Search results

The purpose of this paper (Part 1 of 2) is to classify and map, in a systematic manner and from a facilities management (FM) perspective, the performance indicators that are applicable to evaluating facilities operation and maintenance (O&M) in commercial buildings.

Forming part of a multi-stage research project, the applicable performance indicators that had been identified from an extensive literature review were consolidated and defined. Based on a phase-hierarchy (P-H) model – a fundamental classification framework comprising three phases of facilities services delivery and three hierarchical FM levels – the indicators were systematically classified, and a map showing their distribution along the phase and hierarchy dimensions was obtained.

The P-H model enabled systematic classification of the 71 applicable indicators. Mapping the indicators with the model showed that more indicators concern the input or output phase of facilities services delivery. Indicators at the strategic level, which have a wide span of control, are small in quantity, compared to the large number of indicators at the operational level.

The P-H model, which proves useful for classifying performance indicators for facilities in commercial buildings, may be applied to similar research on other types of buildings or infrastructures.

The method of classifying the performance indicators and the mapping result of the indicators are useful reference for different levels of FM practitioners.

This paper illustrates a novel attempt that made use of the P-H model to classify O&M performance indicators.

This paper (Part 2 of 2) aims to shortlist performance indicators which are used in evaluating facilities operation and maintenance (O&M) in commercial buildings.

A three-session focus group meeting, with the use of a customized questionnaire and audio recording, was convened to solicit opinions from O&M experts. Their quantitative responses (ratings on the importance of the indicators) and the qualitative ones (reasons for having the indicators selected or excluded) were taken for analysis, followed by mapping the shortlisted indicators based on the phase-hierarchy (P-H) model for facilities management (FM).

From a total of 74 performance indicators (71 identified from the literature and three added by the focus group), 17 indicators were shortlisted, and time constraint was the most common reason for having those indicators excluded from the shortlist. Mapping the shortlisted indicators with the P-H model revealed that the performance evaluation focus of the experts was at the tactical level, on the output phase of facilities services delivery.

The shortlisted indicators serve as a keystone for establishing a performance evaluation scheme for engineering facilities in commercial buildings. Research on other areas may follow the approach of this study to shortlist key performance indicators (KPIs).

Professionals of the other building types (e.g. residential, industrial and healthcare) or sectors with diverse FM organizations may conduct a similar study to identify indicators for performance evaluation purposes. In particular, the process of shortlisting the O&M KPIs may be used to shortlist KPIs for the other FM services.

The focus group study demonstrates how to rigorously select KPIs for use in managing facilities.

The paper aims to identify the critical constraints that impede heritage building (HB) facility managers from discharging their duties effectively and develop an index model to guide HB maintenance management (HBMM) practitioners to the critical constraints.

A literature review was conducted to identify HBMM constraints. Facilty management practitioners assessed the constraints' significance through an online survey. The factor analysis was used to shortlist and group the constraints, and the constraint clusters were analyzed by the fuzzy synthetic evaluation technique. A significant index cluster to determine HBMM constraints criticality was generated using the linear additive model.

Embracing a total of 16 HBMM constraints, the three clusters identified are: (1) managerial and inadequacy constraints, (2) pressure and bureaucracy constraints and (3) HB peculiarities constraints. Based on the generated significant index, the HB peculiarities cluster was identified as the most significant.

The study was conducted in a particular jurisdiction, limiting the generalizability of the result. Future research should address this limitation by covering more jurisdictions.

The significant index model (SIM) developed enables HBMM practitioners to objectively assess the criticality of HB constraints and facilitates them to effectively strategize and allocate resources for HBMM.

The SIM, which transforms subjective judgment into the objective assessment of the HBMM constraints' criticality, can assist practitioners, policymakers and other HBMM stakeholders in implementing strategies for the sustainability of HBs.

