Search results

Against a background context of Construction 4.0, this study aims to explore what digital leadership in construction firms is, why it is necessary and what considerations it involves. It provides a digital leadership considerations framework to aid organisational digital transformations.

To address the research question informing what digital leadership involves, an interpretivist study was conducted. Eleven purposively selected expert practitioners, including construction business leaders and company digital champions were surveyed using in-depth semi-structured interviews. This obtained insights and reflections on how construction leaders can impel digital transformations.

How construction leaders can embed the skills to drive such transformation in their firms, what the essential digital skills for construction businesses now are in Construction 4.0 and how leaders can attempt to evaluate the value of digital technology for their business practices, are all crystallised. Impacts of digital transformations on the construction workplace are also highlighted.

Because of this work, business leaders will be better equipped to lead and support further digital transformation efforts in Construction 4.0. Future research directions aid academics.

Clear definitions of digital transformation and digital leadership are provided, and a digital leadership considerations framework is provided to support firm-level digital transformations for Construction 4.0.

While previous studies have highlighted the importance of incorporating environmental sustainability in building designs, there is a paucity of studies that assess the extent to which design teams in developing countries consider environmental sustainability at the building design stage. Therefore, using Zambia as a case study, this study examined the extent to which infrastructure design teams in a developing country consider environmental sustainability at the design stage.

The study used a qualitative research approach using structured interviews because there are hardly any studies which have explored the extent to which designers incorporate environmental sustainability in infrastructure designs in developing countries. The data is analysed thematically using the ATLAS.ti software.

The results show that environmental sustainability is not an important design consideration because it is secondary to functional, technical and aesthetic considerations. Environmental considerations are also made in an ad hoc manner and when it is cost-effective for the project. Regulatory requirements pertaining to environmental protection are adhered to without any cost considerations. It was, therefore, theorised that building design teams in developing countries make technical, functional and aesthetic consideration during the infrastructure design stage ahead of environmental considerations.

There is a paucity of studies that have investigated whether building infrastructure designers consider issues of environmental sustainability at the design stage in developing countries. The findings have practical implications on how developing countries can foster environmental sustainability at the design stage and avoid generating a building infrastructure stock that will require environmental resilience adaptation in the future.

The study examined perceptions and beliefs that influence the intention to adopt solar energy solutions in the Zambian Housing Sector. This is important because empirical evidence for measures aimed at improving the adoption of solar energy solutions with SSA in general or a Zambian context, in particular, are largely missing from the literature.

Hierarchical multiple linear regression was used to analyse quantitative data collected through an online questionnaire survey. A total of 947 valid responses were obtained from a convenient sample of household heads.

The results show that attitude towards solar energy solutions, subjective norms, perceived benefits, perceived trust, knowledge about solar energy solutions, load-shedding and social norms, in that order of magnitude, influence the intention to adopt solar energy solutions. Perceived behavioural control, perceived risk and perceived cost did not influence the intention to adopt solar energy solutions.

The results provide empirical evidence of important factors to drive the adoption of solar energy solutions in Zambia. The results further show that knowledge about available solar energy solutions, rather than general knowledge about renewable energy, influence the adoption intention of solar energy solutions.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions and experiences of building practitioners in the adoption of renewable energy (RE) in commercial buildings in Nigeria.

A qualitative methodology was used guided by the principles of the Grounded Theory Method (GTM). Data were collected using in-depth semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of five industry practitioners.

Five distinct factors emerged, namely, being compliant, change in mindset, normalising, being autonomous and identity. The research revealed the significance of contextual (cultural) peculiarities and the role identity plays in informing RE adoption. The findings substantiate the significance of RE adoption in the future practice of building practitioners and in ensuring environmental stability within the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) context.

The study focuses on commercial office buildings and attempts to provide contextual grounding to inform theory generation as part of a wider study.

This research contributes methodologically and empirically by providing grounded insight into the adoption of RE in commercial buildings. Thereby, enabling a much greater understanding of the issues associated with enhanced promotion and adoption by professionals and stakeholders, which can inform policy interventions. Furthermore, it will benefit further research within the SSA context and provide valuable lessons associated with adopting GTM in construction research.

