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The purpose of this paper is to present a systematic approach for the evaluation and selection of curtain wall systems for medium-high rise building construction.

The authors have identified the different types of curtain wall systems that are commonly used in the building construction industry in Saudi Arabia; examined the various performance as well as financial and non-financial criteria affecting the evaluation and selection of these systems; and subjected the identified different types of curtain wall systems to several filtering processes, namely feasibility ranking, evaluation by comparison and weighted evaluation to facilitate making a decision on the most suitable system to select.

The analysis of the collected data indicated that the precast concrete curtain wall system is considered to be the first choice. The second choice is the prefabricated brick panel curtain wall system.

Curtain walls are the most recognized elements of contemporary structures today. There exists ample variety of materials and designs that could be utilized for the development of these building elements. This paper is of practical value to project owners, architects and design professionals endeavoring on the process of selecting and specifying curtain wall systems in their projects.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a model that facilitates the evaluation and selection processes of curtain wall systems used in office buildings.

A comprehensive literature review and interviews with local experts were conducted to identify common types of curtain wall systems used in office buildings and their selection criteria. A questionnaire was designed and completed using multi-criteria decision-making techniques through face-to-face meetings with consultants in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The proposed model was implemented in prototype software as a proof of concept.

The results revealed that fire resistance scored the highest weighting of all the criteria. Furthermore, precast concrete cladding panels were found to be the best system for use in office buildings located in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. The model validation reveals that the score for any curtain wall system varies depending on the nature of the project and that the prioritisation of criteria can vary from one practitioner to another.

The model captures the knowledge of professionals who are experts in the prioritisation of criteria for selecting curtain wall systems. The research design presented expands the boundaries of knowledge of the relevant literature, through demonstrating a conceptual framework incorporating different techniques into a computerised model. It has practical implications through presenting a systematic procedure for developing and adopting a computerised decision-making tool, which aligns experts’ professional practice and requirements, for use in selecting fragmented options.

The unitized curtain wall system (UCWS), a symbol of modern architecture, is gaining popularity among prefabricated components. Previous studies have focused on both construction technology advances and material selection strategies to facilitate the UCWS. However, the topic of client satisfaction, which drives industry development by targeting clients' demands, has gone unnoticed. Therefore, the current study aims to investigate client satisfaction with UCWS products in Hong Kong by finding its influential factors.

A systematic review was employed to first identify the influential factors. A semi-structured interview was employed to validate the reliability of the extracted factors. The machine learning algorithm Extreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) and the Pearson correlation were then employed to rank the importance and correlation of factors based on the 1–5 Likert scale scores obtained through a questionnaire survey.

The findings revealed that “reduction in construction time” and “reduction in construction waste” are the most important factors and have a strong positive influence on client satisfaction.

Unlike previous studies, the present study focused on a novel research topic and introduces an objective analysis process using machine learning algorithms. The findings contribute to narrowing the knowledge gap regarding client preference for UCWS products from both individual and collaborative perspectives, providing decision-makers with an objective, quantitative and thorough reference before making investments in the curtain wall management development.

The unitized curtain wall system (UCWS), one of the prefabricated technologies, is increasingly attracting attention in the Hong Kong construction industry. However, this innovative technology still lacks on-site implementation in high-rise residential buildings. To promote its development, this study aims at identifying the influential factors of UCWS adoption in Hong Kong's high-rise residential buildings from a multi-stakeholder perspective.

Factors were first selected through an in-depth literature review and a semi-structured interview. Then the factors were validated through a questionnaire survey using Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Test. Next, the factors were ranked regarding their importance using mean-score ranking and standard deviation. Meanwhile, different stakeholders were clustered using an experimental factor analysis (EFA) model to find the shared preferences (namely common factors).

The result shows that reduction of construction time (B1) and insufficient site storage area (C1) are the most important factors. The six stakeholder groups were clustered into two segments. B1 and improved quality control are the shared interests. While C1 and the need of specification change are the common concerns.

