The construction industry has of recent been blamed for lack of innovation. Lack of innovation in the industry is believed to be responsible for the decreasing or stagnant levels of productivity in comparison with other industries. This paper reviews the major barriers and enables to innovation in general. Propositions were made about the factors that affect innovation in the construction industry which were then formulated into a questionnaire. A survey was made on building contractors in Uganda, a developing country, targeting those with financial strength, large in size, and with high capacity to carry out big projects. The identified factors were then ranked and correlated. The level of training in science, engineering and technical education, and the level of research and development at the industry level are looked at as the greatest innovation enablers in building that will drive forward labour productivity. The size of the domestic market and the level of security are the worst innovation barriers that lead to low productivity in the building industry in Uganda. Contractors, policy makers and the government should address the identified factors in order to improve productivity.

Planning and scheduling are considered as one of the most difficult but most important processes from perspectives of project management. These processes involve implementation of a widerange of planning methods used by different organizations with various levels of planning knowledge. The planning methods for scheduling can be classified as traditional methods (e.g. line of balance, Gantt chart and critical path) and modern methods (e.g. last planner and critical chain). Over time these methods had advanced from paper based to computer based. However, some project planners still prefer using the traditional methods despite other new alternatives. Users of those methods have different perspectives about the efficiency and effectiveness of the different planning methods used to manage different projects. Evidences from the secondary data found from extensive literatures have been used to assess the planning and scheduling methods mentioned above. A taxonomy describing each of the method in terms of their theories, key features, application areas, benefits and limitations is presented. The preliminary outcome of this paper may provide a tool to aid organizations in selecting and prioritizing the most appropriate methods to be developed and implemented in planning and scheduling of their projects. It also initializes a theoretical base for more rapid taxonomy studies on the use of different planning and scheduling approaches. As an overall, the present paper reminds practitioners of common ground about its important insights on how such taxonomy studies have potential to make scope of those methods and tools clearer, especially when they compare among them within the same application contexts.

Implementation of BIM in the construction industry relies on sufficient knowledge and skills about BIM in order to gain momentum and success. Thorough understanding of the possibilities as well as challenges related to the application of BIM constitutes essential drivers for the adoption of BIM among all the industry actors throughout the construction process. Thus, there is a need for supply of knowledge and skills about BIM and its implications on the organisation, communication, management, business models etc. in construction. Accordingly, universities play an important role as a knowledge and skills supplier that helps to provide the necessary conditions for the implementation of BIM in the construction industry. This study investigates how the curricula of engineering and architectural teaching programs at Swedish universities and university colleges have responded to the apparent and increasing demand for BIM competences in industry. The study relies on a survey of 10 universities and 8 university colleges that provide engineering and architectural teaching programs at a master’s and/or a bachelor’s level. The findings show that bachelor’s engineering programs at university colleges generally have adopted BIM into the curricula to a somewhat larger extent compared to engineering programs at a master’s level. The BIM-adoption in architectural programs is, however, significantly limited. Further, the degree of BIM-adoption differs significantly between the respective teaching programs. Only few universities have adopted BIM as an integrated subject in courses that deal with general construction related issues. The predominant approach is to implement BIM-subjects as discrete teaching modules, i.e. stand-alone courses, rather than as a cross disciplinary aspect implemented in a number of the existing courses. Besides, a considerate mismatch is identified between the technical characteristics of the BIM curricula at universities and the process-oriented approach to BIM represented by the industry. Thus, the universities would benefit from a closer collaboration with the industry in BIM-related matters and they need to take on a strategic approach to BIM at an overall university or program level in order to avoid isolated BIM initiatives at a single course level.

Recent studies depict the general need to increase and improve innovation in the construction industry. Innovation processes are traditionally described and analysed either on a macro level or a micro level. Production in construction is basically project oriented, as opposed to manufacturing industries for which most of these theories are developed. It is not fully sufficient to study innovation from a micro or a macro level due to the effects of the project orientation and the large number of actors in the construction industry. The objective of this paper is to present a model of the construction innovation systems from a sector systems approach. The study rests upon findings in the area of innovation systems in general and construction innovation systems in particular on one hand and construction sector systems analysis on the other. This paper presents arguments for the development of activity based innovation systems at a construction sector level.

