Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Subject: search.filters.subject.12 Built Environment and Design

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 32
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    Co-selection of Heavy Metal and Antibiotic Resistance in Soil Bacteria from Agricultural Soils in New Zealand
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2022-02-04) Heydari A; Kim ND; Horswell J; Gielen G; Siggins A; Taylor M; Bromhead C; Palmer BR
    Accumulation of trace elements (including heavy metals) in soil from usage of superphos-phate fertilisers induces resistance of soil bacteria to trace elements of environmental concern (TE-oEC) and may co‐select for resistance to antibiotics (Ab). This study aimed to investigate selection of co‐resistance of soil bacteria to Cd, Zn and Hg, and Ab in soils with varied management histories. Genetic diversity of these bacteria and horizontal transfer of Cd resistance genes (cadA and czcA) were also investigated. Soils with either pastoral and arable management histories and either high levels of Cd and Zn, or indigenous bush with background levels of these TEoEC from the Waikato region, New Zealand were sampled. Plate culturing with a range of TEoEC and Ab concentrations, Pollution Induced Community Tolerance (PICT) assay, antibiotic sensitivity, terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP) and horizontal gene transfer (HGT) analyses were em-ployed to investigate co‐selection of TEoEC and Ab resistance. Higher levels of bacterial resistance to TEoEC and Ab correlated with higher levels of TEoEC in soil. Bacterial community structures were altered in soils with high TEoEC levels. Cd resistance genes were transferred from donor bacterial isolates, to recipients and the transconjugants also had resistance to Zn and/or Hg and a range of Ab.
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    Less Food Wasted? Changes to New Zealanders' Household Food Waste and Related Behaviours Due to the 2020 COVID-19 Lockdown
    (MDPI (Basel, Switzerland), 2021-09-07) Sharp EL; Haszard J; Egli V; Roy R; Te Morenga L; Teunissen L; Decorte P; Cuykx I; De Backer C; Gerritsen S
    Food waste is a crisis of our time, yet it remains a data gap in Aotearoa New Zealand’s (NZ’s) environmental reporting. This research contributes to threshold values on NZ’s food waste and seeks to understand the impact of the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown on household food waste in NZ. The data presented here form part of the ‘Covid Kai Survey’, an online questionnaire that assessed cooking and food planning behaviours during the 2020 lockdown and retrospectively before lockdown. Of the 3028 respondents, 62.5% threw out food ‘never’/‘rarely’ before lockdown, and this number increased to 79.0% during lockdown. Participants who wasted food less frequently during lockdown were more likely to be older, work less than full-time, and have no children. During lockdown, 30% and 29% of those who ‘frequently’ or ‘sometimes’ struggled to have money for food threw out food ‘sometimes or more’; compared with 20% of those who rarely struggled to have money for food (p < 0.001). We found that lower levels of food waste correlated with higher levels of cooking confidence (p < 0.001), perceived time (p < 0.001), and meal planning behaviours (p < 0.001). Understanding why food waste was generally considerably lower during lockdown may inform future initiatives to reduce food waste, considering socio-economic and demographic disparities.
