School of Future Environments - Huri te Ao

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AUT is home to a number of renowned research institutes in architecture and creative technologies. The School of Future Environments - Huri te Ao strong industry partnerships and the unique combination of architecture and creative technologies within one school stimulates interdisciplinary research beyond traditional boundaries.

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    An Analysis of the Literature on Construction Employee Turnover: Drivers, Consequences, and Future Direction
    (Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-04-22) Abdolmaleki, Goldis; Naismith, Nicola; Ghodrati, Nariman; Poshdar, Mani; Babaeian Jelodar, Mostafa
    Employee turnover is a critical factor affecting organizational effectiveness. It is particularly important in the construction sector due to its knowledge and labor-intensive characteristics. Therefore, it is necessary to understand why qualified employees would leave their employers so that effective measures can be taken to retain them. Despite the growing body of knowledge on employee turnover, there is a lack of comprehensive review of this topic in the construction literature. This study adopts a systematic literature review approach to synthesize domain knowledge on employee turnover from two perspectives: its investigated causes, and consequences. In total, 77 relevant papers are extracted. A total of 51 drivers of construction employee turnover are identified and categorized into personal, job-related, organizational, and external influencers. Findings also suggest three major outcomes caused by employee turnover, including individual, project, and organization-related consequences. This review contributes to understanding the turnover phenomenon in construction literature and highlights potential areas for future empirical studies to move forward. By understanding the main factors influencing turnover decisions, construction organizations can develop and implement effective means for managing employee turnover. This study further contributes to construction employee turnover research by emphasizing the importance of studying the consequences of the turnover phenomenon.
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    Potential of Bacterial Cellulose for Sustainable Fashion and Textile Applications: A Review
    (Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2024-04-10) Nayak, R; Cleveland, D; Tran, G; Joseph, F
    The fashion and textile manufacturing sectors are increasingly focusing on innovative raw materials that are renewable and biodegradable. Such materials not only mitigate environmental impacts but also prevent resource depletion. Bacterial cellulose (BC) has emerged as a prime candidate, derivable from a variety of natural ingredients such as tea and coffee in addition to a sugar source in presence of the bacterial microorganisms. Numerous studies have established the potential of BC in future fashion, and some brands have already started to utilise BC as a sustainable raw material. The applications of BC ranges from basic clothing and accessories to wearable electronics. This paper discusses the scope of BC in fashion and textiles, positioning it as a sustainable alternative to conventional materials. We present a comprehensive scoping review, covering the unique properties of BC, the factors influencing its production, and its applications in textile, clothing, and footwear over the past decade. The advantages of BC in fashion are manifold: zero-waste manufacturing, reliance on renewable sources, diminished environmental pollution, and biodegradability. Furthermore, the use of BC aligns with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 6, 7, 12, 13 and 15. However, there exist challenges pertaining to production costs, scalability, and quality, in addition to the imperative of harnessing food waste streams instead of contending for human food resources. Addressing these challenges is vital to cement BC’s position as a pivotal sustainable material in future fashion.
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    A Review of Extant Literature and Recent Trends in Residential Construction Waste Reduction
    (SAGE Publications, 2024-04-10) Albsoul, Hadeel; Doan, Dat Tien; Aigwi, Itohan Esther; GhaffarianHoseini, Ali
    The residential construction sector in New Zealand and worldwide is experiencing increased criticism for generating substantial waste that poses environmental concerns. Accordingly, researchers have advocated implementing residential construction waste reduction (RCWR) strategies as a sustainable solution to managing construction waste (CW). This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of RCWR by analysing 87 articles from the Scopus database using bibliometric and critical review methods. The co-occurrence analysis of keywords revealed five clusters, in which five main themes emerged: (i) waste generation and management performance, (ii) prefabrication and life cycle assessment concepts, (iii) design concepts, (iv) circular economy and (v) decision-making concepts. The findings suggest that sustainable practices such as designing for waste reduction, prefabrication, waste quantification, three-dimensional printing and building information modelling can effectively achieve RCWR. The study also highlights the benefits of RCWR, including reducing environmental impacts, and identifies management, economic, legislative, technology and cultural barriers that affect the implementation of RCWR strategies. These results provide valuable insights to support future policy formulation and research direction for RCWR in New Zealand.
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    Design and Testing of a Self-Centering Friction Damper-Brace for Compression Ultimate Limit State: Inelastic Buckling
    (Elsevier BV, 2024-04-01) Yousef-beik, SMM; Veismoradi, S; Zarnani, P; Quenneville, P
    This paper investigates the design procedures and experimental testing of a low-damage brace equipped self-centering friction-based connection named Resilient Slip friction Joint (RSFJ). The brace energy dissipation and restoring force is provided by the damper component. Previous studies have shown that the damper ultimate compression strength might be jeopardized due to damper rotational flexibility, which might lead to premature elastic buckling of the brace. To address the issue, a concept of telescopic tubes was introduced to be put in parallel to the damper(s). The design of the telescopic tube requires a thorough framework that considers different possible failure loads and the collapse modes, so that the brace ultimate strength can be accurately estimated. Such a process tends to be more complex than the conventional Concentrically Braced Frames (CBFs), due to the non-continuity(ies) appearing as damper installation which may lead to possible plastic hinge formation in different locations of the brace. This study aims to employ second-order plastic analysis for the design of the damper-brace assembly. The proposed method is, is then validated with current international codes’ procedure and also with destructive tests on the self-centring brace specimens. Finally, the seismic design considerations including the design of the connections and protected members are discussed in this paper. The current procedure could also be recruited for other new emerging damper-braces as well.
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    Interrelations of the Factors Influencing the Whole-Life Cost Estimation of Buildings: A Systematic Literature Review
    (MDPI, 2024-03-09) Samarasekara, Herath Mudiyanselage Samadhi Nayanathara; Purushothaman, Mahesh Babu; Rotimi, Funmi
    The global GDP has witnessed a significant upswing, majorly due to the growth of the construction industry. Embracing the whole-life costing (WLC) approach, the construction sector strategically manages expenses across a construction project’s life cycle. However, despite its widespread adoption, accurate cost forecasting remains a major challenge. The intricate interplay of various influencing factors has not been fully explored, leading to inaccurate cost estimations. A comprehensive understanding of specific factors and their interrelationships is crucial to address this issue. Therefore, it is imperative to conduct further research to identify and explore the subtle nuances of these factors that impact whole-life cost estimation. Our study fills this gap, analysing 51 factors from 84 papers across prominent repositories. We assess interrelationships using a systematic literature review and pairwise comparison as in the analytical hierarchy process. The International Construction Measurement Standards (ICMS) framework structures these relationships and is represented in the causal loop diagrams (CLDs). The pioneering CLDs are a notable contribution, illustrating interrelationships and polarities among the 51 WLC factors. Six reinforcing loops and one balancing loop provide valuable insights into their dynamic nature. Importantly, lower-level factors do not always directly connect with upper-level factors. Instead, they interact within the same level before linking to top-level factors. These findings are significant for professionals, such as cost estimators, quantity surveyors and scholars, offering a comprehensive understanding of the WLC system.
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