Multi­family houses and service sector premises constitute 80 % of the customer stock in the Swedish district heating systems. The level of future heat use in these buildings will then have a strong influence on the future district heating economy and the cor­ responding investment demand. As a foundation for a planned study of future heat use, we have per­formed an extensive study of the current heat use for large buildings in Sweden. The input information for this study was the anonymous answers to the an­ nual enquiry of energy use in multi­family houses and service sector premises regarding 2006. Answers were available from 11253 buildings having 77.6 million square meters of residential areas and premises. By using scale factors, estimations could be made for the whole country having 310 million square meters of multi­family houses and premi­ ses. Hence, the enquiry sample constituted a large share of the whole building stock.The specific heat use was analysed by distribution, degree­days, construction year, ventila­tion system, performed conservation measures, and co­operation with other heat supply. A separate study was performed concerning high and low heat use buildings. The use of cold for cooling and water were also analysed.The results show that the individual variations are much larger than the systematic explana­tions for the parameters analysed. Just above 10% of the building spaces were high users of heat (above 200 kWh/m2). The average difference between Northern and Southern Sweden was small, implying a small climatic impact in heat use. The time period between 1965 and 1974 containing the national million dwelling program did not show dramatically higher heat use in the construction year analysis. Installed heat recovery in the ventilation gave a reduction in heat use with 11 kWh/m2 for multi­family houses. This small difference im­plies that the recovery efficiencies were only in average 20­30%. However, the heat recov­ery in service sector buildings was in average more efficient: About 50% in recovery effi­ciency. The conclusion from the conservation analysis is that the measures performed dur­ing the 10 years were done by late­comers rather than by early adopters, since the heat uses after measures in general correspond to the average level for all buildings. Out of 34000 heat pumps installed in the buil­ dings, about half of them were installed in buildings con­nected to district heating.But when more the one heat supply exists, district heat supply dominates, especially in multi­family houses.Typical users with high demands were buildings in the Västmanland and Norrbot­ ten coun­ties, fuel users, certain co­use with electricity, municipal premises, and small buildings. Typical users with low demands were buildings in the Halland county, heat pumps (but due to the systematic error of just accounting for the electricity supply to the heat pumps), state­owned buildings, and large buildings.The district heating companies can help their customers by identification of them as users with high, normal or low demands. This can be accomplished by adding infor­ mation about building space surfaces in the customer files. The heat use above the level 150 kWh/m2 was only 13 % for the multi­family houses and 14 % for the premises. Complete elimination of high use of district heat would then only give a limited, but significant reduction of the total district heat supply.

Our 6 major conclusions from the project became: • Individual variations dominate compared to systematic causes considering heatuse in multi­family and service sector buildings. • Some systematic causes were identified. • A demand exists for more local measurements of electricity used for heating, thevolume of water use for hot water. • The district heating companies can help their customers to identify them as high,medium or low users of heat. • On short term, a significant potential exists for lower heat use in the Swedishmulti­family and service sector buildings. • More efficient heat use in building will probably be the most important competi­tor to district heat supply in the future.

This report summarises the work undertaken in the CREDIT project and proposals for how to implement the CREDIT framework. It is the final part of the Nordic/Baltic project CREDIT: Construction and Real Estate – Developing Indicators for Transparency. The report presents the objectives and the research model for CREDIT followed by a summary of the results of CREDIT Reports 2, 3, 4 and 5. The conclusive part of the report presents national recommendations of how to implement the CREDIT framework in the Nordic/Baltic countries Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Estonia and Lithuania.

This thesis concerns the development of a measurement method for determination in the field of the thermal conductivity of the insulation in buried district heating mains.

The thermal conductivity of the insulation is calculated from the measured value of the radial heat flow through the heating main, the measured temperature difference across the insulation, and the dimensions of the heating main. The heat flow has been measured with a heat flux sensor which was fitted to the surface of the casing. The temperature has been measured with copper/constantan thermocouples.

It is a necessary condition for the method used in the project for determination of the thermal conductivity of the heating main insulation that the heating main is uncovered and is not in contact with the surrounding soil over a distance of about 1.5 m and that the measurements are made directly on the heating main. In this way, no account need be taken of the material surrounding the heating main, nor of the effect of this material on the measurements. No interference is needed with the heating main which would affect the distribution of the district heating water, and the heating main can remain in operation during measurements.

Shielding insulation consisting of preformed insulation sections which were placed over the casing of the heating main and covered the heat flux sensor and some of the casing. The function of this insulation was to shield the heat flux sensor from external thermal disturbances. In the field measurements, a copper guard plate of 0.5 mm thickness, the temperature of which could be adjusted, was also placed over the shielding insulation in order to maintain the temperature on the heat flux sensor as constant as possible.

When temperature and heat flow are measured, the instruments used will be affected by conditions which prevail at the time of measurement. It is therefore very important to analyse the sources of error which may arise in the measuring situation at hand.

The effect of these factors on the measured values has been studied by

' laboratory measurements

' theoretical calculations

' field measurements

On the basis of the resulting values of heat flows and temperatures obtained in field measurements on plastic heating mains which were operating under normal conditions, the thermal conductivity of the insulation of the main has been estimated.

The method has been tested on plastic heating mains with directly foamed insulation, since this is the most common type of heating main both in the existing district heating network and in new construction. The measuring method can also be used on other circular heating mains.

This study focuses on the necessity of having knowledge about different energy saving measures when renovations and reconstructions are planned and designed. It is also of great importance to have routines to follow up what effects the actions taken have had on the energy consumption as well as on the indoor climate when the renovation is completed. A big part of the existing buildings in Sweden are built during a ten-year period between 1965 and 1974. When these buildings are to be renovated there is a great potential for energy saving.

This study focuses on the importance to reduce the energy consumption when buildings are reconstructed, in order to decrease the environmental impacts. When reconstructing/renovating buildings it is important that the actions taken result in buildings with both low energy consumption and a good indoor climate. It is also important that all parts involved in the building process are aware of the close relationship between the use of energy in buildings and the indoor climate. This paper describes the actions taken in order to save energy when some buildings built between 1966 and 1970 in Halmstad, Sweden, were renovated/reconstructed, and how these actions have influenced the indoor climate. © Copyright 2013 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

