Managing cultural diversity on Australian construction sites. This research will help to improve the dismal occupational health and safety record of the Australian construction industry (240% more injuries than all-industry average). It will also help to reduce the relatively high levels of workplace compensation due to occupational injuries and diseases (70% higher than all-industry average). Since construction employs 8% of the working population and generates 6% of GDP, significant economic a ....Managing cultural diversity on Australian construction sites. This research will help to improve the dismal occupational health and safety record of the Australian construction industry (240% more injuries than all-industry average). It will also help to reduce the relatively high levels of workplace compensation due to occupational injuries and diseases (70% higher than all-industry average). Since construction employs 8% of the working population and generates 6% of GDP, significant economic and social benefits will arise for wider society from a more culturally harmonious, efficient and productive construction industry. Finally, by making construction safer for NESB migrants who are a significant source of labour, this research will help to reduce severe skill shortages.Read moreRead less
Community perceptions of environmental risks associated with large construction projects. Large construction projects have an enormous environmental impact, yet there has been little research in this area, particularly in developing countries where many such projects are being procured. Furthermore, research tends to focus on ecological impacts and ignore social and cultural issues. The result is a poor understanding of how perceptions of environmental risk are shaped in affected communities. To ....Community perceptions of environmental risks associated with large construction projects. Large construction projects have an enormous environmental impact, yet there has been little research in this area, particularly in developing countries where many such projects are being procured. Furthermore, research tends to focus on ecological impacts and ignore social and cultural issues. The result is a poor understanding of how perceptions of environmental risk are shaped in affected communities. To address this problem, we aim to establish a research agenda to investigate how communities affected by large construction projects in China perceive environmental risks. The outcome will be recommendations to help construction companies develop sustainable, consultative and socially sensitive practices.Read moreRead less
Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade ....Non-contact Integrity Assessment of Façade Panels of High-rise Buildings. Disintegration of the external façade (with tiles, plates, etc.) of high-rise buildings presents a great challenge and a threat to community. This project develops fundamental knowledge and algorithms that underpin the deployment of a new technique for fast and automated quantitative integrity assessment of façade units of high-rise buildings, integrating mechanisms of directional acoustic waves, vibro-acoustics of façade tiles or panels, laser sensing technology, deep learning algorithms and drone technology. Outcomes of this project are critical for implementing the new technology for enhanced safety to community and the development of new procedures for driving down maintenance costs of the external façade of high-rise buildings.Read moreRead less
Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient in ....Residential Air Conditioning, Comfort and Demand Response in Australia. Rapid growth in residential air conditioning (AC) ownership will potentially undermine national energy efficiency and greenhouse reduction targets. Furthermore, residential AC is placing a strain on the national electricity system, especially during heat waves when electricity demand peaks. These AC-driven peak loads occur occasionally each summer, but increasing grid capacity to meet them represents a grossly inefficient infrastructure investment. This project will generate Australia's most comprehensive data set on exactly how, when, where, and why residential AC systems are being used. The outcomes will provide a solid platform on which national electricity demand management and AC greenhouse-gas mitigation strategies can be designed.Read moreRead less
Re-considering sustainable building and design: a cultural change approach. This project will help reduce the 38 per cent of all Australian waste that is produced by the construction industry by addressing the role of the building procurement team in reducing resource usage and eliminating waste. The outcomes of this research will address National Research Priority 1, An Environmentally Sustainable Australia.
