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Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment
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Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment

A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Environmental Sciences".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 41937

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ruidong Chang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture & Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Interests: sustainable construction; green building information modelling; technology assessment, industry competition and market dynamics of sustainable construction technologies
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Jian Zuo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Architecture & Built Environment, The University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia
Interests: construction and demolition waste recycling; green building; energy policy; stakeholder engagement; competitiveness; housing quality; smart construction
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Digital transition and sustainability transition are the two major trends happening in the architecture, construction, and engineering (AEC) industry worldwide. On one hand, the Industry 4.0 movement is revolutionizing the AEC industry, which is being digitalized rapidly at both the project and regional level. For instance, building information modeling (BIM) and the geographical information system (GIS) have been increasingly used by practitioners to better design, construct, and operate construction projects. On the other hand, environmental issues such as climate change and depletion of natural resources have put increasing pressure on the AEC industry to adopt more environmentally-friendly technologies and practices in delivering construction projects. The connections between these two transitions, however, have not been deeply investigated by academics. A fundamental question needs to be answered, namely, how can digital technologies such as BIM be used to facilitate a sustainable built environment?

The aim of this Special Issue is to encourage academic thinking and investigation on the linkages between digital technologies and sustainable built environment. Theoretical, simulation, empirical, and experimental studies are all welcomed. Ideally, topics should link at least one area in the digital theme and one area in the sustainability theme to explore the connections between digital engineering and sustainable built environment. Papers that only focus on one area will also be considered if the contribution to body of knowledge is significant. The areas may include, but are not limited to, the following:

text

Dr. Ruidong Chang
Prof. Dr. Jian Zuo
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Applied Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

18 pages, 1371 KiB  
Article
Time Series Visualization and Forecasting from Australian Building and Construction Statistics
by Wei Emma Zhang, Ruidong Chang, Minhao Zhu and Jian Zuo
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2420; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app12052420 - 25 Feb 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1600
Abstract
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) regularly releases statistical information, for the whole of Australia, for public access. Building- and construction-related statistics are important to reflect the status of this pillar industry of Australia and help researchers, practitioners, and investors with decision-making. Due [...] Read more.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) regularly releases statistical information, for the whole of Australia, for public access. Building- and construction-related statistics are important to reflect the status of this pillar industry of Australia and help researchers, practitioners, and investors with decision-making. Due to complex retrieval hierarchy of ABS’s website and irregular update frequency, it is usually time-consuming to find relevant information. Moreover, browsing the raw data from ABS’s webpages could not provide the insights to the future. In this work, we applied techniques from computer science to help users in the building and construction domain to better explore the ABS statistics and forecast the future trends. Specifically, we built an integrated Web application that could help collect, sort, and visualize the ABS statistics in a user-friendly and customized way. Our Web application is publicly accessible. We further injected our insights into the Web application, based on the existing data by providing online forecasting on user’s interested information. To achieve this, we identified a series of related economic factors as features and adjusted a multi-variant, LSTM-based time series forecasting model by considering the most informative factors. We also compared our approach with the most widely used SARIMA-based forecasting model to show the effectiveness of the deep learning-based models. The forecast values are depicted at the end of the time series plots, selected by the users. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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21 pages, 3648 KiB  
Article
Scheduling Optimization of Prefabricated Construction Projects by Genetic Algorithm
by Linlin Xie, Yajiao Chen and Ruidong Chang
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(12), 5531; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11125531 - 15 Jun 2021
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 4662
Abstract
Prefabricated buildings are the direction of the future development of the construction industry and have received widespread attention. The effective execution of prefabricated construction project scheduling should consider resource constraints and the supply arrangement of prefabricated components. However, the traditional construction resource-constrained project [...] Read more.
