Jacqueline Glass

University College London | UCL · School of Construction and Project Management

Construction product platforms provide the opportunity to improve productivity in construction projects while maintaining heterogeneity of output. The growing literature on construction product platforms describes how product suppliers develop product platforms either top-down or bottom-up, independently from project delivery. Through a single case...

Sustainability is associated with many contemporary challenges facing society, prompting sustainability initiatives and research in this field. An emerging strand of research has sought to investigate sustainability as a function of values. Given that values determine and predict perceptions, attitudes and behaviors, understanding employees' underl...

Private companies have increasingly sought to invest in responsible innovation, in many cases focusing in dealing with grand challenges, the ambitious objectives that are essential for the sustainable development of humankind. In this paper, we look for the reasons private organizations invest significant resources in tackling a grand challenge, su...

Sustainability is associated with many contemporary challenges facing society, prompting sustainability initiatives and research in this field. An emerging strand of research has sought to investigate sustainability as a function of values. Given that values determine and predict perceptions, attitudes and behaviors, understanding employees’ underl...

The UK Government’s Transforming Construction Agenda is encouraging firms in the industry to re-think how they create and deliver whole life value through the application of digital technologies, and new manufacturing techniques. Firms in the construction industry should be considering how their current business model can help them address the risk...

Despite the economic importance of the construction industry worldwide, it suffers from low productivity compared to other sectors, due to weak industrialisation, fragmented supply chain and poor collaboration. Recent national initiatives are promoting the adoption of information and automation technologies to increase efficiency, quality, safety,...

Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF) is a site-based Modern Method of Construction (MMC). As a MMC, ICF has several advantages; increased speed of construction, cost and defect reduction, safety, among others. Moreover, the ICF wall construction method has similar benefits to any other heavyweight structure (such as strength, durability, noise attenua...

Enhanced fabric performance is fundamental to reduce the energy consumption in buildings. Research has shown that the thermal mass of the fabric can be used as a passive design strategy to reduce energy use for space conditioning. Concrete is a high density material, therefore said to have high thermal mass. Insulating concrete formwork (ICF) consi...

Construction projects are subject to scrutiny in terms of sustainability performance, for example, on environmental issues and social matters. However, the reasons which underpin why one project outperforms another do not seem to be well-articulated in literature-possibly because projects are deemed to be unique and hence incomparable. For instance...

The inherent complexity in construction projects is often attributed to their nature as a Temporary Multi Organisation (TMO), and as part of this, the heterogeneity of stakeholders in a TMO team is bound to influence project outcomes, including the increasingly important dimension of sustainability performance. According to values theory (pioneered...

Airtightness and thermal conductance of the fabric play a key role in constructing low energy buildings. These two factors might minimise the building's heating demand in winter but contribute to its overheating in summer. This study focused on a building using Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF), a site-based Modern Methods of Construction (MMC). IC...

Self-compacting concrete or self-consolidating concrete (as it is known in North America) (SCC) is used on the basis of its unique properties of flowability, passability and resistance to segregation. It requires no external energy to achieve full compaction, so is advantageous on site, but there is evidence that its higher cost is a significant ba...

Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers - Waste and Resource Management Themed Issue on BIM for Waste and Resource Management Call for Papers

Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) walls consist of cast in situ concrete poured between two layers of EPS insulation. The system can achieve very low U-values and high levels of air-tightness. This paper investigates the inconsistency in simulation results provided by nine widely used Building Performance Simulation (BPS) tools when calculating th...

Purpose – Construction organisations are becoming increasingly aware of the impacts of their operations, from both an environmental and, more recently, a social viewpoint. Sustainability standards can enable an organisation to evidence a benchmarked level of performance against a particular issue. To date, research on standards has largely focused...

It is common for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) of high value products to provide maintenance or service packages to customers to ensure their products are maintained at peak efficiency throughout their life. To quickly and efficiently plan for maintenance requirements, OEMs require accurate information about the use and wear of their prod...

Insulating Concrete Formwork (ICF) is classified among the site-based Modern Methods of Construction (MMC) and consists of hollow insulation blocks and cast in-situ concrete. ICF construction elements can achieve very low U-values and high levels of air-tightness. The aim of the study was to examine the inconsistency in the simulation results provi...

