Building A Better Built Environment for Older Australian's Ageing-in-place. Most older Australians prefer to age in place after their retirement. This project aims to understand how the built environment as a comprehensive system supports (or hinders) their ageing-in-place given that the existing Australian built environment fails to meet older Australians' requirements for independent living. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of ageing-friendly communities using Bayesia ....Building A Better Built Environment for Older Australian's Ageing-in-place. Most older Australians prefer to age in place after their retirement. This project aims to understand how the built environment as a comprehensive system supports (or hinders) their ageing-in-place given that the existing Australian built environment fails to meet older Australians' requirements for independent living. This project expects to generate new knowledge in the area of ageing-friendly communities using Bayesian Network analysis and interactive design charrettes. Expected outcomes include an evidence-based Bayesian network model that determines how the built environment affects independent living in the community and design innovation and guidelines to improve the built environment design for older Australians' ageing-in-place.Read moreRead less
Tackling defects in multi-unit strata housing. This project aims to address growing concerns that building quality issues are threatening the appeal of higher density multi-unit housing for city dwellers, which could undermine urban planning goals. The project will investigate the prevalence of defects, why they occur and how multi-unit housing quality can be improved. The findings will be used to inform options for changes to planning and development policy resulting in significant economic and ....Tackling defects in multi-unit strata housing. This project aims to address growing concerns that building quality issues are threatening the appeal of higher density multi-unit housing for city dwellers, which could undermine urban planning goals. The project will investigate the prevalence of defects, why they occur and how multi-unit housing quality can be improved. The findings will be used to inform options for changes to planning and development policy resulting in significant economic and social benefits including more effective construction regulation, improved building quality and safety, lower costs and stress for owners, more resilient urban communities and better urban planning outcomes.Read moreRead less
Greening procurement of infrastructure construction: optimising mass-haul operations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This project will develop and prototype tools to reduce the high environmental impact of mass haul operations in road and rail infrastructure projects. Both contractors and clients need practical methods for calculating, optimising and procuring optimal solutions, because mass haul is one of the few areas where a contractor can reduce carbon dioxide impact.
Extending building information models (BIM) for specifications and cost planning. The recognition in the 1990's that inefficiencies in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure were costing up to 30 per cent of the total constructed cost of buildings led to a push for the more efficient use of information. The major change in the industry to date has been the introduction of Building Information Models (BIM). Uptake has now reached the tipping point where it is be ....Extending building information models (BIM) for specifications and cost planning. The recognition in the 1990's that inefficiencies in the design, construction and maintenance of buildings and infrastructure were costing up to 30 per cent of the total constructed cost of buildings led to a push for the more efficient use of information. The major change in the industry to date has been the introduction of Building Information Models (BIM). Uptake has now reached the tipping point where it is becoming pervasive. This project examines methods of adding value to existing BIM information which will allow the industry and clients to achieve a higher level of efficiency than can be gained just through substitution of BIM for current processes.Read moreRead less
Maximising the value of alliances in delivering infrastructure projects: a mixed methods management study of procurement innovation. Australia’s new infrastructure is currently being delivered inefficiently. The project will take a novel approach to improving efficiency, focusing on cooperation within construction teams. The project will develop new mechanisms to align incentives and capabilities within construction teams.
Sustainable retirement villages for Ageing Australians. This project aims to deliver sustainable retirement villages to better accommodate older Australians and assess their effects on the growth of the retirement village industry. More organisations and governments globally are embracing sustainable development, but the Australian retirement village industry has been largely static and unresponsive; it has not yet met the green movement’s challenge to provide a sustainable living environment fo ....Sustainable retirement villages for Ageing Australians. This project aims to deliver sustainable retirement villages to better accommodate older Australians and assess their effects on the growth of the retirement village industry. More organisations and governments globally are embracing sustainable development, but the Australian retirement village industry has been largely static and unresponsive; it has not yet met the green movement’s challenge to provide a sustainable living environment for senior citizens. This project is expected to improve the living environment of retirement villages and the quality of life of older Australians.Read moreRead less
Diffusion of manufactured high performance green houses: a mixed-methods management study of innovation obstacles. This project will improve the affordability and environmental impact of Australian housing, by increasing the rate of innovation activity within the industry. The project addresses this challenge by investigating the beliefs of builders that underpin their reticence to change. The findings are used to design educational responses to improve innovation rates.
Open Standards design for improved road network information exchange. Open Standards design for improved road network information exchange. This project aims to design a draft digital open source performance-based construction contract specification for delivering road construction information to operational network asset management. This will be a common information exchange specification for all road agencies to standardise exchange of their assets data. Road network construction and maintenan ....Open Standards design for improved road network information exchange. Open Standards design for improved road network information exchange. This project aims to design a draft digital open source performance-based construction contract specification for delivering road construction information to operational network asset management. This will be a common information exchange specification for all road agencies to standardise exchange of their assets data. Road network construction and maintenance costs $21 billion annually, but the outcome of this project is expected to save $65 to $130 million annually through data harmonisation. This project is at the leading edge of information management for roads and is expected to change several international standards.Read moreRead less
Reducing youth unemployment through social procurement in construction. This project aims to produce new conceptual insights into effective cross-sector collaboration in construction, in order to provide solutions to address youth unemployment. Youth unemployment is a significant economic, social and health problem. Yet Australia’s largest youth employer, the construction industry, faces skills shortages to deliver an unprecedented construction and infrastructure pipeline. Social procurement is ....Reducing youth unemployment through social procurement in construction. This project aims to produce new conceptual insights into effective cross-sector collaboration in construction, in order to provide solutions to address youth unemployment. Youth unemployment is a significant economic, social and health problem. Yet Australia’s largest youth employer, the construction industry, faces skills shortages to deliver an unprecedented construction and infrastructure pipeline. Social procurement is a potential solution to both these challenges but requires new approaches to cross sector collaborations. This project aims to develop new insights, practical knowledge and practical tools for effective social procurement.Read moreRead less
Assessing the adaptive capacity of hospital facilities to cope with climate-related extreme weather events: A risk management approach. Given Australia's and New Zealand's relatively high exposure to climate extremes, the social, economic and health benefits of better managed hospital facilities are significant. Floods, bushfires, heatwaves and cyclones cost Australia over $1.4bn/year and New Zealand over NZ$43m/yr in disruption to communities, business productivity and damage to infrastructure. ....Assessing the adaptive capacity of hospital facilities to cope with climate-related extreme weather events: A risk management approach. Given Australia's and New Zealand's relatively high exposure to climate extremes, the social, economic and health benefits of better managed hospital facilities are significant. Floods, bushfires, heatwaves and cyclones cost Australia over $1.4bn/year and New Zealand over NZ$43m/yr in disruption to communities, business productivity and damage to infrastructure. This research will help to mitigate these costs by protecting populations from the health risks associated with such events. The potential benefits will be most significant for those vulnerable communities at high risk such as the aged, the obese, the ill and those geographically exposed to more extreme weather events.Read moreRead less