Digital uptake amongst construction organisations is described as slow and ineffective, undermining a fundamental transformation and limiting construction firms from exploiting the digital benefits. In this space, meaningful research that utilises a qualitative approach in pursuit for employees' insights towards digital transformation is lacking. Such limited focus from previous efforts presents an opportunity to illuminate the determinants of an effective digital transformation that are, arguably, responsible for the status quo of low digital uptake in the construction sector. This paper aims to discuss the aforementioned idea.

This study adopts a qualitative approach to address the literature's digital discreetness in construction. The qualitative approach captures employees' perspectives through its unbounded characteristic of encouraging illustration and discussion.

This paper captures 35 digital transformation determinants under three clusters, namely, organisation related, i.e. hierarchy, size and management, people related, i.e. team orientation, training and knowledge and leadership related, i.e. awareness, attitude, approach and leaders' characteristics. Findings suggest a new set of arguments in relation to understudied factors and their influence on the digital uptake in construction organisations.

This paper offers empirical indication of the determinants believed to influence an effective digital transformation in construction organisations. Such conceptualisation is crucial and is depicted as perceived by construction employees and practitioners, which is a less biased approach than that of comparable studies that argue the viewpoints of industry leaders in isolation of other members of the hierarchy.

The recent failures and insolvencies of organisations related to the modern methods of construction (MMC) have gained increased attention and controversy across the UK construction sector. Such failures are linked to their inability to achieve an economy of scale and drive key clients to accept the MMC as an alternative to traditional methods. This paper aims to unravel whether a phenomenon of “innovation negativism” has manifested and is contributing to public clients' indecision towards broader MMC, whether this is only linked to past negative experiences formed after the Second World War or whether additional contributing reasons exist to influence adoption.

This study focusses on exploring the decision-making of the UK public construction sector; therefore, this paper adopts a qualitative approach, utilising interviews with 14 carefully selected MMC experts, government advisors and public clients. The phenomenological stance adopted herewith enables the authors to make better sense of the perceptions of the interviewees, leading to the conceptualisation of the innovation negativism phenomenon.

The paper identifies nine themes that may be argued to promote a profound understanding of the MMC negativism influencing public clients' decision-making. The study has found that more than just the previous negative perceptions formulated post Second World War are driving innovation negativism in the UK public sector. Notably, the emerging themes are incomprehension, lacking evidence, communication, relationship history, bad experiences, uncertainty, inadequate experimentation, the business case and localism.

This study is the first construction management research that acts as a fair departure point to conceptualise the reasoning behind innovation negativism in the construction setting. Through mirroring demand's unipolarity for traditional methods, policy and decision-makers can now rely on the conceptualised reasoning to determine practical solutions to overcome clients' indecisions towards MMC.

The UK Government has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, being the first major nation to do so. While laudable, it raises the question, “are future built environment professionals (BEPs) equipped for this?” Although studies related to students’ perspectives exist, they broadly focus on sustainability-related pedagogical aspects, with limited studies conducted in the built environment (BE). This study makes the case that it is timely to investigate this from an emerging perspective using the term “low-carbon future” (LCF), given that it is germane to achieving net-zero emissions and is at the forefront of academic and practice discourse. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate the knowledge level of UK BE students’ in higher education institutions (HEIs) specific to the term LCF.

This is a systematic scoping study review of published papers related to sustainability in BE curricula in the UK HEI context.

The findings reveal that LCF remains at a nascent stage, with no study specifically addressing it. It indicates a knowledge gap that could impact the grounding students require to address current and future sustainability challenges.

The review focused on a specific term, which, while relevant, is very niche. A review of other emerging terms, considering LCF as a theme, and/or empirical data from diverse stakeholders in UK HEIs could enrich the results.

This study provides significant insight into the status of sustainability inclusion in the BE curriculum. It would serve as a reference for stakeholders involved in equipping future BEPs with the requisite knowledge and skills to deal with sustainability challenges that will be consequential beyond the UK context. It would also inform future research.

Sustainability-informed and equipped BEPs will be influential in shaping their immediate surroundings and how people engage with them, which will contribute to developing a more equitable and sustainable society.

Beyond contributing to the discourse on sustainability literacy in UK HEI from an emerging concept perspective, this study would be useful as possibly the first of its kind. Therefore, it fills the theoretical gap and proffers recommendations that would be beneficial for curriculum development.