There is a plethora of dynamic Building Performance Simulation (BPS) tools on the market, that use different methods in terms of how they calculate the effect of thermal mass in buildings. This paper analyses the ability of six widely known BPS tools to calculate the thermal mass potential in whole BPS. The first stage is focused on the analysis of...

In the built environment (BE) sector, the co-creation process of design demands understanding of requirements (as viewed by parties involved), mobilisation of tacit knowledge, negotiation, and complex exchange of information. The need to collaborate over distance has further exacerbated the complexity of the process, and, in itself, represents a si...

Organisations engage with sustainability for a number of reasons, often implementing standards to demonstrate commitment to sustainability or benchmark performance. However, many scholars discuss sustainability from an operational or administrative perspective, largely neglecting the role of individuals making up the organisation. Central to organi...

The depletion of fossil fuel and the ozone layer has been a global concern for decades. The International Organization for Standardization has published earth-moving machine sustainability standards for the industry to provide information to satisfy their customers' interests in their construction projects. Furthermore, steeply rising energy prices...

Self-compacting concrete or self-consolidating concrete (as it is known in North America) (SCC) is used on the basis of its unique properties of flowability, passability and resistance to segregation. It requires no external energy to achieve full compaction, so is advantageous on site, but there is evidence that its higher cost is a significant ba...

Responsible sourcing (RS) of materials is defined as the ethical management of sustainability issues within the construction supply chain, and engagement is typically evidenced by certification to BES 6001, the framework standard for the responsible sourcing of construction products. Points are scored in BES 6001 under a number of clauses, yet litt...

In this paper we attempt to connect the corporate social responsibility agenda with current debates within sustainable construction. We reveal an apparent disconnect between the focus on sustainable products and processes and the orientation of the businesses within which they reside. Current agendas are characterised by a desire to create a more s...

This paper aims to identify the current level of adoption of some common CR practices in the largest global construction and engineering consultancies drawn predominantly from the UK and USA. The paper begins by outlining the benefits of CR and its role within modern business before taking a look at the current literature available on CR applied to...

Although the uptake of green retrofit measures (GRM) in the UK is increasing, empirical data often reveals significant shortfalls in the energy performance realised by domestic green retrofit projects. Such results pose a threat to UK emissions targets and are particularly problematic for the credibility of the government's flagship scheme: The Gre...

Responsible Sourcing (RS), the ethical management of sustainability issues through the construction supply chain, first achieved national prominence in the UK 2008 Strategy for Sustainable Construction. This set a target for 25% of all construction products to be sourced from schemes recognized for RS by 2012. The Building Research Establishment (B...

A LimesNet mission to Chalmers University of Technology, in Sweden, is reported in this paper. The aim of the mission was to explore new ways of exploiting the untapped potential of life-cycle assessment, its application in the civil engineering and construction industries and, specifically, to debate the associated trade-off decisions for reinforc...

Recession and higher costs of education have over the past few years raised increasing concerns over employability amongst engineering and construction students. International students can face particularly difficult problems securing placements and internship which improve their employability. UK employment law can prohibit, or at best discourage,...

The protection of the built environment has been given increasing attention over recent years, with physical interventions being integrated into the built environment itself and an impetus on the role of those who are responsible for its design, construction and operation. Of particular note has been debate and behaviour surrounding the incorporati...

Certification to industry standards is the most tangible means for a company to prove its commitment to sustainability issues. The construction sector is of particular interest, due to the huge impacts of its operations. Many companies operating within the sector have implemented environmental management systems in line with ISO 14001 although rece...

Self-compacting concrete is claimed to offer faster construction, safer sites and more consistent concrete quality, but little corroborative research data exist on performance advantages, particularly in comparison with traditional construction. Industry opinions also appear to be divided. For these reasons, an extensive interview programme was und...

Purpose As a mechanism to make a company's strategies, actions and achievements more transparent, sustainability reporting (SR) enables companies to communicate performance, develop a reputation for responsible behaviour and gain competitive advantage, yet it remains largely voluntary. A scant evidence base suggests that the construction sector lag...

The Action Program for Responsible Sourcing (APRES) network has been set to react to the challenges of delivering responsible sourcing (RS) by creating a community center for knowledge-sharing of practices and delivering an action program on responsible sourcing. As part of the network's ongoing activities, two industry surveys were carried out and...

