Browsing by Subject "Wooden multi-storey construction"
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(2018)The popularity of wooden multi-storey construction (WMC) has increased in Finland during the recent years. Reasons for this could be the favorable changes in the legislation, the action plans of government agencies endorsing the WMC, and the developing business models of the construction industry. The business ecosystem (BE) concept has become a topical research subject and recent research suggests that the BE concept could be a useful tool in analyzing the value creation in the construction industry. This qualitative case study examined the applicability of the BE concept for the field of wood construc-tion. Semi-structured interviews were used to elicit the experiences of people involved in a specific wood construction project and thematization was used in the analysis of the data. The case construction project was a two-storey wooden loft. The aims of this thesis included the exploration of the functioning of the case BE, and identifying the roles of the BE participants, the benefits of belonging in a BE, and the key factors for the success of the BE. The study also aimed in examining the end-user involvement and the innovation detection and communication in the case BE. The interviews revealed that the core companies of the case construction project have cooperated for years before the case project took place. Some coevolutive efforts were revealed between some of the project participants, such as attempts to cut the turnaround time of the projects by focusing on process enhancements, and addressing to varying service demands by offering the services of a partner company among own services. The results suggest that a BE exists around the main contractor, which also acts as a keystone player, leading the BE. The other core companies act as niche players, bringing specialized expertise and skills that complement the inputs of others. According to the interviewees, the co-opera-tion and the construction project created benefits, such as reference value and value for the research and development. The interviewees also thought the familiarity of the project participants creates trust, and leads to better understanding of the working habits of the other participants, and thus increasing project efficiency. In addition, well-functioning communication and cooperation, and the high quality of plan-ning were seen as some of the essential factors for the success of the construction project. The residents were involved in the project only after the construction had already started, but they could nevertheless affect interior materials and could make change requests. The building project itself was perceived as relatively traditional one by the interviewees, although some innovativeness was identified in the pro-cesses and components of the project. In the future, business ecosystems in the WMC could be studied further, for example, by also examining larger scale WMC projects.
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(2024)The global drive towards low-carbon construction has focused attention on the utilisation of wood in multi-storey construction (WMC). The enabling regulatory and legislative actions and the promotion of wood construction have not increased the share of wood in multi-storey construction as predicted, which indicates that there are underlying factors hindering the wider utilisation of wood materials in construction and the construction of wooden multi-storey buildings. This qualitative study examined the perceptions and attitudes of construction site personnel towards WMC. The aim of the study was to identify the perceptions and attitudes of an important target group in the construction sector, which had not been highlighted in existing literature, by utilising the theory of planned behaviour. The study aims to uncover the perceptions and attitudes of construction site personnel to fill the current knowledge gaps, provide information on where to focus actions that facilitate WMC, and initiate discussion on the factors influencing the attitudes. Fifteen semi-structured interviews were conducted between February-April 2024 with individuals, who are actively involved in the operations of construction sites during the construction and renovation phases. These individuals are responsible for the operations, implementation, and other administrative activities on the construction sites. The results of the thematic analysis indicated that construction site personnel held varying, yet generally positive attitudes towards WMC. There was a notable variation in attitudes between the different construction personnel groups. The perceived benefits and strengths that contributed to more positive attitudes towards WMC were assessed through factors such as the environmental friendliness and low emissions of wood materials, ease of workability, aesthetic appeal, and the material's lightness and breathability. The attitudes towards WMC were hindered by the factors perceived as weaknesses and challenges of wood materials and WMC. These included the unestablished position of WMC, lack of knowledge and material information, moisture-related challenges, fire safety, and economic factors. Normative beliefs of the Finnish construction sector were perceived to affect the attitudes, as the perceived work communities’ attitudes either facilitated or hindered the individual’s attitude towards WMC. Previous experiences did not significantly influence attitudes towards WMC. Instead, knowledge and information had a greater impact on attitudes. Sharing knowledge and increasing the availability of information about WMC was identified as a key solution to improving attitudes towards WMC in Finland, given the slow pace of change in the Finnish construction sector and its tendency to rely on established standards and practices.
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