PurposeThe construction industry is a primary contributor to the development of emerging economies such as the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. However, the sector is underperforming, and products are not meeting expectations. A lack of collaboration is considered a significant contributor to these issues. Various researchers have identified factors to improve collaborative approaches. However, there is still a lack of clear frameworks to help implement collaboration in the construction industry, especially in emerging economies. Therefore, this study aims to develop a framework to implement collaboration in the construction industry.Design/methodology/approachThis article utilises a review of literature, questionnaire and interviews with experts in the construction industry in order to develop a framework to achieve collaboration in construction projects.FindingsThe research presents a framework that distributes the factors of collaboration over the project lifecycle stages in accordance with the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) Plan of Work 2007. Each factor is divided into a set of enabling conditions which must be satisfied to ensure that the given specific factors are delivered. Additionally, the framework suggests appointing a collaboration champion at the beginning of the project to manage the process.Originality/valueThe research contributes to scarce literature about collaboration practices in the Kurdistan Region and in emerging economies in general.

Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) endeavour to revamp AEC project outcomes through a collaborative method of regulating project stakeholders’ goals through creation of a platform that provide early participants involvement and shared risk and rewards. IPD does not include a tender stage to select the optimal bid, therefore, this article presents a methodology framework to develop a cash flow approach using BIM tools. This article adopts Activity Based Costing (ABC), due to its ability to allocate different costs precisely to each construction process. Given that the BIM and IPD target is to achieve the best collaboration among project parties, the proposed framework backing this by displaying all estimated cost data of each package as minimum/maximum estimated cash inflow, during the buyout stage, for informed decision making. This article extends the knowledge relating to IPD implementing process, as well as, improving cost management process based on BIM. Extant literature review highlights the gap of utilising BIM tools to develop cash flow curves, as well as the IPD cost structure requirements. To demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed model, it is applied to a real-life case study, which displays promising results in terms of developing IPD’s cash flow management approach.

Greenhouse gas emissions originating from the built environment play a significant role towards climate change. Carefully planning the future of the building sector is key to mitigating these emissions. Addressing this problem by using a predictive approach may miss possible futures that cannot be anticipated. Using explorative scenarios to perform futures analysis helps widen the range of futures taken into account, which minimises this risk. Tools that use scenarios to help study the resilience of sustainable solutions for the UK urban environment are already available. However, they do not facilitate in-depth analysis of future household energy demand. This paper considers how one such tool, ‘Designing Resilient Cities’ (DRC), could be modified appropriately. It includes (a) a series of indicators representing factors affecting the energy demand in dwellings and (b) their characteristics for each scenario to complement the narratives in DRC. As a case study to validate these additions, the resilience of a recommendation to decrease domestic electricity consumption is evaluated.

The effective communication of flood risk offers the opportunity to ensure communities can adapt and respond appropriately to changing local conditions. At a time of diminishing resources, such local responses, which can empower communities and make them more resilient to uncertain future flood events, are vital. The most general and accessible type of flood communication are flood risk visualisations, i.e. pre-prepared emergency flood maps. However, evidence suggests there is much we can do to improve their ability to communicate the complexities of flood risk to a range of stakeholders. This paper considers the development of flood risk visualisation approaches in the UK, presenting findings from a series of targeted workshops over twelve months, where the needs and criteria of stakeholder groups for effective flood risk visualisation were assessed via co-creative processes. Key stakeholders included local authorities, emergency responders, vulnerable homeowners, Environment Agency, business owners and, crucially, communities. These users need certain requirements to be considered in order for future flood risk visualisation to be effective, in particular simplicity, a central hub of information, different visuals available for the same data sets/problems, different maps available for different users, consistent terminology and integrated community knowledge (e.g. local flood groups/help).

