Performance in building design and construction

Industrial research impact

The sector has a key role in the economies of both developing and developed countries. Some of the technological and process advances include modularization, industrialized construction, Internet of Things, Big Data, virtual design and construction and lean construction. Additionally, there has been a great increase in the importance of issues related to energy efficiency and indoor air quality (IAQ) in public and private buildings.  The design and construction industry must change to harness the opportunity and to respond to the challenges. The mission of the research group is to come up with new knowledge to support the required transformation.

The research group includes a multidisciplinary group of seven professors related to various aspects of process and building performance.  The team is uniquely positioned to respond to the opportunity because there are great synergies between the different disciplines which have not previously been exploited. Performance of buildings and building projects have not often been investigated holistically throughout the lifecycle of the building. Rather, earlier research generally focusses on one performance aspect at the time, during one phase of the construction process. Longitudinal research from inception to demolition, considering all performance aspects, has been neglected, although cohort studies have been very successful in other fields, such as medicine and psychology.  The group plans to start longitudinal research on selected building projects, looking at all aspects of performance and how they are related to each other.