On-time delivery of documentation and contracts has been recognized as a crucial requirement for the successful delivery of projects. However, the construction industry still depends on time-consuming traditional contract processes, which negatively affect the overall productivity of projects in the industry. The use of Smart Contracts (SCs) is highlighted as a suitable novel technology to expedite the contract processes and establish a reliable payment environment in the construction industry. Whilst there has been an increase in the debate about the use of SCs in construction in recent years, their use in practice still seems to be in its infancy. As such, the topic will benefit from a thorough review of benefits, drivers, barriers and strategies that can enhance the implementation of SCs in construction. This article presents the key findings from a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) on SCs in the construction industry, critically assessing existing studies on the topic. The study initially involved 171 research papers for the SLR process, and out of that 49 research papers were filtered for further analysis after reading their abstracts. A total of 30 papers were finally filtered after the full-text reading for the SLR. Descriptive and content analysis were used to analyse the full-text findings. The study graphically mapped the bibliographic materials by using the Visualization of Similarities (VoS) Viewer software. As per the findings, the topic has mostly been researched in Asia and the Pacific as a region and China as a country. It was noted that there were more empirical articles than theoretical studies related to SCs, evidencing the industry relevance of the issue. A total of 55% of the articles reviewed have been published in journals with a Q1 ranking. All the articles were written by multiple authors, with 30% of the journal articles having international co-authors and benefitting from the collaboration between authors. Key advantages identified in the literature go beyond contract and payment provisions and include aspects such as logistic handling, decentralized applications, business process management, automated payments, etc. Key drivers for adoption are supply chain pressure, competitive pressure, top management support, simple layout, reduction in risks of clients, clarity in responsibility and risk allocation, whereas the key barriers include insecurity, limited observability, incompatibility, inactive government collaboration and limited storage capacity. Key strategies to enhance the application of SC in construction include integrating theorems proving symbolic execution, using the selective transparency method and lock fund system, testing the integration of SCs with other systems at the initial stage, incorporating semi-automated consensus mechanisms for payments, constructing a mechanism to actively engage with government bodies, etc.

Embodied energy has a significant effect on the total environmental impact of a project. However, emphasis is often placed primarily on operational energy, resulting in a knowledge gap about the current state of embodied energy use in affordable housing. To address this, the study investigates the level of embodied energy consumption in affordable housing, as well as the drivers, barriers, and techniques to reduce embodied energy. Based on a single embedded case study covering the period from cradle to end of construction, data were collected using embodied energy calculations of three affordable housing units in the project, semi-structured interviews with five design team members, and a cross-examination of findings with contract documents. The results were analysed using sensitivity analysis and thematic analysis. The findings revealed that all three house units fulfilled the baseline embodied carbon target of 800 kg CO₂/m² and both detached properties fell within the LETI (2020) target of 500 kg CO₂/m². However, all three properties would fail to meet the RIBA or 2030 LETI target of 300 kg CO₂/m². This suggests that improvements are necessary to achieve future targets. The results show that financial capabilities and operational energy prioritisation act as the main enabler and barrier for reducing embodied energy. Local contractors/suppliers, minimising material use or intensity, and modular construction were highlighted as the key reduction techniques that can be used to help achieve future targets concerning embodied carbon in residential developments. The study contributes significantly to understanding the current state of embodied energy use in affordable housing and provides new insights on how to deal with embodied energy if we are to meet future energy targets.

Electric vehicles (EVs) emerged as a promising technology to cater sustainable transportation. The inadequacy of electric vehicle charging stations (EVCSs) leads to diminishing EV customer delight. Public hotspots have recognized as the best locations to establish EVCSs if feasible. Hence, this research focuses on the prospect of establishing public hotspot-based EVCSs in Sri Lanka. A literature review was conducted to explore the factors to be considered for the establishment under six feasibility aspects. The mixed approach was used, including a questionnaire survey with EV users and interviews with stakeholders representing public authorities, charging equipment suppliers, owners of dedicated EVCSs, and managerial personnel of public hotspots-based EVCSs. Content analysis was involved to evaluate stakeholders’ opinions and relative importance index was involved to rank identified public hotspots. Economic feasibility was supported by cost–benefit analysis, while carbon footprint calculation was conducted to analyse the environmental feasibility. The results revealed hotels as the most suitable public hotspot. Zoos were identified as the least suitable public hotspots. The economic feasibility revealed a value of more than one in benefit–cost ratio and positive net present value. Moreover, the other feasibility aspects confirmed public hotspots-based EVCSs as a feasible initiative in Sri Lanka.

With the advent of technological advancements in the field of building maintenance, attempts have been taken to address the issues confronted by building maintenance technicians in the global context. Augmented Reality (AR) is one such concept which combines real environment with virtual content in 3D space that is experimented and proven to be effective in making the building maintenance activities more efficient by eliminating the causes for such difficulties faced by the technicians. In Sri Lanka, there is very limited use of such technologies in building maintenance practices and it is reasonable to mention that use of AR is minimum in this field. A gap is identified as there is no considerable literature exploring applications of Augmented Reality to ease building maintenance activities in Sri Lanka. Therefore, an effort is made to investigate into this area through a qualitative approach by taking a case into study and conducting interviews among technicians followed by an expert interview. The research highlights the use of AR in making the building maintenance practices in terms of data and instruction visualization leading to more efficient and effective outcomes while discussing on the benefits such as making maintenance tasks efficient, cost and time savings and high customer satisfaction as well as possible barriers for implementation of a similar program such as developing a Building Information Model to an existing building, inconvenience in making technicians adopted into a new system in the context of Sri Lanka

Purpose: The creation of occupant satisfaction can be reached through the involvement of building performance mandates (BPMs) while enhancing the functionality of buildings. BPMs comprise five mandates namely, spatial performance, thermal performance, indoor air quality performance, acoustic performance, and visual performance. BPMs have been recognized as a vital element when refurbishing post-fire apparel buildings. However, the evaluation of post-fire refurbishment projects is mainly focused on mechanical and physical properties while ignoring the BPMs. Further, there is insufficient literature on the BPMs in post-fire building refurbishment. Hence, the purpose of this research is to identify the importance of BPMs, and its challenges and propose strategies to enhance the building performance of post-fire refurbished apparel manufacturing buildings in Sri Lanka.Design/methodology/approach: The study was conducted by involving a qualitative research approach. An extensive literature review and eighteen semi-structured interviews under three fire-affected apparel cases were involved as data collection methods and collected data were analyzed using content analysis.Findings: Findings highlighted the procedure of post-fire refurbishment and the importance of BPMs for apparel buildings to enhance building performance in post-fire situations. The research identified 42 challenges encountered in maintaining BPMs of post-fire refurbished apparel buildings and provided 70 strategies to overcome the identified challenges.Originality/value: This study offers a comprehensive analysis of challenges in maintaining BPMs and strategies to overcome the identified challenges which facilitate enhancing the performance of post-fire refurbished apparel buildings in Sri Lanka.