Construction Engineering Commons^™

Bim+Blockchain: A Solution To The Trust Problem In Collaboration?, Malachy Mathews, Dan Robles, Brian Bowe

Conference papers

This paper provides an overview of historic and current organizational limitations emerging in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction, Building Owner / Operations (AECOO) Industry. It then provides an overview of new technologies that attempt to mitigate these limitations. However, these technologies, taken together, appear to be converging and creating entirely new organizational structures in the AEC industries. This may be characterized by the emergence of what is called the Network Effect and it’s related calculus. This paper culminates with an introduction to Blockchain Technology (BT) and it’s integration with the emergence of groundbreaking technologies such as Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial …

Bim Innovation Capability Programme Of Ireland, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Conference papers

The Irish Government has requested that Enterprise Ireland, an organisation responsible for the development and growth of Irish enterprises in world markets to actively promote the use of BIM in Ireland. This promotion has taken the form of an opportunity for Enterprise Ireland clients to apply for a grant under their BIM Enable and BIM Implementation schemes and also through their funding of the BIM Innovation Capability Programme (BICP) of Ireland. The BICP is a two-year project (2016-2018) which seeks to capture the capability of the Irish Construction Industry and the Higher Education Institutes to respond to the increased requirement …

Bs News July/August

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Cost Control During The Construction Phase Of The Building Project: - The Consultant Quantity Surveyor’S Perspective., Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Cost overruns are commonplace at all stages of the construction development process. This study discusses the practice and procedure employed by consultant quantity surveyors in controlling costs during the construction stage of traditionally procured building contracts. The discussion outlines generic cost planning and control procedures and advises practitioners to focus on the main areas of cost risk, - these typically arise as a result of incomplete design development. Particular emphasis is placed on the need to control expenditure under PC sums and provisional sums. The study outlines procedures regarding the administration of variations, claims for increased costs of labour and …

What Causes Cost Overruns On Building Projects? - An Overview., Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Cost overruns are commonplace during the construction phase of building projects. This study investigates common reasons why cost overruns happen on building projects. It examines how the client’s priorities and decisions regarding the project duration and quality expectations can undermine cost certainty. The actions of the client’s consultants, particularly those of the architect / employer’s representative, are identified as key factors in causing or preventing cost overruns. The building process, itself, is uncertain, particularly in relation to ground conditions. Large, complex and innovative construction projects containing a substantial element of specialist work are identified as ones which are particularly prone …

The Construction Contracts Act 2013 – An Overview, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

It is absolutely fundamental to trust within the construction industry that participants should be paid for the work which they have undertaken – Sir Michael Latham

The Construction Contracts Act 2013, in essence, deals with the timing of, amount of, and enforcement procedures for payments within the Irish construction industry. The Act was introduced to redress a perceived power imbalance between main contractors and sub-contractors which fostered poor payment practices. The Act establishes a formal payment process which may be enforced by aggrieved parties who claim they have not been paid on time or in full, through suspending the works …

Irish Bim Study 2017, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Articles

The Construction IT Alliance (CitA) recently published its Global BIM Study as part of its BIM Innovation Capability Programme (BICP). The study sought to identify how BIM was being currently addressed in 27 countries across the globe. The study sought to identify the presence of three key ingredients in these countries:

1. Regulatory requirement for BIM

2. Champions driving BIM

3. Noteworthy publications

The report identified a number of recurring themes that would help to shape Ireland’s BIM programme. The report concluded that Ireland should adopt a programme of partnership between industry and the Irish Government in order to affect …

Bs News March/April

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Bicp Global Bim Study - Lessons For Ireland’S Bim Programme, Barry Mcauley, Alan Hore, Roger West

Reports

The Construction IT Alliance (CitA) has been promoting the benefits of digitisation in the construction and engineering industry in Ireland since its formation back in 2002. Whilst the Alliance has always strived to ensure that its members are exposed to a wide spectrum of contemporary digital tools and processes, the concept of Building Information Modelling (BIM) has dominated the focus of its activities over the past five years.

BIM can be described as a digital tool that facilitates everybody to better understand a building or structure through the use of a digital model which draws on a range of data …

Bau, January 17-21, Munich, Jim Roche

Other resources

This bi-annual five-day event is one of the

leading and biggest trade fares of architecture,

materials, building systems and craft skills in

the world. Held in the huge Messe München

Trade Fair Center in eastern Munich and

stretching over 17 gigantic halls each the size

of a football pitch, it offers a truly rich display of

the latest innovations in building technology.

