In general, fragmentation within the construction industry arises from two areas within the traditional construction process; the construction work process where the most significant division is in the separation of the design and construction phase, and the construction structure itself. The fragmentation process in traditional contracting practice further hinders the integration of construction knowledge among contractors, diminishing the opportunity for them to influence design decisions. When design professionals fail to consider as to how a contractor would construct the designed project results in scheduling problems, delays, and disputes during the construction process. Moving towards team integration is considered a significant strategy for overcoming the issue. Accordingly, this paper discusses the fragmentation issue in more detail including its definition, and causes and effects to the construction projects. It also explores that the team integration strategy alleviates scheduling problems, and helps avoid delays and disputes during the construction process, preventing harm to overall project performance.
1 January 2015 in Journal of Environmental Management
Increase of indoor temperature compared with outdoor temperature is a major concern in modern house design. Occupants suffer from this uncomfortable condition because of overheating indoor temperature. Poor passive design causes heat to be trapped, which influences the rise in indoor temperature. The upper part, which covers the area of the roof, is the most critical part of the house that is exposed to heat caused by high solar radiation and high emissivity levels. During daytime, the roof accumulates heat, which increases the indoor temperature and affects the comfort level of the occupants. To maintain the indoor temperature within the comfort level, most house designs usually depend on mechanical means by using fans or air conditioning systems. The dependence on a mechanical ventilation system could lead to additional costs for its installation, operation, and maintenance. Thus, this study concentrates on reviews on passive design and suggests recommendations for future developments. New proposals or strategies are proposed to improve the current passive design through ventilated and cool roof systems. It is possible to achieve the comfort level inside a house throughout the day by reducing the transmitted heat into the indoor environment and eliminating the internal hot air. These recommendations could become attractive strategies in providing a comfortable indoor temperature to the occupants as well as in minimizing energy consumption
26 January 2017 in International Journal of Construction Management
There have always been conflicting findings with respect to the effects of organizational culture on sustainable construction, suggesting the need for a moderator variable. Drawing on the resource-based view theory, this study examines the moderating effects of government support on the relationships between adhocracy culture, market orientation and sustainable construction among 172 large contractors in Malaysia, using a 61 item instrument. Both mailed and personally administered survey methods with structured questionnaires were used to collect the data. Using a partial least squared - structural equation modelling for the data analysis, we found a significant positive relationship between the adhocracy culture and sustainable construction. Similarly, the results also indicated that market orientation had a significant positive relationship with sustainable construction. The study also found a significant but negative relationship between government support and sustainable construction. As expected, government support was found to moderate the relationship between adhocracy culture and sustainable construction, while an insignificant interaction effect was found between market orientation and sustainable construction. Implications for practice and future research were also discussed.