Prefabricated buildings are the direction of the future development of the construction industry and have received widespread attention. The effective execution of prefabricated construction project scheduling should consider resource constraints and the supply arrangement of prefabricated components. However, the traditional construction resource-constrained project scheduling implementation method cannot simultaneously consider the characteristics of the linkage between component production and on-site assembly construction. It cannot also fully adapt to the scheduling implementation method of the prefabricated construction projects. It is difficult to work out a reasonable project schedule and resource allocation table. In order to determine the relevant schedule parameters that can reflect the actual construction situation of the prefabricated building and meet the scheduling requirements of the prefabricated project, this study proposes a prefabricated construction project scheduling model that considers project resource constraints and prefabricated component supply constraints. Additionally, it improves the design of traditional genetic algorithms (GAs). Research results of the experimental calculation and engineering application show that the proposed project scheduling optimization model and GA are effective and practical, which can help project managers in effectively formulating prefabricated construction project scheduling plans, reasonably allocating resources, reducing completion time, and improving project performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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19 pages, 1486 KiB  
Article
An ISM-Based Methodology for Interrelationships of Critical Success Factors for Construction Projects in Ecologically Fragile Regions: Take Korla, China as an Example
by Zheng He and Huihua Chen
Appl. Sci. 2021, 11(10), 4668; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app11104668 - 19 May 2021
Cited by 14 | Viewed by 2687
Abstract
Construction activities taken place in ecologically fragile regions (EFRs) of China are facing a series of environmental obstacles. Studying critical success factors (CSFs) to arrive at the sustainable objectives for construction project in EFRs is needed. Understanding the interrelationships of these CSFs is [...] Read more.
Construction activities taken place in ecologically fragile regions (EFRs) of China are facing a series of environmental obstacles. Studying critical success factors (CSFs) to arrive at the sustainable objectives for construction project in EFRs is needed. Understanding the interrelationships of these CSFs is one of the vital ways to achieve this. This paper identifies and analyzes 18 CSFs for construction projects in EFRs through a literature review from a multi-perspective and a case study of Korla City in China. The causal relationship between each CSF is obtained by pairwise comparisons and thereafter, an ISM (Interpretative Structural Modeling) method is employed to study the hierarchical structuring of the CSFs. As a result, we established a five-level ISM. Subsequently, an MICMAC (cross-impact matrix multiplication applied to classification) approach is implemented to partition and classify each CSF into four quadrants (independent, linkage, autonomous, and dependent) according to their driver and dependence powers. Through the implementation of an MICMAC approach, the degrees of relationship between each CSF is gained. The findings reveal that the studied 18 CSFs have a strong hierarchy and interrelationship. The project manager’s leadership style and economic viability are the root source of project success and has the highest influence, which is supported by the result of MICMAC analysis. CSF planning and implementation of sustainable strategies are more dependent and are influenced by others. The CSFs on the top level of ISM: conflict resolution, planning and implementation of sustainable strategies and resources of water play a significant role in arriving at the project success, and has a great potential for future study. The approaches implemented in this paper can be helpful for decision-makers and managers of construction projects in comprehending the interrelationships and the degrees of CSFs for construction projects in EFRs and for efficiently achieving the project success. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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17 pages, 265 KiB  
Article
Comparing the Psychosocial Safety Climate between Megaprojects and Non-Megaprojects: Evidence from China
by Linlin Xie, Guixin Lin, Carol Hon, Bo Xia and Martin Skitmore
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(24), 8809; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10248809 - 09 Dec 2020
Cited by 8 | Viewed by 2025
Abstract
Compared to non-megaprojects, megaprojects are often more complex and riskier, and construction employees are thus susceptible to a higher level of psychosocial hazards, which adversely affect their psychosocial health and safety performance. The psychosocial safety climate evaluates the employees’ perceived level of psychosocial [...] Read more.
