types of thermal insulation used as plasterboard filling and to evaluate the possibilities of their use in sandwich constructions for fire protection purposes.


Accounting ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 507-512 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nguyen Ho Phi Ha ◽  
Nguyen Quang Minh

The real estate and construction industry have significantly played a particularly important role in economic development in each economy. In the case of Vietnam, the real estate and construction industry have greatly contributed a large proportion to the gross domestic product (GDP) growth with a sustainable annual growth. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of manager’s ability, wage minimum policy, and firm size on firm performance. Using 220 real estate and construction firms in the case of Vietnam, results depict that a greater ability of managers in the real estate and construction sector will significantly enhance the efficiency of businesses. In addition, a larger firm can reach a higher firm efficiency while the efficiency of the real estate and construction firms is not impacted by changes of wage minimum policy.


Ekonomika ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 93 (1) ◽  
pp. 98-116
Author(s):  
Magdalena Gostkowska-Drzewicka

Abstract. The aim of this article is to determine the relation between the phases of the business cycle and changes in prices of factors of construction production. The research covers the years 1994–2012. The dataset applied in the study includes yearly data on prices of the factors of construction production in Poland. All of these data were made available by the SEKOCENBUD. The implementation of the purpose of the study required, firstly, to construct the curve of the economic cycle in the Polish construction industry and, secondly, to determine indicators of changes in the prices of construction production factors and to compare them with the curve reflecting the state of the economic cycle in the construction industry. It was based on the results of a monthly economic situation test, which are published by the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw. A record increase in the prices of production factors in construction was observed during the recovery in 2006–2007. It was caused by the intensified demand for various types of construction services. The deep slump in the construction industry was accompanied by a slight reaction of changes in the prices of construction materials and equipment to the decreasing demand in 2002–2004 and 2008–2012. The results of the study allow to conclude that changes in the prices of production factors in construction are closely related to the situation in the sector, but this relationship is particularly noticeable in the growth phase of the cycle.Key words: economic cycle, building materials and labour, plot of land, real estate


2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 69-84
Author(s):  
Wadhah Amer Hatem ◽  
Samiaah M. Hassen Al-Tmeemy

     Suicide attacks, bombings, explosions became the part of daily life in Iraq. Consequently, the threat of terrorism put the Iraqi construction sector in the face of unique and unusual challenges that not seen on other countries. These challenges can have extensive impact on construction projects. This paper seeks to examine the impact of the terrorist attacks on construction industry and determine the extent to which the impact of terrorism on construction projects in terms of cost, schedule, and quality. This study adapted quantitative and qualitative approaches to collect data using questionnaire survey and interviews, as well as historical data. The study focused on projects that have been the target of terrorist strikes in Diyala governorate. A variety of statistical procedures were employed in data analysis. The results revealed the extent to which terrorist attacks impact construction projects in terms of cost, time, and quality. The results of this study will enhance the awareness of all construction parties to the impact of the terrorist attacks against construction projects. Eventually, this can develop a risk management assessment and assist contractors to properly protect projects and buildings to minimize injuries and fatalities in the event of terrorism.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 926 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gui Ye ◽  
Yuhe Wang ◽  
Yuxin Zhang ◽  
Liming Wang ◽  
Houli Xie ◽  
...  

Total factor productivity (TFP) is of critical importance to the sustainable development of construction industry. This paper presents an analysis on the impact of migrant workers on TFP in Chinese construction sector. Interestingly, Solow Residual Approach is applied to conduct the analysis through comparing two scenarios, namely the scenario without considering migrant workers (Scenario A) and the scenario with including migrant workers (Scenario B). The data are collected from the China Statistical Yearbook on Construction and Chinese Annual Report on Migrant Workers for the period of 2008–2015. The results indicate that migrant workers have a significant impact on TFP, during the surveyed period they improved TFP by 10.42% in total and promoted the annual average TFP growth by 0.96%. Hence, it can be seen that the impact of migrant workers on TFP is very significant, whilst the main reason for such impact is believed to be the improvement of migrant workers’ quality obtained mainly throughout learning by doing.


