FARU - 2015

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://192.248.9.226/handle/123/14713

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 40

item: Conference-Abstract
Capacity building in construction SMES : a proposal through enabling lean
Ranadewa, KATO; Sandanayake, YG; Siriwardena, M
Construction Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) makes a noteworthy contribution to GDP in national economy despite the challenges faced by them. One of their major problems is increase of non-value adding activities. Hence, construction SMEs need to be responsive to the challenges in implementing lean. Lean is a relatively new approach in the construction industry which minimizes waste, time and creates value. However, implementing lean may encounter challenges. Lack of capacities is the prevalent issue and hence, need to identify necessary capacities to achieve full benefit of lean implementation. Focusing on capacity building to enable lean construction will allow construction SMEs to better perform in the industry. Therefore, this paper attempts to investigate the importance of lean enabling capacity building in construction SMEs. Hence a comprehensive literature review was carried out to discuss the challenges faced by construction SMEs, lean philosophy, lean construction benefits, barriers and capacity building. Although, lean and capacity building related literature exists , there is a lack of research in capacity building strategies that enable lean in construction SMEs. Hence, the paper proposes a conceptual model for lean enabling capacity building for construction SMEs. The developed conceptual model will further guide this research study to identify lean enabling capacity building strategies for construction SMEs.
item: Conference-Abstract
Adaptation of Kindura mythical creature in traditional arts and crafts of Sri Lanka : an analysis of graphical adaptation and its impact
Bulumulla, V; Jayarathna, P
The word “myth” comes from the Greek “mythos”, meaning a word or a story. Humankind has made myths from the dawn of history. Many common themes run through world of myths and one such theme connects human beings with other animals. Therefore, from the early ages of storytelling, mythical creatures were prominent feature in each human culture. It is noticed that myths of diverse cultures are often linked by similar themes and concepts, but the difference is made with the process of adaptation which were done by each culture according to their own stories, beliefs and ideas. Many researches and studies have been carried to understand the origin and the background stories of these mythical arts, but yet few have been done to understand the graphical adaptations. This study intends to discuss the development of graphical adaptation of the mythical creatures from its original artefacts which is applied in Sri Lankan traditional art and craft. By understanding these graphical and visual adaptation of the local context, this research further places the initial foundation of updating the local mythical legends and creatures in a more effective manner in both art and design aspect, which has not been continued in recent past.
item: Conference-Abstract
Seating as a cultural expression : a critical reading of seating in non-secular buddhist contexts in colonial Sri Lanka
Beligatamulla, G; Siyambalapitiya, N; Fernando, S
Objects used to assist posture were associated with socio-cultural values of social status and hierarchy as well as cultural values ever since man began to utilize objects for functional purpose. The colonial Sri Lanka is characterized by emergence of new social categories, culture and identity. The mingling of traditional caste with a new concept of class and role played by newly introduced Christianity was crucial in this regard. These social changes resulted in a change of perception towards material objects creating a seminal change from the earlier practices built upon Buddhist culture. Accordingly, this article examines how seating used for preaching in Buddhist context changed with this socio-cultural change. A literature based study on pre-colonial and colonial usage of furniture was carried out with special emphasis on non-secular contexts. Existing examples from the late 19th century when the changes became clearly apparent were studied in detail. Influence of pulpits and celebrant chairs used in Christian preaching is observed. New meaning was derived from integrated design elements borrowed from Buddhist culture and prevailing forms of Christianity. Additionally, colonial chairs of authority and the new role of the preaching monk as a ‘leader’ seemed to have been aligned in creating new meaning for seating.
