Search Results (42)

Rapid urbanisation and population growth call for more Industrialised Construction (IC) as a swifter, safer, higher-quality and affordable means of delivering housing and infrastructure. Meanwhile, rising global temperatures and extreme weather patterns call for immediate action to combat environmental degradation. The Building Construction Industry (BCI) is a leading contributor to global resource extraction and waste generation, posing a significant threat to our environment and planet. Design for Circular Manufacturing and Assembly (DfCMA) is an overarching design framework that synergises circularity (Design for Circularity (DfC)) and modularity (Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA)) by enhancing their shared values. This study explores the functional apparatus of DfCMA by identifying 21 DfMA constructs and 20 DfC constructs in the BCI through a rigorous literature review, first analysed descriptively, followed by Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Fuzzy Synthetic Evaluation (FSE) of the initial findings from a suitably focused questionnaire survey. The study findings confirm the significance of applying the 41 constructs above in advancing the concept of DfCMA in the BCI. This study thus adds value to research and practice, exploring the underlying mechanism of this novel DfCMA concept, which synergises two imperatives, promoting a Circular Economy (CE) and DfMA principles and practices in IC. Full article

Offsite construction (OSC) is fragmented and involves a complex network of stakeholders in all the stages such as planning, design, legal approval, site preparation, modular manufacturing, transportation, storage, and onsite installation. The barriers include complexity of the process; lack of awareness; supply chain challenges in capacity and knowledge; cultural perception; lack of viable business process models or solutions; scarcity of skills in design/manufacturing/construction and lack of government regulations and legislation. This study, therefore, categorises the barriers according to political, economic, social, technological, environmental, and legal (PESTEL) analysis. The PESTEL analysis aims at providing organisations a comprehensive list of all the external barriers against the adoption of offsite construction. A wholistic list of all the barriers and understanding the barriers will help them to improve the overall productivity and contribute to the economy metrics. Utilising popular databases, including Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, a systematic literature review of 56 papers relevant to OSC adoptions in the construction industry research was conducted. From the review, the barriers to the adoption of OSC in the construction research and relevant organisations reports were identified. The research shows that countries such as Australia, UK, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and New Zealand have been the top countries in which papers on OSC were published. A relationship analysis shows that political barriers amounting to 5 out of the 101 barriers identified having the most causal effects on the low adoption of OSC. Full article

Construction industry largely produces long-life, unique, and inflexible products; and combined with dispersed supply chains, it makes material tracking difficult. Thus, to achieve a circular economy (CE) in construction, there is a need for managing material information at the asset level to support reuse and recovery. This study explores the solutions for a CE in construction, and adopts a critical review, and a systematic search and review process. Initially the critical review for CE solutions revealed that maintaining authentic material information via material passports (MPs) and adopting industrialised construction (IC) for resource efficiency and flexibility are the key actions for CE implementation. As initial findings suggested the implementation of MPs in IC as imperative for a CE in construction, it was deemed necessary to develop a framework for MPs’ creation and management in IC. Thus, a further critical review was conducted to explore MPs and IC in detail, and a systematic search and review process extracted the actual information that goes into MPs, which was further categorised under various IC lifecycle processes at different stages of lifecycle, to present the incorporation of MPs into IC. The knowledge of MP processes and information in IC from this review is the vital component for the development of a necessary information management framework for MPs. This study can also be a basis for further research on the application of digital technologies and managerial actions required to realise operational MPs in IC, which is required for material circularity in construction. Full article

Cellulose, as a green and renewable polymer material, has attracted the attention of a wide range of scholars for its excellent mechanical strength, easy chemical modification and degradability. However, its flammability limits its application in automotive, aerospace, construction, textile and electronic fields. This review recapitulates the modification methods of flame-retardant cellulose and their applications in polymers in recent years. This paper discusses the fabrication of flame-retardant cellulose from various aspects such as boron, nitrogen, phosphorus, sulphur, inorganic and heterogeneous synergistic modification, respectively, and evaluates the flame retardancy of flame-retardant cellulose by means of thermogravimetry, cone calorimetry, limiting oxygen index, the vertical combustion of UL94, etc. Finally, it discusses the application of flame-retardant cellulose in actual composites, which fully reflects the extraordinary potential of flame-retardant cellulose for applications in polymers. Currently, flame-retardant cellulose has significantly improved its flame-retardant properties through multi-faceted modification strategies and has shown a broad application prospect in composite materials. However, interfacial compatibility, environmental protection and process optimisation are still the key directions for future research, and efficient, low-toxic and industrialised flame-retardant cellulose materials need to be realised through innovative design. Full article

