Selecting the best materials that ensure maximum performance is crucial in the construction engineering design of any construction project. However, this is challenging and usually not properly considered because of the lack of systematic and scientific evaluation methods for the performance of materials. This paper proposes a new approach of selecting material to satisfy the performance goal of material designers in building constructions based on the analytic hierarchy process method. To validate the suggested model, a case study was conducted for a concrete system form, the performance of which is susceptible to its materials and has a strong effect on overall project productivity. The newly developed form comprising polymers and alloys showed that the proposed material selection model provided a better combination of materials, and the solution was technically more advanced and ensured better performance. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by expanding the understanding of how construction material properties affect project performance and provides a guideline for material engineers to select the best-performing building materials while considering a performance goal.

Over the past decades, automation and robotics have been widely adopted in the construction industry as a promising solution for troubleshooting issues. This field is highly interdisciplinary and rapidly changing, and new concepts and ideas are being actively introduced in association with the existing ones. To reveal new insights, the evolution of knowledge in this field needs to be characterized by identifying important knowledge elements and research trends from published data. This study investigated research trends and network characteristics in the field of construction automation and robotics by using a keyword network analysis based on published articles. We analyzed the structure of the keyword network and identified major research topics and their relationships. Notable findings of the research characteristics are as follows. 1) Popular research themes with a set of closely connected keywords continue to be selected and contribute to the evolution of the network. 2) As an interdisciplinary research area, popular keywords that actively interact with other keywords also bridge different clusters of related research concepts. This study could provide useful insights and a better understanding of the knowledge structure and research trends as well as information on future directions in the construction automation and robotics field.

In tall residential building construction, there is a process gap between the window work and the structural work. This process gap extends the total period of the project and increases its cost. In addition, as this process gap increases external exposure to noise and dust, it negatively affects the environment of a site and often causes civil complaints. This paper introduces a new window work process called the accelerated window work (AWW) method, which minimizes the process gap and can reduce construction cost and duration and the number of civil complaints. We provide technical details and management elements of the AWW method with a case study that demonstrates the reductions in construction costs and duration compared with the conventional method. This work contributes to the body of knowledge in window work in tall buildings by introducing and validating a new window work method and process. The proposed method will be useful for practitioners who are under short-term constraints.