In the IEA Network Supervision project a special method, the Tx-factor method, is investigated. Several other methods exist for in-situ heat loss determination from district heating (DH) pipes. These methods have advantages and disadvantages compared to the Tx-factor method. It is the purpose of this work to make a comparison of the methods on a particular DH pipe. This makes this investigation special as in most previous work only one or very few methods have been applied on the same DH pipe. The purpose of this work was thus to go out to the site and make measurements of the heat loss from the DH pipe at this particular time of the year - an estimate of annual heat losses could then to be made afterwards. The aim of this work being to develop methods for practical applications not very sophisticated tools were used at the experimental site. This means that although very advanced equipment could have been used for determining the centre line and the depth of the DH pipe only measurement sticks, water levels and strings were used. For the same reasons the temperature sensors were installed by using measurement sticks

This report presents some measurements for determining thermal conductivity in different materials, using a single thermistor. This thermal conductivity measurement technique is appropriate for materials like fine-grained soils, gel-like materials such as silicon grease, and insulation materials. To verify the usefulness of this method, additional measurements are needed for several materials with well-known thermal conductivities, especially solid materials with thermal conductivity in the range of 0.5-2.5 W/m C.

The current heat use refers normally to the average heat use in a country or a sector during the course of a year. But it is also important to be aware of the distribution of high to low use when estimating the potential for reducing total heat use.Energy statistical data published in the annual report from Statistics Sweden have been supplemented by a deeper analysis of distribution of heat use and systematic causes regarding high heat use.The aim of this paper is to explain the variation in heat use with respect to construction year, degree days and energy efficiency measures.In the Swedish energy efficiency debate, many voices refer to systematic causes for high heat use. However, the results from this study do not support this opinion, since the use distribution mostly comes from individual causes. The most important implication of the study results is that systematic policy measures will have a low impact on the total national energy efficiency.

Collaborative approaches to infrastructure procurement are increasingly popular around the world due to their potential to provide improved project performance compared with more traditional approaches. The problem is that project outcomes continue to be unpredictable. Previous research has shown that this is the case regardless of whether the chosen procurement approach is based on price or non price selection of the project team. This is a major choice that clients make, but the presented research shows that governance choices for project execution are more important. This is significant because clients tend to focus more on procurement choices and typically do not differentiate governance based on those choices. This needs to change, and the authors show that optimal governance configurations vary on the basis of the chosen type of team configuration. For example, three specific governance arrangements for workshops are highlighted for single teams, and two specific governance arrangements for risk/reward sharing are highlighted for multiple teams. This study identifies governance actions that are associated with superior time and cost outcomes on collaborative infrastructure projects in Australia run by experienced public-sector clients under the two procurement scenarios. Based on a survey of 320 senior managers, independent sample t-tests were conducted to compare the application of governance actions among three distinct groups of projects, based on type of team selection and type of project outcome. The study provides evidence of the most effective approaches to project governance in a country that is a world leader. The results provide much needed recommendations for improved project performance based on large-scale quantitative analysis, which before now has not existed. Overall, the study recommends more attention be paid to noncontractual governance under both approaches to team selection, although the specific actions recommended vary. © 2018 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Earlier research has shown that power relationships at workplaces are constructed by power structures. Processes related to power always influence the working conditions for (in this study in elderly care) the working groups involved. Power structures are central for intersectional analysis, in the sense that the intersectional perspective highlights aspects such as gender and ethnicity (subjective dimensions) and interrelates them to processes of power (objective dimension). This qualitative study aims to explore in what way an intersectional perspective could contribute to increased knowledge of power structures in a nursing home where the employees were mostly immigrants from different countries. By using reflexive dialogues related to an intersectional perspective, new knowledge which contributes to the employeés well-being could develop. Narrative analysis was the method used to conduct this study. Through a multi-stage focus group on six occasions over six months, the staff was engaged in intersectional and critical reflections about power relationship with the researchers, by identifying patterns in their professional activities that could be connected to their subjectivities (gender, ethnicity, etc.). The result of this study presents three themes that express the staffs experiences and connect these experiences to structural discrimination. 1. Intersectionality, knowledge and experiences of professionalism, 2. Intersectionality, knowledge and experiences of collaboration, 3. Intersectionality, knowledge and experiences of discrimination. The result demonstrates that an intersectional perspective reinforces the involved abilities, during the conversations, into being clear about, for example, their experiences of discrimination, and consequently developing a better understanding of their professionalism and collaboration. Such deeper reflections became possible through a process of consciousness-raising, strengthening the employee’s self-confidence, in a positive way. © 2016 M. Cuesta.

There is a strong need for a productive and innovative infrastructure sector because of its monetary value and importance for the development of a sustainable society. An increased level of industrialization is often proposed as a way to improve efficiency and productivity in construction projects. In prior literature on industrialized construction, there are however neither many studies addressing more long-term aspects of innovation and sustainability nor studies within the infrastructure context. Organizational theory suggests that firms need to be ambidextrous and focus on both long-term exploration of new knowledge and Technologies and short-term exploitation of current knowledge and technologies, in order to achieve sustainable development. Therefore, an investigation of how both short-term exploitative performance objectives and long-term explorative development can be addressed when implementing industrialized construction in infrastructure projects was conducted. A case study consisting of four infrastructure projects shows that the main drivers for increased industrialization are of an exploitative nature, focusing on cost savings and increased productivity through more efficient processes. The main barriers to increased industrialization are however related to both explorative and exploitative activities. Hence, by managing the identified barriers and explicitly addressing both exploitation and exploration, industrialized construction can improve both short-term efficiency and long-term innovation and sustainability. © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

The Construction Process Forum was initiated by the Construction Council. The Construction Council is an organisation which supports cooperation between universities and the construction industry. The Construction Process Forum was formed through that chosen key persons were asked to come up with suggestions on how to create a more effective construction process plus how to improve the image of construction. The aim was also to increase the awareness among the participants of Construction Process Forum. This report narrates the result of one years work within the Construction Process Forum. The focus of this first year was the construction site and the changes needed of the construction process to create better conditions for the construction site. The Construction Process Forum ended with the formulation of a plan of action for the development of construction.

