Building maintenance is a fundamental practice in facility management, which supports the longevity of a building. Increasing costs of maintenance practices is a challenge for facility management professionals. Given that, building maintenance decisions often comprise complex and conflicting criteria. The primary purpose of this study is to develop and rank a set of criteria needed for constructing a multi-criteria decision-making model for use in building maintenance processes. This study also has an exploratory aspect and tries to establish the decision-making and condition assessment practices currently used in facility management. To do so, a literature review was conducted to reveal the significant criteria for building maintenance decision-making processes. Moreover, the results of a nationwide survey conducted with the members of two globally recognized facility management organizations were utilized. Identified criteria address a gap in facilities management research, i.e., the lack of comprehensive criteria in building maintenance decision-making, and can be used for the development of a multi-criteria decision-making model for use in building maintenance processes. Furthermore, the results of this study can help establish the current status of decision-making and condition assessment practices in facility management.

Condition information is essential to develop effective facility management (FM) strategies. Visual inspections and walk-through surveys are common practices of condition assessment (CA), generally resulting in qualitative and subjective outcomes such as “poor”, “good”, etc. Furthermore, limited resources of the FM process demand that CA practices be efficient. Given these, the purpose of this study is to develop a resource efficient quantitative CA framework that can be less subjective in establishing a condition rating. The condition variables of the study—mean time between failures, age-based obsolescence, facility condition index, occupant feedback, and preventive maintenance cycle—are identified through different sources, such as a computerized maintenance management system, expert opinions, occupants, and industry standards. These variables provide proxy measures for determining the condition of equipment with the implementation example for heating, ventilating, and air conditioning equipment. Fuzzy sets theory is utilized to obtain a quantitative condition rating while minimizing subjectivity, as fuzzy sets theory deals with imprecise, uncertain, and ambiguous judgments with membership relations. The proposed CA framework does not require additional resources, and the obtained condition rating value supports decision-making for building maintenance management and strategic planning in FM, with a comprehensive and less subjective understanding of condition.

The urban landscape is undergoing significant transformations due to economic shifts, urban planning initiatives, technological advancements, and sociopolitical changes. Almost 89% of the U.S. population is projected to reside in urban areas by 2050, which increases a pressing need for innovative and efficient urban revitalization strategies. Modular construction is an extensively researched topic with potential promise for addressing these challenges; however, there is a lack of comprehensive understanding of its specific opportunities and challenges within the context of urban revitalization. This paper explores the potential of modular construction methods as a viable solution in densely populated areas with limited space and competing land uses. This study employs a systematic literature review using PRISMA and mixed methods analysis with NVivo to identify the opportunities and challenges associated with implementing modular construction in urban settings. The findings highlight the advantages of modular construction, including reduced construction time, enhanced quality control, and improved sustainability. However, challenges such as land scarcity, restrictive zoning laws, and the need for innovative planning and collaboration among stakeholders are also emphasized. This paper provides valuable insights for policymakers, urban planners, and developers to effectively leverage modular construction methods for sustainable and efficient urban renewal efforts.

Purpose: Embracing circular economy (CE) practices presents a promising pathway to promoting sustainability and improving the efficient use of limited resources and waste management in the construction industry. The purpose of this study is to explore the regulatory barriers that impede the adoption of CE practices in Türkiye’s construction industry and propose actionable strategies to overcome these challenges. Design/methodology/approach: Drawing on a comprehensive literature review and a practitioner-focused survey, this study employs Importance-Adoption Quadrant Analysis (IAQA), together with descriptive and inferential statistics, to evaluate participants’ perceptions regarding the significance and current implementation levels of 14 identified regulatory strategies. Findings: The research identifies key regulatory challenges in Türkiye, including a lack of supportive legislation, weak enforcement mechanisms and limited institutional support. Findings reveal a misalignment between the perceived importance of CE policies and their actual adoption, highlighting the need for robust financial incentives, clearly defined national targets and strategic infrastructure investments. Furthermore, statistically significant differences in perceptions of regulatory barriers across experience levels, professional backgrounds and company sectors highlight that challenges to CE adoption are highly context specific. Research limitations/implications: The limitations of this study stem from the selected barriers and strategies used to analyze the adoption of CE in the construction industry, as well as its focus on a single country context, Türkiye. Originality/value: This study advances understanding of regulatory barriers to circular economy adoption in Türkiye’s construction industry, offering new insights from a developing country context with evolving policy initiatives. By applying the Importance–Adoption Quadrant Analysis (IAQA) to regulatory strategies, the study introduces a novel methodological approach that prioritizes actionable solutions for overcoming regulatory challenges. The study contributes to theory and practice by providing a benchmark for comparative studies and delivering evidence-based recommendations for policymakers and industry practitioners to accelerate CE adoption.

Sustainability is one of the emerging areas in building construction, and it is widely investigated in terms of bringing sustainable technology into construction. However, one of the biggest challenges in the construction industry is implementing sustainability. Building contractors and construction practitioners mostly struggle with the implementation of sustainability due to the lack of certain parameters that define sustainability. Therefore, this study investigates the factors for effective sustainability implementation to provide industry practitioners with the benefit of the extensive list of parameters when designing their sustainability program. To research the parameters, a questionnaire was designed and administered to construction professionals with wide experience in sustainability implementation. The respondents were asked to evaluate a set of sustainability factors in the economic, social, and environmental domains. This way, the study provides reflections from construction practitioners working on large projects. The findings indicated that Ethical and Relational Factors in economic sustainability, Historical and Social Relations Factors in social sustainability, and Material Usage Factors in environmental sustainability are the most important for effective sustainability implementation. The findings are expected to help construction practitioners understand metrics of sustainability, effectively manage their projects, and successfully implement sustainability with the consideration of proper metrics.

The growing number of aging buildings is of critical importance to the economic and social well-being of a country. For institutional organizations, particularly those with large building portfolios, an effective facility management approach is required to ensure these buildings function properly for their missions. As a part of facilities management, building maintenance activities occupy a significant role in reaching the goal of delivering an acceptable level of performance while minimizing costs and failures. Historical work order data may potentially include a substantial value for assessing the condition of building systems by helping to identify frequent and common building maintenance activities. As an exploratory study on building maintenance activities in educational institutions, this paper conducts an analysis of historical work order data collected from six educational institutions in the State of Colorado and Connecticut in the United States between 2008 and 2018. Within this context, a total of 877,668 work orders have been analyzed to identify possible trends of the maintenance activities with building age and building type. The results of this study provide a preliminary understanding of the frequent maintenance activities in the data sets with their relations of building age and building type. The need for the comprehensive statistical analysis is apparent to better understand any possible trends in the maintenance activities and their correlations between building age and building type.