item: Conference-Abstract
Addressing human thermal adaptation in outdoor comfort research
Perera, K; schnabel, MA; Donn, M; Maddewithana, H
Thermal comfort of persons staying outdoors is one of the vital aspects that influence outdoor activities in streets, playgrounds, urban parks, etc. The use of the space is highly affected by the microclimate and for over 60 years many methods have been developed to assess the influence of these climatic parameters on thermal comfort. The influence of thermal comfort on outdoor activities is a phenomena that comprises of both climatic and behavioural aspects. After discovering drawbacks in theoretical thermal comfort assessment models, thermal adaptation aspects have received a great attention in thermal comfort research. This paper presents a review of research over the past years, focusing on the perception of outdoor thermal comfort and the use of outdoor spaces with relevance to thermal adaptation. It is intended to highlight the limitations of current adaptation assessment methods and discuss a possible framework to evaluate thermal environment based on physical adaptation
item: Conference-Abstract
An Analytical study of the value of urban open spaces in promoting environmental improvement and social wellbeing
Kalupahana, C; Weerakoon, DK; Mahees, IM
According to current projections, more than 75% of the human population will live in cities and urban areas by 2050. This will lead to overcrowding of the cities that will lead to conversion of much needed open spaces to meet infrastructure needs. Loss of urban spaces will contribute to physical inactivity which together with unhealthy diets will contribute to a rapid increase in the non-communicable diseases among the urban populace. Therefore modern cities must incorporate urban parks to provide aesthetic, social, physiological and psychological benefits to urban societies. In Sri Lanka, an initiative has been taken to create urban parks, multi use trails and wetland nature parks to encourage active and passive recreation as well as social gathering. This research project was formulated to test the hypothesis that “created parks have generated improvement in physical environment such as quality of air and aesthetics and has made an impact on sociological wellbeing of the user community”. The research focused on four open spaces created in Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte, Diyatha Uyana, Parliament green, Japanese friendship road walk path and model paddy field walk path. One environmental parameter, air quality and visitation patterns to these parks were investigated with the aim of identifying level of exposure of the visitors while spending time at these sites and visitor preferences. The air quality of the four sites is well within National air quality standards, especially during the peak use hours of these sites by general public. The parks attract a multitude of users mainly between 29 and 49 years of age. The users show site tenacity based on the type of activity they engage in while using these parks. These parks have positively contributed to social and physical well being of park users.
item: Conference-Abstract
Life cycle assessment for historic building reuse
Hu, M
Until now, little has been known about the climate change reductions that might be offered by reusing and retrofitting existing buildings rather than demolishing and replacing them with new construction. This life cycle analysis of Bent’s house building was carried out as an exploratory study to find out whether preserve historical building will have quantifiable environmental impact beyond the cultural benefit that have been known and agreed by public. This research paper provides a comprehensive analysis to date of the potential environmental impact reductions associated with building reuse using Bent’s opera house as a study case. Utilizing a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) methodology, the study compares the relative environmental impacts and primary energy consumption of historical building, building renovation and new construction over the course of a 75‐year life span. Also, this research project illustrates a framework of integrating variety BIM tools in life cycle analysis.