In this report a generic model for the capture and assessment of end-user requirements and needs, the CREDIT carpenter model, has been developed. The main determinants of the model is the need for the project organisation (including the facilities management organisation) to ensure a thorough understanding of the end-user requirements and needs as well as an assessment through out the project process. The end-users and the project organisation are often working in two different value chains. This, among other things, means that they may not share a common understanding of the process. Apart from just assessing to what extent the requirements and needs has been achieved it is important to assess the process of accomplishing the desired result. This way it is possible to learn from what has worked well and what has not. There is some variation in what and how it is being assessed depending on what type of building it is. Assessments on housing are more inclined to focus on softer aspects, for example perception etc. In the other cases there are, generally, a more technical perspective. It may be an affect of how knowledgeable the users are. In regard to housing the users have possible less experience of construction and communicating their needs than in the case of offices etc. There is also a notable difference between approaches and interest on what to assess in the different countries. Sweden has a much more soft approach and an ambition of getting as many as possible to understand what is being assessed and for what reasons while Finland has a much more technical and measurable approach. The clients, naturally, play a large part in the construction process, also when it come to capturing and transferring the requirements and needs of the end-users. It is mainly the clients that initiate it. Maybe more surprisingly, they do perform a lot of the work themselves as well. Designers play an important role as do known end-users as well. During the project it is mainly the client that initiates the assessments, but the actors of the project process, designers and producers that perform it. Evaluating the degree of fulfilling the requirements and needs as well as assessing the process to enable learning is again mainly a client action both initiating and performing, the rest of the actors do not engage to any larger degree. The processes from begin of the brief to the end of construction have well developed routines as a part of the project management system. These routines are good enough to successfully fulfil the studied project and the control of the process in order to get internal efficiency in the short run perspective. But there is almost no case that shows any assessment tool that support feedback, the knowledge development and the innovation process which is important in the long-run perspective. The missing feedback is marked in the carpenter model. Found in the study there are two examples of tools that together may to some extent overrun this issue. Building Information Models have the potential of acting as an information carrier within a project, storing all types of information needed for assessing a number of different aspects. The main issue is to get the right information and presenting it in a way suitable for the target group. This is done in the case of Falk in Skanska (in Norway). It is a system gathering and presenting a multitude of KPIs, from a number of different systems, in an easy to understand layout.

Work environment problems associated with reinforcement work at constructions sites are often great and difficult. This applies especially to the ergonomic situation. The situation is particularly difficult in connection with reinforcement in horizontal structural elements such as slabs and foundation slabs on the ground, where several of the most difficult load factors occur. Since about 15 years there is an innovation (rollout bar carpets) available on the Swedish market. This innovation can many times be used at these structural elements and gives both time savings and working environmental benefits. Despite this the innovation has been and is adopted rather seldom. The reasons for this have been studied through semi structured interviews with with design-engineers, site-managers, workers and persons working at a reinforcement manufacturing company. The main results from the study are as follows: i) Rollout bar carpets have a potential of improving both work environment and time consumption on site. However, this may not be enough in itself to achieve a general adoption of the technology. ii) The implementation and adoption of innovations in construction may be more complex than the novelty of the innovation may suggest. This is due to the contextual delimitations of a project-based industry and the different roles in the construction process.

During the last decade there has been intense discussion in Sweden about industrialization in construction. The discussion has focused on industrialization in connection with erection of multi dwelling houses. It has been argued that industrialization is a key factor as regards obtaining affordable high-quality dwellings. During the last ten years some new industrialization concepts have been developed and tested. Even though some concepts have failed others have been more successful and are under further development. Industrialization is a reality within the Swedish construction sector and can be assumed to play an important role in the future as regards obtaining affordable high-quality dwellings. In this paper success factors related to four industrialized building concepts/methods are described and discussed. The review is based on available literature relating to each of the concepts/methods/producers, from which it was possible to ascertain success and failure factors.

The purpose of the study is to describe and analyse, from an innovation diffusion perspective, factors important when using demonstration projects as a tool for introduction of sustainable low cost housing. The study is focused on Ethiopia, a country with big challenges as regards population increase, lack of resources, deforestation, land erosion and a general need for better and sustainable housing, especially in rural areas. The study is furthermore focused on the adobe technology as a more sustainable alternative to the traditional building technology which is very timber consuming. Many attempts have been made to introduce this technology with the use of demonstration buildings. A great part of these attempts have failed, some have been successful. In order to study and discuss important factors in connection with the use of demonstration buildings, a project executed some years ago in southern Ethiopia has been analysed. The study is based on findings collected during and after the erection of these buildings mainly through practical tests, interviews and observations. From a technical point of view this demonstration project was successful. It was possible to develop an appropriate production technology and the result was buildings with a good standard and good function. Experiences up to now indicate a good durability. From an innovation diffusion perspective however the demonstration buildings have not fulfilled their purpose. The impact in the region seems to be very small. The conclusion in the paper is that the reasons behind this failure mainly are: (1) Lack of clear and visible relative advantage in comparison to the traditional building technology. The supply of construction timber in the area in question is still good. (2) Lack of a champion advocating the technology by using the demonstration buildings and thereby giving the message to the society that the technology is valuable and trustworthy. (3) Lack of continuity in the demonstration efforts, as a result of the lack of a champion.

