Browsing by Author "Aigbavboa, CO"

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Biomimetic strategies for climate change adaptation in the built environment- a literature review
Oguntona, OA; Aigbavboa, CO
Out of the numerous challenges facing mankind globally, the impact of climate change poses more threat. These impacts include sea-level rise, more frequent floods from heavy rainfall and notably among others, intense droughts. Despite the United Nations anchored events and conferences geared towards tackling climate change, little success has been recorded till date. Biomimicry, a novel science and method that studies nature‘s models and then emulates their forms, processes, and strategies offer a sustainable approach to this menace of climate change. It also has the potential to offer efficient alternatives to the human activities that contribute to the depletion and pollution of the environment. Hence, the objective of this paper is to evaluate and present the potential of biomimicry in adapting to climate change in the built environment. An extant literature review was conducted on biomimicry and its roles in tackling climate change through mitigation and adaptation. The result explores Biomimetic innovations and applications with their potential to sustainably combat the menace of climate change if adopted. This study is expected to refocus human efforts towards biomimicry where it is believed that nature, during its 3.8 billion years of existence has evolved with highly efficient processes and systems, with the potential to produce solutions to the environmental challenges facing mankind, especially climate change.
item: Conference-Full-text
Influence of experiential learning on education of construction students in South Africa
(2017) Aigbavboa, CO; Oladokun, MG; Kgoadi, MD
South Africa’s education sector comprises various individuals, all with different backgrounds, and this sometimes creates challenges when it comes to the teaching and learning processes, especially in construction education. This research assessed the impact of experiential training on construction education in South Africa. The study used a survey research design. Data were collected by the use of a structured questionnaire aimed at 130 respondents purposively selected among the students who were registered for Construction Management (CM), Quantity Surveying (QS), Civil Engineering and Building Science at a South African higher education institution. Out of the 130 copies of the questionnaire, only 101 were usable and therefore analysed for the study using descriptive statistics. The findings from the survey indicate that most of the respondents were of the view that collaborative learning is effective. Also, the findings of the study suggest that majority of the students are aware that they are working with people from different cultural backgrounds with experiential training running between a period of six months and 12 months. Regarding the influence of experiential training on education of students of construction programmes, the finding shows that experiential training has an influence “in encouraging students to find greater meaning in their studies”; “in providing students with exposure to the real world of work”; “encourages students to develop a greater sense of responsibility”; “encourages students to place more reliance on their judgement” ; “in creating students who are readily employable”; and “gives students access to possible funding sources in that order. The study concludes that experiential training influences education of construction students in South Africa.
item: Conference-Full-text
Project communication within small and medium-sized construction firms
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2015-06) Aidoo, BM; Aigbavboa, CO; Thwala, WD; Sandanayake, YG; Fernando, NG; Karunasena, GI
Communication is considered as a tool in the heart of management in enhancing project targets and Milestones not only in the construction sector but other sectors as well. The construction industry has however been characterized with its massive investment and associated risks. As a result, when main and sub-activities and tasks to be executed on project sites are not properly communicated among project teams and stakeholders, it will vehemently incur additional cost on the project, cause injury from accidents and may delay the entire project completion schedule amongst others. This exploratory study seek to establish the project communication structure used by construction SME’s and also to develop a pattern within the communication structure of SME’s that will avert uncertainties in a form of barriers to their communication. In order to accomplish the exploratory study, semi-structure interview sessions were conducted among construction professionals and clients via purposive sampling. The targeted population for the study was adequately prepared as a result of the prior notification for the interviews. Findings from the study revealed that most of the construction SME’s do not have established communication structure in their operations. Further, the SME’s only realized the need for a communication pattern when they encounter complex issues such as dispute on a claim with clients and stakeholders. The study recommends that prior to the execution of projects by SME’s, the communication lines must be clearly defined as well as the reporting a system with an in-depth briefing for all team members and stakeholders to be privy.