Purpose This paper aims to identify a generic set of information requirements for facilities management (FM) systems, which should be included in BIM as-built models for efficient information exchange between BIM and FM systems, and to propose a process to identify, verify and collect the required information for use in FM systems during the project's lifecycle. Design/methodology/approach Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied at different stages of the study's sequential design. The collection and analysis of qualitative data was based on an extensive literature review of similar studies, standards, best practices and case study documentation. This was followed by a questionnaire survey of 191 FM practitioners in the UK. This formed the background of the third stage, which was the development of the information management process to streamline information exchange between building information models and FM systems. Findings The study identifies a generic list of information requirements of building information models to support FM systems. In addition, the study presents an information management process that generates a specific database for FM systems using an open data format. Originality/value The existing literature focuses on specific building types (educational buildings) or specific information requirements related to particular systems (mechanical systems). The existing standards, guidelines and best practices focus on the information requirements to support the operations and maintenance (O&M) phase in general. This study is different from previous studies because it develops a set of specific information requirements for building information models to support FM systems. FM organisations and owners can use the proposed list of information requirements as a base to generate specific data output for their FM systems' input, to decrease the redundant activity of manual data entry and focus their efforts on key activities.

Carefully planning the future of the building sector is key to mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The largest contributor of the building sector to GHG emissions is the energy used for space and water heating. Therefore, information on its possible future evolutions can be very valuable. Future scenarios can be used to investigate the behaviour of existing data into the future. Here, electricity demand data are projected into four distinct futures of the household's use of electric heating systems. These projections offer, however, only partial information about the possible evolutions of the residential energy demand, as they account only for changes in the type of heating systems used. This information could, together with a range of other projections, be used to improve the planning of the future residential sector.

The construction sector is criticised for being fragmented and for having a large number of problems between stakeholders such as adversarial relationships, lack of trust and ineffective communication. These issues emerge especially in developing countries. Collaboration has been introduced as a solution to such issues. However, delivering an effective process of collaboration is a challenge with a wide range of factors involved. This paper identifies and sorts the critical factors that affect collaboration in the construction sector and recommends ways to adapt such factors in the sector. Through a comprehensive review of the literature, two groups of critical success factors have been identified to improve such practices, hard factors and soft factors. This study contributes to the scarce literature about collaboration in the construction industry in the Kurdistan and identifies factors of collaboration that construction projects need to adopt in order to improve their performance.

Diurnal changes within communities can significantly alter the level of impacts during a flood, yet these essential daily variations are not currently catered for within flood risk assessments. This paper develops a flood vulnerability and risk model that captures crucial features of flood vulnerability; integrating physical and socio‐economic vulnerability data, combined with a flood hazard analysis, to give overall flood risk at neighbourhood scale, at two different times of day, for floods of different magnitudes. The flood vulnerability and risk model, the resulting diurnal coastal flood vulnerability and risk indexes, and corresponding maps for the ward of Hilsea (Portsmouth, United Kingdom), presented within this paper, highlight three previously unidentified neighbourhoods in particular in the northwest of the Hilsea ward, which have the highest levels of risk during both time zones and for flood events of different magnitude. Critically, these neighbourhoods lie further inland and not directly on the Hilsea coastline, yet by analysing at this resolution (including diurnal impacts), substantial levels of underlying vulnerability were identified within these areas.

It is well known that thermal comfort is influenced by major physical parameters; air and radiant temperatures, humidity, and air speed in combination with personal attributes; clothing insulation and activity level. Although temperature is conventionally considered in adaptive thermal comfort model, as the most important physical parameter where cooling is involved, moderate air speed can enhance thermal comfort during higher temperatures. Through convective and evaporative cooling, ceiling fans cool people by causing sweat from the occupant’s body to evaporate. The northern part of Nigeria, being in the tropics, is known for higher temperature regimes for most part of the year. The use of air conditioning to achieve thermal comfort is not sustainable, for economic reasons and the lack of stable electrical energy. Therefore, a majority of naturally ventilated spaces could be kept thermally comfortable with the control of ceiling fans and operable windows. As part of a research work on learning environments in a Northern Nigerian university, this study reports on the effects of ceiling fans on the thermal comfort perception of the students in two lecture theatres. Air speed, air and radiant temperatures, relative humidity were measured, concurrently comfort surveys were undertaken in the spaces, from which activity levels and clothing insulations were obtained. Adaptive thermal comfort standards, ASHRAE 55 and EN 15251, state that thermal comfort can be maintained as air temperature rises with the use of ceiling fans operating at moderate speed. The results show that reductions of 31% and 22% in overheating from the two lecture theatres were realised, as a result of ceiling fans usage, measured by the degree hour’s exceedance indicator. These results were further corroborated by the students’ acceptance of thermal conditions of the lecture theatres at temperatures above Tmax.