Compared to non-megaprojects, megaprojects are often more complex and riskier, and construction employees are thus susceptible to a higher level of psychosocial hazards, which adversely affect their psychosocial health and safety performance. The psychosocial safety climate evaluates the employees’ perceived level of psychosocial health and safety of the workplace and reveals the causes of psychosocial hazards that need to be addressed; it is, therefore, of great significance to determine whether the psychosocial safety climate (PSC) of megaprojects is different from that of non-megaprojects. A questionnaire survey is described involving 10 megaprojects and 143 non-megaprojects in China. The results show that, contrary to expectations, the psychosocial safety climate of megaprojects is significantly better than that of non-megaprojects. Compared with those of non-megaprojects, the employees of megaprojects have a higher common perception of the organization’s emphasis on psychosocial health and safety-related policies, procedures, and behavioral practices in work processes. This research, for the first time, demonstrates and tests the use of the psychosocial safety climate scale (PSC-12) for measuring the construction industry’s PSC, provides insights for understanding the psychosocial safety climate of megaprojects, and serves as a reference for organizational management to intervene in employees’ psychosocial health and correct unsafe behaviors. It also contributes to theoretical research and the measurement standards of psychological safety in megaprojects. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
21 pages, 8854 KiB  
Article
Improving Tolerance Control on Modular Construction Project with 3D Laser Scanning and BIM: A Case Study of Removable Floodwall Project
by Huimin Li, Chengyi Zhang, Siyuan Song, Sevilay Demirkesen and Ruidong Chang
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(23), 8680; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10238680 - 04 Dec 2020
Cited by 36 | Viewed by 5954
Abstract
Quality control is essential to a successful modular construction project and should be enhanced throughout the project from design to construction and installation. The current methods for analyzing the assembly quality of a removable floodwall heavily rely on manual inspection and contact-type measurements, [...] Read more.
Quality control is essential to a successful modular construction project and should be enhanced throughout the project from design to construction and installation. The current methods for analyzing the assembly quality of a removable floodwall heavily rely on manual inspection and contact-type measurements, which are time-consuming and costly. This study presents a systematic and practical approach to improve quality control of the prefabricated modular construction projects by integrating building information modeling (BIM) with three-dimensional (3D) laser scanning technology. The study starts with a thorough literature review of current quality control methods in modular construction. Firstly, the critical quality control procedure for the modular construction structure and components should be identified. Secondly, the dimensions of the structure and components in a BIM model is considered as quality tolerance control benchmarking. Thirdly, the point cloud data is captured with 3D laser scanning, which is used to create the as-built model for the constructed structure. Fourthly, data analysis and field validation are carried out by matching the point cloud data with the as-built model and the BIM model. Finally, the study employs the data of a removable floodwall project to validate the level of technical feasibility and accuracy of the presented methods. This method improved the efficiency and accuracy of modular construction quality control. It established a preliminary foundation for using BIM and laser scanning to conduct quality control in removable floodwall installation. The results indicated that the proposed integration of BIM and 3D laser scanning has great potential to improve the quality control of a modular construction project. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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18 pages, 1431 KiB  
Article
IoT-Based Intelligent Construction System for Prefabricated Buildings: Study of Operating Mechanism and Implementation in China
by Xuetong Wang, Shuiling Wang, Xiangnan Song and Yilong Han
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(18), 6311; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10186311 - 10 Sep 2020
Cited by 26 | Viewed by 5135
Abstract
At present, the low degree of informatization in the construction industry chain is one of the prominent problems impeding the application efficiency of prefabrication. To break through the bottleneck of information integration and interaction in the construction process of prefabricated buildings, this paper [...] Read more.
At present, the low degree of informatization in the construction industry chain is one of the prominent problems impeding the application efficiency of prefabrication. To break through the bottleneck of information integration and interaction in the construction process of prefabricated buildings, this paper proposes a conceptual framework of an Intelligent Construction System for Prefabricated Buildings based on the Internet of Things (ICSPB-IoT) according to the needs of government supervision departments, contractors and owners. Then this paper describes the formation of the “information network” from “information flow”, based on which the operating mechanism of the ICSPB-IoT is discussed using the method of system engineering analysis. Finally, the proposed ICSPB-IoT is graded into different implementation levels according to the degree of intelligence of the Internet of Things information, and the implementation path is proposed for construction enterprises with different levels of digitalization. The results show that the ICSPB-IoT provides cross-phase, cross-organizational information interaction for government supervision departments, contractors and owners to improve the efficiency of communication and collaboration between them. This paper also provides decision-making support for the design, layout and implementation of the Internet of Things for prefabrication construction enterprises. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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14 pages, 3481 KiB  
Article
CO2 Emission Calculation Method during Construction Process for Developing BIM-Based Performance Evaluation System
by Hongwei Sun and Yeongmog Park
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(16), 5587; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10165587 - 12 Aug 2020
Cited by 19 | Viewed by 10109
Abstract
Nowadays, global warming is a big challenge for human beings; since the Kyoto Protocol became effective, greenhouse gas emissions have been an important environmental evaluation index in all industries. Construction is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gas emissions in [...] Read more.