The revised Energy Performance of Buildings Directive and Energy Efficiency Directive aim to accelerate the energy transition of the European building stock; however, progress remains insufficient. Off-site construction (OSC) and industrialised systems, such as Plug-and-Play (PnP) systems, are considered pivotal towards more efficient renovation practices. In this study, a PnP facade for building renovation—developed in an H2020 EU-funded research project—has been analysed with the following objectives: (i) benchmarking and assessing the construction process with a PnP facade system through the data gathered in two renovation scenarios, and (ii) identifying advantages and limitations related to implementing the technology. Two buildings—an early adopter in Budapest and a demonstration case in Pamplona—have been selected as renovation scenarios to validate the implementation of the system, testing different levels of technological integration and prefabrication. Key findings reveal that the PnP system offers significant advantages, including streamlined installation processes and reduced on-site waste compared to a conventional ventilated façade. However, the need for high workers’ tolerance, sensitivity, and precision during installation, as well as coordination protocols, has been highlighted to ensure a smooth implementation. This research contributes to the body of research on OSC technologies for building renovation, offering practical insights towards developing more sustainable construction practices. Full article

Rapidly increasing construction and agglomeration in urban areas have made the urban heat island (UHI) problem a turning point for the world, as a result of notably rising earth temperature every year. UHI and its impacts on climate are somewhat linked to weather-related matters, natural disasters and disease outbreaks. Given the challenges posed by urbanisation and industrialisation in achieving sustainability, it is crucial to adopt intelligent and decisive measures to mitigate the adverse outcomes of UHI. Greenery surfaces have long been a significant focus of scientific research and policy development, reflecting their pivotal role in combating urban heat islands and promoting sustainable urban environments. This study critically reviews the potential of green infrastructure, including green roofs, facades, shrubs, and trees, so as to minimise UHI impacts in severe urban contexts. By synthesising findings from a wide range of empirical studies, it highlights key outcomes such as reductions in surface temperatures by up to 2 °C and improvements in outdoor thermal comfort indices by over 10 °C under specific conditions. Additionally, the paper introduces a comprehensive framework for integrating greenery systems into urban planning, combining passive cooling, air quality enhancement, and energy efficiency strategies. The findings reveal that extensive green roofs, in particular, are highly effective in reducing indoor cooling demands, while strategically placed trees offer significant shading and evapotranspiration benefits. This work provides actionable insights for policymakers and urban planners to boost sustainable and climate-resilient cities whilst addressing gaps in current research related to the long-term performance and cost-effectiveness of green infrastructure solutions. Full article

The latest policy and research recommendations focus on advancing transition of housing to the circular economy framework to tackle environmental and affordability challenges. A key strategy for this is industrialised construction, which combines controlled manufacturing methods with strategies that facilitate future disassembly, allowing for adaptations, maintenance, and material reuse. Despite its importance, long-term housing solutions that integrate both industrialised construction and disassembly remain rare. This study obtained insights into circular industrialised housing from the Solar Decathlon Europe competition through interviews and observations with fifteen participating teams in Wuppertal, Germany, in 2022. The competition’s build challenge provided a unique opportunity to examine the practical application of both industrialised and disassembly approaches, where teams developed highly energy-efficient, affordability-conscious, and scalable housing systems. On-site interviews with team members from diverse disciplines took place midway through the competition’s assembly phase. These were further informed by observing team Azalea’s housing disassembly in Spain, which took place shortly before reassembly in Germany. Thematic and content analyses were conducted using a predefined framework based on holistic factors and lifecycle processes. Our results reveal the critical impact of Cultural factors, particularly during the (re)design process and provide new data to aid our understanding of the (dis)assembly process. This study contributes towards the development of a circular industrialised housing framework. Full article