Challenges to energy access in Nigeria have resulted in the widespread use of fossil fuel generating sets (generators) despite its renewable energy (RE) potential. Given the climate crisis, combined with the country's rapid population growth and expected rise in energy and building demand, transitioning to low-carbon electricity using REs like solar photovoltaic (PV) presents opportunities beyond securing its energy future. While PV use is growing in Nigeria, this is focused on the residential sector despite the identification of the commercial sector as a high energy consumer and a key platform for its integration. In line with this, this research aims to investigates the challenges to energy transitioning from generators to solar PV in commercial buildings.

A qualitative approach in line with grounded theory was adopted using in-depth face-to-face interviews with industry experts.

Two distinct but interrelated categories emerged: being held captive and being a saviour that represented a duality of systems, and/or processes formed the core category “Hostage Syndrome”. The core category (theory) was generated based on the explanations and expressions by participants about their concerns, interests, and the conditions under which they operate. The findings reveal the value attributed to generators beyond an operational role and the adjustments or mechanisms adopted by building professionals during their practice. It suggests a sphere of influence beyond the obvious financial and/or institutional aspects, as determining factors to what is viewed as sustainable which will be key to transitioning to REs.

This paper provides new and in-depth insight into understanding the conditions under which building professionals operate associated with their interpretations of “being sustainable”. The study highlights the need to consider psychological and cultural factors in the development of interventions, strategies and/or policies to support RE transition, particularly towards achieving a sustainable construction industry.

This study aimed to investigate the suitability and cost-benefit of using copper tailings as partial replacement of sand in concrete production. The study was motivated by the accumulation and non-use of copper tailings in dams among them tailing dam 25 also known as TD 25 in Kitwe city of the Copperbelt province in Zambia that take up approximately 111 hectares of unused land.

Laboratory experimental approach of concrete production based on water/cement ratios of 0.3 and 0.5 was used because this was an exploratory study designed to establish the primary performance of concrete. In total, 30 concrete cubes were cast based on the two water-cement ratios. In total, 0% to 30% partial sand replacement with copper tailings was used in both mixes with the 0% copper tailings replacement being the control mix and reference point. Other concrete tests included workability, density, compressive strength and element composition analysis.

Results revealed that copper tailings from TD 25 were suitable for partial replacement of sand in concrete. Thirty per cent of sand replacement with copper tailings was established as the maximum replacement amount to produce optimum compressive strength values from both mixes. The drier mix of 0.3 water-cement ratios produced higher compressive strength results of 23 MPa at 28 days of concrete curing with 2.34% as optimum concrete cost reduction.

The research results provide the cost-benefit analysis and savings that can be attained from using cheaper copper tailings based concrete. The study further provided the quantity of land available for development arising from absorption of copper tailings as a sustainable construction material. The local authority now has statistics and numerical values that it can use to absorb copper tailings as a concrete raw material.

The study provides guidance on optimum concrete grade produced and cost reduction details of copper tailing-based concrete to support for local authorities in suitable land wand waste management using real data.

Amidst all solutions posited to address sustainable construction practices in Nigeria, the implementation plans are repudiated by sustainable barriers. This study examines and confirms the strategy with the most significant impacts on the identified barrier to sustainable construction practice (SCP).

The study deployed a questionnaire survey to evaluate the perspective of 100 construction actors on the barriers and strategies of sustainable construction practice in Nigeria. Factor Analysis was employed to categorize key barriers and strategies into their underlying clusters for further analysis. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to confirm the construct's significant relationship and magnitude, thereby establishing the strategies with the highest impacts on the barriers to sustainable construction practices.

The findings revealed three clusters of barriers and four groups of strategies to SCP, including technopolitic barrier, perception and awareness barrier and sociocultural barrier. For the significant strategies, education and training, stakeholder regulation, incentive support and government and legislative support strategies were established. Overall, education and training strategy was identified as the most dominant and effective strategy to mitigate the barriers of SCP in Nigeria.

The paper establishes education and training as the key strategy to achieving sustainable quest in the AEC industry. The practical implication is that policymakers, educators and professional bodies can harness sustainable knowledge transfer through education and training to improve sustainable construction practices in Nigeria.