Peter Demian | Loughborough University (original) (raw)

Papers by Peter Demian

Research paper thumbnail of BIM Search Engine: Effects of Object Relationships and Information Standards

Buildings, Jun 23, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Maturity of BIM Implementation in the Jordanian AEC Industry

Deleted Journal, Feb 27, 2024

Purpose: The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in Jordan is continually e... more Purpose: The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in Jordan is continually evolving and integrating new methods and technologies. However, the implementation of BIM workflows and digitised processes has been very slow. This research aims to provide an assessment of the current status of BIM implementation and use within the AEC industry in Jordan. Design / methodology / approach: AEC professionals in Jordan were surveyed using a questionnaire and perceptions of BIM was obtained by followup structured interviews with experienced AEC professionals. Findings: This research evaluates the maturity of BIM understanding and implementation in Jordan and identifies three critical areas for the improvement and optimisation of BIM implementation in Jordan. Originality / value: This research provides a current view of the status of BIM implementation within the AEC industry in Jordan, identifies progress to date towards raising awareness of the benefits of BIM adoption, makes the needed information available for policy makers and project stakeholders, and proposes potential initiatives to support the implementation of BIM across Jordan.

Research paper thumbnail of Immersive Technologies-Driven Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Context of Metaverse

Buildings, Jun 19, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a Conceptual Framework for Effective Quality Management Practices in Construction Organisations

Journal of construction business and management, Jun 7, 2021

Effective quality management practices are critical to successful project delivery. However, the ... more Effective quality management practices are critical to successful project delivery. However, the quality challenges in developing countries such as Nigeria, which is the focus of this research, have been a concern to construction practitioners and other interested parties such as clients and regulatory bodies. Some scholars suggest that part of these challenges can be attributed to ineffective quality management systems; thus, leading to consequences such as building collapse, poor organisational/industry reputation, poor/lack of traceability, poor documentation process, and lack of planned audit. This research aims to develop a contextual model that is intended to improve the culture of quality that can facilitate effective quality management practices in construction organisations in Nigeria. A mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methodological approach was deployed based on a pragmatic research philosophy paradigm. A questionnaire (quantitative) survey was adopted to gather data and results from the data analysis and reviewed literature were discussed, and the findings supported the development of a conceptual quality management model in construction as the outcome of this research. The designed model comprises eight integrated components. The model is a quality system that construction organisations can use: to identify some typical barriers hindering effective QMSs implementation; to assist them to develop cultural values that can drive effective QMSs implementation; to undertake effective QMSs practices as they relate to construction, and to recognise the potential results and longer-term benefits obtainable from implementing effective QMSs. The model was evaluated and validated by professional construction practitioners and academic experts for its usefulness and applicability. Future study should focus on the practical validation of the model.

Research paper thumbnail of Customising Evacuation Instructions for High-Rise Residential Occupants to Expedite Fire Egress: Results from Agent-Based Simulation

Fire, Apr 24, 2021

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a conceptual model for effective quality management practices in construction organisations: the case of Nigeria

Research paper thumbnail of CoMem-XML: Exploring Context in Repositories of Construction Management Data

Research paper thumbnail of Comem: design knowledge reuse from a corporate memory

... CoMem: Design Knowledge Reuse from a Corporate Memory By Peter Demian CIFE Technical Report #... more ... CoMem: Design Knowledge Reuse from a Corporate Memory By Peter Demian CIFE Technical Report #157 JUNE 2004 STANFORD UNIVERSITY Page 2. ... FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Peter Demian June 2004 Page 4. © Copyright by Peter Demian 2004 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Virtual Reality Aided Therapy towards Health 4.0: A Two-Decade Bibliometric Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jan 28, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of 3DIR: three-dimensional information retrieval from 3D building information modelling environments