item: Conference-Abstract
Integrating universities with the built environment practice and the communities in disaster management education
Malalgoda, C; Amaratunga, D; Haigh, R; Keraminiyage, K
Built environment (BE) practitioners have a key role to play in developing societal resilience to disasters. In doing so, various interactions are needed between BE disciplines and other stakeholders engaged with the disaster management process. Therefore universities conducting courses on disaster management need to consider the needs of these stakeholders in their programme design and delivery. This requires building partnerships between universities, BE practice and other stakeholders engaged in disaster management who are referred to as ‘community’ in this research. Previous research has highlighted the lack of integration between practice, community and university (PCU) in contributing to the societal resilience to disasters and therefore it is very important to strengthen the integration between PCU. Development of such partnerships is a complex task and it is important to identify how PCU integration can take place and how the effectiveness of such integration can be measured. Accordingly, the aim of this paper is to present the initial PCU framework developed as part of an EU funded project, aimed at developing a professional doctorate for disaster resilience in the built environment. The methodology adopted for this research comprises of a literature review and brainstorming. The paper presents several mechanisms to integrate universities with the BE practice and communities in developing meaningful partnerships in the proposed professional doctorate, some of which include, collaborative programme design, delivery, research and supervision
item: Conference-Abstract
Placement of railway stations in urban settings and the impact of location on performance of the station
Jayatillake, B; Perera, KKS
This research focused on the impact of the city has on the functioning of an urban railway station. Methodology for this study has derived from Node / Place categorization for railway stations introduced by Bertolini, and it has modified to suit the local context. Ten consecutive railway stations along Keleni Valley Line have been selected as case studies after careful consideration. Direct observation, mapping and informal interviews become the main data collection method. Two main performative parameters for railway stations can be derived through incorporating the passenger volume as criteria indicative of a successful achievement. Accordingly the station ability to function as an efficient transport node is considered as a performative parameter and it has been calculated by multiplying the values of ‘node index’ and number of passenger volume. The second performative parameter is the station’s ability in generating diverse urban place. It has been calculated by multiplying the values of ‘place diversity index’ and the number of passenger volume. From the selected case studies, Nugegoda railway station preformed as the best in both categories followed by Maharagama railway station. Pangiriwaththa station performed as the weakest as a transport node. Considering the perfomative parameter in generating diverse urban place, Udahamulla railway station ranked the last'
item: Conference-Abstract
Public perceptions on urban outdoor constructions and their materials
Galabada, H; Thoradeniya, B; Halwatura, RU
Human perceptions on their environment are an important aspect that has to be considered in the development construction works to meet the common final goal of a sustainable and satisfactory project. Of the perceptions, those on construction materials are important as it directly links to present day important concerns such as global warming, heat island effects etc. Though extensive research has been carried out on construction materials, the studies are limited on public perceptions on outdoor construction materials. This paper presents the detailed analysis of data collected through a sample of public on their perceptions on the paving materials of outdoor constructions; viz. pedestrian walkways and recreational areas. The methodology included a literature survey to identify the current research status, an on-line questionnaire survey carried out on a sample of public to identify their perceptions and a statistical analysis performed on the collected data. The sample consisted of 149 respondents. Additionally, temperatures were measured on the top surface of selected pavements throughout the day. The outcome of the study indicates clay brick is preferred over concrete and asphalt as the paving material for pedestrian walkways and recreational areas.
item: Conference-Abstract
BIM As an instrument to minimize sources of conflicts in construction projects
Rajaweera, A; Jayasena, HS; Dissanayake, TL
It is a general acceptance within the construction industry that the conflicts in projects are inevitable; and it is a regular phenomenon due the unique nature of the construction industry. However, this is not the expectation of the clients of the industry and the society at large. A responsive construction industry should therefore take all steps to minimize conflicts in construction projects. Many sources of conflicts were found to be directly or indirectly related to information and communication. With the introduction of Building Information Modelling it was able to reduce the need for re-formatting or re-gathering information. This resulted in an increase in the speed and accuracy of transmitted information, automation of checking and analysis, unprecedented support of operation and maintenance activities and abatement of limitations associated with a lack of interoperability. It is an expectation in the construction industry that, adoption of BIM therefore will reduce the sources of conflicts in construction projects. This research study was aimed on identifying the modes to minimize sources of conflicts in construction projects with adoption of BIM. A desk study analysis was conducted using various standard publications published by construction stakeholders and the collected data was subjected to content analysis. Through findings of the research, modes which can be used to minimize sources of conflicts using BIM were identified. The findings of the research will provide a guideline for the adoption of BIM to minimize sources of conflicts.