There are two major breakthroughs in this study. First is the novelty of research objects. UCWS, particularly its application preference in high-rise residential buildings, has rarely been studied, yet it is urgently required. Second is the novel research perspective. The influential factors were studied from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Not only the significant factors for six specific stakeholders but also the shared preference for stakeholder groups was identified. The findings contribute to promoting UCWS more targeted, efficient and comprehensive, as well as demonstrating the collaborative possibilities of multi-stakeholders.

Enhancing sustainability of the supply process of construction materials is challenging and requires accounting for a variety of environmental and social impacts on top of the traditional, mostly economic, impacts associated with a particular decision involved in the management of the supply chain. The economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with various components of a typical supply chain are highly sensitive to project and market specific conditions. The purpose of this paper is to provide decision makers with a methodology to account for the systematic trade-offs between economic, environmental, and social impacts of supply decisions.

This paper proposes a novel framework for sustainability assessment of construction material supply chain decisions by taking advantage of the information made available by customized building information models (BIM) and a number of different databases required for assessment of life cycle impacts.

The framework addresses the hierarchy of decisions in the material supply process, which consists of four levels including material type, source of supply, supply chain structure, and mode of transport. The application is illustrated using a case study.

The proposed framework provides users with a decision-making method to select the most sustainable material alternative available for a building component and, thus, may be of great value to different parties involved in design and construction of a building. The multi-dimensional approach in selection process based on various economic, environmental, and social indicators as well as the life cycle perspective implemented through the proposed methodology advocates the life cycle thinking and the triple bottom line approach in sustainability. The familiarity of the new generation of engineers, architects, and contractors with this approach and its applications is essential to achieve sustainability in construction.

A decision-making model for supply of materials is proposed by integrating the BIM-enabled life cycle assessment into supply chain and project constraints management. The integration is achieved through addition of a series of attributes to typical BIM. The framework is supplemented by a multi-attribute decision-making module based on the technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution to account for the trade-offs between different economic and environmental impacts associated with the supply decisions.

The purpose of this study is to present the importance of integrating common features between the Green Mark Scheme (GMS) and the Buildable Design Appraisal System (BDAS) requirements in building envelopes.

The study presents the common features that influence both the GM score of the building envelope and the buildability score of the wall system. A case study is developed to show the effects of varying the value of a representative common feature in the GM score and the buildability score.

The study finds that lengths of window and wall, and wall materials are the common features that can influence the GM score of the building envelope and the buildability score of the wall system. The case study suggested that the window‐to‐wall ratio (WWR), which is the representative common feature, shows negative relationship with the GM score of the building envelope and positive relationship with the buildability score of the wall system.

The results show that varying the WWR influences the GM score of the building envelope more strongly than the buildability score of the wall system. This seems to imply that building professionals when determining the WWR may have to concern themselves with the GM score of the building envelope more as compared to the buildability score of the wall system.

The study suggests that integrating the common features between GMS and BDAS requirements with other relevant factors such as cost, social and environmental impacts of design can help to save workload, time and budget, as well as facilitate the delivery of more reliable design, planning and management from a practical viewpoint.

The purpose of this paper is to show that, while the buildability concept and habitation comfort have been studied extensively, these have so far been examined separately. In particular, the implications, which the Total Building Performance (TBP) concept may have on buildability, are as yet unknown. Arising from this lacuna, the objective of this study is to develop an understanding of the relationship between buildability and the two TBP mandates of Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) and visual performance (VP).

In studying the relationship between the IAQ and VP mandates and buildability, a base model was used to establish the baseline for comparison. This base model was adopted from the Code of Practice on Buildable Design implemented by the Building and Construction Authority in Singapore. The incorporation of IAQ and visual performance guidelines on the base model was examined to assess their influence on the buildability score.

Analysis for the IAQ component yielded a slight increase in the buildability score after the incorporation of the guidelines. However, this was not the case in the visual performance component, where there was a slight decrease in the buildability score. Nevertheless, the reduction does not affect the buildability score significantly. The minimum buildability score requirements set by the Building and Construction Authority in Singapore were still met after the incorporation of the guidelines. This seems to suggest that there is minimum effect on the buildability score arising from the implementation of both the IAQ and visual performance mandates.