This study examines the renewed interest in Industrialised Building (IB) adoption in Australia amid the housing crisis, addressing the gap between potential and implementation. Drawing on a systematic review of 171 peer-reviewed articles (1998–2024), we examine how the interplay between micro-level decision-making, meso-level organisational routines, and macro-level institutional arrangements shapes global IB adoption patterns, with implications for the Australian context where limited research exists. Our analysis highlights that successful IB adoption depends on coordinated alignment across systemic levels, with government policies and sustainability initiatives emerging as key global drivers. However, adoption barriers differ by market maturity; Australia faces unique challenges, such as economic constraints, limited stakeholder collaboration, and misaligned institutional frameworks, despite advancements in technology and innovation. The findings advance construction innovation literature by presenting a theoretically grounded framework to address IB adoption barriers and enablers. In the Australian context, realising IB’s potential requires co-evolution across micro, meso, and macro levels, driven by workforce upskilling, stakeholder collaboration, and adaptive regulations to transform construction practices. Full article

The Two-Dimensional Model of Ecological Values (2-MEV) explores the environmental values and attitudes of adolescents, typically 11–16 years old. The 2-MEV has two higher-order factors (values), Preservation and Utilisation, and primary factors (attitudes) under each value. The 2-MEV Scale has been validated in several industrialised countries, showing a negative but weak to moderate correlation between the two values. When in a previous study the scale was tested in rural Nepal, a non-industrialised country, the relationship between the two values was also negative but much stronger. The aim of the present study was to test this unusual relationship using the scale in urban Nepal. Five hundred forty-seven adolescents responded to the 25 items, which were reduced to 19 items after exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The model used in the urban setting resulted in a weak, negative corelation between the two values, which is similar to the structure that has been found in industrialised countries. However, the characteristics of environmental attitudes of adolescents in urban Nepal showed a strong similarity to the characteristics found in the previous study in rural Nepal. Therefore, the construct or structure of environmental attitude does not appear to be dependent on the socioeconomic status of a country/community. The results also showed slightly higher pro-environmental attitudes in adolescents in the urban community compared to the rural community of Nepal. Full article

Marine mammals near coastlines are highly vulnerable to human activities like rapid industrialisation, port construction, and sea reclamation, which can alter their habitat use. This study examines changes in the habitat use of Indo-Pacific humpback dolphins in the western Pearl River Estuary (WPRE) by employing a kernel density estimation model that considers physical barriers. Sighting records from systematic surveys in 2007–2008 and 2019–2020, along with remote sensing data, were used to analyse changes in shorelines and areas affected by maritime projects since 1973. Approximately 552.98 km² of water was permanently lost to reclamation between 1973 and 2020. In 2007–2008, dolphins preferred natural shorelines, while reclamation drove them away from artificial ones. By 2019–2020, their core habitat had decreased by two-thirds, with some areas disappearing, likely due to aquaculture expansion. These results highlight the importance of adopting improved environmental assessment methodologies in the planning and regulation of aquaculture activities in the WPRE to better protect the dolphin habitat. Full article

Existing buildings in the European Union account for 40% of its energy consumption. To significantly reduce this impact, annual deep energy renovation rates should triple by the end of the 2020s. However, the lack of automation in the construction industry has hindered energy renovation efforts. Horizon Europe’s INPERSO project (Industrialised and Personalised Renovation for Sustainable Societies) aims to create a user-centered energy rehabilitation method based on industrialized technologies and systems, enhancing efficiency and building performance. To bridge the gap between predictions and real-world outcomes, the 22 project partners—using a multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) process—devised a list of key performance indicators (KPIs) for evaluating rehabilitation based on economic, energy, environmental, social, and technological factors. Adopting a human-centric approach, these project partners aim to minimize the technologies’ environmental impact while optimizing users’ comfort and experience. The indicators are designed to evaluate performance at every stage of the renovation process, enabling continuous feedback and user engagement and ultimately ensuring that projected energy savings are met throughout the building’s lifespan. The KPIs selected for INPERSO provide a solid framework for evaluating and monitoring sustainable renovation. However, challenges such as administrative reluctance and user disruption must be addressed to further boost the adoption of deep energy renovations. Full article