item: Conference-Abstract
Assimilating historical contexts as learning labs : introducing design thinking in the foundation level of design education
Liyanage, UPP; Hettiarachchi, S
Design Thinking is the practice of including and empathizing with people, their cultures, traditions and especially their emotions throughout the problem-solving process of design. In the Bachelor of Design course at the Department of Integrated Design, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, this practice begins by the realization of one’s self. While the individual self is realized in varied perspectives in succession, the use of historical contexts as the introductory atmosphere is highly beneficial. Using inherent qualities of the physical context, culturally valued reminiscent structures or ideological attributes given to contexts, students begin the process of questioning the norm for the progression of empathized betterment through history. Empirical data of ten (10) projects spanning from 2001 to 2015 is used to derive the methods of experimentation and evolution of historical contexts as learning labs. The gathered analytical data is used to synthesize necessary inclusions of a historical learning lab and future possibilities. The research has been funded by the Senate Research Committee of the University of Moratuwa under the grant number SRC/ST/05/2015.
item: Conference-Abstract
Integration of remote sensing and gis with sleuth to characterize the urban growth of Matara, Sri Lanka
Sandamali, SPI; Kantakumar, LN; Sivanantharajah, S
Urbanization causes population growth and physical expansion of built-up area in cities and its suburb. It puts immense pressure on natural resources, conversation of agricultural land and degradation of water, air qualities and have profound impact on human lifestyle and health. Since last two decades, Sri Lanka is experiencing speedy urbanization. The urban population of Sri Lanka is expected to reach 60% by 2030 from 14% in 2010. This rapid increase in urban population may cause serious socio-economic disparities. In-order to plan for a sustainable urban future in Sri Lanka, planners are in need of new tools that can be capable to monitor and predict the urban growth under various scenarios. In this paper, we attempted to characterize the urban growth characteristics of Matara city using Geoinformatics and SLEUTH model. SLEUTH is a well-known urban growth model based on cellular automata. Multi-temporal remote sensing datasets from 1980-2010 have been used quantify the urban growth of Matara. SLEUTH model is calibrated using the data sets prepared from aerial photographs, Landsat sensor data and topographical data from Survey department. The derived calibration coefficient are used to project the growth of Matara by 2030 to understand and analyze the areas that are likely to be urbanized by 2030. The model results showing that out of 66 Grama Niladari Divisions 29 (in Matara Divisional Secretariat Division) will be urbanized with a probability ranging from 80% to 90%.
item: Conference-Abstract
Preliminery project cost estimation model using artificial neural networks for public sector office buildings in Sri Lanka
Dissanayake, DMSM; Fernando, NG; Jayasinghe, SJARS; Rathnaweera, PHSB
Cost estimating is a critical due to incomplete project details and drawings and has become a similar issue in Sri Lanka. Since, cost of a building is impacted by decisions made at the design phase, efficient cost estimation is essential. Therefore novel cost models have identified as simple, understandable and reliable. Thereby, Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) have established having the ability to learn patterns within given inputs and outputs and the end result was developed as the preliminary project cost estimation model for public sector office buildings in Sri Lanka. To accomplish the above aim, the survey approach was selected and semi structured interviews and documentary review were conducted in collecting data. Then training and testing of the Neural Networks (NN) under ten design parameters was carried out using the cost data of twenty office buildings in public sector. The data was applied to the back propagation NNtechnique to attain the optimal NN Architectures. The empirical findings depicts that the success of an ANN is very sensitive to parameters selected in the training process and decreasing learning rate makes Mean Square Error smaller but with considerably larger number of iterations up to certain point. It has been gained good generalization capabilities in testing session achieving accuracy of 90.9% in validation session. Ultimately, NN has provided the best solution to develop a cost estimation model for public sector as accurate, heuristic, flexible and efficient technique.
