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Sustainability
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Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management
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Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2021) | Viewed by 23459

Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Leonas Ustinovichius

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Construction Management and Real Estate, Laboratory of Operational Research, Research Institute of Sustainable Construction, Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, LT-10223 Vilnius, Lithuania
Interests: multi-criteria decision-making; operations research; decision support systems; multiple-criteria optimization in construction technology and management; statinio informacinis modeliavimas (BIM)
Prof. Czeslaw Miedzialowski

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geotechnics and Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering, Bialystok University of Technology, PL-15351 Bialystok, Poland
Interests: numerical modeling construction of concrete buildings, with regard to the interaction with the environment; modeling frameworks wooden buildings; the effect of time on the condition and operation of buildings static; leader of wooden house construction technology and scientific works; building information modeling (BIM)
Dr. Romuald Szelag

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Geotechnics and Structural Mechanics, Faculty of Civil Engineering and Environmental Engineering, Bialystok University of Technology, PL-15351 Bialystok, Poland
Interests: numerical methods in engineering design; analysis of the structures in terms of durability; non-static impacts; building information modeling (BIM)

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability requires more effective construction projects and construction management. To achieve this aim, the use of building information models and effective decision support systems is needed. The use of building information models is indeed one of the most advanced construction technologies, which has been shown by a number of studies to have many benefits when applied in the construction industry. Many project-related problems, especially delays, are caused by the improper practice of beginning construction after signing the contract without proper analysis of the customer’s demands and the current state of the construction site and without planning the schedule for resource delivery, construction operations, or even the budget. During the preparation for construction, all possible solutions, all issues relating to the labor force, and all the materials used should be carefully considered and planned, and project estimates should be made. Thorough analysis during the preparation stage is often not performed due to lack of data on the current situation or the planned solutions, the complexity of calculating the amount of equipment and storage space needed, and lack of time to analyze all possible effective solutions.

Models that can accommodate extensive building information are the most advanced technology in the construction industry. The problem that currently needs to be addressed is the creation of effective mathematical models and algorithms. This would allow for the improvement of the effectiveness and efficiency of construction projects. Therefore, automated solution generation for real construction sites is needed. This would ensure the choice of the most optimal solutions, the calculation of needed construction elements (machinery and equipment), and the selection and positioning of storage areas, roads, fences, and temporary communication facilities in a construction site.

This Special Issue invites papers that focus on sustainable construction projects and all aspects of construction management. Other topics of interest include building information models and the effective use of decision support systems, as well as the development of promising mathematical models and algorithms. Papers dealing with methods used in forecasting research for innovative solutions are also welcome.

Prof. Dr. Leonas Ustinovichius
Prof. Czeslaw Miedzialowski
Dr. Romuald Szelag
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. Sustainability 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.

Keywords

  • Building design
  • Building information modeling (BIM)
  • Construction processes
  • Construction management
  • Information technologies
  • Multiple-criteria problem solution models
  • Foresight studies
  • Risk management
  • Computer-aided problem solutions
  • Research and development

Published Papers (7 papers)