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, Sep 9, 2015

More and more information is being packed into Building Information Models (BIMs), with the 3D ge... more More and more information is being packed into Building Information Models (BIMs), with the 3D geometrical model serving as the central index to lead users to the many other types of building information. The Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR) project investigates information retrieval from such environments, where information or documents are linked to a 3D artefact. In these situations, the 3D visualisation or 3D geometry of the building can be exploited when formulating information retrieval queries, computing the relevance of information items to the query, or visualising search results. Following reviews of literature in BIM/CAD and information retrieval, a clear gap was identified in the practice of information retrieval from BIM/CAD systems. End users were consulted to ascertain the precise user requirements in such an information retrieval system. Scenario-based design was adopted to design a software prototype. The 3DIR system was developed as an add-in under the Autodesk Revit BIM platform. The 3DIR prototype creates an index of all text data attached to the 3D model. The user is able to search for information by selecting specific 3D objects, by keyword and by specifying particular 3D regions of the model. Relationships between 3D objects are also used to rank search results. Search results are displayed by highlighting 3D objects in the 3D model. Findings from the evaluation of the prototype demonstrate its usefulness but suggest directions for future development. It is concluded that a tight coupling between text-based retrieval and the 3D model is extremely effective in 3D BIM environments.

Research paper thumbnail of Conceptualising actors' information behaviour: an investigation into project information dynamics

Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recen... more Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recent years. However, information behaviour (IB) of actors' in the project environment can be undefined, unstructured and suboptimal. The way information is obtained and shared to support project design development, organisational management and site operational activities continue to change rapidly. Major problems that continue to affect actors' performance are their exposure to different information sources and channels, unstructured Information Seeking Behaviour (ISB), and the large amount of time they spend sifting through these sources and channels to obtain context specific information just-in-time for use. Hence, this research uses comprehensive review of IB literature and interviews to investigate the information seeking activities of industry professionals in the project environment. It was found that project actors exhibited five distinct ISBs during the project delivery process which are presented and discussed with a conceptual framework to establish an agenda for future study into effective IB culture. The significance of this research is to investigate the current practices of actors' ISBs in order to define strategies to help improve performance in information seeking, project design and delivery process.

Research paper thumbnail of Effective visualisation of design versions: visual storytelling for design reuse

Research in Engineering Design, Sep 18, 2008

Improving and supporting the process of design knowledge reuse can increase productivity, improve... more Improving and supporting the process of design knowledge reuse can increase productivity, improve the quality of designs and lead to corporate competitive advantage. Whereas internal knowledge reuse (reusing knowledge from one's personal memory or experiences) is very effective, external knowledge reuse (reusing knowledge from an external digital or paper archive) often fails. This paper studies the value of the storytelling paradigm in supporting reuse from an external repository. Based on a formalisation of the internal reuse process from ethnographic studies, a prototype system, CoMem (Corporate Memory) is presented, which supports the reuse process, specifically the steps of finding and understanding reusable items. This paper focuses on the ability of designers to understand designs that are found in corporate repositories. It is argued that in order to understand and reuse a found design, the designer needs to see the evolution of that design during the original design process. An Evolution History Explorer module of the CoMem system is presented that uses a storytelling metaphor and lays out versions visually side-by-side. A formal user evaluation of CoMem supports the hypotheses that (1) exploring the evolution of a design improves the reuse process, and (2) that visual storytelling is an effective paradigm for supporting that exploration.

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of granularity of search results on the relevance judgment behavior of engineers: Building systems for retrieval and understanding of context

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2009

Granularity is a novel concept for presenting information in search result interfaces of hierarch... more Granularity is a novel concept for presenting information in search result interfaces of hierarchical query‐driven information retrieval systems in a manner that can support understanding and exploration of the context of the retrieved information (e.g., by highlighting its position in the granular hierarchy and exposing its relationship with relatives in the hierarchy). Little research, however, has been conducted on the effects of granularity of search results on the relevance judgment behavior of engineers. Engineers are highly motivated information users who are particularly interested in understanding the context of the retrieved information. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the design of systems with careful regard for granularity would improve engineers' relevance judgment behavior. To test this hypothesis, a prototype system was developed and evaluated in terms of the time needed for users to find relevant information, the accuracy of their relevance judgment, and their subjective satisfaction. To evaluate the prototype, a user study was conducted where participants were asked to complete tasks, complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and be interviewed. The findings showed that participants performed better and were more satisfied when the prototype system presented only relevant information in context. Although this study presents some novel findings about the effects of granularity and context on user relevance judgment behavior, the results should be interpreted with caution. For example, participants in this research were recruited by convenience and performed a set of simulated tasks as opposed to real ones. However, suggestions for further research are presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Social value in the digitalised construction environment

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of a strategy for increased intra-organisational innovation in a construction firm

... Shaw, N., Bouchlaghem, N., and Demian, P. n.shaw2@lboro.ac.uk Centre for Innovative and Colla... more ... Shaw, N., Bouchlaghem, N., and Demian, P. n.shaw2@lboro.ac.uk Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Engineering, Loughborough University (CICE), LE11 3TU, United ... Integration No/limited access to the right people at the right time, including early stage involvement 4% ...

