Dr Esra Kurul

Renewable, decentralised, and citizen-centred energy paradigms have emerged as feasible and reliable alternatives to the traditional centralised fossil-based infrastructure. In this scenario, energy storage systems (ESSs) are enabling technologies to boost the stability and flexibility of the power grid in the short-to-medium term, allowing local communities to envision energy autonomy in the medium term. Traditionally, ESSs have been installed in individual households for their own benefit. However, new storage paradigms focusing on building clusters and district scale have illustrated the need to revise the role of ESSs and to pay close attention to the social factors, while devising implementation strategies for scaling up these new energy infrastructural models. This study reviews recent research trends (2021–2023), proposing three integrated social pillars for the implementation of ESSs: (i) multi-dimensional geographical and institutional scales of ESSs; (ii) social components of spatial and temporal flexibility of ESSs; and (iii) co-creation approaches to devising ESS implementation strategies. These pillars point out the necessary social factors for the implementation of ESSs at scale, highlighting future research perspectives to operationalise such factors, with a particular focus on the importance of citizens’ perception, participation, and collaboration, which are critical for maximising the benefit of sharing and exchanging renewable energy locally. Development of flexible and agile digital platforms that facilitate the co-creation of adaptable socio-technical solutions to adopting ESSs is proposed. The need to tailor these solutions to suit the stakeholders’ capabilities is emphasized.

International joint ventures (IJVs) are a specific type of strategic alliance between contractors from developed and developing countries and have been increasingly used. IJVs between multinational organisations are considered a successful strategy to benefit from international market opportunities in the globalised world. International construction joint ventures (ICJVs) have become of significant interest as the global construction market continues to be integrated into the more competitive business environment. The aim of this article is to uncover the knowledge transfer (KT) practices in an ICJV using social network analysis (SNA). The case presented here is the pilot study. A total of 19 questionnaire surveys were undertaken with selected team members. UCINET 6.0, an SNA package, was used to analyse the collected data and NetDraw was used to visualise the sociogram. This article first presents the actors' attributes; then, social network characteristics, which consist of network structure, network density and degree of centrality and cliques of actors, are presented. This analysis will be used to identify the key actors that influence the KT processes in this case study.

The integration of transformative pedagogies into curricula is recognised as a strategy to deal with the new demands of complexity in learning, which include equipping future professionals with the necessary knowledge and skills to transition to a low carbon built environment. It requires a dedicated interdisciplinary learning environment. Creating this environment remains a challenge due to the lack of a learning tool to facilitate an interdisciplinary approach. Perhaps due to this challenge, interdisciplinarity within the context of Low Carbon Transition in the built environment has not been sufficiently explored. This study deals with this gap in the literature by developing a pedagogical approach founded on the combined use of Grounded Theory Method, Cognitive Mapping Technique and Meaningful Learning Activities. This paper focuses on the testing phase of this approach, which engaged researchers, postgraduate and undergraduate students. The findings promote a transformative pedagogy to explore the socio-technical dimension of the Low Carbon Transition. They point out the type of interdisciplinarity, which we need to integrate into traditional curricula, moving from vocabulary construction at the undergraduate level to exploration of different perspectives at the postgraduate level. Recommendations on the ways in which this approach could become common practice are also made.

