Implications of thermal and building integrity performance on buildability of a worker dormitories project

Abstract

Purpose

Where buildability is concerned, the six total building performance (TBP) mandates are seldom taken into consideration.. The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between buildability and the two TBP mandates of thermal performance and building integrity performance.

Design/methodology/approach

A real life case study of a worker dormitories building project was used as the base model for analysis. A breakdown of the buildability scores for the project was first noted. Thereafter, the TBP guidelines relating to thermal performance and building integrity performance were incorporated into the base model and the buildability scores were recomputed.

Findings

Following the thermal performance guidelines, a negative relationship with buildability was observed. However, a positive result was established between the building integrity performance guidelines and buildability. The different relationships occurred due to the different aspects of the base model that needed to be changed to conform to the guidelines for both mandates.

Practical implications

It appears that the incorporation of guidelines for any one of the six TBP mandates will yield different results depending on the situation. This was the case for both thermal performance and building integrity performance in the present study.

Originality/value

The paper establishes the relationship between the TBP mandates of thermal performance, building integrity performance and buildability for the first time, which is beneficial to building designers.

Citation

Low, S., Liu, J. and Lim, J. (2008), "Implications of thermal and building integrity performance on buildability of a worker dormitories project", Structural Survey, Vol. 26 No. 2, pp. 142-164. https://doi.org/10.1108/02630800810883076