Research paper thumbnail of Feedback messaging, thermal comfort and usage of office-based personal comfort systems

Energy and Buildings, Dec 1, 2019

Psychological processes are involved in human thermal comfort evaluation, and play a role in peop... more Psychological processes are involved in human thermal comfort evaluation, and play a role in people's judgement of their thermal environment. Could these processes be beneficially managed in some way? This paper reports what is believed to be the first investigation of whether messaging, in the form of energy feedback and social normative information, can affect human subjective thermal comfort-related evaluations. Work was conducted in a controlled environmental room, the context being that of a multi-occupant office with messaging being delivered to individuals via a computer screen on each desk. Investigations were conducted for a range of warm office conditions (24.5 o C, 27 o C, 29.5 o C, as might be encountered in summertime). Experimental sessions of two hours' duration were undertaken for: no messaging; messaging appearing at the second hour; messaging present at first hour then removed at second hour. A total of 62 subjects (23 female and 39 male) took part, with all (except one) of the thermal conditions that involved messaging being experienced by 9 participants. The appearance of energy feedback and social normative messaging was found to have a statistically-significant effect on reported thermal sensations, reported thermal comfort and reported intended desk fan usage, these being observed at the higher end of the temperature range, but had no effect on other subjective evaluations. Presence, then removal, of messaging showed no significant effects, as did an effective 'control group' comparison. Whilst effects were observed on certain subjective thermal evaluations at the higher temperatures, these were at the 95% confidence level, and it is recommended that a larger scale study be undertaken to confirm, or otherwise, these observations. The study offers a method that can be followed for future investigations under controlled conditions, and serves to design further, larger-scale, experiments, to investigate actual usage of personal comfort systems and the role of messaging in this context. Implications of any 'intervention-type' influences (of which 'messaging' could be an example) on subjective evaluations, if confirmed, may open a new way to help manage human thermal comfort and energy use in offices or similar environments, but this will require further careful consideration, particularly from the perspective of human health and well-being, prior to any deployment in practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Information Retrieval from Civil Engineering Repositories: Importance of Context and Granularity

Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Nov 1, 2012

Information about the design and construction of buildings can be structured in a particular way.... more Information about the design and construction of buildings can be structured in a particular way. This is especially correct given the increasing complexity of building product models and the emergence of Building Information Models with project documents linked to them. In addition, engineers usually have distinct information needs. Research shows that engineers working with Building Information Models place particular importance on the understanding of retrieved content before using it or applying it, and that exploration of context is essential for this understanding. Both these factors (the nature of engineering content and the information needs of engineers) make general information retrieval techniques for computing relevance and visualizing search results less applicable in civil engineering information retrieval systems. This paper argues that granularity is a fundamental concept that needs to be considered when measuring relevance and visualizing search results in information retrieval systems for repositories of building design and construction content. It is hypothesized that the design of systems with careful regard for granularity would improve engineers' relevance judgment behaviour. In order to test this hypothesis, a prototype system, called CoMem-XML, was developed and evaluated in terms of the time needed for users to find relevant information, the Manuscript (SECOND revised version) Demian&d Balatsoukas, Ms. No. CPENG-318 resubmitted to JCCE, September 2010 2 accuracy of their relevance judgment and their subjective satisfaction with the prototype. A user study was conducted where test subjects were asked to complete tasks using various forms of the prototype, to complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and to be interviewed. The findings show that users perform better and are more satisfied when the search result interface of the CoMem-XML system presents only relevant information in context. On the other hand, interfaces that present the retrieved information out of context (i.e. without highlighting its position in the parts hierarchy) are less effective for participants to judge relevance.

