Urbanisation and climate change are degrading indoor conditions by intensifying heat stress, air pollution and reliance on mechanical cooling, yet the role of private residential greenery in mitigating these effects remains insufficiently understood. This review is aimed at critically evaluating how private outdoor greenery influences indoor air quality (IAQ), thermal comfort and energy efficiency in residential buildings. A systematic screening of 3750 Scopus records identified 54 relevant studies, which were synthesised to assess design determinants, climatic sensitivity and methodological approaches. Quantitative findings indicate that private greenery can reduce indoor air temperature by 3.4°C, lower mean radiant temperature by up to 22.9°C and achieve up to 25% cooling energy savings, depending on tree placement and density. Reported magnitudes vary widely across climates, vegetation configurations and methodological approaches. However, direct empirical evidence linking private outdoor greenery to measured indoor IAQ improvements remains limited, with many IAQ‐related findings inferred from pollutant deposition, ventilation interactions or outdoor air quality changes rather than direct indoor measurements. Integrated assessments of IAQ, thermal comfort and energy performance are rare in residential contexts, and design thresholds remain undefined. This review contributes a consolidated evidence base and identifies critical research directions to support climate‐responsive, evidence‐based residential greening strategies.

The rapid and large-scale development of data centres to manage computational demand is resulting in potential strain on electrical energy and water utilities globally. New methods for minimising the peak power demand and annual energy of data centres that can be adapted to the different ambient conditions of various geographic locations are urgently needed. This study applies a novel advanced method of energy savings by differential temperature control via I.T. kW load measurement, to the conversion of data centres from conventional air-tochip (ATC) cooling, to new liquid-to-chip (LTC) cooling. The novel method potentially assists elimination of energy-intensive chillers in favour of free cooling, reduces peak power demand and annual energy consumption for temperate to tropical ambient conditions. A new energy model was developed in Design BuilderTM and EnergyPlusTM and was validated by onsite measurements at a state-of-the-art data centre in Melbourne, Australia and utilised to predict and optimize the improvement in energy efficiency by controlling differential temperature. The results indicate that converting from ATC cooling to LTC cooling could reduce the total peak power demand by 6%-14% and reduce the annual energy consumption, carbon emissions and power usage efficiency by 4%-13%. Application of the advanced control method to increase differential temperature from 5 degrees C to 10 degrees C for LTC systems, predicted reduction of the PUE from a range of 1.22-1.25 to 1.18, potentially contributing an 18-28% reduction in central plant energy.

Recent advances in construction research have produced multiple circularity assessment frameworks that focus from material to whole-scale projects, covering various life cycle stages. These frameworks have been valuable for quantifying project-level outcomes, offering a short-term perspective, while overlooking the long-term circular economy (CE) transition. Recent studies therefore advocate shifting assessment to the construction organisational level, targeting the process improvement to generate consistent CE outcomes across projects. The maturity assessment framework is a promising approach, as it captures and guides organisational processes from initial to a desired state, thereby supporting long-term CE transition. Hence, this study aims to develop a multidimensional CE maturity assessment framework for construction organisations. To achieve the aim, three objectives were formulated: i) define the relevant Key Process Areas (KPAs), ii) determine the level of importance and categorise the KPAs, and iii) define the suitable assessment attributes to assess/operationalise the KPAs. Initially, the conceptual KPAs and assessment attributes were formulated based on previous studies on CE indicators for construction organisations. Subsequently, two Delphi-based expert forums were conducted. Forum 1 focused on verifying the suitability of conceptual KPAs and assessing their importance, while Forum 2 focused on verifying the suitability of assessment attributes. The results yielded 19 KPAs and 62 assessment attributes. Critical KPAs include material circularity improvement, circularity in building design and construction, waste circularity improvement, and greenhouse gas emissions reduction. Theoretically, this study addresses the organisational-level circularity assessment gap; in practice, it guides construction professionals toward circularity adoption by focusing on appropriate KPAs and assessment attributes.

