Faris, H M A (2020) Improving project collaboration to minimise the energy performance gap in residential construction: case study of Kurdistan. PhD thesis, University of Portsmouth, UK.
Abstract
Residential buildings consume a significant amount of energy. Researchers have indicated that deficiencies during project delivery stages are some of the reasons for a gap between the designed and actual performance of buildings in terms of energy consumption. Competing relationships and fragmentation in the construction industry are highlighted as principal causes for this underperformance. Collaboration has been demonstrated as a solution to these challenges in the construction industry. However, collaborative environments are still far from effective in developing countries with a lack of research and information available for such countries. This research is undertaken on the residential sector in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Despite that the residential sector is a significant contributor to the economic growth of the region, those projects are not performing as expected regarding energy consumption. Researchers have pointed to lack of collaboration as a primary reason for high energy consumption in the residential sector. To investigate and explore these challenges, this research uses a systematic enquiry, utilising quantitative and qualitative methods. This thesis aims to explore these challenges, by reviewing literature and investigating construction practices to better quantify those factors that underlie collaboration. A comprehensive review of the literature was conducted to identify the most critical factors. Then, a questionnaire was used to survey the opinions of practitioners, analysed through Exploratory Factor Analysis. Six factors were identified: project vision, participant behaviour, communication, relationship definition, contractual agreements and systematic process. The factors were used to develop a framework that aims at improving collaboration in the Kurdistan region in order to minimise the energy performance gap. The framework was validated using interviews with construction experts. The developed framework explains the process of delivering collaboration in the form of a set of tasks distributed over a project’s lifecycle. These tasks must be accomplished to ensure collaboration between practitioners throughout the project lifecycle. Since there was an absence of studies that investigate improving collaboration in the residential sector in the Kurdistan region, this research significantly contributes to the scarce literature on construction projects in the region. Additionally, the study has a practical contribution by providing a framework that could be implemented to enhance collaboration and minimise the gap between the designed and actual performance of residential buildings in the Kurdistan region, and other countries at a similar stage of development.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Gaterell, M R |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | collaboration; communication; developing countries; energy consumption; factor analysis; economic growth; interview; Iraq; residential |
| Index terms: | practitioner, questionnaire, energy performance gap, construction project, collaboration, survey, qualitative method, fragmentation, developing country, interview, exploratory factor analysis, project delivery, agreements, construction industry, economic growth, lifecycle, residential construction, factor analysis, energy consumption, critical factor, project lifecycle, case study, residential building |
| Subjects: | economic development, development economics, production management, project completion, construction type, practitioner, construction integration, management, statistical analysis, industry analysis, business, research design and methodology, data collection methods, risk assessment, sustainability and energy, contract formation, project delivery, energy systems |
| Topics: | Organizational Design, Contract Administration, International Construction, Construction Technology, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Procurement, Sustainability, Risk Management, Project Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here