One of many serious problems in Ethiopia today is the rapid pace of deforestation. This accelerates fire-wood shortage and put a high stress on the natural resources including timber for construction. Based on the assumption that low cost housing based on soil is an economically viable and environmentally sound choice, a research programme at Halmstad University was initiated in 2004. This research, aiming at the Kambaata Region in Southern Ethiopia, has focused on the introduction of adobe technology and cement stabilised soil block technology.

A final stage of this research programme is to erect demonstration buildings. Its objective is to demonstrate new building technologies and to use the demonstration buildings as reference objects in studies regarding building technique and attitudes towards these new technologies.

This paper is focused on the role of demonstration projects at the introduction of sustainable low cost housing. As an introductory background some executed demonstration projects are described and their impact is analysed. Against this background, a currently executed demonstration project is described.

As many developing countries, Ethiopia is facing a lot of problems. A high population growth and erosion caused by deforestation can be considered the most serious one. The need for housing is increasing while deforestation causes a lack of sustainable and appropriate timber for construction. A challenge facing the Ethiopian society is thus to give a growing population opportunities to obtain decent, sustainable and affordable housing. One way to achieve this is to use adobe technology, which means that houses are built with sun-dried clay blocks. Used correctly, the adobe technology has many benefits. The main advantages are that the technique is relatively simple, local materials can be used and that timber demand is low. Because of this, the technology also has many advantages from a sustain ability perspective. In Ethiopia, most attempts with the adobe technology have been less successful without lasting impacts. In this paper, the reasons for this are discussed. Six cases where adobe has been used are described an analysed. Many factors have been identified as being important for the diffusion of the technology, i.e., a strong champion, market and risk factors, cultural factors creating stigma and basic training. © 2015 Published by Elsevier B.V.

Detta examensarbete har haft till syfte att undersöka utvecklingen av tryckhållfasthet vid låg

temperatur hos betong med olika innehåll av flygaska. Tryckhållfastheten har bestämts genom

provtryckning av kuber med åldrar upp till 28 dygn. Provningen har utförts på tre delserier;

delserie 1 utan innehåll av flygaska, delserie 2 med 7,5 % och delserie 3 med 15% flygaska räknat

på cementvikten. Kuber från dessa delserier har förvarats under olika temperaturförhållanden;

från lägst ca 7 °C till höst ca 20 °C. Temperaturutvecklingen i representativa kuber har

kontinuerligt registrerats. Tryckhålfastheten har bestäts efter 1 dygn, 2 dygn, 7 dygn och 28

dygn.

Resultaten frå de utföda mäningarna ä i huvudsak föjande: (i) Inblandning av 7,5 % flygaska ger

en reduktion med 8,3 –11 % av hålfastheten vid hädning vid ca 20 °C och vid provning vid olika

åder. Inget klart samband mellan provningsåder och reduktion. (ii) Inblandning av 15 % flygaska

ger en reduktion med 22,1 –24,6 % av hålfastheten vid hädning vid ca 20 °C och vid provning vid

olika åder. Inget klart samband mellan provningsåder och reduktion.

Pågrund av svåigheter att styra temperaturen hos provkropparna påett noggrant sät visade det

sig svåt att dra sära slutsatser avseende inverkan av säkt hädningstemperatur. Föjande kan

dock sköjas i de uppmäta resultaten. (i) Inverkan av reducerad hädningstemperatur minskar

med öande åder. Detta gäler oavsett halten av flygaska. (ii) Lå temperatur i tidigt skede (de 7

fösta dygnen) ger en föhöd sluthålfasthet. Detta gäler oavsett halten av flygaska.

Fö de olika kuberna som provtryckts har den ekvivalenta mognadsådern beränats med hjäp av

uppmäta temperaturer. Detta har gjorts dels med TT-faktormetoden, dels med hjäp av

Ahrreniusfunktionen. Baserat pådetta har teoretiska hålfasthetsutvecklingsfunktioner formulerats

fö de tre serierna. Genom dessa funktioner har inverkan av flygaska och temperatur kunnat

analyseras. Dessa analyser tyder påföjande: (i) En inblandning av 7,5 % flygaska ger en reduktion

av den relativa hålfastheten med 5 –10 %. En minskande temperatur och en minskande åder ger

minskande inverkan. (ii) En inblandning av 15 % flygaska ger en reduktion av den relativa

hålfastheten med ca 20 %. Detta gäler oavsett åder och temperaturnivå

Whilst Building Information Modelling (BIM) promises significant improvements in construction quality and efficiency, current contractual models do not encourage its use; indeed actively inhibit the collaboration at its core. To help bring BIM into the mainstream, it is claimed we need to re-craft existing contractual relationships to facilitate collaborative decision making and to equitably allocate responsibility among construction participants. This chapter looks at the case of Sweden and aims to identify and appraise observed hindrances to BIM collaboration and digital information stewardship. It presents an understanding of the connections between the commercial environment and contractual provisions that regulate the party’s business relationships and the resultant procedural and behavioural phenomena that can be viewed to thwart BIM collaboration and degrade the value or integrity of digital deliverables. The study then, in a more general context, asks what we can learn here that may have wider application through consideration of suitable BIM collaboration support mechanisms that may reduce or remove collaboration barriers, induce open, sharing behaviours and support the creators and users of digital information. Methods employed include a critical review of existing contract forms, synthesized with focus group interviews (FGIs) with representatives from diverse AEC disciplines. Results indicate that a number of systemic difficulties exist that can create an inertia which can be traced through behaviours and circumstances to contractual provisions. An understanding of such difficulties is presented and a consensus emerges on a number of key supporting mechanisms that may better facilitate meaningful early BIM collaboration and oil the wheels of communication without recourse to re-writing the rule-book.