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Research

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16 pages, 406 KiB  
Article
Fuzzy TOPSIS Application to Rank Determinants of Employee Retention in Construction Companies: South Korean Case
by Chol-Jung Park, Soo-Yong Kim and Minh V. Nguyen
Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 5787; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su13115787 - 21 May 2021
Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2508
Abstract
Employee retention is becoming a major concern in organizational management. To maintain business’ competitive advantages, companies need to keep employees working for their organizations. Thus, many firms are trying to find out how to retain their employees. This study aims to investigate determinants [...] Read more.
Employee retention is becoming a major concern in organizational management. To maintain business’ competitive advantages, companies need to keep employees working for their organizations. Thus, many firms are trying to find out how to retain their employees. This study aims to investigate determinants of employee retention of South Korean construction employees. From the review of the literature and discussions with industrial practitioners, eight significant determinants affecting employee retention in South Korean construction firms are identified. The fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) is employed to prioritize the identified determinants. The fuzzy TOPSIS analysis shows that personal characteristics, personal development, promotion opportunities, and work-life balance are the four most critical determinants. Construction firms are suggested to focus on these determinants to improve employee retention rates within their companies and achieve sustainable development. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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14 pages, 39394 KiB  
Article
Cash-Flow Schedules Optimization within Life Cycle Costing (LCC)
by Jerzy Rosłon, Mariola Książek-Nowak, Paweł Nowak and Jacek Zawistowski
Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 8201; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12198201 - 05 Oct 2020
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 2487
Abstract
Investment and construction plans, architectural and construction decisions, and spatial and technology-related decisions made at the early stages of a project have a significant impact on meeting the investment goals and customer expectations. Decision making is a very time-consuming and complicated process (due [...] Read more.
Investment and construction plans, architectural and construction decisions, and spatial and technology-related decisions made at the early stages of a project have a significant impact on meeting the investment goals and customer expectations. Decision making is a very time-consuming and complicated process (due to the complexity of construction processes). The whole difficulty comes to specifying the appropriate criteria for assessing the given activities, providing answers to the questions of the decision-making bodies. A set of appropriate criteria and mathematical tools (such as computer algorithms with multi-criteria analysis) can significantly improve and accelerate the decision-making process. This article combines ESORD (an IT tool that allows you to compare different types of solutions based on mathematical calculations) with the Monte Carlo method. The developed approach can help the investor to optimize their cash-flow schedule. The original method enables the client to select a construction project variant characterized by the best economical and sustainable parameters, while taking into account customers’ demands. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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20 pages, 1629 KiB  
Article
Schedules Optimization with the Use of Value Engineering and NPV Maximization
by Jerzy Rosłon, Mariola Książek-Nowak and Paweł Nowak
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7454; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12187454 - 10 Sep 2020
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 3019
Abstract
Construction program, spatial, architectural, and structural decisions taken in the early stages of a project have a significant impact on meeting the goals and needs of the client. The use of principles and methods of value management allows for an in-depth analysis of [...] Read more.
Construction program, spatial, architectural, and structural decisions taken in the early stages of a project have a significant impact on meeting the goals and needs of the client. The use of principles and methods of value management allows for an in-depth analysis of the project assumptions from the investor’s perspective and leads to the best ratio of the project’s utility value/sustainability to the price of its implementation. However, analysis of literature sources allows to state that optimization of the economic value of the project takes place only in the preimplementation phase of the project. This paper presents the original concept of combining issues of construction project’s utility and economic value optimization. The model enables the maximization of the utility value of the subject of the project, taking into account its economic parameters. To support the implementation of the model, a schedule optimization procedure was developed using metaheuristic algorithm. The model was demonstrated on the basis of a case study. The presented proprietary approach to optimize the construction schedule taking into account the economic and sustainability of a construction project can be used in “design and build” projects, with particular emphasis on projects managed in the sustainable Project Management system. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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17 pages, 3398 KiB  
Article
Development of a Pragmatic IT Concept for a Construction Company
by Klaus Böde, Agata Różycka and Paweł Nowak
Sustainability 2020, 12(17), 7142; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12177142 - 01 Sep 2020
Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2945
Abstract
The paper focuses on developing a comprehensive and pragmatic IT strategy for low-margin construction activities, which forms part of the realignment of the general business strategy and on refocusing the operational model. The main elements of the IT strategy formation are analysis of [...] Read more.
The paper focuses on developing a comprehensive and pragmatic IT strategy for low-margin construction activities, which forms part of the realignment of the general business strategy and on refocusing the operational model. The main elements of the IT strategy formation are analysis of the current IT environment in terms of software and hardware, carrying out a gap analysis, and developing individual functional digitalization strategies in construction execution based on BIM (Building Information Modeling), business administration processes, communication, business intelligence (BI) and reporting, and data security. Further, a large emphasis is given to the sustainable strategy implementation in terms of hardware and software readjustments, their integration, user trainings, and defining the way forward. Research methodology and initial, chosen results of an extended questionnaire and construction company staff interviews are presented. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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21 pages, 3560 KiB  
Article
Decision Simulation of Construction Project Delivery System under the Sustainable Construction Project Management
by Ji-Wei Zhu, Li-Nan Zhou, Liang Li and Wajhat Ali
Sustainability 2020, 12(6), 2202; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12062202 - 12 Mar 2020
Cited by 16 | Viewed by 3722
Abstract
Choosing an appropriate project delivery system (PDS) directly affects the achievement of performance goals, and at the same time it is of great significance for sustainable construction project management (SCPM). This paper took the PDS of construction engineering as the research object, took [...] Read more.
Choosing an appropriate project delivery system (PDS) directly affects the achievement of performance goals, and at the same time it is of great significance for sustainable construction project management (SCPM). This paper took the PDS of construction engineering as the research object, took the Design-Build (DB) and the Design-Bid-Build (DBB) as examples, and established the indicator system for determinants of the PDS decision. Based on Multi-Agent Systems (MAS), a decision-making simulation model of the PDS decision was constructed, and this paper analyzed the influence of the project attribute characteristics, policy and market environment, owner ability and preference, and contractor technology and capabilities of the PDS decision. While analyzing the circumstances under which the owners tend to choose DB or DBB, the following conclusions were reached: (1) the contractor technology and capabilities increase faster in DB than in DBB. (2) The PDS with policy and market environment preferences has an advantage in the PDS decision, and the owners are more willing to choose the PDS which was selected previously. (3) The competition mechanism in the construction market will eliminate contractors whose growth rate is too low to meet the needs of projects in the market. The research provides theoretical references for the scientific decision-making of construction enterprises. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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Review