Reconfiguring women's professional sport - on and off the pitch. This project aims to develop a model that reconfigures how women’s professional sport is structured, valued and managed. The project intends to examine professional women’s competitions (AFL, cricket, football, Rugby League and Rugby Union), their co-existence within their respective national associations and the experiences of contracted women athletes. Expected outcomes include the development of a new model of women’s profession ....Reconfiguring women's professional sport - on and off the pitch. This project aims to develop a model that reconfigures how women’s professional sport is structured, valued and managed. The project intends to examine professional women’s competitions (AFL, cricket, football, Rugby League and Rugby Union), their co-existence within their respective national associations and the experiences of contracted women athletes. Expected outcomes include the development of a new model of women’s professional sport, advancing knowledge of inclusive gender relevancy at the individual, team and organisational levels. The adoption of strategies and policies to improve the support and playing experiences of women would position Australia globally at the forefront of changing approaches to women’s professional sport.Read moreRead less
Making Australia resilient to airborne infection transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that basic questions regarding how to minimise the risk of airborne infection transmission for any respiratory viruses remain unanswered, despite their frequency and huge social and economic costs. Therefore, this project aims to expand scientific knowledge and develop practical tools to improve the resilience of Australian indoor environments against airborne transmission of respiratory viruses. T ....Making Australia resilient to airborne infection transmission. The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated that basic questions regarding how to minimise the risk of airborne infection transmission for any respiratory viruses remain unanswered, despite their frequency and huge social and economic costs. Therefore, this project aims to expand scientific knowledge and develop practical tools to improve the resilience of Australian indoor environments against airborne transmission of respiratory viruses. The outcomes of the project conducted by a multidisciplinary international team of collaborators will include: (i) quantitative knowledge on virus-laden aerosols from human expiration; and (ii) exposure and infection risk models and their application to typical indoor building and transport scenarios.Read moreRead less
Assessment of structural integrity and deterioration of masonry walls. Brickwork for housing and medium-rise buildings is a traditional material, also much used for modern construction, with aesthetic appeal and modest cost. However, building regulators and others are increasingly concerned about evidence of slow building deterioration, particularly of older buildings. This increases public safety risks, even under normal conditions and more so under high winds or earthquake-induced ground-shaki ....Assessment of structural integrity and deterioration of masonry walls. Brickwork for housing and medium-rise buildings is a traditional material, also much used for modern construction, with aesthetic appeal and modest cost. However, building regulators and others are increasingly concerned about evidence of slow building deterioration, particularly of older buildings. This increases public safety risks, even under normal conditions and more so under high winds or earthquake-induced ground-shaking. This project will help address this issue. It will obtain unbiased evidence of typical masonry building deterioration. It will couple this with mathematical modelling and state-of-the-art non-destructive visual and dynamic techniques to develop tools for making fast, low-cost practical building risk assessments.Read moreRead less
An investigation of the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational effectiveness in the hospital sector. Significant changes in the Australian health-care environment are creating a mismatch between health-care priorities and building facilities. Many hospital buildings do not meet user needs by providing the flexible spaces needed for changing operating models and technologies. This is threatening the quality and cost effectiveness of health-care provision. This research ....An investigation of the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational effectiveness in the hospital sector. Significant changes in the Australian health-care environment are creating a mismatch between health-care priorities and building facilities. Many hospital buildings do not meet user needs by providing the flexible spaces needed for changing operating models and technologies. This is threatening the quality and cost effectiveness of health-care provision. This research will investigate the relationship between buildings, building users and organisational performance in hospitals. A model will be produced to explain these relationships and thereby, help managers more effectively manage building facilities. It will also redress a deficiency in management theory, which has ignored buildings as a factor of production.Read moreRead less
Reducing plate waste in hotels - which interventions are most effective? This project aims to quantify the comparative effectiveness of belief-based and choice-architecture-based interventions in reducing food waste generated by tourists at hotel buffets. Expected outcomes include: new insights into effective triggers of pro-environmental tourist behaviour; the first empirical data on carbon emissions caused by plate waste in tourism; an automatic plate waste measurement system and benchmarking ....Reducing plate waste in hotels - which interventions are most effective? This project aims to quantify the comparative effectiveness of belief-based and choice-architecture-based interventions in reducing food waste generated by tourists at hotel buffets. Expected outcomes include: new insights into effective triggers of pro-environmental tourist behaviour; the first empirical data on carbon emissions caused by plate waste in tourism; an automatic plate waste measurement system and benchmarking app for monitoring and comparison; and effective practical measures to reduce avoidable food leftovers generated by tourists. This should provide significant benefits by: lowering food cost for the struggling tourism industry, reducing carbon emissions, and contributing to Australia’s aim of halving food waste by 2030.Read moreRead less