Challenges Hindering the Resourcing for Post-Disaster Housing Reconstruction in Gaza

Resourcing post-disaster housing reconstruction (PDHR) entails many drawbacks creating bottlenecks to reconstruction projects. Understanding these vulnerable issues is of utmost to identify the appropriate interventions to mitigate their effects. The devastating aggression in 2014 in Gaza Strip served as a typical example of resources hampers. Based on the quantitative approach, the research employed a self-administrated questionnaire survey to identify the most significant challenges hindering the resourcing for post-2014 aggression housing reconstruction. The questionnaire targeted 55 of the key people in the implementing agencies of post-2014 aggression housing reconstruction. The data collected was analysed using descriptive statistics, through frequency distribution and effect index (EI); and using inferential statistics through one sample Wilcoxon signed rank test. Findings indicated that the challenges related to political issues have the most significant effect on resourcing the PDHR. The main key challenges are: (1) Difficulties to obtain permits from the Israeli side to flow the reconstruction materials into the Gaza Strip, (2) Insufficient funds for reconstruction efforts and (3) Refusal of the international community to contact the local de facto government. This research fills the knowledge gap relating to Gaza and provides the basis for more research on resourcing problems. This research has also extended, updated and confirmed the current knowledge regarding challenges hindering the resourcing for PDHR. The results draw attention of the implementing agencies in Gaza to the factors that creating bottlenecks to resource the reconstruction projects in order to overcome them and to mitigate their negative effects.

Technological Capabilities of Medium-Sized Contractors in Indonesia

The construction industry plays a significant role in national development and economic growth of Indonesia. Contractors are key actors in the construction industry and manage large amounts of construction resources and activities. While the demand for improving the nation's infrastructure is on the rise, the question remains whether the industry, especially contractors, will be able to fulfil this demand. This study investigates whether contractors include technological capabilities as an important part of their company strategies for addressing the dynamics of the construction industry. In particular, it aims to understand how contractors develop and improve their technological capabilities through a technological learning process (exploration, acquisition and internalisation). The investigation focuses on medium-sized contractors, who often play an important role as part of the supply chain for larger contractors. A model is developed to represent the dynamic interactions between key factors that influence the way contractors select and use technology to enhance their performance. Data were collected through a survey and were then used to map the contractors' development of technological capabilities. The study reveals that medium-sized contractors have yet to consider the development of technological capabilities as strategic. The results are expected to benefit the regulator and construction companies in Indonesia in their efforts to improve the performance of the country's construction industry.

The Status of Value Management Practice on Construction Projects in Uganda and Strategies for Improvement

In many developing countries, value management (VM) is not applied widely and systematically in construction projects. This limits the achievement of value for money. The objectives of this study were to describe the state of VM practice in Uganda and suggest strategies for improvement. Based on the extant literature, a conceptual framework depicting VM practice in the lifecycle of construction projects was developed. A questionnaire containing both nominal and ordinal measures was distributed to a sample of Ugandan construction industry professionals. During data analysis, the distributions of nominal variables were expressed in terms of percentages. A univariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using measures of central tendency (mean) and dispersion (standard deviation). A bivariate analysis of the ordinal variables was undertaken using Friedman, Fisher's exact and Mann-Whitney U tests. The application of VM in Uganda was rudimentary, inconsistent and misguided, based on the reports of the respondents. This finding constitutes the first major contribution of this work to knowledge. It also led to the idea that the practice of VM in Uganda can be improved by raising awareness and the standard for VM application. Ten strategies for these two purposes have been put forward in this article. These strategies constitute the second major contribution to knowledge.

Driving the Fourth Industrial Revolution Initiative Through University and Industry Collaborations

As the world basks in the euphoria of the fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Africa is gearing up for this innovative age, with South Africa as one of its leading voices. One of the ways of leveraging on the opportunities presented by the 4IR era is to foster collaborations between universities and the construction industry (university-industry collaboration, UIC). This research article aims to determine the positive impacts of UIC on the employability of built environment graduates. A qualitative Delphi approach was adopted to validate 16 factors, which were identified from literature. A total of 14 experts completed a two-stage iterative Delphi study process and reached consensus on all 16 factors identified. This study found that networking activities with industry professionals, student's exposure to innovative ideas and 4IR training programme opportunities are some of the ways through which UIC can improve 4IR knowledge and employability skills among students. From the Delphi survey results, educational institutions have been placed under significant pressures to intensify collaborations with the industry by creating avenues for students to experience industrial training with present-day 4IR-driven sectors such as the construction industry, which has begun the adoption of 4IR elements into its processes to improve efficiency and productivity. Although the issue of UIC has been widely discussed in the body of knowledge, very few have incorporated the 4IR dimension as a gap, which this study aims to fill.