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16 pages, 2210 KiB  
Review
A Scientometric Review of System Dynamics Applications in Construction Management Research
by Zezhou Wu, Kaijie Yang, Xiaofan Lai and Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari
Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7474; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12187474 - 11 Sep 2020
Cited by 31 | Viewed by 3820
Abstract
Construction management can be regarded as a complex and dynamic system. In recent years, system dynamics (SD) has been widely applied to solve the complex and dynamic problems in the construction management. However, there is a lack of a scientometric analysis to investigate [...] Read more.
Construction management can be regarded as a complex and dynamic system. In recent years, system dynamics (SD) has been widely applied to solve the complex and dynamic problems in the construction management. However, there is a lack of a scientometric analysis to investigate SD applications in construction management from an objective perspective. To fill out this research gap, this study retrieved a total of 222 relevant articles from the Scopus database. Then, VOSviewer was employed to analyze the collected literature from five aspects (i.e., co-authorship, published journals, co-occurring keywords, article citations, and regions). Based on the analysis results, four mainstream research themes were identified and discussed, including “risk management”, “waste management”, “energy management”, and “construction productivity”. In addition, future research directions, such as “construction risk allocation in PPP projects”, “evaluating the economic feasibility of construction waste landfilling centers”, “identifying the variables affecting lighting infrastructure energy consumption”, and “assessing construction productivity for technology-intensive activities”, were proposed. The contribution of this study lies in that it helps both scholars and practitioners to solve the complex and dynamic problems in construction management. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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Other

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23 pages, 3027 KiB  
Concept Paper
Quality as Driver for Sustainable Construction—Holistic Quality Model and Assessment
by Li Zhang, Laura Balangé, Kathrin Braun, Roberta Di Bari, Rafael Horn, Deniz Hos, Cordula Kropp, Philip Leistner and Volker Schwieger
Sustainability 2020, 12(19), 7847; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/su12197847 - 23 Sep 2020
Cited by 13 | Viewed by 3887
Abstract
Facing rising building demands due to a fast-growing world population and significant environmental challenges at the same time, the building sector urgently requires innovation. The Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture at the University of Stuttgart tackles these challenges [...] Read more.
Facing rising building demands due to a fast-growing world population and significant environmental challenges at the same time, the building sector urgently requires innovation. The Cluster of Excellence Integrative Computational Design and Construction for Architecture at the University of Stuttgart tackles these challenges through a Co-Design approach for integrating computational design and engineering and robotic construction. Within this research framework, a Holistic Quality Model is developed to ensure the technical, environmental, and social quality of Co-Design processes and products. Up to now, quality models that consider and integrate all these three aspects throughout the life cycle of buildings are still missing. The article outlines the concept of holistic quality assessment based on a Holistic Quality Model for sustainable construction. A key mechanism for sustainable quality assessment in the Holistic Quality Model is the definition of control and decision points in the construction process where critical decisions are made that will affect the quality of the building throughout its entire life-cycle. Firstly, subject-specific quality concepts are defined and their interrelations are conceptualized. Subsequently, these interrelations and their effects on the overall Co-Design construction processes and products are explained using the example of the semi-robotic production of concrete slabs. Examples for control and decision points are given as well. The outline presented here serves as a basis for further advancing and concretizing the Holistic Quality Model and its applications in Co-Design for a functioning, liveable, and sustainable high-quality construction and building culture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Decision Support System and Sustainable Construction Management)
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