Facilities management (FM), which is crucial for the operation and sustainability of buildings and infrastructure across the world, covers a wide range of competencies that may vary across regions. Focusing on Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, this study aims to reveal and compare the importance and current competency levels of FM competencies in these regions, based on which appropriate education and training can be formulated to enhance the growth of their FM sectors.

After an extensive literature review, 12 FM competency attributes (CAs) were identified. A questionnaire survey in Sri Lanka and Hong Kong solicited the industry practitioners’ perceived importance and current levels of the CAs. The survey responses, 126 from Sri Lanka and 148 from Hong Kong, were analysed by a modified Importance-Competency Analysis matrix, followed using the Mann−Whitney U test to identify any differences in the responses between the two regions.

Between Sri Lanka and Hong Kong, significant differences were found to exist in the importance and current competency levels of over half of the CAs. Among the CAs requiring priority attention, “operation and maintenance” and “leadership” are the top two in Sri Lanka while the top two in Hong Kong are “technology” and “leadership”.

This study yielded insightful results on the importance of FM competencies and the current competency levels in a developing region and a developed region, which are useful for the development of FM education and research.

This paper aims to review standards on or related to retro-commissioning (RCx) and policy measures that are applicable for fostering wider adoption of RCx in existing buildings. In addition to engendering broader polemic debate to address the respective gap in the prevailing body of green building knowledge, the research outcome signposts future directions of works required for developing the needed standard and policy.

Following an integrative review approach, RCx-related literature, statutes, publications of public and professional organizations and standards published by institutions including the International Organization for Standardization and other peer organizations in the USA, the UK, Canada and Germany were reviewed.

Cities such as Hong Kong and New York in the world’s two largest economies (China and the USA) have been proactive in the pursuit of energy-efficient buildings. Various US cities have imposed statutory requirements on RCx. The need for an international standard on RCx and a bespoke policy for driving the uptake of RCx was also identified.

Drawn from the research includes the need for further policy research studies to direct how an appropriate policy could be established to engender wider RCx adoption internationally.

Practical implications center on the identified need to develop a specific standard of RCx works. Making such a standard available to facilities management practitioners is pivotal to realizing the goal of green buildings.

This study provides new insights, especially the future directions in developing bespoke RCx standards and policy for greening the existing buildings.

This study aims to establish a rigorous model that can pragmatically evaluate the facilities management (FM) performance of hospitals.

Among the applicable performance indicators that were identified from extant literature, a focus group study shortlisted ten key performance indicators (KPIs) in four categories (safety, physical, financial and environmental) and verified their practicality. Using the analytic network process (ANP) method to process the focus group’s responses yielded importance weightings for the KPIs and developed the intended evaluation model. This model was then validated by a case study.

From the empirical data collected, two types of FM performance data and two scenarios of KPI scores were identified. To process these data and scores, a robust calculation method was devised and then proved useful in obtaining an overall score for holistic hospital FM performance. The case study confirmed the appropriateness and validity of the model developed.

Through illustrating how the ANP method could be applied to develop an FM performance evaluation model, the study contributes knowledge to the multi-criteria decision-making domain. Despite the geographical limitation of the model established (i.e. centered around a group of hospitals investigated in Hong Kong), the study can serve as a reference for developing performance evaluation models for other buildings or infrastructures globally.

The model constitutes a practical tool for evaluating the FM performance of hospitals. Using this model on a regular basis will enable performance benchmarking and hence, continuous improvement of FM services.

The ANP model established is the first of its kind tailored for evaluation of hospital FM performance.

The purpose of this study is to identify key performance indicators (KPIs) for badminton halls and, through a case study, illustrate how the facilities performance of a university badminton hall can be evaluated from the user perspective.

After a desktop literature review, the findings were discussed by a focus group, and the discussion result formed the basis for establishing an analytic hierarchy of facilities performance for the badminton hall. Then, interviews were made with 169 badminton hall users to solicit their perceived facilities’ importance and performance levels of the hall. Using MATLAB, a computer program incorporated with an Analytic Hierarchy Process was devised to compute the importance weights of the performance attributes under assessment. The outcomes were interpreted using an importance-performance evaluation matrix.

