Investigating the barriers to laser scanning implementation in building refurbishment

The use of the laser scanning technique has increased rapidly in the field of built environment, mainly because it produces highly accurate as-built data. However, the full potential of this technique is utilised only limitedly in building refurbishment projects. This research aims to investigate the barriers to the implementation of laser scanning in building refurbishment projects in Finland. Qualitative interviews were carried out to identify these barriers, and furthermore, to explore the current usage of the technique in building refurbishments. The study shows that many obstacles to implementations are related to challenges in laser scanning procurement, including a low level of competence in acquisition, limitations of the laser scanning technique in building refurbishments, and limitations and challenges in utilising the data in design work. This study is beneficial for building owners and practitioners as it presents the challenges and advantages that laser scanning can provide a refurbishment project. In addition, it offers suggestions to improve the early phase of a refurbishment project in order to achieve greater benefits with laser scanning. Furthermore, the findings may be utilised in the procurement process of laser scanning services in such projects, and the results may potentially solve practical challenges encountered in laser scanning work.

Conceptualising Project Uncertainty in the Context of Building Refurbishment Safety: A Systematic Review

Project uncertainty is an inherent attribute in safety-critical projects, such as building refurbishment. While it has been suggested that project safety performance is often challenged due to project uncertainty, uncertainties are yet to be conceptualised in building refurbishment projects. The purpose of this research is to propose an industry-specific factor model of project uncertainty that can be used to diagnose and assess uncertainty in construction refurbishment research and practice. An extensive review of existing literature, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines, where 53 articles were selected to identify the determinants of project uncertainty and strategies for managing uncertainty. In total, 23 project uncertainty factors were identified and clustered under the taxonomy of uncertain information, uncertain complexity, uncertain temporal clarity, and uncertain understanding. Thus, twelve management strategies for coping with uncertainty in building refurbishment projects were determined. Learning and a flexible working environment were the most frequently raised strategies among all the reviewed articles. The factor model proposed enables project managers and academics to better understand, assess and manage project uncertainty and deliver safer building refurbishment projects. As such, it also provides a sufficient platform and initiates debate towards the development of uncertainty management strategies to better prepare for surprises as projects progress.

Inter-Organizational Conflict (IOC) in Building Refurbishment Projects; an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) approach

Over the past years, there has been an expanding intrigued in building refurbishment projects because of the alter in financial conditions and the accentuation on sustainable development. Increasing demand for building refurbishment projects will lead to an increase in organizational interactions in the construction works as building refurbishment works involve interactions among many different organizations and it can cause Inter-Organizational conflict (IOC) among organizations involved in projects. This paper adopted an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) approach to analyses IOC in building refurbishment projects. For this study, a five-point Likert Scale was adopted to ensure the instruments of the study are reliable. The researcher ultimately sent questionnaires as a web-link and email invitation to 1050 construction firms and 733 architectural firms. The questionnaire sent to managers and professionals from construction and architectural firms in Malaysia. Finally, one-hundred-seventy-nine (179) refurbishment projects formed a database for this paper. The finding of this paper shows the IOC factors that contribute to the improve the performance of building refurbishment project can be conflict during the construction stage, conflict between the client and the consultant, task expectations, basic responsibilities, final duration, project’s goals, conflict between the client and the contractor, final cost, final quality, standards of behaviors, conflict between the contractor and the consultant, interference and conflict during the design stage.

Environmental Enhancement through High-Rise Building Refurbishment

Property investment is always enticing, especially the high-rise residential property. The promise of the raising future value of it keeps investors attracted. Urbanisation also contributes to the massive development in this business, and it is hardly ignored. To run the business and to be able to compete with others, developers have to keep the cost attracted for the residents/buyers. The property needs to be well designed to satisfy the economical capital expenditure as well as low operation and maintenance cost. The high density of this development in an urban area makes developers tend to have low awareness of practising sustainability. Inconsistent evaluation, as well as unwell-defined assessment for sustainability, worsen the situation. This research aims to investigate and develop performance evaluation criteria of sustainability for high-rise residential building. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were implemented through surveys. Three main factors, which are the promotion of a healthy environment, comfortability of residents and energy-saving, found to be the main categories of criteria to be considered. Based on validation through a case study, it is found that providing easy access to public transport is the most critical criteria for promoting a healthy environment. Besides, the usage of low Volatile Organic Compound (VOC) paint can give comfort to residents because it provides healthy indoor air quality. Lastly, the usage of LED bulbs and natural light supports energy saving. The criteria are then used to develop the decision-making model in selecting the best alternative for the building refurbishment, by using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Application of the decision model in a case study reveals that repainting the building using low VOC paint become the best fit option for enhancing the environment. Developers may implement this in their policy for the redevelopment of their building. The result is limited to the aggregation value; thus, future research is directing into coalition and negotiation among stakeholders by applying payoff optimum and agreement options and also automation in selecting the best technical solution.

Uncertainty in the Early Phase of a Municipal Building Refurbishment Project—A Case Study in Finland

Municipal building refurbishment projects are carried out under conditions of high uncertainty and complexity, which often result in unsatisfying outcomes. In this research, a case study approach is used to provide a holistic presentation of the sources of uncertainties in the early phase of a municipal school refurbishment project in Finland. The study also explores how these sources are treated in the case project. It is considered that the uncertainty in the case study originated from three key sources: from the project due to the characteristics of existing buildings; from the organization due to the separately operating municipal units; from the municipal environment due to the municipal policy, and decision-making process. This study shows that more emphasis should be laid on the sources of uncertainty in the early phases of a municipal building refurbishment project for reaching proper decisions. In addition, the study presents suggestions for improving the municipal process.