Buildings ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 82
Author(s):  
Salmabanu Luhar ◽  
Demetris Nicolaides ◽  
Ismail Luhar

Even though, an innovative inorganic family of geopolymer concretes are eye-catching potential building materials, it is quite essential to comprehend the fire and thermal resistance of these structural materials at a very high temperature and also when experiencing fire with a view to make certain not only the safety and security of lives and properties but also to establish them as more sustainable edifice materials for future. The experimental and field observations of degree of cracking, spalling and loss of strength within the geopolymer concretes subsequent to exposure at elevated temperature and incidences of occurrences of disastrous fires extend an indication of their resistance against such severely catastrophic conditions. The impact of heat and fire on mechanical attributes viz., mechanical-compressive strength, flexural behavior, elastic modulus; durability—thermal shrinkage; chemical stability; the impact of thermal creep on compressive strength; and microstructure properties—XRD, FTIR, NMR, SEM as well as physico-chemical modifications of geopolymer composites subsequent to their exposures at elevated temperatures is reviewed in depth. The present scientific state-of-the-art review manuscript aimed to assess the fire and thermal resistance of geopolymer concrete along with its thermo-chemistry at a towering temperature in order to introduce this novel, most modern, user and eco-benign construction materials as potentially promising, sustainable, durable, thermal and fire-resistant building materials promoting their optimal and apposite applications for construction and infrastructure industries.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 5012
Author(s):  
Wesam Salah Alaloul ◽  
Muhammad Ali Musarat ◽  
Muhammad Babar Ali Rabbani ◽  
Qaiser Iqbal ◽  
Ahsen Maqsoom ◽  
...  

The construction sector exerts an exceptional impact on economic development all over the world. Adequate buildings and infrastructures made by the construction sector ensure that a country reaches certain targets like social development, industrialization, freight transportation, sustainable development, and urbanization. This study aims to determine the construction sector’s connectivity with other sectors through complex linkages that contribute immensely to the economy and gross domestic product (GDP). The data were collected from the Department of Statistics Malaysia and the World Bank from the year 1970 to 2019, and the Pearson correlation test, the cointegration test, and the Granger causality test were conducted. The vector error correction model (VECM) was created for short-term and long-term equilibrium analysis and impulse response function (IRF) was performed to study construction industry behavior. Afterwards, the forecasting was done for the year 2020 to 2050 of the Malaysian economy and GDP for the required sectors. It was revealed that some sectors, such as agriculture and services, have forward linkages while other sectors, such as manufacturing and mining, are independent of construction sector causality, which signifies the behavior of the contributing sectors when a recession occurs, hence generating significant revenue. The Malaysian economy is moving towards sustainable production with more emphasis on the construction sector. The outcome can be used as a benchmark by other countries to achieve sustainable development. The significance of this study is its usefulness for experts all over the world in terms of allocating resources to make the construction sector a sustainable sector after receiving a shock. A sustainable conceptual framework has been suggested for global application that shows the factors involved in the growth of the construction industry to ensure its sustainable development with time.


Author(s):  
Rijk Block ◽  
Barbara Kuit ◽  
Torsten Schröder ◽  
Patrick Teuffel

<p>The structural engineering community has a strong responsibility to contribute to a more efficient use of natural resources. Nowadays the construction industry is by far the most resource intense industry sector, approximately 40-50% of all primary raw materials are used, which raises the question about the architects and engineer’s accountability. In this context and as a result of the Paris Climate agreement the Dutch government defined the program “Nederland Circulair in 2050”, which states the ambition to use 50% less primary materials in 2030 and to have a full circular economy in 2050.</p><p>One possible approach to achieve these ambitious goals is the application of renewable, bio-based materials in the built environment and to replace traditional, typically cement-based, materials. Already in the past natural building materials, such as timber and bamboo have been used widely, but in recent years new materials came up and provide new opportunities to be used in the construction industry. The authors explored various alternatives, such as hemp and flax fibres, mycelium and lignin-based fibres for composite materials, which will be described with various experimental and realised case studies.</p>


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 140-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexis Simons ◽  
Alexandra Bertron ◽  
Christophe Roux ◽  
Aurélie Laborel-Préneron ◽  
Jean-Emmanuel Aubert ◽  
...  

The impact of building materials on the environment and the health of occupants is nowadays a priority issue. Ecological construction materials such as earthen materials are currently experiencing a regain of interest due to both ecological and economic factors. The microbial proliferation on indoor materials can induce a deterioration of the building air quality and lead to an increase of health risks for the occupants. The issue of indoor air quality raises questions about the use of earthen building materials and their possible susceptibility to fungal development. The microflora of earthen materials and their ability to grow on such support are indeed poorly studied. This study focused on the quantification of both bacterial and fungal microflora along the manufacturing process. The impact of extreme humidity, simulating a hydric accident, on microflora development was analyzed on the surface and inside earthen bricks. The initial microflora of these materials was dramatically reduced during the manufacturing process, especially after heat treatment for drying. Proliferation of remaining microorganisms was only observed under high humidity condition, in particular for earthen materials with vegetal aggregates. Moreover, in situ samplings were performed on naturally dried earthen materials used in buildings. The characterization of the microbial density revealed a higher microbial density than on manufactured specimens, while microbial concentration and detected taxa seemed mainly related to the room use and building history. These results provide a better understanding of microbial proliferation on these materials.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document