This study explores the role of Energy Retrofit (ER) in Low Carbon Transition (LCT). The literature recognises the need to move towards a transdisciplinary approach in ER, which encompasses multidisciplinarity and interdisciplinarity. However, the fragmentation between different disciplines remains a significant problem, mainly due to challenges associated with knowledge exchange across the allied disciplines that play a role in ER. The authors posit that ER projects has been conceptualised and implemented using a Systems perspective so that an integrated approach that is akin to transdisciplinarity could become commonplace. Against this background, the aim of this paper is to establish to what extent ER has been conceptualised as a
System in the literature so that complexities can effectively be managed through a transdisciplinary approach. This work is based on a literature review of 136 peer-reviewed journal papers. The content analysis demonstrates that current research on transdisciplinarity in ER can be conceptualised in five categories and 15 lines of research. They are presented as a Conceptual Framework, which is this paper’s main contribution to existing knowledge. It reveals the direction of innovation in ER for LCT, and is illustrated as a cognitive map. This map exposes the current fragmentation implicit in the literature, and proposes critical connections that need to be established for a transdisciplinary approach. It also shows that the discourse on LCT changed by moving beyond the building scale; and recognising the need to embrace disruptive and local technologies, and integrating the social and technical aspects of ER. Innovative technical solutions and robust information modelling approaches emerge as key vehicles towards making decisions that pay regard to the economic, social and technical factors and that empower the prosumers to play an active role in LCT.

 In recent years, companies around the world are trying to expand internationally through collaborative agreements. ‘International Construction Joint Ventures’ (ICJVs) have become of significant interest as the global construction market continues to be integrated into a more competitive business environment. Moreover, ICJVs can be a mechanism for creating, transferring and improving knowledge and skills between partners. Knowledge creation has also been recognized as the successful mechanism of creating knowledge between local and foreign partners. Therefore, local partners who wished to enter into the emerging market needed to quickly develop the required resources. Thus, it is especially important to understand how new knowledge in ICJV projects can be transferred and adopted. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate and characterise the knowledge creation process in ICJV projects and explore to what extent projects facilitate the process. A case study approach is adopted using three ICJV projects. As a result, this research provides the establishment of specific knowledge creation processes through an empirical investigation of ICJV projects in Thailand.

Distributed, Renewable and Interactive energy Systems (DRIs) are revolutionising the concept of infrastructure by introducing a set of new properties. The implications of the new system properties in the realm of Urban Design are often neglected. This paper proposes a simplified procedure to reconcile DRIs and urban patterns. This procedure is tested on 23 school buildings in four urban regions of the Ostiense district in Rome. Findings suggest that the identification of existing buildings as active, neutral and passive nodes in DRIs can make a significant contribution to Urban Design decisions in order to exploit the renewable energy production capacity inherent in urban patterns. 

European Policies consider a multitude of Low Carbon Technologies to transform cities to Low Carbon Cities. Some of these technologies can form distributed systems. These are newforms of Energy Networks which can contribute to reducing the vulnerability and homogenization of urban patterns as they evolve to become part of the urban infrastructure. This evolution process also involves computerizing elements of the infrastructure, and thus relates to the Smart City concept. In this sense, a Distributed and Renewable energy system becomes interactive promoting a set of novel system properties. Following a qualitative approach, this paper presents an innovative conceptual framework in order to establish, communicate and disseminate these new system properties. 

Purpose

Knowledge transfer (KT) practices in five construction projects delivering sustainable office buildings in Germany and the UK are examined using Social Network Analysis (SNA).

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Design/methodology/approach

Case studies were adopted as research strategy, with one construction project representing one case study. A combination of quantitative data, social network data and some qualitative data on perceptions of the sustainable construction process and its KT were collected through questionnaires. The data was analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, cross tabulations, content analysis and SNA. This resulted in a KT map of each sustainable construction project.

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Findings

The findings resulted in a better understanding of how knowledge on sustainable construction is transferred and adopted. They show that large amounts of tacit knowledge were transferred through strong ties in sparse networks.

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Research limitations/implications

The findings could offer a solution to secure a certain standard of sustainable building quality through improved KT. The findings indicate a need for further research and discussion on network density, tie strength and tacit KT.

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Originality/value

This paper contributes to the literature on KT from a social network perspective. It provides a novel approach through combining concepts of network structure and relatedness in tie contents regarding specialised knowledge, i.e. sustainable construction knowledge. Thereby it provides a robust approach to mapping knowledge flows in office building projects that aim to achieve high levels of sustainability standards.