A facilities performance hierarchy, comprising nine KPIs, was established for the badminton hall. The factors influencing the users’ perceptions, the importance and performance levels of the KPIs and the areas of the hall requiring improvements were identified.

Future studies can take a similar approach of this study to develop KPIs and facilities performance hierarchies for other types of sports venues.

The method used to identify the improvements required for the badminton hall can be applied to investigations on other sports facilities.

The methodology of this research was first applied to study a badminton hall – as reported in this paper.

The study aims to reveal the state of building operation and maintenance (O&M) manpower in Hong Kong. In addition, the study included supply and demand of O&M practitioners, gaps between their required and possessed competences and ways to meet the manpower needs.

After developing a model that integrates manpower levels (L), trades (T) and natures (N) of O&M works (named as “LTN” model), a full spectrum of O&M jobs were established followed by collecting data of 75 organizations and 402 stakeholders through two surveys.

Besides the large O&M workforce, vacancy rates of the jobs were found to be significant. For the different trades and natures of O&M works, the knowledge/skills levels perceived by the stakeholders were lower than the corresponding importance levels.

The methodology of the study can be used in future research for revealing the state of O&M manpower in Hong Kong and cities alike. The way in which the “LTN” model was developed may be used as a reference for constructing similar models for manpower research in other industries.

The findings and the measures for improving the O&M manpower can assist policymakers and human resources departments to formulate necessary education and training courses for the building industry.

The study is the first of its kind focusing on building O&M manpower. The state of the manpower it unveiled forms a basis for comparison with similar findings in future.

Green building education, an important aspect of sustainability in higher education, has rapidly expanded across the world. Yet, a bespoke pedagogical model integrating the essential elements of green building knowledge into a university course is lacking. To plug this deficiency, this study aims to develop an innovative pedagogical model that incorporates four types of teaching activities, namely, lecture, virtual reality (VR)-aided site visit, physical site visit and practicum-based project.

Based on an extensive review of the relevant literature and course materials, a pedagogical model was constructed for application to the teaching and learning activities of a university’s hospitality and real-estate programme. Using a case study approach involving in-depth interviews with green building professionals and a workshop coupled with an online survey on building professionals, the model’s transformative effectiveness was evaluated.

The study finds that the pedagogical model was able to effectively equip students with the essential green building knowledge pertinent to the different stages of a building life cycle. Concerns about wider applications of the model, including barriers to implementation in other academic programmes and resources for updating the VR platform, were identified.

The VR-aided and project-based pedagogy model is novel and effective in delivering green building education. Future work, particularly expanding the VR platform to cover more green building cases, thereby allowing multiple case studies to be conducted, is recommended for illustrating further contributions and implications of the model.

Mandating the use of building information modelling (BIM) in building projects has sprawled, but the uptake of BIM in building services engineering (BSE) remains sluggish. The purpose of this paper is to explore how to achieve wider adoption of BIM in BSE.

Through an extensive literature review, the benefits of, barriers to and measures conducive to, using BIM for BSE were identified and classified. Built upon the review and a focus group meeting, a questionnaire was devised for an industry-wide survey in Hong Kong and the survey data were processed by statistical analyses.

On the ranking of the benefits, strong agreements existed between the BSE and non-BSE respondent groups; yet no significant agreement was found between the two groups on the rankings of the barriers or the conducive measures. The top conducive measure, according to the BSE group, is “Allow enough time in project programme for BIM model development”.

The data collection and analysis methods of this study may be used for similar BIM studies in other places.

The priority of the conducive measures, which aid policy or decision makers in formulating how to get BIM effectively implemented in BSE, are useful information in the pursuit of a more productive and sustainable built environment.

This BIM study is specifically on BSE rather than the other disciplines (e.g. architecture, structural engineering) that have been widely studied.