Responsible sourcing (RS) provides a means to manage sustainability objectives by procuring materials with a certified provenance and is demonstrated typically through an organisation's procurement policy, via purchasing decisions and practices. In the UK, the government requires that 25% of construction products shall be from RS schemes by 2012; m...

Responsible sourcing involves the procurement of products certified against sustainability criteria. This briefing explains how an academic-industry network is aiming to develop an action programme on responsible sourcing for UK construction, helping the industry achieve sustainable procurement goals, work with new framework standards and define a...

The growing prominence of sustainability assessment and carbon calculators in the transport sector has led to a greater general awareness of the sustainability issues associated with infrastructure projects. Ceequal, the assessment and awards scheme for improving sustainability in civil engineering and public realm projects, is identified as the le...

Sustainability, now embedded within the legislation and development policy of the United Kingdom, is beginning also to be implemented within the design and construction process. Methods to assess the sustainability of construction projects have been in development since the early 1990s, but to date the majority have focused on the building sector,...

In recent years much emphasis has been placed upon meeting the environmental and socioeconomic aims of sustainable development. This is being driven by government policy and industry initiatives, with the main emphasis placed on the building sector, where it is perceived that most benefits can be gained. Although financial incentives and drivers ar...

Managing for sustainability is considered to be critical to the development of corporate sustainability, and is fundamentally about strategic organisational development and change. This paper presents the key findings from four case studies undertaken to investigate how the leaders in corporate sustainability in the UK precast concrete industry wer...

This is a conference paper. It is also available at: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/ Towards the end of the 20th century, a growing concern to save nature and natural resources promoted sustainability, which evolved as a major area for global concern. Moreover, an increasing awareness about sustainability in the healthcare sector and construction industry...

The choice of an appropriate structural frame can contribute to effective short- and long-term performance, and enhance client satisfaction but limited research indicates that the issues taken into account during structural frame selection are not very well understood. With this in mind, a major research programme, including interviews and an indus...

The emerging champion of the design process is arguably the design manager, increasingly playing a pivotal role in the delivery of sustainable buildings. This research aimed to assess the ability of construction design managers to integrate sustainability into building design, with particular emphasis on the importance of skills. Data were obtained...

Purpose There is a need to proactively address strategic weaknesses in protecting the built environment from a range of hazards. This paper seeks to focus on the mitigation for flood hazards in the UK; particularly in understanding the extent of the problem, collating key guidance and legislation related to flood hazard mitigation, identifying who...

Due to the threat of terrorism that exists within the UK and internationally, since 2003 the UK has had a strategy for countering international terrorism known as CONTEST, which has been publicly available since 2006 and was updated in March 2009. As part of an ongoing project looking into the systemic implications of counter-terrorism (CT) measure...

While it is recognised that Construction Procurement Systems (CPS) and waste reduction have an effect on achieving sustainability, little research has been undertaken in the evaluation of the impact of CPS on construction waste generation. The research presented in this paper aims to investigate the impact of CPS on waste generation. A postal quest...

Selecting the correct structural frame is crucial to a project's feasibility and success, but this decision can have profound implications for the future performance of a building project. In practice, the eventual choice of a frame may involve various parties including client, project manager, cost consultant, structural engineer, architect, main...

The transition to secure, sustainable, low-energy systems will have a significant effect on the way in which we design and construct new buildings. In turn, the new buildings that are constructed will play a critical role in delivering the better performance that would be expected from such a transition. Buildings account for about half of UK carbo...

Communities of practice (CoPs) have generated an increasing amount of interest in recent years, both within knowledge management (KM) literature and the construction industry. However, there is an ongoing debate as to the most appropriate way to provide organizational support for CoPs and whether they can be managed effectively for increased organi...

Values have held a prominent place in business ethics and organizational theories in recent years. Some organizations now aim to integrate values into their business practices, which requires a thorough understanding of the organizational values. However, while many believe organizational values should reflect the collective values of the staff, th...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to identify a set of critical success factors, which ensure the effectiveness of knowledge management initiatives, with particular focus on the effect of people‐oriented success factors. Design/methodology/approach A comprehensive review of knowledge management literature, substantiated by ten qualitative inter...

The construction, demolition and excavation waste arising in the UK is estimated at 109 million tonnes per year. Much had been published on ways to improve on-site waste management and recycling activities but very few attempts made to address design generated waste. This paper examines previous studies on architects’ approach towards construction...

