INDUSTRIALIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

Since the Brundtland report in 1987 sustainability has been an issue in all parts of the world, and the focus is increasing in these years. The building industry has in the same period also been under heavy pressure to increase productivity in the same pace as other manufacturing industries. An important question is then how well these two highly relevant areas can go hand in hand. By means of comparing the main ideas and drivers behind sustainability and industrialization respectively, common threads, possible synergies and evident barriers put forward in this discussion paper. The main method is a review to track past merits in the two domains and to detect knowledge gaps that has research potential. A strategic research agenda focusing on energy efficient construction management is outlined showing the need for future focus on combining industrialization in construction management with sustainability and energy concerns in construction management.

2014

Consistent with population growth, the demand for various products and services have increased. The necessity of meeting human needs while paying attention to the needs of future generations compels us to introduce and expand the concept of sustainable development in all areas. This concept is based on economic, environmental and social considerations. In recent decades, sustainable construction, as a new approach, is going to meet the basic needs of humanity toward sustainability in the construction industry. Thus, to conduct sustainable construction, the need for more sustainable methods in building systems is necessary. This study has been carried out to clarify ways of improving the implementation of IBS in terms of external macro-environment factors. The external environmental variables that affect the performance of a system consist of: Political, Economic, Social and Technological factors (PEST). Through the evaluation of a system with PEST analysis, its performance can be ex...

The Journal of Engineering Research [TJER], 2020

The Omani construction industry has been recently witnessing a boosted expansion associated with the notable growth in population and economy. In comparison with its neighboring countries, the construction industry in Oman is criticized for the lack of sustainability practices. Recently, the government and professional bodies have taken proactive actions to promote sustainable construction practices. The Industrialized Building Systems (IBS) could play an important role in the Omani’s construction industry in the future due to its environmental, economic, and social benefits. However, the lack of evidence on the contribution of IBS to the Omani’s construction industry suggests that this approach is not yet at top of stakeholder’s agenda. This paper focuses on the potential contribution of IBS on sustainable construction practices in Oman. Through literature review, a comprehensive list of sustainability factors affecting IBS applications in the Omani construction industry was develo...

2011

Malaysian Construction Industry has been urged to use innovative construction technique and to shift from traditional practice of brick and mortar to Industrialized Building System (IBS) construction. IBS is defined as a construction technique in which components are manufactured in a controlled environment (on or off site), transported, positioned and assembled into a structure with minimal additional site works. On the other hand, the issues of sustainability and green construction have been duly highlighted in the Construction Industry Master Plan (2005 -2015) as being of significant importance for the Malaysian construction industry. The Malaysian government is also committed to addressing sustainability issues and meeting its target and obligations in this regard. This paper highlights several aspects of IBS that has the potential of contributing to green construction and sustainability. IBS promotes sustainability from controlled production environment, minimization of waste generation, extensive usage of energy efficient building material, effective logistics and long term economic stability which can contribute to better investment in environment technologies. The Construction Research Institute of Malaysia (CREAM), University of Salford and other research institutes in Malaysia will conduct a collaboration Research and Development (R&D) initiative on green construction and sustainability trough IBS implementation. From this paper, the authors hope to receive feedbacks, comments and recommendations to improve research aims, objectives, expected deliverables and research methodology.

Abstract The concept of “Sustainability” defined for the first time by Brudland Report which is published in 1989 by United Nations of the World Commission on Environment and Development has been placed in the center of several studies and practices. Adaptation of environment and energy policies supporting economic development not threatening natural life, in international community makes states, establishments, institutions and business world and non-governmental organizations and other stakeholders force to act at this way. Eco-friendly and smart buildings are the result of sustainable environment policies in construction sector which is widely responsible for consumption of natural resources and for environment pollution. Sustainable constructions called smart buildings or green buildings are hi-tech buildings with their control and automation systems. For this kind of building design, stakeholders such as architects, engineers, landscape architects, product manufacturers, energy consultants, project managers, building users, and local administrators are working together. The identification of potential threats and opportunities by following these technologies, the selection of appropriate technological capabilities for the company and industry, the acquisition of these technologies from internal or external companies and usage of them are required for strategic management of technology. Firms which make investments on research and development acts (R&D) in the construction industry of the future in the world by using strategic technology management and which can make its power sustainable to compete in the global market will be able to find a place for themselves in the market.