Procurement and Management (P&M) issues in Building Services Systems (BSS) lead to significant delays and inefficiencies in construction projects. Blockchain Technology (BT) has emerged as a viable solution for issues related to trust, transparency, collaboration, data manipulation and security. Despite considerable research on the application of blockchain in construction, there is a lack of studies that specifically focus on trustworthy P&M operations in BSS. As a solution, a blockchain-based system, ProcuTrust, is introduced, built upon data models developed and evaluated in the study. Data models discussed in this study include use case diagrams, entity relationship diagrams, and data flow diagrams for procurement and management of BSS. The study followed the design science research methodology, and the data models were evaluated using a Delphi-based expert forum with 19 expert interviews. The finalised data models used to develop ProcuTrust were presented as the findings of the study. ProcuTrust demonstrates the technological feasibility of a single source of truth for procurement and management of BSS. Core functionalities of ProcuTrust include the initiation of smart contracts, creating, updating and verifying BSS-related transactions, and minimising manual interventions. The data models serve as a guide for system developers to understand the domain of procurement and management of BSS. This system development process provides a replicable model for future blockchain technology-based built environment applications.

Purpose Building Services Systems (BSS) accounts for up to 60% of the cost of a construction project with multiple stakeholders, lengthy life cycles and high financial investment, making their procurement and management (P&M) more challenging than structural or architectural components. Despite this significance, there is a lack of research which focuses on the issues in procurement and management of BSSs and solutions to address them. Thus, this paper aims to address three knowledge gaps: identify the significant issues in procurement and management of BSS, examine the criticality of the issues and analyse the validity of blockchain (BT) as a technological solution. Design/methodology/approach A Delphi-based expert forum was conducted, and data were analysed using the content analysis technique. Twenty-eight issues were identified using a systematic literature review, and they were prioritised. Finally, features of the blockchain are mapped against the issues to analyse the potential of blockchain technology. Findings Analysis results identified that a lack of trust, transparency and collaboration are the root causes of the major issues. Comparative analysis of technologies established that blockchain has the potential to address the major issues. Research limitations/implications It is important to acknowledge limitations of blockchain adoption, such as scalability, interoperability, legal uncertainty and industry readiness, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises’ and Business-to-Business applications. Originality/value BSS is the operational backbone of facilities management. Issues emerging during the early life cycle stages of BSS often manifest as performance and maintenance challenges in the operational phase. This study positions BT within the BSS domain across the entire life cycle of a facility. This problem-driven approach enhances collaboration, trust and transparency for sustainable facilities management.

Residential buildings in low-vegetation urban areas are increasingly exposed to heat and air-pollution stress, particularly in suburbs with limited canopy cover near traffic and industrial sources. This study investigates how front-yard vegetation functions as a near-fa & ccedil;ade microclimatic buffer, moderating outdoor boundary conditions and providing indicative indoor benefits. High-resolution ENVI-met simulations were conducted for a summer day in inner-western Melbourne, Australia, comparing a fully paved front yard (Base) with a vegetated configuration comprising two deciduous trees and boundary hedges (Green). Microclimatic variables at the outdoor and fa & ccedil;ade boundary scale, including physiological equivalent temperature (PET), mean radiant temperature (MRT), air temperature (Ta), wind speed and fa & ccedil;ade temperatures (Tow/Tiw) were analysed. Indicative indoor thermal proxies were derived from ENVI-met ' s simplified indoor module to assess relative differences. At peak hour, vegetation reduced PET and MRT near the fa & ccedil;ade by 17.1 degrees C and 32.7 degrees C, outside wall temperature (Tow) by 22.0 degrees C, sensible heat flux (H) by 103.1 W/m2 and shortwave radiation by 283.2 W/m2. Indoor temperature (Tin) proxies showed consistent reductions of 0.1 degrees C-0.2 degrees C, with a cumulative 24-h effect of 1.7 degrees C.h, aligned with fa & ccedil;ade-scale cooling. Minor changes in Ta and humidity indicate radiative and surface-energy regulation dominate the cooling effect. These results establish front-yard vegetation as a building-scale regulator, modifying fa & ccedil;ade-level radiative and thermal drivers that influence outdoor-indoor heat and air exchange. The findings establish front-yard greening as a microclimatic strategy under representative hot summer conditions in Melbourne, with broader relevance for low-rise housing in heat-prone, low-vegetation urban areas, motivating future cross-climate studies.