Nowadays, global warming is a big challenge for human beings; since the Kyoto Protocol became effective, greenhouse gas emissions have been an important environmental evaluation index in all industries. Construction is a big contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. The greenhouse gas emissions in the construction stage are mainly from the construction materials and the construction activities. The purpose of this paper is to quantitatively calculate the carbon dioxide emissions in the construction process, and provide a method of controlling the CO2 emissions effectively by converting into cost. In this study, the authors selected the tunnel construction as the research object, and chose the primary greenhouse gas-CO2 to estimate emissions. The authors did a research based on BIM (Building Information Modeling) technology, to calculate CO2 emission during the construction process. It considered the CO2 emissions from main materials and equipment. Finally, the authors used the recent carbon emission trading price to convert the CO2 emission into cost, and did the economic analysis. The method proposed in this paper can effectively evaluate the CO2 emissions in the construction process; it has a good reference significance for the selection of low-carbon emission materials in the design process, and it provides a case reference and direction for research of low-carbon equipment. By using the EU emissions trading system, the economic conversion of CO2 emissions will provide an economic evaluation index for the CO2 emissions of tunnel construction activities. Meanwhile, based on the method of this study, a BIM-based automated performance evaluation system could be developed. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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24 pages, 4120 KiB  
Article
Revealing the Impacts of Passive Cooling Techniques on Building Energy Performance: A Residential Case in Hong Kong
by Chuan-Rui Yu, Han-Sen Guo, Qian-Cheng Wang and Rui-Dong Chang
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(12), 4188; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10124188 - 18 Jun 2020
Cited by 33 | Viewed by 4867
Abstract
Environmental concerns and growing energy costs raise the importance of sustainable development and energy conservation. The building sector accounts for a significant portion of total energy consumption. Passive cooling techniques provide a promising and cost-efficient solution to reducing the energy demand of buildings. [...] Read more.
Environmental concerns and growing energy costs raise the importance of sustainable development and energy conservation. The building sector accounts for a significant portion of total energy consumption. Passive cooling techniques provide a promising and cost-efficient solution to reducing the energy demand of buildings. Based on a typical residential case in Hong Kong, this study aims to analyze the integration of various passive cooling techniques on annual and hourly building energy demand with whole building simulation. The results indicate that infiltration and insulation improvement are effective in regard to energy conservation in buildings, while the effectiveness of variations in building orientation, increasing natural ventilation rate, and phase change materials (PCM) are less significant. The findings will be helpful in the passive house standard development in Hong Kong and contribute to the further optimization work to realize both energy efficiency and favorably built environments in residential buildings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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13 pages, 1298 KiB  
Article
A Path-Based Selection Solution Approach for the Low Carbon Vehicle Routing Problem with a Time-Window Constraint
by Xianlong Ge, Xiaobo Ge and Weixin Wang
Appl. Sci. 2020, 10(4), 1489; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/app10041489 - 21 Feb 2020
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1866
Abstract
Due to the gradual improvement of urban traffic network construction and the increasing number of optional paths between any two points, how to optimize a vehicle travel path in a multi-path road network and then improve the efficiency of urban distribution has become [...] Read more.
Due to the gradual improvement of urban traffic network construction and the increasing number of optional paths between any two points, how to optimize a vehicle travel path in a multi-path road network and then improve the efficiency of urban distribution has become a difficult problem for logistics companies. For this purpose, a mixed-integer mathematical programming model with a time window based on multiple paths for urban distribution in a multi-path environment is established and its exact solution solved using software CPLEX. Additionally, in order to test the application and feasibility of the model, simulation experiments were performed on the four parameters of time, distance, cost, and fuel consumption. Furthermore, using Jingdong (JD), the main urban area in Chongqing, as an example, the experimental results reveal that an algorithm that considers the path selection can significantly improve the efficiency of urban distribution in metropolitan areas with complex road structures. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Digital Engineering for a Sustainable Built Environment)
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