This report summarizes findings and recommendations from 24 case studies from seven participating countries addressing performance indicator benchmarking at a sectoral, national or international scale. Their distribution in scope is: – benchmarking systems and indicators (4 case studies) – offices (7 case studies) – housing (6 case studies) – school and nursery (4 case studies) – shopping centres (3 case studies). In addition, actual performance benchmarking was done between six Finnish and Norwegian office buildings using CREDIT Key Performance Indicators and a web-based benchmarking tool, developed in CREDIT for that purpose. Some good benchmarking practices exist already at a national and international level. They focus on process issues, investment aspects and environmental properties. These existing schemes contribute to the CREDIT framework, but don't cover well the performance dimension. There isn't yet any commonly agreed European Key Performance Indicator system, or building and real estate performance indicator standard. CREDIT made a contribution to their development from the Nordic/Baltic perspective. It also provided valuable input from the performance and social sustainability point of view to existing economic and environmental oriented schemes that are continuously updated and amended. CREDIT made progress in performance indicator framework and actual performance indicators and tools, some of which were already tested in the case studies. Understanding on existing benchmarking schemes is also improved. The results of CREDIT WP6 performance indicator benchmarking at a sectoral, national or international scale can be exploited in number of ways, such as – the front runner companies adopt the core performance indicators in their practices and influence in forming their use a sector based practice – further development of standardization, tool development (IFCs), benchmarking schemes and rating systems makes use of the results.

The amount of research dealing with innovation has increased dramatically, construction management research included. This thesis focuses on innovations with inter-organizational effects, systemic innovations, which may radically change and improve the construction process. The overall aim of the thesis is to contribute understanding of diffusion of systemic innovations in the construction sector through the study of two different types of systemic innovations, Building Information Management and Multi-Story Housing in Timber (MSHT). It explores what facilitates and hinders innovation diffusion, with a special focus on knowledge integration and mechanisms used in the diffusion process and their effects on knowledge development. The studies conducted were made in a Swedish context related to two separate companies work with diffusing the innovations, using a broad approach with different data collection methods.

The research departures in the interplay between the innovation content, context and process through which diffusion take place, displaying differences in how diffusion precedes and is affected. Where organizations are situated in the construction process and their ability to control the diffusion process is influential and diffusion is affected by established traditions and work procedures. For MSHT other structural materials form obstacles, while for BIM it is established work procedures and methods. Environmental pressure drives diffusion of MSHT and both innovations are supported by active clients. Diffusion also requires financial resources depending on the size of investment and associated risks. The cases show advantages with moving activities from projects into a continuous business that delivers to projects, where simplifying implementation is central. Mainly due to complexity, developing in steps enables simplifications and adjustments towards users in a controlled manner. MSHT to a higher degree depends on performing real projects for development and diffusion than BIM, which can be tested to a larger extent before diffusing into the real environment. MSHT in particular show a difference in relation to many traditional models of innovation and innovation diffusion where tests are assumed possible.

The research relates to and has emphasized interaction and dynamics in the diffusion process and has provided additional understanding for managing complexity in the diffusion process. Projects are the most crucial knowledge integration mechanism with many underlying mechanisms, since they are a result of the development and show consequences of work performed. The applicability of codified knowledge in combination with more interactionintensive mechanisms has been shown and the introduction of the knowledge type’s domain-specific, procedural and general knowledge, complementing the current use of tacit and explicit knowledge, has provided additional understanding for diffusion and related knowledge flows. There are however differences in how knowledge types develop for the innovations. General knowledge is more influencing for BIM, while MSHT is about developing domain-specific knowledge. MSHT is about learning something new, while for BIM it is about re-learning. Findings show relevance in both using and developing the framework of innovation in organizations by Rogers (2003) for future diffusion studies in construction management research as well as the necessity of developing knowledge concerning implementation.

This research explores the interplay between innovation content, innovation context and the innovation diffusion process in a reinforcement supplier's work with diffusing different types of innovations. An important part is to gain understanding of what facilitates and complicates innovation diffusion in the construction industry context from a supplier perspective. The interpretative research presented builds on 28 semistructured interviews with the supplier and its customers and document studies. Three types of innovations were studied to explore how the dimensions innovation content, innovation context and the innovation process interacts in the diffusion process. The findings provide details concerning how the dimensions interact, influencing factors and how the diffusion process may unfold over time. It provides an example of how dynamics and detail in the diffusion process can be captured and the approach can be with additional concepts and frameworks. Besides the supplier perspective and the inter-organizational setting, it also emphasizes the necessity of researching the innovation process and how it may differ depending on the impact on affected parties.