In the construction industry, the main contractor organisations play a significant role in implementing Circular Economy (CE) as they involve one or several phases of a construction project while handling multiple supply chain processes and collaborating with various stakeholders. Hence, implementing CE within main contractor organisations positively impacts CE transformation in the construction industry. Assessment of CE has become a prominent approach at any level that will lead to implementing, improving, and monitoring circularity. However, the existing CE assessment frameworks for construction organisations are associated with several issues. They do not take a holistic approach when developing these frameworks and lack a systematic method for improving CE over time, relying instead on quantitative equations or qualitative checklists for assessment. To address these issues, this study proposes a Circular Economy Maturity Model for Construction Organisations (CEMM4CO), with a specific focus on identifying the relevant Process Categories (PCs) essential for its implementation. The study follows two systematic literature reviews and identifies maturity models in similar domains: sustainability maturity models in construction and generic CE maturity models. Subsequently, by comparing the PCs of identified maturity models, this study justifies the suitability of construction organisations by supporting a comprehensive discussion. Finally, the study conceptualises the CEMM4CO by highlighting its requirements and suitable PCs.

Building Services Systems (BSS) can greatly benefit from blockchain in addressing issues related to Procurement and Management (P M), such as lack of trust, transparency and stakeholder collaboration. Identifying current processes and stakeholders in the P M of BSS is crucial before implementing blockchain technology. This research aims to develop a conceptual framework for the stakeholders and processes within the P M of BSS. Initially, a critical literature review was conducted to identify these stakeholders and their involvement. Based on the findings from the literature review, a conceptual framework and “stakeholder-process” diagrams were developed. To refine the “stakeholder-process” diagrams, 19 expert interviews were conducted with professionals directly involved in the P M of BSS, each with over five years of experience. A use case diagram was then modelled to create a prototype application of blockchain for the P M of BSS. The developed conceptual framework will offer a comprehensive overview of the stakeholders and the processes involved in the P M of BSS. This framework can be utilised to create any real-time applications related to BSS. As a future step, the use case diagram can be used to develop Data Flow Diagrams (DFDs) and Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs) for the prototype development of blockchain in P M.

Assessment of Circular Economy (CE) facilitates implementation, improvement, and monitoring. Considering the construction context, the main contractor organisations play a pivotal role in implementing CE, which creates a significant impact on the CE transformation of the whole industry. Even though a few CE assessment frameworks have been developed in the construction organisational context, a lack of a comprehensive framework for CE transformation beyond assessment. As a solution, a maturity model has been identified, which provides systematic guidance on the assessment and improvement of CE-related processes in the organisation that transform organisations from linear processes to more systemised, consolidated, and integrated CE processes. As the first step in developing a Circular Economy Maturity Model (CEMM), this study aims to identify the requirements of CEMM against requirements deduced from multiple pieces of research studies emphasised as requirements of maturity models in order to define maturity model as a suitable approach for organizational CE transformation. To achieve this aim, this study adopted the adaptive research methodology. Through a critical literature review, the study identified seven requirements for developing a maturity model, including applicable domain, purpose, design approach, key process areas, process categories, maturity levels, and maturity characteristics with assessment criteria. Finally, a comprehensive analysis was conducted to justify how these requirements need to be met in the CEMM.

Due to increasing demand for artificial intelligence, data centre buildings could consume more than 20 % of utility electrical energy for some countries by 2030. Whilst research has been performed into energy reduction via data centre supply air temperature reset control, air containment and economy cycle free cooling, there is a significant research gap regarding differential temperature control via I.T. kW load measurement to improve economy cycle energy savings. This paper presents over 5 years of research for a new cooling system control method for co- location data centres and a new theoretical model with prototype site research validation testing, and development to assess energy efficiency improvement. The study investigated the reduction in energy consumption achieved by increasing differential and return air temperatures, increasing free-cooling economization, decreasing air flow rates, and resetting compute hot aisle temperatures when un-occupied. The research validated a new theoretical model developed with Design BuilderTM and EnergyPlusTM through experimental testing of a working prototype to estimate energy use, Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE), and carbon emissions. Research was performed at two state-of-the-art facilities in Brisbane and Sydney, Australia, with I.T. design capacities of 6000 kW and 30,000 kW. The research conservatively estimated the new method could reduce data centre energy consumption of the central plant equipment by up to 10 % when the building load achieves 50 % of design maximum capacity. Greater savings could be achieved in the future as allowable supply and differential temperatures of the I.T. equipment increase to improve sustainability. The contributions include research, development, and modelling of a new and novel data centre cooling methodology utilizing differential temperature control based on IT power measurement, first of kind research validation of the new model and tuning of the new system to optimize the key performance metric PUE for data centres.

