Firehiwot Kedir

Bio: Firehiwot Kedir is an academic researcher from ETH Zurich. The author has contributed to research in topics: Supply chain & Business. The author has an hindex of 2, co-authored 4 publications receiving 15 citations.

A Proposed Material Passport Ontology to Enable Circularity for Industrialized Construction

Abstract: There is a need to collect, store, and share product data to enable circularity in industrialized construction supply chains. To do this, the concept of a Material Passport (MP) has been proposed, but exactly how MPs should be created and managed is less understood, especially in consideration of industrialized construction product platforms. This paper proposes a knowledge and process representation framework called the Material Passport Ontology (MPO). The MPO outlines key components of MPs and their interrelationships. Finally, the paper discusses several implementation challenges and possibilities.

Assessing the Environmental Implications of Industrialized Housing: a Systematic Literature Review

Abstract: Industrialized Housing (IH), also referred to as prefabrication, preassembly, modularization, and/or off-site fabrication, is a growing strategy for constructing housing. IH offers potential for significant reduction of environmental impact in comparison to traditional housing construction. Past research used methods such as environmental impact assessment on given case study buildings or expert’s opinions to identify the benefits and drawbacks present on the lifecycle of houses constructed partially or fully using IH methods. Nevertheless, this literature is scattered across several sources and units of analysis. The specific factors of IH that contribute to environmental impact reduction have not been comprehensively reviewed and summarized from design considerations up to the end of life possibilities. In this paper, a systematic literature review is performed on the environmental implications of the industrialized way of constructing residential buildings. From a review of 49 journal publications, this paper identifies 18 key factors that influence the environmental performance of such residential buildings. These factors are categorized into the following lifecycle phases of the IH process: a) system design, b) material design, c) manufacturing and logistics, d) transportation and assembly, e) Operational phase, and f) end of life. Findings reveal the importance of decisions made in design phases such as choice of materials, which in turn show a snowball effect throughout the phases. A final category – g) support and hindrance of IH - includes a discussion of external factors such as building codes and regulatory policies and their impact on IH performance.

Formative scenario analysis of the factors influencing the adoption of industrialised construction in countries with high housing demand – the cases of Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa

Abstract: Abstract The use of industrialised construction can help meet the growing housing demand for developing economies in Africa. In order to understand future scenarios for accelerated adoption of industrialised construction, it is necessary to identify the influencing factors. To do so, this paper conducts a formative scenario analysis which is a literature- and expert-based method, focussing on three countries that have high housing demands, i.e. Ethiopia, Kenya, and South Africa. The resulting analysis consists of three parts. The first is the identification of nineteen internal and external influencing factors. These factors range from product performance to policies and regulations. The second is the illustration of the importance of each factor as a function of its relationship with the other factors. The third is the description of three possible scenarios the adoption of industrialised construction may take in the three investigated countries. The findings show that the most important accelerators for the adoption of industrialised construction come from governments’ commitment to invest in future construction and incentivize companies to adopt industrial construction methods and for these companies to produce competitive products. The specific adoption policies to be implemented, however, depend greatly on the specific situation.

Circular Digital Built Environment: An Emerging Framework

Abstract: Digital technologies are considered to be an essential enabler of the circular economy in various industries. However, to date, very few studies have investigated which digital technologies could enable the circular economy in the built environment. This study specifically focuses on the built environment as one of the largest, most energy- and material-intensive industries globally, and investigates the following question: which digital technologies potentially enable a circular economy in the built environment, and in what ways? The research uses an iterative stepwise method: (1) framework development based on regenerating, narrowing, slowing and closing resource loop principles; (2) expert workshops to understand the usage of digital technologies in a circular built environment; (3) a literature and practice review to further populate the emerging framework with relevant digital technologies; and (4) the final mapping of digital technologies onto the framework. This study develops a novel Circular Digital Built Environment framework. It identifies and maps ten enabling digital technologies to facilitate a circular economy in the built environment. These include: (1) additive/robotic manufacturing, (2) artificial intelligence, (3) big data and analytics, (4) blockchain technology, (5) building information modelling, (6) digital platforms/marketplaces, (7) digital twins, (8) the geographical information system, (9) material passports/databanks, and (10) the internet of things. The framework provides a fruitful starting point for the novel research avenue at the intersection of circular economy, digital technology and the built environment, and gives practitioners inspiration for sustainable innovation in the sector.

A Systematic Review on Supply Chain Management in Prefabricated House-Building Research

Abstract: Prefabricated house-building companies, as suppliers or supply chains, which use manufacturing as a business approach towards industrialization, struggle to implement principles and optimal practices driven from well-established and validated theories in operational research. Supply chain management has a mature body of knowledge that has been widely adopted by research on offsite construction to improve its performance at an organisational level. However, there is no comprehensive review available in the literature for supply chain management theory within prefabricated house building research from the perspective of suppliers. In this study, a systematic review was conducted on the available literature on supply chain management within prefabricated house-building research. Initially, qualitative analysis was performed to identify the key themes. Later, quantitative analyses were applied to validate the overlapping themes and keywords. Further, key trends related to focus, methods and theories or frameworks were reported. The findings were discussed in the context of recent developments in all principal component bodies of supply chain management for future work. This study also provides a brief guide for potential future review studies to explore interdisciplinary intervention within the offsite stream.

A Systematic Review on Supply Chain Management in Prefabricated House-Building Research

Abstract: Prefabricated house-building companies, as suppliers or supply chains, which use manufacturing as a business approach towards industrialization, struggle to implement principles and optimal practices driven from well-established and validated theories in operational research. Supply chain management has a mature body of knowledge that has been widely adopted by research on offsite construction to improve its performance at an organisational level. However, there is no comprehensive review available in the literature for supply chain management theory within prefabricated house building research from the perspective of suppliers. In this study, a systematic review was conducted on the available literature on supply chain management within prefabricated house-building research. Initially, qualitative analysis was performed to identify the key themes. Later, quantitative analyses were applied to validate the overlapping themes and keywords. Further, key trends related to focus, methods and theories or frameworks were reported. The findings were discussed in the context of recent developments in all principal component bodies of supply chain management for future work. This study also provides a brief guide for potential future review studies to explore interdisciplinary intervention within the offsite stream.