Research paper thumbnail of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Construction: Drivers and Limitations for Industry Adoption

Journal of the Construction Division and Management, Jul 1, 2020

Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to provide a step-change in productivity in the ... more Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to provide a step-change in productivity in the construction sector; however, the level of adoption is very low. This paper presents a systematic study of the factors that limit and drive adoption in the construction sectorspecific context. A mixed research method was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Eight focus groups with 54 experts and an online questionnaire were conducted. Forty-two limiting and driving factors were identified and ranked. Principal Component Analysis was conducted to group the identified factors into a smaller number of factors based on correlations. Four types of limiting factors and four types of driving factors were identified. The main limitation of adoption is that AR and VR technologies are regarded as expensive and immature technologies that are not suitable for engineering and construction. The main drivers are that AR and VR enable improvements in project delivery and provision of new and better services. This study provides valuable insights to stakeholders to devise actions that mitigate the limiting factors, and that boosts the driving factors. This is one of the first systematic studies that presents a detailed analysis of the factors that limit and drive adoption of AR and VR in the construction industry. The main contribution to knowledge of this study is that it grouped and characterized a myriad of limiting and driving factors into easily understandable categories; so that, the limiting factors can be effectively mitigated, and the driving factors potentiated. Also, a roadmap with specific short term and medium-term actions for improving adoption has been outlined.

Research paper thumbnail of List of references of Social Value definitions in the Digitalised Construction Environment

This is a list of reference product of a literature review. The reference show the definition of ... more This is a list of reference product of a literature review. The reference show the definition of Social Value in construction.

Research paper thumbnail of Institutions and Sensemaking - Dataset

The dataset has two groups. The first dataset corresponds to survey data of <b>Building Inf... more The dataset has two groups. The first dataset corresponds to survey data of <b>Building Information Modelling (BIM) users </b>whereas the second corresponds to survey data of <b>decision-makers</b> in the built enviroment (CEO's, construction project managers and clients). The dataset includes the name for each variable, the wording of the variables as in the questionnaire, and the measurement scale. The code for analysis using structural equation modelling is also provided.

Research paper thumbnail of BIM Search Engine: Effects of Object Relationships and Information Standards

Buildings, Jun 23, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Maturity of BIM Implementation in the Jordanian AEC Industry

Deleted Journal, Feb 27, 2024

Purpose: The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in Jordan is continually e... more Purpose: The Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in Jordan is continually evolving and integrating new methods and technologies. However, the implementation of BIM workflows and digitised processes has been very slow. This research aims to provide an assessment of the current status of BIM implementation and use within the AEC industry in Jordan. Design / methodology / approach: AEC professionals in Jordan were surveyed using a questionnaire and perceptions of BIM was obtained by followup structured interviews with experienced AEC professionals. Findings: This research evaluates the maturity of BIM understanding and implementation in Jordan and identifies three critical areas for the improvement and optimisation of BIM implementation in Jordan. Originality / value: This research provides a current view of the status of BIM implementation within the AEC industry in Jordan, identifies progress to date towards raising awareness of the benefits of BIM adoption, makes the needed information available for policy makers and project stakeholders, and proposes potential initiatives to support the implementation of BIM across Jordan.

Research paper thumbnail of Immersive Technologies-Driven Building Information Modeling (BIM) in the Context of Metaverse

Buildings, Jun 19, 2023

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a Conceptual Framework for Effective Quality Management Practices in Construction Organisations

Journal of construction business and management, Jun 7, 2021

Effective quality management practices are critical to successful project delivery. However, the ... more Effective quality management practices are critical to successful project delivery. However, the quality challenges in developing countries such as Nigeria, which is the focus of this research, have been a concern to construction practitioners and other interested parties such as clients and regulatory bodies. Some scholars suggest that part of these challenges can be attributed to ineffective quality management systems; thus, leading to consequences such as building collapse, poor organisational/industry reputation, poor/lack of traceability, poor documentation process, and lack of planned audit. This research aims to develop a contextual model that is intended to improve the culture of quality that can facilitate effective quality management practices in construction organisations in Nigeria. A mixed (quantitative and qualitative) methodological approach was deployed based on a pragmatic research philosophy paradigm. A questionnaire (quantitative) survey was adopted to gather data and results from the data analysis and reviewed literature were discussed, and the findings supported the development of a conceptual quality management model in construction as the outcome of this research. The designed model comprises eight integrated components. The model is a quality system that construction organisations can use: to identify some typical barriers hindering effective QMSs implementation; to assist them to develop cultural values that can drive effective QMSs implementation; to undertake effective QMSs practices as they relate to construction, and to recognise the potential results and longer-term benefits obtainable from implementing effective QMSs. The model was evaluated and validated by professional construction practitioners and academic experts for its usefulness and applicability. Future study should focus on the practical validation of the model.

