Construction Engineering Commons^™

Enhancing Construction Simulation Optimization Performance Through Variance Reduction Techniques, Mohammed Mawlana, Amin Hammad

College of Architecture and the Built Environment Faculty Papers

Simulation optimization has been used to analyze construction operations and support planning decisions under uncertainty. It enables the identification of effective planning strategies throughout a project’s lifecycle. However, the use of stochastic simulation to evaluate alternative strategies results in higher computational demands and the generation of inferior solutions within the resulting optimal solutions. This study examines the feasibility of overcoming these issues by implementing variance reduction techniques into a discrete-event simulation optimization framework. Three variance reduction techniques are evaluated in a case study: Common Random Numbers, Antithetic Variates, and a combined application of both. While these techniques are well established …

Circular Framework In The Design & Planning Phase Of Construction, Shreya Kanther

Full-Text Theses & Dissertations

Executive Summary

The transition towards circular economy in the design and construction industry represents a transformative opportunity to align economic growth with environmental sustainability. This dissertation delves deeply into how circular strategies can be implemented within the construction sector, examining their potential to mitigate resource depletion and waste generation, while fostering innovation and efficiency. By integrating theoretical frameworks with empirical research, the study provides a robust understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with circular models and offers actionable insights for stakeholders navigating the shift from linear to circular economic practices.

The backdrop for this research lies in the unsustainable …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Cellulose Microfibril-Reinforced Polyvinyl Alcohol Biodegradable Composites, Fatemeh Mahdiyeh-Boroujeni, Gabriella Fioravanti, Ronald Kander

School of Design and Engineering Papers

The pursuit of an environmentally sustainable manufacturing process requires the substitution of less damaging and recyclable solutions for harmful reagents. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of using cellulose microfibrils synthesized via different hydrolysis reactions as reinforcing agents in polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at varying concentrations. The investigation explores the morphology, thermal properties, and chemical behavior of the cellulose particles. The cellulose microfibrils (CMFs) produced using citric acid exhibited the highest yield and aspect ratio. Notably, particles from organic acids demonstrated greater thermal stability, with oxalic acid-derived particles displaying the maximum thermal degradation temperature. Subsequently, cast films of PVA reinforced …

Can Public Construction And Demolition Data Describe Trends In Building Material Recycling? Observations From Philadelphia, Kimberlee Marcellus-Zamora, Patricia Gallagher, Sabrina Spatari

College of Architecture and the Built Environment Faculty Papers

There is a significant amount of waste generated during construction and demolition (C&D) activities, but few data to understand the sources, age, spatial origin, and its fate following entry into the waste management system. With few public records that track C&D waste flows, we turned to industry and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) to quantify C&D data and meta-data using material flow analysis (MFA). LEED databases are not normally used to build life cycle inventories or material flow accounts because they do not house sufficiently detailed data. We propose using the geo-referenced data on reused C&D waste in …

Emerging Cad And Bim Trends In The Aec Education: An Analysis From Students' Perspective, Gulbin Ozcan Deniz

College of Architecture and the Built Environment Faculty Papers

As the construction industry is moving towards collaborative design and construction practices globally, training the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) students professionally related to CAD and BIM became a necessity rather than an option. The advancement in the industry has led to collaborative modelling environments, such as building information modelling (BIM), as an alternative to computer-aided design (CAD) drafting. Educators have shown interest in integrating BIM into the AEC curriculum, where teaching CAD and BIM simultaneously became a challenge due to the differences of two systems. One of the major challenges was to find the appropriate teaching techniques, as educators …