Compact Facility For Testing Steady And Transient Thermal Performance Of Building Walls, Aimee Byrne, Gerard Byrne, Anthony Robinson

Articles

Energy efficiency retrofit of buildings represents a key effort in reducing EU energy demand by 20% by 2020. However, predictions tend to overestimate savings by large percentages. The shortfall in savings can be attributed to incorrect predictive techniques, comfort takeback along with other behavioural and workmanship variables. Common predictive techniques related to heat loss tend to be based on the U-value of the building envelope. This paper presents the design of a more straightforward and compact version of the traditional Hot-Box apparatus (measures U-value) which instead determines the thermal resistance of samples of building envelope. U-value includes the need to …

Linking Geospatial Engineering Into Collaborative Multidisciplinary Bim Projects - An Educational Perspective, Avril Behan, Helen Murray, Jonathan Argue, Ronan Hogan, Audrey Martin, Pat O'Sullivan, Robert Moore, Malachy Mathews

Conference papers

This paper describes the background to and execution of a postgraduate project undertaken by students on DIT's MSc in Geospatial Engineering (GeoEng) in support of a project on level 2 BIM being undertaken by students on the MSc in applied Building Information Modelling & Management (aBIMM) around the retrofit of and new build extension to the Grangegorman Clock Tower Building. In support of this requirement, an external and internal survey of the existing structure and its surrounding topography was required. The aBIMM students and staff acted as the Design Team who subcontracted the Geo Eng group who were organised into …

Would The Republic Of Ireland Benefit From A Top Down Local Authority Lead Approach To Building Regulation Control And Is The Current System Unfit For Purpose In Respect Of Dwellings Where Bcar Does Not Apply Or Can Be Opted Out Of?, Seamus Harrington

Other Resources

This research is an exploratory study to ascertain if there is a requirement throughout the Republic of Ireland to introduce a top-down Local Authority lead approach to Building Regulation Control similar to that currently utilised throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The system of Building Regulation Control that is in operation throughout the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland places on a requirement for Building Regulation Permission as well as Planning Permission and requires inspection of 100% of projects by either Local Authority Building Control or Approved Inspectors.

This dissertation document also focuses on the dwelling types that Building Control …

Bs News January/February

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Tender Procedure For Traditionally Procured Building Contracts In Ireland, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The process of tendering for construction contracts is an expensive process, particularly where contracts are large and/or complex or involve partial, or total, contractor design. The underlying philosophy guiding best practice in tendering procedure is that of ensuring fair play among the tendering contractors. Tenders for building contracts may be obtained using a range of approaches. This study examines best practice in tendering procedure for building contracts in the private and public sectors in Ireland and focuses in particular on the procedures to be carried out under open and selective/restricted tendering approaches.

The study identifies where open tendering and selective …

An Introduction To Building Contracts: An Irish Context, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

A contract is an agreement which is capable of being enforced at law and whose essential characteristic is that of a bargain. Contract law focuses predominantly on commercial transactions and in the construction context these range from simple every-day transactions such as purchasing a box of nails to procuring multi-million euro building facilities. In Ireland construction clients typically engage designers and quantity surveyors to formulate designs and they subsequently contract with building contractors to construct the designs. The contractors, in turn, typically outsource much of the work to subcontractors and order materials from numerous suppliers. All of these activities involve …

Bs News November/December

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

International Construction Measurement Standard, Charles Mitchell

Other Resources

The International Construction Measurement Standard Coalition (the Coalition) was formed on 17 June 2015 after meeting at the International Monetary Fund in Washington DC, USA. The Coalition, comprising the organisations listed below at the date of publication, aims to bring about consistency in construction cost reporting standards internationally. This is achieved by the creation and adoption of this ICMS, an agreed international standard for the structuring and presentation of cost reports. ICMS sets out a structure for describing construction costs in terms of project scope, attributes and values descriptors. This document setting out the provisions of ICMS is the first …

Influence Of Ground Granulated Blastfurnace Slag On The Thermal Properties Of Pcm-Concrete Composite Panels, Dervilla Niall, Oliver Kinnane, Roger P. West, Sarah Mccormack

Conference papers

The thermal mass of concrete within a building can be used as an energy storage system and hence reduce the demand on the auxiliary heating and cooling systems in the building. The heat storage capacity of concrete can be enhanced by adding phase change materials (PCMs) which provide a high latent heat storage capacity. However the addition of PCM to concrete reduces the conductivity of the concrete due to the low conductivity of the PCMs. This hinders the efficient utilisation of the additional heat storage capacity provided by the PCM.