Although a considerable number of studies on building information modeling (BIM) for facilities management (FM) have been conducted during the past ten years, a lack of consensus remains among academics and practitioners concerning the successful and practical information exchange process between BIM and FM systems. There is a need to establish an up-to-date synthesis on the current status of information exchange and interoperability between BIM and FM systems. After an in-depth review of 113 journal articles published from 2008 to 2018, this study systematically presents (1) a holistic review and critical reflection on the current status of BIM implementation in FM with a focus on information exchange and interoperability, (2) research trends and patterns and (3) research gaps and a future agenda in this area. Through a bibliometric and content review analysis, this paper concludes that the process of information exchange between BIM models and FM systems is not a straightforward process, as software interoperability remains a significant challenge. Bridging this gap requires standardized practical processes to integrate different information sources related to maintenance management, health & safety management tasks and BIM data, to provide a rich semantic database to support FM systems. Finally, it is hoped that this paper will advocate further developing a seamless information exchange process between BIM and FM systems to overcome interoperability issues and facilitate BIM implementation in FM.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to address challenges in the current information exchange process between building information modelling (BIM) and facilities management (FM) systems and to propose a workable solution. This study's objective is to identify the information exchange requirements and to develop methods for seamless information flow between building information models and FM systems. Design/methodology/approach Data collection and analysis was based on an extensive literature review of similar studies followed by a questionnaire survey with a total of 112 participants and 2 focus groups with a total of 12 participants to validate the conceptual framework. The outputs of the survey analysis formed the background of the proposed framework to streamline information exchange process between building information models and FM systems. Findings The study findings form a foundation for enabling the integration of various data sources including building information models. Such integrated platforms will enable automated information exchange between the various data sources and FM systems. The study also provides key information requirements sources to complement the existing construction operations building information exchange information and to support standardization for information exchange process. Originality/value The contribution of this study is the identification of information exchange requirements and sources to enable seamless information flow between BIM and FM systems. The study findings will also lay the basis for research studies using the developed framework context to enable the identification of specific data outputs for FM systems inputs.

Blue-green infrastructure for storm water management in the UK is considered to be part of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS). Design guidance recommends that source control and treatment trains are embedded within developments. This means that residents live next to SuDS performing functions such as infiltration, conveyance and storage. In addition to hydraulic attenuation, SuDS can provide benefits such as water quality improvement, wildlife habitat and amenity. However, economic pressure to maximise development opportunity means that designs do not always maximise these benefits. Therefore, residents' perceptions of the benefits and problems of living with SuDS are important as these may affect residential property values and willingness to pay management fees, which could justify high quality designs that deliver multiple benefits. This study aimed to investigate these issues through a survey of residents living with SuDS across six housing developments in England, 406/2916 responses were collected. The developments had good quality SuDS, with an established residential population and active housing market. The residents had varied levels of awareness of the presence and function of SuDS. Generally, residents liked the wildlife and green space but this was tempered with concerns over pests (rats and mosquitoes) and litter. Maintenance of SuDS was also an issue and at three sites residents were charged management fees which were not well understood and caused concern. The majority of residents were unwilling to contribute more to maintenance. Most residents and local estate agents did not perceive that SuDS increased property values. Raising awareness of the benefits of SuDS may lead to greater acceptance by residents and encourage developers to include them in developments, which could contribute to overcoming one of the barriers to wider implementation.

