Research focus for construction robotics and human-robot teams towards resilience in construction: scientometric review

Project success has often been impacted by varying factors, such as conflict arising from managing stakeholders’ remuneration, especially bordering on the scale of fees. This paper delves into the intricate landscape of fee variability among built environment professionals in South Africa. By scrutinizing the most recent available data, this research sheds light on the nuanced fee structures prevalent in the industry. To conduct this investigation, a comparative analysis of fee scales across various professions in South Africa was performed. This research employed historical project cost data extracted from an extensive dataset, encompassing project values, fees, and fee percentages for diverse professions involved in projects from 2014 to 2022. This study revealed that low scale levels are associated with poor performance and lead to conditions and attitudes that pose dangers for consultants. This study provides strategies for a firm’s resilience and adaptability in the face of the dynamics associated with fees.

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of Fee Variability among Built Environment Professionals in South Africa: A Comparative Analysis

Ramabodu

2023

“…A mixed review of extant scientific publications in the areas of thematic areas was used as the analytical component in this study, which was conducted utilizing an interpretive philosophical methodology. As indicated by [73] this approach is well adopted in construction education studies and has proven to yield critical research outputs. Furthermore, Ref.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…To track the advancement of academic research, scientometric reviews analyze and visualize the academic literature [73]. Furthermore, they give insight into the research output on thematic areas as well as that of academics, faculties, and publications.…”

Section: Scientometric/quantitative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Thermal Comfort on Energy Consumption for Building Occupants: The Current State of the Art

Arowoiya,

Onososen,

Moehler

et al. 2024

Thermal comfort is a complex issue in the built environment due to the physiological and psychological differences of each individual in a building. There is a growing worry over the environmental implications of energy use as a result of the warming of the global climate and the growth in the number of instances of extreme weather events. Many review articles have been written, but these reviews have focused on a specific aspect of occupant behavior and thermal comfort. To research the trends of thermal comfort and energy, this research adopted mixed reviews, i.e., quantitative and qualitative, to understand the state-of-the-art factors affecting the thermal comfort of occupants concerning energy, different occupant modeling approaches, functions, and limitations. The in-depth qualitative discussion provides deeper insights into the impacts of occupant behaviors, factors affecting thermal comfort, and occupant behavior modeling approaches. This study classified occupant behaviors into five categories: occupant characteristics, perceptions of the occupant, realistic behaviors, heat gain, and occupant interactions with the system. It also went further to classify the factors affecting the thermal comfort of users based on past works of literature. These include structural, environmental, and human factors. It was concluded that factors that have the most significant impact on energy are human, structural, and environmental factors, respectively. In addition, most of the occupant behavior modeling approaches that have been used in past studies have pros and cons and cannot accurately predict human behaviors because they are stochastic. Future research should be conducted on thermal comfort for different building functions by examining the varied activity intensity levels of users, especially in educational or commercial buildings. Additionally, a proper investigation should be carried out on how thermal insulation of structural members influences thermal comfort. These should be compared in two similar buildings to understand occupant behavioral actions and energy consumption.

“…The mixed review offered a global perspective on trends and critical discussion areas of topical research. The guidelines of PRISMA were followed to retrieve articles from the Scopus database, as performed in extant studies [9,10]. The Scopus database is widely recognized for its extensive coverage.…”

Section: Systematic Review Of Documentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Unpacking Demographics-Based Impediments to Professionalization in the South African Built Environment

Ramabodu,

Nena

2024

Despite South Africa’s unique demographics, shaped by a history of apartheid and ongoing inequality, its built environment has so far been unable to extricate itself from its inglorious past. This portends that the quality and impact of infrastructure developed concentrates on the few at the expense of the many. This study delves into the multifaceted challenges that impede the full realization of an inclusive built environment sector by reviewing extant studies on these issues through a mixed review and blending this with statistical evidence from document analysis on professional development in the South African built environment. We explore how diversity factors intersect to create structural impediments in the pursuit of professionalization. The findings underscore the critical importance of inclusion in the built environment profession, potential policy and institutional changes required to address these challenges, and the web of demographic factors influencing access, opportunities, and success within the built environment.