In common with other industries, most of the measures and solutions employed by companies in the £2 billion UK precast concrete manufacturing sector are linked to profitability. The concept of sustainability adds new dimensions as social progress and environmental protection become end goals in themselves, rather than objectives to achieve economic...

The construction, demolition and excavation waste arising in England was estimated at 91 million tonnes in 2003. The current thinking on construction waste minimisation is heavily focussed on several issues relating to physical construction waste and recycling guides. Indeed, much had been published on ways to improve on-site waste management and r...

Sector sustainability strategies can provide frameworks to help business sectors identify and manage economic, environmental and social risks in an integrated way, and unlock opportunities to improve competitiveness and enhance reputation. They can also help trade associations to become more effective champions for their members; however, little re...

The design process, as defined by Pahl and Beitz (1988), is the intellectual attempt to meet certain demands in the best possible way. Early design phase is a critical part of a building project and decisions made through this phase lay the foundations for the construction phase. These involve the evaluation of alternative frame types fulfilling ke...

This paper was presented at the 24th Annual ARCOM Conference. The National Health Services (NHS) is currently undertaking its largest hospital building programme with £7 billion worth of major hospital projects in the pipeline. This is happening at a time when global warming, climate change, and environmental pollution have become major considerati...

Recent natural and human-induced emergencies have highlighted the vulnerability of the built environment. Although most emergency events are not entirely unexpected, and the effects can be mitigated, emergency managers in the United Kingdom have not played a sufficiently proactive role in the mitigation of such events. If a resilient and sustainabl...

Purpose – Professions involved with the construction industry need to become more aware of disaster risk management (DRM) activities if lessons are to be learned from the past and a resilient built environment attained in the future. This study aims to focus on identifying which construction‐associated stakeholders should be involved with DRM initi...

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to report on the extent to which major contractors are delivering what can be termed “considerate construction”, using case studies of housing and education projects in the UK, identify areas for improvement, particularly in the area of community engagement practices used by contractors. Design/methodology/appr...

Hybrid concrete construction (HCC) uses a combination of in-situ and precast concrete and is an example of 'mixed' construction, which is the term for an innovative combination of different materials or framing methods. Examples of HCC exist in many countries to fulfil varying structural requirements, so it is not clear why HCC is not better used i...

This is a pre-print of an article published in the journal, Building Research and Information [© Taylor & Francis]. The definitive version: Bosher, L.S. ... et, 2007. Integrating disaster risk management into construction: a UK perspective. Building Research & Information, 35 (2), pp. 163 - 177, is available at: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/titl...

Designing and constructing resilient built assets requires an in-depth understanding of the expertise and knowledge on avoiding and mitigating the effects of disasters in order to secure a safe and sustainable future. For that reason, professions involved with the construction industry, and the expertise they can offer, need to become more integrat...

Despite its enormous potential to improve performance, hybrid concrete construction (HCC) is currently underutilized. To demonstrate the benefits of using HCC (sometimes referred to as "mixed" construction) within the industry, it is essential that transparent criteria to assess this structural frame type against alternatives be determined, defined...

Decisions made during the briefing and conceptual design stages of a building project are critical to its success. One of the earliest major decisions which can have a significant effect on downstream events and results is the selection of the structural frame. Given its importance to the efficacy of the finished building, the structural frame sele...

The choice of structural frame is fundamental to both the short- and long-term performance of a building. An objective and systematic selection process for facilitating the transparent consideration of decision criteria has, however, yet to be developed. This paper reports on the development of a framework that incorporates both ‘soft’ and ‘hard’ p...

This article was published in the journal, Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, Waste and Resource Management [© Thomas Telford] and is also available at: http://www.thomastelford.com/journals/ Around 420 million t of materials are used each year in the construction industry in the UK; however, only 360 million t are incorporated into...

As part of its strategy for more sustainable construction, the UK Government has been encouraging sector representative bodies and trade associations to develop sector sustainability strategies. A four-year research programme aimed at developing such a strategy for the precast concrete industry was therefore established by the British Precast Concr...

This is a conference paper. It is also available at: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/ Values hold a prominent place in both business ethics and organisational theories, and there is a detectable shift from management by instructions and objectives to management by values (Dolan and Garcia, 1999). Some organisations now devote significant energy to integrati...