Solution
Robert answered on
Dec 22 2021
1
Materials and building services: The affect of technology on design and
production of construction
Summary: Technology over the times has changed many a construction processes. But it cannot
e said for sure whether construction industry has leveraged technology to its fullest. Although
we can say for sure that wherever technology has been applied there has been a significant
improvement in construction productivity. Here we are going to discuss the technical changes in
materials, information systems and construction processes. We will try to understand how
different characteristics among construction processes, materials etc. help in improving
productivity. We will also try to ascertain the factors that govern the specification of materials
and building services, understand how environmental factors affect the construction process and
more importantly the role of technology in this regard. A research ca
ied out by Ibuchim
Ogunkah and Junli Yang regarding selection of building materials and by Mansour Al-Zahrani
and Dr. Solaiman Al-Mohawis on technology impact on construction industries has been
presented in
ief.
A wide range of building materials is available for different construction processes. The proper
selection of materials depends on several factors. Some of the factors are type and function of the
structure, availability of materials in that area, availability of skilled labor, transportation costs
etc. In addition, the economic aspect of the structure as well as cultural acceptability and
durability of different materials to be used also needs to be considered. While selecting a
particular site, environmental factors such as drainage, groundwater, possibility of floods, and
presence of hazardous materials should be paid due heed to. Similarly by the application of
technology we can enhance the performance of the worker, increase productivity and improve
safety standards. Contractor, owner and society are generally the vital parts of a project.
Technology plays an important role in facilitating the mutual relation among them by avoiding
misunderstandings and mistakes in the construction process.
2
Introduction
Task 2:
A) Construction Materials
Material selection is a complex and delicate task determined by the immense number of building
material options. Multiple factors are often considered when evaluating the various categories of
uilding materials. Through the analysis of frequency data and results of a pilot study ca
ied out
y Ibuchim Ogunkah and Junli Yang, they identified some of the potential factors that impact the
selection of green vernacular building materials, during the design-decision making process. The
application of the criteria for the quantitative evaluation and selection of the best alternative
uilding material, using Analytic Hierarchy Process(AHP) model have been discussed. Drawing
upon data from both existing literature and the results of a pilot survey, they identified a set of
factors or variables which may be used to assess a range of material or product options which
offer the greatest contribution to achieve sustainability objectives. From their analysis they
provided with the following framework of factors for assessing building material sustainability.
3
Fig. 1: A framework of factors or variables for assessing building material sustainability
http:
www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/2/1/1/pdf (pg. 18)
http:
www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/2/1/1/pdf
4
Fig. 2: The Conceptual Model of the proposed toolkit
http:
www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/2/1/1/pdf (pg. 19)
http:
www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/2/1/1/pdf
5
Task 3:
Financial implications
The following set of guidelines has been developed for the framework to aid the choice of
specific factors or variables to assess the material or product options under consideration.
a) Robustness
The factors or variables chosen were to cover the six categories (i.e., general or site,
environmental, economic, sensorial, social-cultural and technical or functional), in order to
ensure the reliability and suitability-performance metrics of the material or product option. This
gives an idea of the data available for each material options-considering a wide spectrum of
factors or variables, and provide to a diverse user audience, the available information on various
alternatives of locally-sourced and recycled building materials.
) Applicability and Transferability
The factors or variables chosen were applicable across the range of options under consideration,
as well as transferable across regions i
espective of the geographical setting of the regions. This
was done to ensure the compatibility and comparability of the options regardless of the local
conditions.
c) Practicability
The set of factors/variables selected were used to form a practicable tool or system to enable
potential users reach a better solution of making effective decisions in selecting appropriate
materials in less time, with less resources and e
ors. The choice of factors or variables was to
influence the outcome of the decision being made, as will the method of comparison or
aggregation chosen.
The above factors provide guidance in the choice of factors/variables, but how they are to be
applied in practice will be based on the experience and review of their performance assessment
across a range of different decisions. To make such decisions, the relative importance of the
factors involved must be properly assessed in order to enable trade-offs among them. To
actualize this objective, a typical Multi-Attribute Decision Analytical Method (MADA), the
Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used to assist in the decision-making process, which is
characterized by a great number of inte
elated and often contending factors. The main rationale
for adopting the AHP technique was its inherent capability of systematically dealing with a vast
number of intangible and non-quantifiable/subjective attributes, as well as with tangible and
objective factors
6
Decision Analysis using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP)
Multi-attribute decision analysis (MADA) methods apply to problems where a decision maker is
choosing or ranking a finite number of alternatives which are measured by two or more relevant
variables or attributes. AHP is a MADA method which falls within the
oader class of methods
known as “additive weighting methods”. With AHP, the score of an alternative is equal to the
weighted sum of its cardinal evaluation or preference ratings, where the weights are the
important weights associated with each attribute. The resulting cardinal scores for each
alternative can be used to rank, screen, or choose an alternative material/product that best suits a
particular spatial function, or building as a whole. Five basic AHP elements common to all
MADA problems were identified and are presented
iefly below.
Structuring of the Decision Problem into a Hierarchical Model
MADA problems involve analysis of a finite and generally small set of discrete and
predetermined options or alternatives. In this way, decision factors are organized in a hierarchy-
type structure to decompose the complexity. The primary goal that is selection of a set of
local
ecycled building materials occupies the highest level of the structure, followed by “sets of
factors” that are organized in several more hierarchy levels. This is followed by a typical second-
level criteria set which includes all of the secondary goals that together contribute to achieving
the primary goal. These, in turn, are directly affected by all of the criteria in the set located one
level lower (e.g., life cycle cost may be affected by production cost, maintenance cost,
transportation cost, replacement cost), and so on, pending on the nature of the problem. At the
lowest AHP hierarchy level alternatives are connected to all of the leaf attributes potentially
affecting their evaluation.
Making Pairwise Comparisons
Decision makers often find it difficult to determine exactly the importance weights for a set of
attributes simultaneously. As the number of attributes increases, better results are obtained when
the problem is converted to one of making a series of pairwise comparisons....