Developing a Smart Helmet Based on the Internet of Things to Manage Hearing Problems in the Construction Projects

Construction sites are renowned as the noisiest places that may cause hearing loss to workers. Lack of awareness about the level of harmful sounds causes more prevalence of hearing loss than other industries. This article intends to solve this issue by an innovative idea that is designing a wearable device called "smart helmet" (SH). The SH uses the concept of the Internet of things (IoT) for real-time monitoring workers' hearing health in construction sites. SH works online to send notifications in the presence of harmful sounds and offline due to storing data to analyse workers' health conditions. The results are divided into two sections: The first section presents the detail of the architecture, hardware and software of the SH and the second section offers a formula to convert noisy situations into allowable working time. By combining the proposed procedure and SH's prepared data, the allowable working time can be calculated for workers. The results of applying this device in practical projects show that steelworkers are more at risk than the others with exposure to 98 dB sounds.

Selection of Sustainable Materials for Energy Savings of Infrastructure-Transportation Project in Ahmedabad, India Using BIM and FCM

This study aims to develop a methodology for the selection of sustainable building materials for the reduction of embodied and operational energy for a complex infrastructure transportation project, i.e., elevated metro rail station of Ahmedabad, India by application of building information modelling (BIM) and factor comparison method (FCM). Evaluation of the alternative building materials and designs to obtain the best energy efficiency has been carried out using Revit Architecture 2018 and Green Building Studio. The achieved average embodied energy savings is about 73%, which is by the suggested alternative materials instead of existing ones. By application of FCM, which is a multi-criteria decision making (MCDM) technique, it has been observed that the polished Kota-stone flooring, stone-floor tile cladding, toughened fibre-glass ceiling and insulated fibre-glass door appear to be the most feasible sustainable material for flooring, wall cladding, ceiling, openings and fenestrations for the design of the metro rail station box in Ahmedabad, India. This study contributes significant knowledge in the field by highlighting the application of BIM as a tool for sustainable development and recommends a few alternate building materials and sustainable designs which would result in the reduction of energy usage for the metro-rail-station and other building structures leading to a sustainable future.

Development of Augmented Reality Application for Onsite Inspection of Expressway Structures Using Microsoft HoloLens

This research introduces an augmented reality (AR)-based approach for the onsite inspection of expressway structures by developing an AR application, namely HoloSpector, deployed on the first generation of the Microsoft HoloLens headset. It was tested by a focus group of 10 postgraduate students, followed by three inspectors from the Expressway Authority of Thailand (EXAT), to investigate the practical applicability of the application. A questionnaire was employed as a research tool for measurement and assessment of the application and the HoloLens in this study. The results of this study indicated that the developed digital approach was satisfactory, easy to use and learn, useful, user-friendly and practical for EXAT expressway inspections; the users also intended to use it. Compared to the conventional approach, the current data communication and management could be significantly improved; this digital approach has the potential to help save resources, time and cost and increase work productivity.

Evaluating the Environmental Performance of 3D Printed Shelters in Jordan

Three-dimensional (3D) printed shelters are an innovative housing solution for those in need of a shelter after a disaster. The Middle East generated a huge number of refugees due to internal conflicts. The technology has been investigated earlier from a cost and time perspectives and has performed better than steel shelters in Jordan. This research article investigates environmental performance of 3D printed shelters in Jordan in terms of energy, fuel, cooling and ventilation. Syrian refugees of Jordanian camps were selected as a case study. The energy simulation of the steel shelter to that of a printed shelter showed that the latter can achieve higher ventilation rates, lower energy consumption, less electricity cost and better thermal insulation than steel shelters.

Enterprise Risk Management and Risk Culture in Construction Public Listed Companies

Inadequate risk management and lack of risk culture can expose a company to unexpected risk events, which can negatively affect its performance. However, there are inconsistencies in suitable dimensions to measure the enterprise risk management (ERM) construct, as well as insufficient embedding strategies for risk culture. This study aims to identify the ERM practices and risk culture dimensions among the Malaysian construction public listed companies (PLCs). The roles of top management and chief risk officer/risk manager in influencing ERM and risk culture are also explored. A total of 46 annual reports and 10 interviews of industry practitioners were analysed using content analysis. The analysis of the annual reports found that risk policy and risk appetite/tolerance, monitoring key risk and accountability are the three dimensions of risk culture. In addition, based on the interviews, reward and recognition and internal relationships were identified as the two dimensions of risk. Top management and risk manager were found to be the primary drivers of ERM programme and risk culture in construction PLCs. The results of this study are used to formulate a survey instrument for the subsequent data collection to test the proposed theoretical model.

Dimensions and Correlates of Development in Construction

In light of the limited impact research on construction in developing countries has had on theory and practice, this article discusses the meaning of development as it pertains to construction. The discussion distinguishes between studies addressing construction in developing countries, entailing focus on context and case-based approaches to research, and studies that focus on the process of construction industry development. Progress in research addressing the process of development has been hampered by a lack of data to support the examination of changes in construction industries over time and to compare industries in countries at different stages of economic development. To encourage more process-oriented research, a definition of development in construction is elaborated to include six important dimensions – i.e., important factors affecting construction industry development. Taking into account the lack of relevant statistics, correlates for these dimensions (i.e., statistical proxies) are reviewed. Finally, a manner of graphically presenting these dimensions and correlates is introduced. This graphic format enables visual comparison of conditions affecting construction in different countries. It also provides a frame for relating separate case studies to support comparisons and contributions to theory.