Smart metering of domestic energy use allows consumer feedback through in-home displays (IHDs), websites or smart phone apps. Research has illustrated the need for additional ‘sense-making’ information to help households make informed energy-related decisions. This study investigates how household members respond when energy consumption data is integrated with information on indoor environmental conditions (IECs) and coupled with advice on energy saving actions. An integrated system of energy meters and IEC sensors was trialled in 19 predominantly social housing properties in the Midlands (England). Households were provided with a tablet computer and feedback was provided via a dedicated ‘Energy Dashboard’ web-based software application (app). The app was designed in collaboration with the social housing provider to display electricity and gas consumption data as well as data on three IECs: relative humidity, carbon dioxide and temperature. This paper draws on the findings from two rounds of semi-structured interviews with participants. All respondents using the app reported that they made use of the IEC data within the sense-making process, finding temperature and humidity to be useful in linking energy consumption, activities and household conditions. Interpretation of IEC data tended to increase with time as understanding increased. However, different users ‘noticed’, ‘interpreted’ and ‘enacted’ information differently as they integrated this with other sources of information, such as feedback from household members and experiential knowledge. The findings suggest that, whilst incorporating greater contextual information, such as IECs, into feedback displays can help users make sense of domestic energy consumption, the outcomes of the sense-making process will be different for different households. Nevertheless, the provision of such information appears to support householders to make decisions about their energy management that they feel appropriate for their household’s wellbeing needs, within the bounds of their agency.

The Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) in integration with Building Information Modelling/Management (BIM) is an optimal approach for delivering construction projects. This is, however fraught with complications, due to the inability of current cost management practices to determine fair risk/reward ratio in IPD arrangements. Previous research has established the advantages of Earned Value Management-based (EVM) method for risk/reward sharing, as well as, how Activity Based Costing (ABC) method can facilitate automating the sharing process. This study proposes an innovative approach to exploit the capabilities of these techniques coupled with BIM in automating/optimising the process of IPD risk/reward sharing. This includes providing mathematical equations for risk/reward sharing and developing a model that strengthens IPD parties' relationships. The process is enhanced through developing an EVM-Web grid that enables the participants to easily track their costs on computers and mobile devices. To demonstrate the applicability and validity of the proposed model, it is applied on a real-life case and displays promising results in terms of flexibility in allocating risk/reward for varying scenarios.

The current rollout of smart meters for gas and electricity, both in the UK and internationally, will help suppliers to better forecast demand and supply accurate bills to consumers. However, even with an in-home display (IHD), the benefits of a smart meter to a domestic customer are limited by the so-called ‘double invisibility’ of energy [1] and the standardisation of IHD design for an imagined home ‘micro-resource manager’ [2]. Furthermore, low-income households may be limited in the benefits they can reap from such systems; already living within a tight budget, suggestions for further energy-related cost savings may be detrimental to their health and wellbeing. This makes it important that the impact of actions taken to save energy is communicated. This can be done using indoor environmental measures, including carbon dioxide, relative humidity and temperature, as part of an integrated meter and sensor system (IMSS) and an associated IHD or digital application. Such a system gives users the ability to make informed decisions about their energy use and indoor environmental health. This paper explores the potential barriers to implementing an IMSS in practice. It explains how an IMSS was designed, based on a review of meter and sensor systems; details the process is taken to trial the IMSS in 19 social housing properties in the English Midlands; and makes recommendations for a larger scale rollout of IMSSs. The paper also reviews current progress in cloud storage and security as relevant to IMSSs and smart metering.

Competing relationships and a lack of collaboration are common in the construction industry. Consequently, many reasons, such as lack of trust, unfair risk sharing and ineffective communication, are highlighted by actors as challenges in the construction sector. Collaboration has been demonstrated as a solution for these challenges for the construction industry. However, collaborative environments are still far from effective in emerging economies with a lack of research and information available for such countries. We have used the Kurdistan region of Iraq to investigate and explore these challenges using systematic enquiry, utilizing quantitative and qualitative methods. This article aims to explore these challenges, by reviewing past literature and investigating construction practices to better quantify those factors that underlie collaboration. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify the most critical factors. Then, a questionnaire was used to survey the opinions of practitioners, analysed through exploratory factor analysis. Six factors were identified: project vision, participant behaviour, communication, relationship definition, contractual agreements and systematic process. Additionally, the paper provides suggestions as to how industry might apply such factors. This article contributes to a scarce literature regarding construction projects in Kurdistan region and emerging economies in general.

