Investigation of the Severity of Modular Construction Adoption Barriers with Large-Scale Group Decision Making in an Organization from Internal and External Stakeholder Perspectives

Modular construction as an innovativemethod aids the construction industry in transforming to off-site construction production with high efficiency and environmental friendliness.Despite the obvious advantages,the uptake of modular construction is not booming as expected.However,previous studies have investigated and summarized the barriers to the adoption ofmodular construction.In this research,a Large-ScaleGroupDecisionMaking(LSGDM)-based analysis is first made of the severity of barriers to modular construction adoption from the perspective of construction stakeholders.In addition,the Technology-Organization-Environment(TOE)framework is utilized to identify the barriers based on three contexts(technology,organization,and environment).The Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution(TOPSIS)and LSGDM models are both implemented for the first time to analyze the severity of the barriers to modular adoption based on questionnaire results from internal and external stakeholders in an organization.Finally,in this research,in-depth insights into the severity of barriers are gained,providing a reference for construction organizations to manage modular adoption.

Cyclic Shear Tests on Key Connection Joints of Modularized Constructions

Modularized construction is a new type of prefabricated building system with green environmental protection and excellent performance. There are few studies on the seismic performance of its key connection joint. This paper presents a new type of assembled connection joint for the high-rise modularized construction. Cyclic shear tests of full-scale joints were carried out, and the key indexes of their seismic performances including the hysteretic performance, ductility, and energy dissipation capacity were analyzed and obtained. The results show that the hysteresis loops of longitudinal and lateral cyclic shear tests were both plump in shapes. The ductility coefficients were 4.54 and 4.98, and the energy dissipation coefficients were 1.83 and 1.43, respectively. The test joint had good ductility and energy dissipation capacity. The positions of yield failure of specimens were mainly concentrated in the connection areas between the column and short beam or end-plate. The research can provide the technical reference for the seismic design and engineering application of related modularized constructions.

Modular Disruption in Construction Industry-The Environmental Benefits

The impact of Covid-19 on every aspect of life is undeniable.As the pandemic began to spread throughout February 2020,no one could have foretold the ways in which this disease would change society.One of the key things that the Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated is off-site manufacturing and the different ways in which modular construction can be utilized to deal more effectively with the demands of a crisis.The rapid erection of modular hospitals across the globe has been critical in fighting the outbreak of Covid-19,not least the modular hospital in Wuhan that was built in just 10 days.Modular construction was already a hot topic for the industry,the pandemic has simply enhanced this-and the last few months were given the opportunity to explore the options in more detail.There is no doubt that modular construction will continue to play a part in construction projects in the longer term and construction industry should adapt to accommodate this change.Since construction industry is the largest consumer of natural resources,this article would emphasize on the sustainability dimensions of modular construction and its performance during the whole lifecycle.A thorough literature review of the sustainability benefits of modular construction compared to its tradition counterpart is presented.

Ralph Rapson’s Greenbelt:The Evolution of a Prototype

During the first decade of the 21st century,responding to a renewed public interest in modern prefabricated residential design,Ralph Rapson adapted his 1945 Case Study House#4 into a family of prototypical modular house designs marketed by Wieler LLC.Like the original design,the modular designs are organized around a central daylit“greenbelt”.At the time of Rapson’s death in 2008 the modular greenbelt line included a range of prototypes from 570 to 2,700 square feet.The original Arts&Architecture Case Study House Program was defined by John Entenza around five core principles,which notably included design prototypicality and incorporation of contemporary developments in the building industry.The five Case Study House principles structure this analysis of the array of Greenbelt designs Ralph Rapson adapted to modular construction and the 21st century market response to their production.Over four years and hundreds of customer inquiries,the Greenbelt family of prototypical designs grew four times larger than the number of built examples,suggesting that design and manufacturing strategies which facilitate adaptation to specific project needs are important characteristics for success in the contemporary modular residential market.

Restoration of hyper-eutrophic water with a modularized and air adjustable constructed submerged plant bed

A modularized and air adjustable constructed submerged plant bed(CSPB)which can be used to restore the eutrophic water is introduced in this paper.This plant bed helps hydrophyte grow under poor conditions such as frequently changed water depth,impaired water transparency,algae bloom and substantial duckweed in summer,which are not naturally suitable for growing hydrophyte.This pilot study in Waihuan River of Tianjin,China,revealed that reduction of Chemical Oxygen Demand(COD),Total Nitrogen(TN)and Total Phosphorus(TP)by the use of CSPB could be reached 30%-35%,35%-40%,30%-40%respectively in the growing season(from March to October)and 5%-10%,5%-15%,7%-20%respectively in the winter(from November to February)when the detention time was 6 d.The relationships between the concentration of COD,TN,TP and the detention time fit the first-order kinetic equation well and the coefficients of determination(R^(2))were all above 0.9.The attenuation coefficients k of the kinetic equation were a function of the water temperature.When the water temperature was quite low or quite high,k was not significantly changed with increasing or decreasing water temperature.While when the temperature was in a moderate range,an increase or decrease of water temperature would lead to a rapid increase or decrease in k.