Asian Journal of Behavioural Studies

This paper aimed to determine the economic attributes related to the sustainability of Malaysian construction. The method for data collection is questionnaire survey, which collected from 50 respondents. The results showed that there are many momentous economical attributes identified, which are IBS offers long-term monitoring mechanism by using Life Cycle Costing in cost development, the thoughts of environmental-related products are always involved a huge financial burden up-front and more speed on Return-on-Investment of a project. Based on information gained, strategies to strengthen and promotes broader adoption of sustainability in IBS construction, in Malaysia was suggestedKeywords: Industrialised Building System (IBS); sustainability; attributeseISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–r...

Construction industry contributes significantly to environmental degradation, and governments in many countries which are endeavouring to address the situation. Malaysia is no exception. This paper examines the path towards green construction project delivery in Malaysia, focusing on current green policies and initiatives by governments. The historical waves in Malaysian approaches to tackling environmental issues are described, starting from the early 20th century, through the 1990s to the present, and the influence of these approaches on construction practices is analysed. Based on the findings of policy review, essential green construction practices aimed at mitigating the adverse effects of construction activities on the environment in Malaysia were identified. This paper paves the way for future studies in construction and sustainability in Malaysia, especially for the Southeast Asian region where sustainability practices are urgently needed.

2015

Housing and building construction is an important principle in sustainable development. The industrialization of building systems has been found to be necessary due to several factors: the fast and continuing progress of today's world, the industrialization of many aspects of modern living, significant population growth, and the inadequacy and incompetence of conventional construction methods particularly in dense housing situations. This paper investigates the relevance of these factors as the drivers for changing people's habits and perspectives toward building construction and to justify the introduction of industrialized construction approaches to replace the outdated conventional methods as well as the necessity to provide training in order to achieve product quality.

Sustainability Today, 2011

The adoption of sustainable construction and green buildings has become an important issue in Malaysia in recent years and has been duly highlighted under the Malaysian Construction Industry Master Plan (2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014)(2015). This paper highlights current initiatives taken by the government and private sectors in Malaysia to encourage the adoption of sustainable development and green buildings. Leads by the Construction Industry Development Board Malaysia (CIDB), the government of Malaysia has establishment a technical committee and eco-label task force to create guideline for good practices in sustainable construction and green buildings and to develop eco-label accreditation scheme for construction materials. The challenges of the adoption are lack of skill and capacity, overlapping of roles among the government agencies, slow industry follows through on government programs, lack of research and innovation, and cost versus benefits in term of implementation of green technology. Finally, the way forward to accelerate the adoption are to establish green public procurement, to encourage Research and Development (R&D) in related field, to educate and change public perception and mindset, to adopt life cycle costing and Industrialised Building System (IBS) method of construction and to provide legislative and financial framework for sustainable development and green building.

Considering the increasing concerns for the consideration of sustainability issues in construction project delivery within the construction industry, this paper assesses the extent of sustainable construction among Malaysian large contractors, in order to ascertain the level of the industry’s impacts on both the environment and the society. Sustainable construction explains the construction industry’s responsibility to efficiently utilise the finite resources while also reducing construction impacts on both humans and the environment throughout the phases of construction. This study used proportionate stratified random sampling to conduct a field study with a sample of 172 contractors out of the 708 administered questionnaires. Data were collected from large contractors in the eleven states of peninsular Malaysia. Using the five-level rating scale (which include: 1= Very Low; 2= Low; 3= Moderate; 4= High; 5= Very High) to describe the level of sustainable construction of Malaysian contractors based on previous studies, statistical analysis reveals that environmental, social and economic sustainability of Malaysian large contractors are high.