Prefabricated construction is an effective and efficient approach to improve construction processes, productivity, quality, and cost-effectiveness. There are, however, practical problems in this approach, including higher risk levels, and cost and time overruns. This study aims to develop a systematic approach for determining the key factors that affect investment risk of prefabricated building projects and assess this risk. Based on literature review, a structured questionnaire was distributed to 210 China-based construction organizations. Relevant evaluation index weights were obtained via questionnaire, and the application of structural equation modelling led to quantitative evaluation of investment risk in the prefabricated construction industry. The results show that the following systems have the most influence on investment risk (from high to low): economy, technology, market, management, and policy, and that the investment risk of such projects can be assessed using structural equation modelling. Relevant measures are presented to guide investment risk evaluation of projects. This study contributes to literature by considering investment risk influencing factors in this field. Further, the findings can help in understanding the implementation and investment risk control of prefabricated building projects, while providing valuable information to departments that make decisions on improving investment risk performance of such projects.

The construction of prefabricated buildings is an effective and efficient approach to improving construction processes and productivity. However, there are practical problems in this approach, such as listing, safety risk levels, and quality control. This study aims to develop a systematic approach for determining the key factors affecting prefabricated building projects’ quality and safety risk and assessing this risk. Based on the literature review, a structured questionnaire was distributed to 408 China-based construction organizations. Considering the factors of safety risk evaluation systems for construction, the safety risk model of prefabricated buildings is established and combined with structural equation modeling (SEM) and a system dynamic model (SDM). A detailed case study was conducted to verify the empirical findings. The results show that pre-construction, during-construction, and after-construction significantly influence the quality risk (from high to low). The final comprehensive score is 92.71, indicating that the construction safety of the residential building is generally controllable and the quality is guaranteed. Furthermore, the investment risk of such projects can be assessed using SEM and SDM. This study contributes to the literature by considering quality-risk-influencing factors in this field. Furthermore, the findings provide an understanding of implementation and quality risk control for prefabricated building projects and provide valuable information to departments in charge of improving the safety risk performance of such projects.

During a fire evacuation, long lateral evacuation distances, large crowds waiting for evacuation at the same level, and easily panicked populations are common. This research aimed to look into the large-scale evacuation behavior of urban underground complexes with limited evacuation and egress during a fire. A simplified model for large-scale group evacuation of urban subsurface complexes was constructed using system dynamics theory. The Vensim software was used for quantitative simulation. The model could represent the typical phenomenon of group evacuation behaviors, such as quick or slow, under seven operating situations with total initial numbers of 350, 400, 450, 500, 1000, 2000, and 4000. The results of an analysis of critical affecting factors show “total initial number” and “panic state” during a large-scale group evacuation: a large beginning population will result in a rapid reduction in system evacuation capability, delaying the completion of the evacuation process significantly; meanwhile, if the level of panic is deficient, the system’s evacuation efficiency will remain low for an extended period, making it difficult to evacuate trapped persons promptly. According to the findings, the developed system dynamics model, which combines the advantages of a continuous model with the advantages of a discrete model, is very accurate. At the same time, we should emphasize the importance of the evacuation guide and reinforce the fire education and behavior drills for the building’s workers. This research presents a simplified model for the evacuation of large groups of people from metropolitan underground complexes. Furthermore, the findings may give theoretical support for the development of rules and safety management practices.

The construction industry’s high energy consumption and carbon emissions significantly burden the ecological environment. Thus, it is necessary to study measures and strategies for emissions reduction during construction for an improved, safe and sustainable environment. Using the life-cycle assessment method, this study aims to investigate construction-building outcomes and their carbon footprint during the construction delivery stage. This work used a compiled database of carbon-emission factors per unit for concrete and mortar with different densities and 16 building-project case studies in Fujian Province to verify the empirical findings. The results show that general civil engineering works produce more carbon emissions than decoration engineering. Furthermore, cement’s average proportion of carbon emissions relative to total carbon emissions is the largest at 30.26%. Our findings also show a strong linear relationship between the total carbon emissions, eaves height, project cost, and building area during the building construction. The findings in this paper promote the conversion of buildings from high-energy consumption to multi-carbon reduction. The concept of this research contributes to the existing knowledge by proposing a carbon-footprint calculation method and establishing the trend of carbon emissions in building construction.

Green buildings are considered to be an effective way to save energy, reduce emissions, and protect the environment. As one of the main bodies of green building construction, the construction unit’s willingness to build seriously affects the promotion of green building. Therefore, based on the viewpoints of natural persons and bounded rationality, this study constructs an evolutionary game analysis model, analyzes the impact of local government subsidy policies on the application strategies of construction units, and analyzes the steady-state and selection strategies. The system dynamics model is established using a flow chart, and the simulation results show that, in the long run, increasing the government subsidy and inspection cost cannot improve the application probability of the construction unit. Furthermore, the inspection intensity of the government and the indirect income of the construction unit has a direct influence on the application probability of the construction unit. The results show that the government should adjust the amount of the subsidy reasonably, improve the penalty mechanism, reduce development costs, strengthen publicity, and encourage construction units to actively apply for green buildings, so as to realize the transformation and upgrade of China’s construction industry.

The supply chain for prefabricated buildings (PB) currently grapples with pressing challenges. In order to ensure the safe and stable development of the prefabricated building supply chains (PBSC), this study aims to identify the key factors and internal mechanisms affecting the PBSC, and propose a supply chain resilience enhancement mechanism, so as to promote the sustainable development of the PB industry. The study combined a literature review and survey data to identify key resilience factors in PBSC. A Structural Equation Model (SEM) was used to explore the relationships between these factors. System dynamics were applied to create a simulation model, assessing the resilience impact level and conducting sensitivity analysis. The results show that the transportation and procurement processes are the most significant factors influencing supply chain resilience. The external environmental factors wielded a more pronounced impact on the overall evaluation of supply chain resilience than the delivery and use processes, but delivery and use processes are more sensitive. The study uses the Pressure-State-Response (PSR) model to suggest strategies for enhancing supply chain resilience. This study contributes to more sustainable and efficient construction practices by offering an innovative theoretical framework to analyze the factors influencing PBSC resilience and proposing enhancement strategies.