Research paper thumbnail of Customising Evacuation Instructions for High-Rise Residential Occupants to Expedite Fire Egress: Results from Agent-Based Simulation

Fire, Apr 24, 2021

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of Development of a conceptual model for effective quality management practices in construction organisations: the case of Nigeria

Research paper thumbnail of CoMem-XML: Exploring Context in Repositories of Construction Management Data

Research paper thumbnail of Comem: design knowledge reuse from a corporate memory

... CoMem: Design Knowledge Reuse from a Corporate Memory By Peter Demian CIFE Technical Report #... more ... CoMem: Design Knowledge Reuse from a Corporate Memory By Peter Demian CIFE Technical Report #157 JUNE 2004 STANFORD UNIVERSITY Page 2. ... FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Peter Demian June 2004 Page 4. © Copyright by Peter Demian 2004 ...

Research paper thumbnail of Virtual Reality Aided Therapy towards Health 4.0: A Two-Decade Bibliometric Analysis

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Jan 28, 2022

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY

Research paper thumbnail of 3DIR: three-dimensional information retrieval from 3D building information modelling environments

WIT Transactions on the Built Environment, Sep 9, 2015

More and more information is being packed into Building Information Models (BIMs), with the 3D ge... more More and more information is being packed into Building Information Models (BIMs), with the 3D geometrical model serving as the central index to lead users to the many other types of building information. The Three-Dimensional Information Retrieval (3DIR) project investigates information retrieval from such environments, where information or documents are linked to a 3D artefact. In these situations, the 3D visualisation or 3D geometry of the building can be exploited when formulating information retrieval queries, computing the relevance of information items to the query, or visualising search results. Following reviews of literature in BIM/CAD and information retrieval, a clear gap was identified in the practice of information retrieval from BIM/CAD systems. End users were consulted to ascertain the precise user requirements in such an information retrieval system. Scenario-based design was adopted to design a software prototype. The 3DIR system was developed as an add-in under the Autodesk Revit BIM platform. The 3DIR prototype creates an index of all text data attached to the 3D model. The user is able to search for information by selecting specific 3D objects, by keyword and by specifying particular 3D regions of the model. Relationships between 3D objects are also used to rank search results. Search results are displayed by highlighting 3D objects in the 3D model. Findings from the evaluation of the prototype demonstrate its usefulness but suggest directions for future development. It is concluded that a tight coupling between text-based retrieval and the 3D model is extremely effective in 3D BIM environments.

Research paper thumbnail of Conceptualising actors' information behaviour: an investigation into project information dynamics

Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recen... more Research into information technology in construction has received considerable attention in recent years. However, information behaviour (IB) of actors' in the project environment can be undefined, unstructured and suboptimal. The way information is obtained and shared to support project design development, organisational management and site operational activities continue to change rapidly. Major problems that continue to affect actors' performance are their exposure to different information sources and channels, unstructured Information Seeking Behaviour (ISB), and the large amount of time they spend sifting through these sources and channels to obtain context specific information just-in-time for use. Hence, this research uses comprehensive review of IB literature and interviews to investigate the information seeking activities of industry professionals in the project environment. It was found that project actors exhibited five distinct ISBs during the project delivery process which are presented and discussed with a conceptual framework to establish an agenda for future study into effective IB culture. The significance of this research is to investigate the current practices of actors' ISBs in order to define strategies to help improve performance in information seeking, project design and delivery process.