Live projects have long been used to facilitate learning in the built environment (BE) disciplines, particularly architecture. This in-depth case study is drawn from another BE discipline: Project Management. The process of developing an award-winning energy assessment model for concession-based retail organisations, which was recognised as a real shift in the way sustainability was delivered by The Green Apple Awards in 2012, is evaluated. The great benefits, e.g. a £27k saving in energy costs during the first year, that academic research delivered in a commercial environment are identified.

First, the key features of live projects are drawn from the literature. Then the unusual context for this live project is set. The differences between this live project and the more common setting of the full-time (FT) student being taken into the ‘real-world’ are thus identified. An explanation of the process through which the assessment model was developed as part of an MSc Dissertation, how it was used by the employer, and its benefits to the business follows. The next section draws out the key aspects of working in this different live project setting. A short discussion on whether a live project in this setting requires a different approach than the usual FT-student scenario concludes the case study. 

The UK built environment sector faces a number of important challenges such as reducing carbon emissions and cost. New knowledge should be created to develop new practices, competences and capabilities to overcome these challenges. Studies that characterise knowledge creation as a transformation process through the networks of social relationships and intra-organisational teams are needed to understand, and thus improve such processes in project environments. Structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of Social Capital (SC) influence the utilisation of knowledge creation opportunities inherent in project networks. Hence, SC provides the essential infrastructure for knowledge creation. A fresh approach to operationalising the concept of SC through social network analysis and content analysis is thus required. This paper develops and explores the conceptual relationships between knowledge creation and SC in the context of two live building projects. There are two main conclusions. First, structural network indices are indicators of knowledge creation opportunities but they should be considered in conjunction with the relational and cognitive dimensions to determine whether and how opportunities are being utilised. Second, project communication strategies should be designed to enable actors in structurally advantageous positions for knowledge creation to utilise these opportunities.The UK built environment sector faces a number of important challenges such as reducing carbon emissions and cost. New knowledge should be created to develop new practices, competences and capabilities to overcome these challenges. Studies that characterise knowledge creation as a transformation process through the networks of social relationships and intra-organisational teams are needed to understand, and thus improve such processes in project environments. Structural, relational and cognitive dimensions of Social Capital (SC) influence the utilisation of knowledge creation opportunities inherent in project networks. Hence, SC provides the essential infrastructure for knowledge creation. A fresh approach to operationalising the concept of SC through social network analysis and content analysis is thus required. This paper develops and explores the conceptual relationships between knowledge creation and SC in the context of two live building projects. There are two main conclusions. First, structural network indices are indicators of knowledge creation opportunities but they should be considered in conjunction with the relational and cognitive dimensions to determine whether and how opportunities are being utilised. Second, project communication strategies should be designed to enable actors in structurally advantageous positions for knowledge creation to utilise these opportunities.

– The relationship between sustainable development and private finance initiative (PFI) procurement systems is clarified, and the current debate on the effectiveness of PFI in the UK and the benefits of PFI to deliver sustainable construction is reviewed. The study develops a sustainability assessment framework encompassing environmental, economic, social and technical aspects through the life cycle of the procurement process. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Design/methodology/approach

– A comprehensive literature review develops a conceptual sustainability performance indicators framework. A national questionnaire survey measures existing PFI projects' sustainability performance level.

Findings

– The study provides empirical insights about key performance indicators of sustainable PFI project development and a benchmarking for existing PFI project performance measurement. It suggests that successful sustainable PFI projects should integrate technical aspects into the traditional three dimensions sustainability model and achieve a balance between social and economic performance.

Research limitations/implications

– Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack in-depth analysis of individual projects. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to test the framework further.

Practical implications

– The sustainability indicator framework proposed in this paper is readily applicable in PFI projects, as well as other types of PPP projects.

Originality/value

– This paper fulfils an identified need to study how the sustainability performance levels achieved could be effectively measured within PFI/PPP projects; while contributing to the debate on benchmarking and measuring sustainability performance in construction.