Despite the fact that the value of extending Building Information Modeling (BIM) implementation through the operations and maintenance phase is simply to reduce the operations and maintenance costs associated with inadequate interoperability, facilities management information flow is neither automated nor seamless.Facility managers do not normally use BIM models data, since they claim that BIM models either do not include their information requirements, or contain a huge amount of superfluous data which makes the data exchange process tedious and overwhelming.Construction Operations Building information exchange (COBie) is developed to improve the facility data handover and to support facilities management systems.However, COBie add-in existing applications have their inherent limitation to generate all facilities management required data, particularly spare, resource and job data sheets, in which a manual data entry is still required.Through a series of interviews with industry practitioners, this paper analyses current data exchange practices as well as proposed a conceptual interoperability framework for seamless data exchange between BIM models and facilities management systems.A proposed database information system that automatically generates a rich COBie spreadsheet by linking BIM data models via the Industry Foundation Classes (IFC) model to facilities management information provided by various sources.The proposed framework supplements the existing body of knowledge in facilities management domain by providing a system that facilitates seamless data transfer between BIM and facilities management systems.Facilities management organisations and owners can use this approach to decrease the redundant activity of manual data entry and focus their efforts on productive maintenance activities.

This paper describes a study carried out on the office floor of the Land Rover/Ben Ainslie Racing (LR/BAR) Team headquarters building in Portsmouth, UK. The building was recently constructed and has a Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) "Excellent" award/certification. The study examines the physically monitored thermal environment within the office floor of the building, and compares these measurements with both the occupant's perception of comfort regarding the same parameters, and the building management system's (BMS) input and output. The occupants perceptions are quantified by a post occupancy evaluation (POE) carried out by survey/questionnaire. Existing research suggests there is often a "performance gap" between parametric, objectively designed standards for comfort and subjective, user/occupants', experiences of comfort levels. This research suggests that early commitment to sustainable design, coupled with occupants that are knowledgeable of (and engaged in) this ethos, can produce good user experience and comfort levels. However, this appears to be contingent on the building being of low thermal mass, such that, the BMS is responding to something very close to the operative temperatures within the building. In addition to thermal comfort, occupants were questioned on other aspects of their perception of comfort e.g. light quality, air quality etc. The results also demonstrate the importance of seemingly small details to the level of comfort experienced by occupants.

End use energy efficiency and fuel poverty is one of the major issues in the UK social housing sector. It is estimated that about 10% of English households live in fuel poverty. During 2015 UK greenhouse gas emission final figures show that the net CO2 emission was reduced by 4.1% between 2014 and 2015. This shows that the UK is on course to attain its second carbon budget with annual 2013–2015 emissions that are each below the estimated level for the period. However, the housing sector lags with a 4% increase in emissions over the same period. More work needs to be done in this sector. Householders can adopt more efficient energy use approaches and make better lifestyle choices to save money and have a safer environment. This research addresses government priorities to reduce energy demand, meet CO2 reduction targets, and reduce domestic reliance on fossil fuels, offering protection from price risks and fuel poverty as well as providing more affordable and comfortable domestic environments. The proposed research paper deals with novel interaction methods on energy use in social housing and how the aforesaid issues can be reflected on. A detailed background study on existing interaction methods and ongoing development of a serious game trialled in 19 households has been carried out. It has been noted that displaying real-time utility use and indoor environmental conditions to householders increased awareness and impacted how energy is being consumed. Furthermore, the proposed paper will investigate end use energy profile pattern changes due to novel interaction methods.