Research paper thumbnail of Effective visualisation of design versions: visual storytelling for design reuse

Research in Engineering Design, Sep 18, 2008

Improving and supporting the process of design knowledge reuse can increase productivity, improve... more Improving and supporting the process of design knowledge reuse can increase productivity, improve the quality of designs and lead to corporate competitive advantage. Whereas internal knowledge reuse (reusing knowledge from one's personal memory or experiences) is very effective, external knowledge reuse (reusing knowledge from an external digital or paper archive) often fails. This paper studies the value of the storytelling paradigm in supporting reuse from an external repository. Based on a formalisation of the internal reuse process from ethnographic studies, a prototype system, CoMem (Corporate Memory) is presented, which supports the reuse process, specifically the steps of finding and understanding reusable items. This paper focuses on the ability of designers to understand designs that are found in corporate repositories. It is argued that in order to understand and reuse a found design, the designer needs to see the evolution of that design during the original design process. An Evolution History Explorer module of the CoMem system is presented that uses a storytelling metaphor and lays out versions visually side-by-side. A formal user evaluation of CoMem supports the hypotheses that (1) exploring the evolution of a design improves the reuse process, and (2) that visual storytelling is an effective paradigm for supporting that exploration.

Research paper thumbnail of Effects of granularity of search results on the relevance judgment behavior of engineers: Building systems for retrieval and understanding of context

Journal of the Association for Information Science and Technology, 2009

Granularity is a novel concept for presenting information in search result interfaces of hierarch... more Granularity is a novel concept for presenting information in search result interfaces of hierarchical query‐driven information retrieval systems in a manner that can support understanding and exploration of the context of the retrieved information (e.g., by highlighting its position in the granular hierarchy and exposing its relationship with relatives in the hierarchy). Little research, however, has been conducted on the effects of granularity of search results on the relevance judgment behavior of engineers. Engineers are highly motivated information users who are particularly interested in understanding the context of the retrieved information. Therefore, it is hypothesized that the design of systems with careful regard for granularity would improve engineers' relevance judgment behavior. To test this hypothesis, a prototype system was developed and evaluated in terms of the time needed for users to find relevant information, the accuracy of their relevance judgment, and their subjective satisfaction. To evaluate the prototype, a user study was conducted where participants were asked to complete tasks, complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and be interviewed. The findings showed that participants performed better and were more satisfied when the prototype system presented only relevant information in context. Although this study presents some novel findings about the effects of granularity and context on user relevance judgment behavior, the results should be interpreted with caution. For example, participants in this research were recruited by convenience and performed a set of simulated tasks as opposed to real ones. However, suggestions for further research are presented.

Research paper thumbnail of Social value in the digitalised construction environment

Research paper thumbnail of The impact of a strategy for increased intra-organisational innovation in a construction firm

... Shaw, N., Bouchlaghem, N., and Demian, P. n.shaw2@lboro.ac.uk Centre for Innovative and Colla... more ... Shaw, N., Bouchlaghem, N., and Demian, P. n.shaw2@lboro.ac.uk Centre for Innovative and Collaborative Engineering, Loughborough University (CICE), LE11 3TU, United ... Integration No/limited access to the right people at the right time, including early stage involvement 4% ...

Research paper thumbnail of Feedback messaging, thermal comfort and usage of office-based personal comfort systems

Energy and Buildings, Dec 1, 2019

Psychological processes are involved in human thermal comfort evaluation, and play a role in peop... more Psychological processes are involved in human thermal comfort evaluation, and play a role in people's judgement of their thermal environment. Could these processes be beneficially managed in some way? This paper reports what is believed to be the first investigation of whether messaging, in the form of energy feedback and social normative information, can affect human subjective thermal comfort-related evaluations. Work was conducted in a controlled environmental room, the context being that of a multi-occupant office with messaging being delivered to individuals via a computer screen on each desk. Investigations were conducted for a range of warm office conditions (24.5 o C, 27 o C, 29.5 o C, as might be encountered in summertime). Experimental sessions of two hours' duration were undertaken for: no messaging; messaging appearing at the second hour; messaging present at first hour then removed at second hour. A total of 62 subjects (23 female and 39 male) took part, with all (except one) of the thermal conditions that involved messaging being experienced by 9 participants. The appearance of energy feedback and social normative messaging was found to have a statistically-significant effect on reported thermal sensations, reported thermal comfort and reported intended desk fan usage, these being observed at the higher end of the temperature range, but had no effect on other subjective evaluations. Presence, then removal, of messaging showed no significant effects, as did an effective 'control group' comparison. Whilst effects were observed on certain subjective thermal evaluations at the higher temperatures, these were at the 95% confidence level, and it is recommended that a larger scale study be undertaken to confirm, or otherwise, these observations. The study offers a method that can be followed for future investigations under controlled conditions, and serves to design further, larger-scale, experiments, to investigate actual usage of personal comfort systems and the role of messaging in this context. Implications of any 'intervention-type' influences (of which 'messaging' could be an example) on subjective evaluations, if confirmed, may open a new way to help manage human thermal comfort and energy use in offices or similar environments, but this will require further careful consideration, particularly from the perspective of human health and well-being, prior to any deployment in practice.