The study determined that the two TBP mandates of IAQ and visual performance do not have any significantly adverse effect on buildability. Building professionals can therefore incorporate appropriate IAQ and visual performance guidelines in their architectural layout designs without compromising on buildability.

This study presents a better understanding of the relationship between buildability and the two TBP mandates of IAQ and visual performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the challenges faced by occupants and fire fighters during evacuation and rescue operations in high‐rise buildings.

The paper has analysed the published literature for the purpose of identifying and examining the factors that make high‐rise buildings a high‐risk type of facility to fire and the common avenues of fire spread in high‐rise buildings. The paper then investigates a number of evacuation strategies in high‐rise buildings and the set of human factors affecting high‐rise evacuations. It also discusses the challenges that building occupants and fire departments face during a fire emergency.

The paper has established that high‐rise buildings are a high‐risk type of facility in fire emergencies due to a combination of three risk factors. The characteristics of the occupants to consider when designing the means of escape were identified, and the challenges faced by fire fighters during rescue operation in high‐rise fires were classified under five main categories.

The paper provides for an exchange of knowledge, thus facilitating a better comprehension of the roles of designers, building services engineers, facility managers and professionals in safety in the provision and maintenance of safety systems in high‐rise buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to establish how UK offices and double skin façade (DSF) technologies can be best matched for refurbishment purposes.

This research uses a mixed methodology including primary and secondary data collection, analysis and interpolation through document analysis, comprehensive critical literature review, and case study approach.

In total, 22 benchmarks have been developed to represent 75 per cent of the existing office stock in the UK. Through a comparison with 36 case studies of European buildings refurbished with DSFs, two benchmarks showed to be most suitable for a DSF refurbishment and most appropriate configurations for a successful DSF refurbishment have been identified. Findings have been also checked against a large sample of DSF buildings in the UK.

The benchmarks delivered in this study can be developed further into parametric models, where variations can be obtained by changing the parameters provided. A follow-up study can be designed to help define the exact share of existing stock represented by each benchmark and to foster research where a more typological or statistical approach might be intended.

Findings from this research can be of practical use to academics and practitioners alike involved in research related to office refurbishments, DSFs, and the UK existing office stock. The design for this research can also be adapted to similar studies on its own or further developed to suit different contexts.

Improvements to existing buildings can preserve established communities, with a clear social advantage.

This paper represents the first attempt to systemically shed light on how existing UK offices and DSF technologies can be best matched in refurbishments. The benchmarks developed, the DSF case studies, and guidelines for suitable DSF technologies in UK office refurbishments represent the original contribution of this research.

While the buildability concept and habitation comfort have been studied extensively, these have so far been examined separately. In particular, the implications which the total building performance (TBP) concept, as part of habitation comfort, may have on buildability are as yet unknown. Arising from this lacuna, the objective of this study is to develop an understanding of the relationship between buildability and the two TBP concepts of spatial and acoustic performance.

In studying the relationship between the spatial and acoustic performance concepts and buildability, a base model was used to establish the baseline for comparison. This base model was adopted from the Code of Practice on Buildable Design implemented by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) in Singapore. The incorporation of spatial and acoustic performance guidelines on the base model was examined to assess their influence on the buildability score.

Analysis for the spatial performance concept yielded a slight decrease in the buildability score after the incorporation of the guidelines. This was also the case in the acoustic performance concept, where there was a slight decrease in the buildability score. Nevertheless, the reductions do not affect the buildability score so significantly. The minimum buildability score requirements set by the BCA were still met after the incorporation of the guidelines. This seems to suggest that there is minimal effect on the buildability score arising from the implementation of both the spatial and acoustic performance concepts.

The study determined that the two TBP concepts of spatial and acoustic performance do not seem to have any significantly adverse effect on buildability. Building professionals can therefore incorporate appropriate spatial and acoustic performance guidelines in their architectural layout designs without compromising on buildability.

This study presents a better understanding of the relationship between buildability and the two TBP concepts of spatial and acoustic performance.