It is generally understood that the use of ground granulated …

In Situ Thermal Transmittance Of Case Studies In Dublin., Cormac Flood, Lloyd Scott, William Gleeson

Conference papers

Thermal transmittance (U-values) of exterior walls represent a source of uncertainty when estimating the energy performance of dwellings. It has been noted in research that the standard calculation methodology for thermal transmittance should be improved. Subsequently, hygrothermal analysis has been used as an accurate building design tool due to its incorporation of climate specific effects on construction assemblies such as moisture retention and release. In-situ measurement of thermal transmittance could also be an effective tool for evaluating the material performance of assemblies of a building. This paper provides the context, research process and analysis of 3 case studies situated in …

International Construction Measurement Standards (Icms) Explained, Charles Mitchell

Articles

In 2015 the United Nations wrote to various construction cost bodies around the world seeking some form of uniformity in the reporting of construction costs worldwide. The UN concern was the variance of reported statistics globally for similar projects even when local economic factors were taken into account.

As a result a meeting was held for interested parties in the offices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington D.C. in May 2015. This meeting became the inaugural meeting of what, today, is known as the International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) Coalition. The membership of the coalition is open to …

Bs News September/October

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Measuring Building Substructures: Solutions To ‘First Year’ Introductory Level Examination Questions, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

The measurement of substructure works to simple domestic type buildings is a logical starting point for students to commence the process of taking-off building quantities. Substructure work is typically the first class of work to be explained in textbooks dealing with both construction technology and building measurement. However, substructure work is often one of the most challenging elements to measure. In this paper, the author demonstrates the process of measuring basic substructure designs. The approach involves providing solutions to a sample of four Irish Department of Education Technological Certificate: Builders’ Quantities Intermediate Stage examinations. The intention is to demonstrate how …

Mechanical And Thermal Evaluation Of Different Types Of Pcm-Concrete Composite Panels, Dervilla Niall, Oliver Kinnane, Roger West, Sarah Mccormack

Conference papers

ABSTRACT: Thermal mass indicates the ability of a material to store and release heat and is a function of the heat storage capacity of a material. The thermal mass of construction materials can be used to reduce the energy required for heating and cooling buildings. The heat storage capacity of concrete can be increased by incorporating phase change materials (PCMs) into the concrete and hence providing additional latent heat storage capacity. Research was carried out to compare the thermal behaviour of two different types of PCM/concrete composite panels. The first type of panel was formed by adding microencapsulated paraffin to …

The Role Of The Contract Administrator Under The Principal Irish Standard Forms Of Building Contract, Tony Cunningham

Other Resources

Construction contract administration concerns the effective execution of construction contracts. The primary objectives of the individual appointed to administer a building contract typically include delivering the project safely, to the specified quality standards, on time, and within the employer’s budgetary constraints. The administrator’s task is to orchestrate and motivate the various designers and constructors to deliver the best possible performance both individually and as members of the team. This study has investigates the contribution made by the contract administrator in administering construction projects and outlines the decision-making, advisory and information roles undertaken by the contract administrator in the context of …

Bs News July/August

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

The Statistical Relevance And Effect Of Assuming Pessimistic Default Overall Thermal Transmittance Coefficients On Dwelling Energy Performance Certification Quality In Ireland, Ciara Ahern, Brian Norton, Bernard Enright

Articles

In the EU, Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) are issued for dwellings whenever they are constructed, sold or leased. Where requiring data would be prohibitively costly, nationally applicable default-values for the thermal transmittance coefficients of the building envelope are employed. Use of such worst case default U-values ensure that a poor dwelling does not attain a better energy rating than is merited. In the absence of empirical data in Ireland thermal-default U-values, as in many other EU member states, are determined by the type and date of construction and then prevailing building codes. Using 463,582 dwellings representing 32% of the total …

Bs News May/June

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

Green Building Rating Systems And The Role Of The Project Manager, Davis Ciprikis

Other Resources

Sustainable development has increased significantly over the last 10 years. Construction firms are adopting sustainable practices that come from both, internal and external drivers of the construction industry. In order to assess how sustainable a building is, a green building rating systems have been developed to provide a documented and systematic approach to sustainable construction practices. Amongst these rating systems are the Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Methods (BREEAM) introduced in the UK and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) created in the USA. It has been noted that the project manager will have an important role to …