Building Services Systems (BSS) are fundamental to ensure a comfortable and safe living environment in buildings. These systems involve significant stakeholder engagement, lengthy lifecycles, and substantial financial investments, necessitating a systematic Procurement and Management (PM) approach to handle their inherent complexity. While Blockchain Technology (BT) has been proposed for various construction applications, its potential in BSS remains unexplored. This paper addresses this gap by identifying issues in the PM of BSS, categorizing them according to the RIBA Plan of Work 2020, and proposing a BT-based framework to resolve these issues. A scoping review method was conducted using Scopus and Web of Science databases. A critical review of 102 carefully selected publications revealed the top 30 PM-related issues, including six recurring issues across all stages; over-involvement of stakeholders, lack of trust, difficulty in exchanging data, lack of transparency, lack of collaboration and delays in approvals. 11 key features of BT were identified; accountability, proper history records, high audibility, integrity, anonymity, disintermediation, easy data extraction, verification, distributed shareability, immutability, and security. A conceptual framework was developed, mapping the identified issues against BT features to demonstrate how BT can address the PM issues in BSS. This framework guides the development of a prototype for implementing BT in the PM of BSS in future research stages.

The existing Circular Economy (CE) assessment frameworks developed in the construction context are limited due to being confined to assessing one or a few aspects of a construction project or a building and lacking a holistic perspective. In the construction industry, the main contractor organisations play a significant role by involving in one or several phases of a construction project and directly engaging with multiple stakeholders while handling complex supply chain processes. Therefore, CE assessment in main contractor organisations significantly impacts CE implementation, improvement, and monitoring in the construction industry. Hence, this research aimed to identify CE assessment indicators specific to main contractor organisations covering construction project and organisation levels to develop a holistic and comprehensive CE assessment framework through a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) by following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Two SLRs were conducted to achieve the aim of the study, as the majority of construction-specific articles were limited to construction project-level CE indicators, and a second review was undertaken to identify organisation-level indicators from non-construction sources. The study identified eighteen and twenty indicators at the construction project-level and organisation-level, respectively. Sixteen indicators were found to be common to both levels, while two indicators are specific to the construction projects and four indicators are specific to the organisations. The study concluded that assessing CE in main contractor organisations is complex, necessitating a comprehensive approach that addresses both construction project and organisational levels, as their interdependence is indispensable for obtaining a holistic perspective.

Building services systems are essential for creating a comfortable and safe living environment in buildings. These are complex systems with high stakeholder involvement, a lengthy lifecycle, and high financial costs. This leads to building services systems having complex procurement and management (P&M) requirements which create a multitude of challenges. Blockchain technology has emerged as a revolutionary digital technology under “Procurement 4.0”. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the applicability of blockchain technology for systematic procurement and management of building services. The science mapping method was used to systematically and quantitatively analyse 102 publications related to bibliographic records retrieved from Scopus and the Web of Science databases. This includes content analysis of the existing issues, current trends of technologies, and applicability of blockchain in the P&M of building services. The results of the bibliometric analysis indicate that publications had grown significantly faster in 2021 related to the P&M of building services with new technologies while there is a minimal collaboration of countries, organisations and authors in publishing research in this area. Further, it is observed that Building Information Modelling (BIM) is the main technology utilised in general P&M. As a result of content analysis, a total of 28 issues that affect the performance of procurement and management of building services are identified. The paper critically evaluates blockchain technology in terms of peer-to-peer networks, hashing algorithms, public key cryptography, consensus mechanisms, smart contracts, and distributed ledger. It indicates that blockchain provides a perfect match for resolving these issues. The findings of the research will open a path to apply blockchain technology in building services. The study offers a readily available point of reference for practitioners, policymakers and research and development bodies.

Digital twin, a technology bridging the physical and digital domains, has found extensive application in digitally advanced industries. However, its adoption in the construction sector remains limited, hindered by challenges related to construction, integration with real-time data capture, and visualisation platforms. This paper presents a construction industry digital twin that combines Building Information Modelling-based data visualisation with an Internet of Things-driven live data capture platform, outlining a methodology for its development. The digital twin was implemented in a university library embodying the ‘Living Lab’ concept to account for the nuances associated with live environments. It integrates sensors with Building Information Modelling to offer a semiotic representation of the library's internal conditions in digital twin, empowering facility managers to proactively optimize thermal, lighting, and air quality.