Recently, the world population surpassed 8000 million people. Providing housing for such a large population poses a great challenge for the building industry and its impact on the planet. The rise in the urban population leads to greater impacts not only on the environment but also on economies and societies. Consequently, reducing these externalities is mandatory to preserve the welfare of the world. One way of optimising the economic cost of housing is through industrialising the production of housing. However, a balance between housing optimisation and the management of the social/environmental impacts has not yet been achieved. In order to bridge this gap, in this study, a holistic evaluation of several housing systems was performed using the MIVES (“Modelo Integrado de Valor para una Evaluación Sostenible”)-based multicriteria decision-making method (MCDM method). Moreover, the obtained results were compared, showing which industrialised building technique might enhance the sustainability of housing production. Full article

In the era of the climate emergency and different pandemics, systems that can provide an immediate response to housing needs are required. This paper aims to evaluate the use of fibre-reinforced plastic polymers (FRPs) to satisfy this need. In particular, a modular emergency housing system that utilises FRPs for structures and cladding is proposed, which proves adaptable to both different uses and different kinds of temporary or permanent buildings. By adapting modular emergency housing to different contexts, developing an integrated design process (IDP) and building information modelling (BIM) methodology, this research aims to provide innovations for the the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) sector, including FRPs, through a digitised approach, applied also to an experimental case study. A pilot unit of the modular emergency housing system, a nearly zero-energy building (nZEB), is described in detail, while laboratory tests are reported. Construction considerations confirm the sustainability and highlight the adaptability of the modular system to different housing needs conditions, justifying the possible future development of supply chain industrialisation supported by the presented methodology. Full article

Rural industrialisation in China, which has historically been restricted by urban–rural dual development policies, has been largely encouraged since the Rural Revitalisation Strategy released in 2018. Industrialisation has deeply influenced socio-spatial evolution by providing job opportunities and promoting the construction of infrastructure and public services, accelerating the two-way flow of urban–rural factors in rural areas. However, this may lead to social and spatial issues, such as social inequalities and unsuitable living conditions, to some extent. This research aims to investigate how the socio-spatial evolution of rural areas was influenced by rural industrialisation and the two-way flow of urban–rural factors. The cherry planting industry and an active “industrial centre”, Yuezhuang Village, in Linqu County, Shandong Province, China, were selected for the empirical study. This research analysed the evolution of the cherry planting industry, the formulation of rural social networks, and the spatial adaptation of the two using mixed qualitative and quantitative methods, followed by a discussion on the current rural planning policies in China. The results show that the cherry industrial chain largely extended the planting areas, and the categories of land use generally increased in Yuezhuang Village over the 30 years studied. The average output value per mu (mu is unit of area measurement used in China, where it is officially standardised. It corresponds to 1/15 of a hectare, or about 666.67 m²). In 2021 was 25 times larger than that in 1996. The population involved in industrial activities increased to over 5000 people countrywide from the initial 17 households. The results also show that urban–rural factors, such as capital, population, techniques, and information, rapidly accelerated in the annual peak season of the cherry industry. This research indicates that small-scale, characteristic, and traditional agriculture could become one of the main driving forces in urban–rural integration and may contribute to sustainable and inclusive rural communities and urban–rural partnerships. This provides the theoretical mechanism of socio-spatial interaction in rural industrialisation in China based on the empirical case study. Full article

Since China entered the 21st century, a phenomenon of return migrants moving back from urban to rural areas has been noted, especially in central regions such as Hubei Province. Despite its significance, this phenomenon remains inadequately understood. Employing ethnographic research methods, we conducted multiple rounds of fieldwork in Guangzhou, Wuhan, and three of Wuhan’s neighbouring county-level cities—Hanchuan, Xiantao, and Tianmen—where rising garment industrial enclaves and return migration have been observed. Our findings reveal that the pro-growth policies of megacities like Wuhan and Guangzhou, aimed at industrial transformation while eliminating ‘low-end’ manufacturing, have forced migrants to leave large cities. Among these individuals, return-migrant entrepreneurs (RMEs), comprising entrepreneurs and family workshop owners, have had a profound impact on advancing county urbanisation in Hubei Province. Specifically, we identified three features for return-migrant urbanisation. First, entrepreneurs took their return as an opportunity to expand and promote their businesses, thereby fostering industrialisation in Hanchuan. Second, local state activities in Xiantao, encompassing the construction of highways, logistics systems, and other facilities, coupled with institutionalised arrangements, triggered return migration and township urbanisation. Third, households and individuals with entrepreneurship dominated the development of the informal workshop industry in Tianmen. Overall, our study contributes to the nuanced understanding of new types of urbanisation in China. Full article