Research paper thumbnail of Information Retrieval from Civil Engineering Repositories: Importance of Context and Granularity

Journal of Computing in Civil Engineering, Nov 1, 2012

Information about the design and construction of buildings can be structured in a particular way.... more Information about the design and construction of buildings can be structured in a particular way. This is especially correct given the increasing complexity of building product models and the emergence of Building Information Models with project documents linked to them. In addition, engineers usually have distinct information needs. Research shows that engineers working with Building Information Models place particular importance on the understanding of retrieved content before using it or applying it, and that exploration of context is essential for this understanding. Both these factors (the nature of engineering content and the information needs of engineers) make general information retrieval techniques for computing relevance and visualizing search results less applicable in civil engineering information retrieval systems. This paper argues that granularity is a fundamental concept that needs to be considered when measuring relevance and visualizing search results in information retrieval systems for repositories of building design and construction content. It is hypothesized that the design of systems with careful regard for granularity would improve engineers' relevance judgment behaviour. In order to test this hypothesis, a prototype system, called CoMem-XML, was developed and evaluated in terms of the time needed for users to find relevant information, the Manuscript (SECOND revised version) Demian&d Balatsoukas, Ms. No. CPENG-318 resubmitted to JCCE, September 2010 2 accuracy of their relevance judgment and their subjective satisfaction with the prototype. A user study was conducted where test subjects were asked to complete tasks using various forms of the prototype, to complete a satisfaction questionnaire, and to be interviewed. The findings show that users perform better and are more satisfied when the search result interface of the CoMem-XML system presents only relevant information in context. On the other hand, interfaces that present the retrieved information out of context (i.e. without highlighting its position in the parts hierarchy) are less effective for participants to judge relevance.

Research paper thumbnail of Augmented and Virtual Reality in Construction: Drivers and Limitations for Industry Adoption

Journal of the Construction Division and Management, Jul 1, 2020

Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to provide a step-change in productivity in the ... more Augmented and virtual reality have the potential to provide a step-change in productivity in the construction sector; however, the level of adoption is very low. This paper presents a systematic study of the factors that limit and drive adoption in the construction sectorspecific context. A mixed research method was employed, combining qualitative and quantitative data collection and analysis. Eight focus groups with 54 experts and an online questionnaire were conducted. Forty-two limiting and driving factors were identified and ranked. Principal Component Analysis was conducted to group the identified factors into a smaller number of factors based on correlations. Four types of limiting factors and four types of driving factors were identified. The main limitation of adoption is that AR and VR technologies are regarded as expensive and immature technologies that are not suitable for engineering and construction. The main drivers are that AR and VR enable improvements in project delivery and provision of new and better services. This study provides valuable insights to stakeholders to devise actions that mitigate the limiting factors, and that boosts the driving factors. This is one of the first systematic studies that presents a detailed analysis of the factors that limit and drive adoption of AR and VR in the construction industry. The main contribution to knowledge of this study is that it grouped and characterized a myriad of limiting and driving factors into easily understandable categories; so that, the limiting factors can be effectively mitigated, and the driving factors potentiated. Also, a roadmap with specific short term and medium-term actions for improving adoption has been outlined.

Research paper thumbnail of List of references of Social Value definitions in the Digitalised Construction Environment

This is a list of reference product of a literature review. The reference show the definition of ... more This is a list of reference product of a literature review. The reference show the definition of Social Value in construction.

Research paper thumbnail of Institutions and Sensemaking - Dataset

The dataset has two groups. The first dataset corresponds to survey data of <b>Building Inf... more The dataset has two groups. The first dataset corresponds to survey data of <b>Building Information Modelling (BIM) users </b>whereas the second corresponds to survey data of <b>decision-makers</b> in the built enviroment (CEO's, construction project managers and clients). The dataset includes the name for each variable, the wording of the variables as in the questionnaire, and the measurement scale. The code for analysis using structural equation modelling is also provided.