Purpose - The aim of this research is to study knowledge integration (KI) when diffusing a systemic innovation. The objectives are to understand what mechanisms are used, and when and what their effects are in terms of knowledge development.

Design/Methodology/Approach - The method comprised a longitudinal case study which followed a firm’s attempts to develop and diffuse a timber multi-storey building system (the systemic innovation) over a number of projects.

Findings - The findings emphasize actual projects as the most crucial activity for KI and when and why soft personalization mechanisms and codified knowledge should be mixed.  Furthermore, it shows how different types of knowledge is built up including construction process effects over a series of projects.

Research limitations/implications -  The research contributes with knowledge about mechanisms for the diffusion of a specific systemic innovation type and provides input regarding mechanisms to use. The introduction of the concepts ‘domain-specific’, ‘procedural’ and ‘general knowledge’ into construction has increased understanding of innovation diffusion and knowledge flows and where and how they are integrated.

Practical Implications – The research shows how knowledge develops and through which mechanisms, and where problems occur. Construction organisations can learn from this to avoid mistakes and potentially better understand how to manage knowledge to diffuse a systemic innovation.

Originality/value - The research provides insight into systemic innovation diffusion over a series of projects and focuses on both projects and the construction process. © 2018, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Industrialised Housebuilding (IH) in Sweden have grown within Multi-Storey Housing made of Timber (MSHT) and most of the producers rely on this approach. Business models for Industrialised Housebuilding, often start with prefabrication. With the rapid growth of sustainability demands and circular construction as an uprising theme, a central question is, what is the sustainability element in Swedish industrialized housebuilders business models regarding MSHT? Sustainable transition theory is adopted. The method is a desk study of existing research, websites, annual reports and other material. The sustainability element in the business models of industrialized house builders is explored, with focus on circular construction. MSHT is described as reducing environmental impact compared to concrete and provides social values, enabling its diffusion, however with less apparent cost advantages. However, with the growth of circular thinking, IH may have potential to further develop. The findings show that sustainability is overall present in the development of IH within MSHT, where the companies show a homogenous picture with varying challenges and contribute to sustainable transition. Regarding circular construction, the study shows potential in additional steps needed from a life-cycle perspective. © 2021 Proceedings of the 37th Annual ARCOM Conference, ARCOM 2021. All Rights Reserved.

Building Information Modelling (BIM) has for a number of years been seen as a systemic inter-organizational innovation that will have great impact on the efficiency of the construction process as a whole. In this study both successful and unsuccessful attempts to diffuse a BIM-service in the construction sector by a building material manufacturer has been studied through multiple data collection methods. Of special interest has been in what ways knowledge has been integrated, i.e. what mechanisms has been used in the case, since it is a key area for diffusion, and this is described and discussed.  Furthermore, the contextual characteristics of the construction sector have been highlighted as influential on diffusion, especially when it comes to areas such as learning, flow of knowledge and feedback loops. Therefore, the context of the different cases and in what ways this affects the knowledge integration process is also described and discussed.

Building Information Management (BIM) is a systemic inter-organizational innovation predicted to have a great impact on the efficiency of the construction process. An enabler for its diffusion is knowledge integration (KI). This research investigates KI mechanisms used by a Concrete Reinforcement Supplier and its customers in the diffusion of BIM and BIM-related solutions. The research employs a qualitative approach with multiple data-collection methods at two different points in time. BIM diffusion and KI are viewed here as emergent and iterative processes, understood from a supplier perspective. The research examines the interaction between context, content of the diffusing innovation and the diffusion process. Knowledge development from the KI process has been assessed by exploring the interaction between (1) domain-specific knowledge, (2) procedural knowledge and (3) general knowledge, complementing the established emphasis on tacit and explicit knowledge found in relevant construction management research. The findings indicate that general knowledge needs to be high for increased BIM diffusion and the research raises the need to develop procedural knowledge both from a practical and research perspective. © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group

Purpose – This study aims to focus on a reinforcement supplier’s efforts to diffuse solutions, more or less innovative, in the construction sector to gain understanding of what facilitates and complicates innovation diffusion from a supplier perspective.

Design/Methodology/Approach – The interpretative research presented builds on 28 semi-structured interviews with the supplier and its customers and document studies. The research emphasizes dynamics in the diffusion process and rests on the assumption that the innovation content, innovation context and the innovation process interacts in the diffusion process.

Findings – The findings and the contribution from the study provide significant details concerning how the dimensions interact and how the diffusion process may unfold over time, but also that different solutions interact to push diffusion forward.

Research Limitations/Implications – The study relates to one supplier’s work and the interplay implies uniqueness in different cases. Studies in other contexts could, therefore, also be suitable to develop findings and their transferability.

Practical Implications – The study provides understanding for suppliers diffusing innovations in construction on how to act.

Originality/Value – A major contribution from the study is that it puts emphasis on how the diffusion process proceeds in interaction with its content and context and problematizes this dimension. Furthermore, the importance of nuancing sub-contexts to display decisive factors in the diffusion process is emphasized. © John Lindgren and Kristian Widén.

Now a days, the society thinks about more sustainable and clean energy sources. Most of the countries in the world relay on non-renewable energy sources for the generation of electricity. This results in the scarcity of fossil fuels in future and also increases the production of carbon emissions. This thesis considers a metro system named Kochi Metro which is a rapid transit system serving in the city of Kochi in Kerala, India which uses renewable sources, mainly solar, for giving power to the Metro.In this thesis work, trying to analyze the measures adopted by Kochi Metro Rail project in potential reductions of energy consumption and energy generation both contributing to energy efficiency.With the help of Matlab, different levels of installed PV power are used to find out the possible self-usage, self-sufficiency, and energy neutrality of the system.