Digital twin (DT) has gained significant recognition among researchers due to its potential across industries. With the prime goal of solving numerous challenges confronting the construction industry (CI), DT in recent years has witnessed several applications in the CI. Hence, researchers have been advocating for DT adoption to tackle the challenges of the CI. Notwithstanding, a distinguishable set of barriers that oppose the adoption of DT in the CI has not been determined. Therefore, this paper identifies the barriers and incorporates them into a classified framework to enhance the roadmap for adopting DT in the CI. This research conducts an extensive review of the literature and analyses the barriers whilst integrating the science mapping technique. Using Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science databases, 154 related bibliographic records were identified and analysed using science mapping, while 40 carefully selected relevant publications were systematically reviewed. From the review, the top five barriers identified include low level of knowledge, low level of technology acceptance, lack of clear DT value propositions, project complexities, and static nature of building data. The results show that the UK, China, the USA, and Germany are the countries spearheading the DT adoption in the CI, while only a small number of institutions from Australia, the UK, Algeria, and Greece have established institutional collaborations for DT research. A conceptual framework was developed on the basis of 30 identified barriers to support the DT adoption roadmap. The main categories of the framework comprise stakeholder-oriented, industry-related, construction-enterprise-related, and technology-related barriers. The identified barriers and the framework will guide and broaden the knowledge of DT, which is critical for successful adoption in the construction industry.

The concept of a green building (GB) implies a building that has implemented several sustainable strategies to increase its resilience to climate change. These types of buildings are designed to be aligned with the climate and location where they stand. Therefore, the strategies used are highly dependent on the outdoor climate and may require changes in the future due to global warming. Evaluating the present energy performance in these buildings and predicting any changes in future climate scenarios is crucial to understand if the strategies adopted initially will maintain efficient. This research aims to predict the resilience of a GB to global warming. It predicts the impact of climate change and determines the thermal comfort and energy performance of a GB by comparing three future climate scenarios with present climate conditions. Hence, a university GB was simulated and calibrated with measured data. Then, to predict climate conditions in the 2050 s and 2090 s, several future weather files based on Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs) were used. The results show a reduction in heating energy use and an increase in cooling, leading to a combined impact increase in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of 17.8

Mechanical, Electrical and Plumbing (MEP) systems often comprise a significant part of the construction project. These are complex systems with high stakeholder involvement, a lengthy lifecycle, and high financial cost. Due to this nature, MEP systems have complex procurement and management requirements which create uphill of challenges such as lack of transparency, instantaneous changes in designs, lack of trust, incompatibility of designs and specifications, lack of coordination, miscommunication, lack of security, traceability and confidentiality etc. This paper presents an analysis of how Blockchain technology can be used to address the issues arising from the procurement and management (P&M) of MEP systems. A literature review approach was used to identify issues in P&M of MEP systems that could benefit from the implementation of Blockchain technology. P&M phases of MEP systems is based on RIBA (2020). The literature review was carried out using articles in ScienceDirect that appeared in the context of MEP and Blockchain-related terms such as "Blockchain and MEP", and “Blockchain and building services practices". Forty papers were studied to gain insight into the issues, features of Blockchain technology and to explore how these features can provide possible solutions to the identified issues. In conclusion, this paper established that Blockchain technology can be used as a solution for the issues associated with each stage of the P&M of MEP systems.

The deployment of model-predictive control (MPC) for a building’s energy system is a challenging task due to high computational and modeling costs. In this study, an MPC controller based on EnergyPlus and MATLAB is developed, and its performance is evaluated through a case study in terms of energy savings, optimality of solutions, and computational time. The MPC determines the optimal setpoint trajectories of supply air temperature and chilled water temperature in a simulated office building. A comparison between MPC and rule-based control (RBC) strategies for three test days showed that the MPC achieved 49.7% daily peak load reduction and 17.6% building energy savings, which were doubled compared to RBC. The MPC optimization problem was solved multiple times using the Ant Colony Optimization (ACO) algorithm with different starting points. Results showed that ACO consistently delivered high-quality optimized control sequences, yielding less than a 1% difference in energy savings between the worst and best solutions across all three test days. Moreover, the computational time for solving the MPC problem and obtaining nearly optimal control sequences for a three-hour prediction horizon was observed to be around 22 min. Notably, reasonably good solutions were attained within 15 min by the ACO algorithm.