item: Conference-Abstract
Knowledge management in construction organisations in Australia using social network analysis: a research framework
Senaratne, S; Jin, X; Srirathan, S
The project-based settings in construction hinder the transfer of knowledge from one project to a future project. Hence, new knowledge created within construction projects should need to pass to the organisation level and then be shared at the organisation level and transferred to other projects. Previous research had found that construction project knowledge is more likely to be disseminated through networks of strong personal relationships. Hence, it is important to build and maintain strong networks within construction organisations to enable wider dissemination of project knowledge. However, little is known on how such networks exist in construction organisations in Australia. Social network analysis provides a method of analysing network patterns. Using social network analysis as a tool for the study of construction management issues has grown considerably in the past decades. However, there have been limited attempts to incorporate social network analysis into the study of knowledge management networks in the construction industry. By using social network analysis, this research aims to identify and measure the key social networks that disseminate project knowledge within construction organisations, through several case studies. In this paper, the literature findings are presented with the proposed research methods. The literature review findings revealed that the organisational structural capital nurtured through network ties and their configuration would effectively enable the project knowledge dissemination process within construction organisations and these could be effectively identified using social network analysis. The literature findings finally led to the development of a research framework. Future research will use this method on an empirical phase.
item: Conference-Abstract
An evaluation of the current urban design process in order to derive critical success factors for the creation of a potential new urban design process framework
Dias, N; Keraminiyage, K; Amaratunga, D; Curwell, S
The current urban design process is top-down, i.e., generally the urban designers or planners design the urban environment and at a later stage the community may have some involvement. There are serious criticisms of this process as it may not touch the “ground” level community, and therefore, there is a serious risk these projects will fail to create sustainable environments. Accordingly, in order to overcome the drawbacks of the current top-down process, researches have discussed implementing a bottom-up process in order to deliver sustainable urban designs. In the meantime the current top-down urban design process may have features which may positively affect for the creation of sustainable urban designs. Accordingly, this research paper discusses the critical success factors of the current top down urban design process which supports for a creation of a new potential urban design process framework. The research methodology adopted for this research is case study research reinforced by grounded theory where the researcher has evaluated a live urban design project process in North-West England. The evaluation has resulted deriving seven critical success factors. The “leadership” of the process has been identified as one of The current urban design process is top-down, i.e., generally the urban designers or planners design the urban environment and at a later stage the community may have some involvement. There are serious criticisms of this process as it may not touch the “ground” level community, and therefore, there is a serious risk these projects will fail to create sustainable environments. Accordingly, in order to overcome the drawbacks of the current top-down process, researches have discussed implementing a bottom-up process in order to deliver sustainable urban designs. In the meantime the current top-down urban design process may have features which may positively affect for the creation of sustainable urban designs. Accordingly, this research paper discusses the critical success factors of the current top down urban design process which supports for a creation of a new potential urban design process framework. The research methodology adopted for this research is case study research reinforced by grounded theory where the researcher has evaluated a live urban design project process in North-West England. The evaluation has resulted deriving seven critical success factors. The “leadership” of the process has been identified as one of the major critical success factors.
item: Conference-Abstract
Customer behaviour and energy use in european shopping centres
Haase, M; Skeie, KS; Woods, R
Policies and research often focus on technology and buildings and not on social aspects associated with future developments. There are many reasons for this, and one of the most pertinent may be that behaviour is both difficult to control and to predict and that the technological solutions that are introduced are perceived as part of a purely technical system. The ambition to identify the systemic inefficiencies of shopping centres requires a more holistic systems view, which cannot be achieved by simply studying isolated parts or individuals in the shopping centre.
item: Conference-Abstract
Strategies to reduce the reliance of foreign workers : a case study of Singapore’s construction industry
Cheong, KY; Gao, S
Singapore has one of the most open economies in the world in terms of foreign labour inflows. Foreign workers served to overcome the labour shortage in the Singapore construction sector; however, over the years the influx of and over-dependence on foreign workers have become a serious social problem and controversial issue in the country. This study attempts to examine the benefits of and problems caused by foreign workers, and propose and discuss ways to reduce the reliance on foreign construction workers in Singapore. This study is mainly based on secondary data. It was found out using foreign workers have benefits. Foreign workers can contribute to Singapore's economic growth, provide labour that the local workers avoid, reduce the cost of labour for companies, among others. However, foreign workers caused congested infrastructures, jobs competition, and housing pressures etc. To reduce the reliance on foreign construction workers in Singapore, this study proposed policies and strategies such as the minimum wage policy, "Singaporean First policy", and reducing the Dependence Ratio Ceiling (DRC), among others. These policies and strategies recommended may help to reduce the reliance on foreign workers in the country.