In the 1960s and 1970s the construction industry made an effort to develop shared knowledge and performance measurement tools within the industry. This effort ceased as the bigger enterprises began to see information generated at their companies as enterprise assets and competitive resources. In recent years, the construction industry has begun to acknowledge the importance of detailed planning and work preparation on construction sites. The fragmentation of the construction process, with increased specialisation and involvement of many interested parties and actors calls for a shared format for creating, converting, and exchanging knowledge. There is a need for better documentation and control of what is actually done on the construction site, and of how it is done. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how knowledge about construction methods is created, converted, and shared in the Swedish construction sector. It examines past efforts to share information and how the efforts have developed over time. New initiatives are examined and analysed, looking at how well knowledge is managed and applied on construction sites. A web portal developed at Lund University (www.ByggAi.se) in close cooperation with the construction industry exemplifies a new initiative in this respect. The paper will also present end users’ analysis regarding the accessibility of information from the web portal. The web portal has a great potential to disseminate information to various actors: construction enterprises, manufacturers, consultants, and clients. The web portal has also developed to include other areas of interest, promoting issues such as health, safety, and ergonomics; energy-efficient buildings; energy-efficient construction work; and handling of moisture issues. The main advantage of the portal is its packaging of situational knowledge, so that workers at all levels can find all of the relevant information about specific construction methods before they begin work on the construction site. Moreover, the portal makes the information available on a “just-in-time” basis, so workers can continue to access it throughout the project, taking what they need to know at the time they need it.

Purpose: There are several urban areas close to the sea and other water bodies that may be adversely affected by erosion and flooding. Global climate change, including sea-level rise and more intense and damaging storms, will increase the threats of natural hazards in several areas. Mitigating and adapting to these risks in urban areas are huge challenges for society. There is a need for a proper decision basis to build a society that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. By incorporating coastal hazard and risk mapping into spatial planning, new developments can be diverted away from threatened areas. Further, by taking adaptation measures, risks in existing urban areas can be reduced. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.

Design/methodology/approach: This paper presents the results of two case studies and discusses the prerequisites for impact assessment and project appraisal and how this is used and accepted by the users and decision-makers.

Findings: A guideline has been developed as a tool for the integration of costs and benefits in decision making on investments in coastal zones. The guideline gives an overview of why, when, and how impact assessments and project appraisals can be made using socio-economic valuations of coastal areas affected by erosion. Two case studies have been performed to demonstrate the practical application of the guideline and economic analysis and valuation in coastal management.

Originality/value: The guideline can be used to prioritise areas that need attention due to threatened shorelines, and to decide which preventive measures are the most efficient from a socio-economic point of view.

There are several urban areas close to the sea and other water bodies that may be adversely affected by erosion and flooding. Global climate change, including sea-level rise and more intense and damaging storms, will increase the threats of natural hazards in several areas. Mitigating and adapting to these risks in urban areas are huge challenges for society. There is a need for a proper decision basis to build a society that is economically, socially, and environmentally sustainable. By incorporating coastal hazard and risk mapping into spatial planning, new developments can be diverted away from threatened areas. Further, by taking adaptation measures, risks in existing urban areas can be reduced. A guideline has been developed as a tool for the integration of costs and benefits in decision-making on investments in coastal zones. The guideline gives an overview of why, when, and how impact assessments and project appraisals can be made using socio-economic valuations of coastal areas affected by erosion. The guideline can be used to prioritise areas that need attention due to threatened shorelines, and to decide which preventive measures are the most efficient from a socio-economic point of view. Two case studies have been performed to demonstrate the practical application of the guideline and economic analysis and valuation in coastal management. This paper presents the results of the two case studies and discusses the prerequisites for impact assessment and project appraisal and how this is used and accepted by the users and decision-makers.

In this study, an electrical immersion heater mounted on a water tank has been investigated. Themain aim was to reduce heat transfer and to utilize the maximum energy available from heater toheat the water. To observe the effects of essential geometrical and operating parameters on thesystem performance, different computational test cases were run for three different designs.In the first case of simulation, the immersion heater of existing design mounted on a water tankhas been analyzed. The cold-water tank with inlet and outlet and given appropriate boundaryconditions was used to see the temperature contours inside the water tank and temperature of theimmersion layer itself.In the second case, an insulation plate has been introduced in the immersion heater head in orderto reduce heat loss by considering the possible heat leakage through the gap inside the heaterhead by radiation.In the third case, an insulation ring has been introduced in the immersion heater head as asubstitute for the insulation plate which has the same aim as second case.The results obtained from the CFD simulation shows the thermal performance of immersionheater in a water tank for three different cases. The results are helpful in optimizing both heatingelement and immersion heater by introducing different changes to optimize the design. It showsthat the redesigned immersion heater and storage tank can provide improved working conditions.Also, at early design stages, CFD simulations could be used as an effective tool to optimizethermal storage tank parameters, so it may add value to the storage tank and immersion heaterperformance and efficiency, by optimizing the whole thermal heating system design and size.Different materials and geometry design are tested giving the minimum heat losses from thesystem and uniform temperature distribution in the water heater.