Collaboration is considered an enabler for effective use of building information modeling (BIM). However, little is known regarding the impacts of multiple collaborative behaviors on BIM effectiveness. Through a systematic literature review, this study selected six categories of necessary collaborative behaviors in BIM-enabled construction projects (BECPs) for empirical analysis, including adaptive behavior, joint working behavior, harmonious behavior, flexible behavior, server investment behavior, and information-sharing behavior. A questionnaire survey was used to collect the data from 162 BECPs. Then, partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to examine the impact of the individual category of collaborative behavior on BIM effectiveness. The results showed that adaptive behavior, information-sharing behavior, and harmonious behavior significantly facilitated BIM effectiveness, while joint working behavior decreased it. Flexible behavior and server investment behavior positively impacted BIM effectiveness only in task effectiveness improvement, and had insignificant impact on task efficiency improvement. The results jointly reflected that, although many collaborative behaviors were deemed essential for BIM use, their implementation cannot directly contribute to the final BIM effectiveness, for which additional interventions should be adopted to realize their positive impacts on BIM use effectiveness. Implications for theory and practice are provided herein. 

Exploring the Impact of Collaboration on BIM Use Effectiveness: A Perspective through Multiple Collaborative Behaviors

Industry 4.0 implementation: Environmental and social sustainability in manufacturing multinational enterprises

Decisions made at every stage of the built environment life cycle impact how materials in that environment are eventually managed at the end of their life, whether in a linear or cyclical manner. Linear fates often terminate in landfills, whereas more sustainable cyclical fates are continuously extended through reduction, reuse, repair, recycling, and recovery (5Rs) practices. Despite a notable increase in the literature on sustainable construction and demolition waste (CDW) management, there is still a lack of studies comprehensively addressing the full life cycle of the built environment. A gap also exists in the understanding of the root causes underlying unsustainable CDW management practices. To address these gaps and shortcomings, this study synthesizes the literature on CDW management to identify the causal factors contributing to the current unsustainable management practices, their root causes across the life cycle of the built environment, and sustainable strategies with proven efficacy in mitigating the detected root causes. Considering the implications of these strategies on the management of CDW, as well as their applicability across different stages of the built environment life cycle, this study characterizes them using the 5Rs waste hierarchy and using a five-stage built environment life cycle framework: interim, planning, construction, use, and end of life. All such information is integrated into a single ranking framework that proposes prioritized sustainable strategic pathways to address the most relevant root causes of unsustainable CDW management across the entire built environment life cycle. The actual implementation of the proposed framework for the sustainable management of the built environment is demonstrated through an analysis of Louisiana, in which peacetime construction/demolition and disaster debris generation and reconstruction/demolition have resulted in large amounts of CDW that often ended in landfills. Future decision makers can avoid similar fates by mitigating their own root causes of unsustainable waste management by better utilizing relevant mitigation strategies. 

Sustainable Management of the Built Environment from the Life Cycle Perspective

The policy evaluation of China's carbon emissions trading scheme on firm employment: A channel from industrial automation

Blockchain technology is promising toward transforming conventional construction practices to improve collaboration and integration management in engineering-construction projects. The factors affecting the adoption of blockchain technology from the different stakeholder perspectives, however, have not been thoroughly investigated. Following the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and regulatory focus theory (RFT), this study explores the formation mechanisms underlying blockchain adoption from a multi-stakeholder perspective. The model was tested through partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) and the fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) method using data collected from Chinese construction practitioners. PLS-SEM results indicate that institutional pressures, perceived functional benefits, and behavioral control can directly drive blockchain adoption. Although perceived symbolic benefits do not directly affect blockchain adoption, their indirect effects on adoption are fully mediated by adoption intention. The PLS multi-group analysis found multiple path differences among stakeholders. The fsQCA results show that no single factor or its negation is the necessary condition to trigger blockchain adoption. The configuration analysis results show four new configurations that trigger the adoption of blockchain technology by owners, contractors, and consultants. This first multi-stakeholders research in the field of technology adoption contributes to the explanatory context of TPB and provides new insights into the effective blockchain technology adoption via the identified configurations that suit the project stakeholders.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/ielx7/6287639/6514899/09915563.pdf

Understanding the Determinants of Blockchain Adoption in the Engineering-Construction Industry: Multi-Stakeholders’ Analyses

Emerging digital technologies such as building information modeling (BIM) and the Internet of Things (IoT) have been widely adopted in construction projects and have attracted great attention from researchers and practitioners in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. To better understand the benefits of adopting digital technologies in construction projects from the sustainability perspective, this research investigated the impact of digital technology adoption on sustainability performance and proposed the mediating role of stakeholder collaboration based on organizational information processing theory (OIPT). Survey data were collected from managers and members of Chinese construction projects, and the partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results show that digital technology adoption has direct effects on economic, environmental, and social performance and that stakeholder collaboration can directly influence only economic and environmental performance. Additionally, stakeholder collaboration partially mediates the relationship between digital technology adoption and economic and environmental performance. These findings enrich the current research on digital transformation and project sustainability management and provide managerial implications for how to realize the benefits of digital technology adoption in the AEC industry. 

Jian Song

Papers

Effects of Digital Technology Adoption on Sustainability Performance in Construction Projects: The Mediating Role of Stakeholder Collaboration

Air pollution, water pollution, and robots: Is technology the panacea.