item: Conference-Abstract
Mapping a nexus between urban built form and energy intensity: case of office building stock in colombo municipal council of Sri Lanka
Rajapaksha, I; Jayasinghe, WS; Rajapaksha, U
Residential and commercial buildings consume one fifth of the world’s total energy and accounts for one third of the global greenhouse gas emissions. Annual Energy consumption in Sri Lanka has rapidly increased over the past years. Building accounts for 64.7% of the total national energy consumption in 2013 and 26.1% of the energy is consumed by non-domestic buildings. Thus highlights the importance of investigating the energy consumption of urban office building stock. Majority of the office buildings in Colombo are dominated by air-tight envelopes with glazed facades. . Thus demands for active systems to condition the indoor environments. This trend in the office building stock has originated energy intensive office interiors with an average annual building energy index of 250 KWh/m2.Although 80% of the urban building stock in Colombo Sri Lanka is composed of office buildings there is a limited research attention on the energy behavior of this building stock. Thus this study focuses on mapping a nexus between urban built form and energy intensity of the office building stock in Sri Lanka. Physical configuration of the building stock varies along the main arteries of the study focus area. Of which 53% and 47% of the buildings have a shallow and a deep plan form respectively.75% of the office buildings are attached with another structure and these physical configurations have a direct impact on the Building Energy Index. Further fenestration details of the critical façade have different compositions of glazed and Aluminum cladding Of which 17%, 26%, 57% are evident for glazed, Aluminium cladding and Aluminium cladding with glazed respectively. Results indicated that the energy intensity of the buildings associated with the orientation, fenestration detailing of the critical faced and building form.
item: Conference-Abstract
Thermal comfort in Libya - field study
Gabril, N; Wilson, M; Gleeson, C
As part of the thermal comfort investigation in Libya a thermal comfort field survey was carried to set local thermal comfort temperature. This paper will present a field study results of thermal comfort in Libya. A thermal comfort survey has been held out in 39 domestic building across the three cities from three climatic zones, The criteria of selection only limited in free running domestic houses (naturally ventilated houses). Nearly 160 persons were included in this survey, they have been interviewed in their houses under their normal living conditions during the hottest (Summer), the coldest (Winter) and the moderate (Spring) periods of the year. The study investigates and assigns the thermal comfort temperature in three climatic zones in Libya, and three equations were concluded from the study, using the running mean outdoor temperature as predictor of the thermal comfort, that can indicate the limits of the comfort zones for the three cities. The paper also presents the researcher study on thermal insulation values for traditional Libyan clothing. The most common ensemble clothing for women and men were tested using thermal manikin.
item: Conference-Abstract
Gender equity in disaster early warning systems
De Silva, K; Amaratunga, D; Haigh, RP
Capacities of societies, communities and individuals or a social-ecological system to deal with adverse consequences and the impacts of hazard events define the resilience. New and innovative Emergency Communications, Warning Systems (ECWS) technologies and solutions improve resilience of the nations. Research shows that different types of systems (e.g. decision support, resource management, early warning, communications, and inter-agency) are highly valued in emergency and disaster events reducing live losses. As many individuals have online access today and young women have increased their online communication and young men tend to explore technology resources, the potential of using user friendly third revolution digital technology such as semantic features and devices (e.g. SMART phones) have the potential to improve the access to early warning/risk information supporting community decision making saving lives. These personal and social relations that reflect gender dimensions can certainly be examined improving resilience making communities more prepared for disasters with proactive decision making for early warning. Fostering awareness about gender equity which is the recognition of women and men as active participants in development can tailor made within the context of resilience and more specifically within early warning systems saving lives of the people at immediate risk including the dependence of mother’s care (children and older people). In this context, this paper attempts to synthesis literature on the topic of gender equity within disaster early warning systems.

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