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    Occupants’ Decision-Making of Their Energy Behaviours in Office Environments: A Case of New Zealand
    (1/02/2023) Weerasinghe AS; Rasheed EO; Rotimi JOB
    Understanding how occupants behave and interact with building systems is vital to energy efficiency in buildings. The building occupants’ behaviours are complex and influenced by diverse factors. A deep understanding of the underlying environmental, contextual, social, and psychological factors is the first step of many in establishing the relationship between the indoor environment and occupants’ behaviours. The current study investigates the influence of occupants’ perceived indoor environmental comfort, the availability of control, and the social-psychological impacts on occupant behaviours in a New Zealand context. The data were collected through online surveys, and 99 office occupants responded. A machine learning technique was applied to identify the critical factors influencing the decision-making of occupant behaviours. Of the occupant behaviours considered in the study, adjusting windows, doors, shades and blinds, and drinking beverages were mostly practised (>70%) while adjusting lighting, personal fans, thermostats/heaters, and computers (40–70%) was moderately practised by occupants. The availability of specific user controls was the main predictor of most occupant behaviours, followed by social-psychological factors such as actual knowledge, perceived knowledge, behavioural interventions, subjective norms, organisational support, personal norms, attitudes, and perceived behavioural control. The indoor environmental parameters such as indoor temperature, indoor air quality, natural light, and inside noise were highlighted as most influential in decision-making for occupant behaviours. Additionally, the demographic factors: gender, work duration, days at work, and permanence/temporariness of workspace, were also impactful. Knowing the complexity of occupants’ decision-making with respect to their behaviours helps building managers use this sensitive information to enhance building energy performance and enable more energy feedback to the occupants to raise their awareness. Such information is helpful for creating an intelligent environmental control system loop with eco-feedback and establishing occupant-centric buildings or features.
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    Increasing Supply for Woody-Biomass-Based Energy through Wasted Resources: Insights from US Private Landowners
    (MDPI AG, 23/05/2023) Nguyen T
    Woody biomass is suggested as a substitute for fossil fuels to achieve sustainable development. However, transitioning the land purpose to produce woody biomass entails investment and a tradeoff between wood pellet production and the current utilities created by the land, hindering the willingness of private landowners. To many forest landowners, forest trees and residues considered unprofitable to transport would be left in the forest without other proper use. The wasted woody resources on the land can be a potential source to increase the woody biomass supply. To support the policymakers, logging companies, state agencies, and landowners to better capitalize on these wasted resources, we aimed to identify the characteristics of woody-resource-wasting landowners and examine how to increase their likelihood to contribute to woody-biomass-based energy. By employing Bayesian Mindsponge Framework (BMF) analytics on a dataset of 707 private landowners in the United States (US), we discovered that landowners being male, having higher income, and being a member of a state/national forestry organization were more likely to waste woody resources. Moreover, woody-resource-wasting landowners perceiving woody-biomass-based energy as a substitution for fossil fuel were more likely to sell wood. In contrast, those perceiving environmental costs over the benefits of woody-biomass-based energy were less likely to sell. These findings can be used as insights for policymakers, logging companies, and state agencies to find an additional supply of woody-biomass-based energy from landowners likely to waste woody resources.
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    Perceptions of Cultivated Meat in Millennial and Generation X Consumers Resident in Aotearoa New Zealand
    (1/03/2023) Giezenaar C; Godfrey AJR; Ogilvie OJ; Coetzee P; Weerawarna N.R.P M; Foster M; Hort J
    Evidence suggests that consumer perceptions and acceptance of cultivated meat (CM) differ between countries, cultures, and consumer groups. Limited research specific to Aotearoa New Zealand (A-NZ) is available. Survey responses from 592 A-NZ residents were analysed to determine CM awareness, willingness to engage with CM, and perceived CM product attributes relative to conventional meat and plant-based meat alternatives (PBMAs). The effects of gender, age, meat/PBMA consumption frequency, CM awareness, and food neophobia on CM perceptions were determined. The statements were rated on a seven-point Likert scale. Half (52%) of the respondents agreed they were aware of CM. The awareness was higher in men compared to women (p = 0.036), higher in Millennials compared to Generation X (p = 0.022), and higher in regular compared to infrequent PBMA consumers (p = 0.0003). The willingness to engage with CM and perceived CM product attributes were consistently more positive in consumers who were aware, compared with consumers not aware of CM (p < 0.05). Being male, Millennial, low neophobic and a low meat, or high PBMA consumer was also associated with higher potential engagement and perceptions of CM to varying extents. Segmentation divided the respondents into three groups. The ‘positive’ cluster (41%) consumed more PBMAs and less meat and was more aware of CM than the ‘neutral’ (50%) and ‘negative’ (9%) clusters. In conclusion, consumers in A-NZ are not a homogenous group with regards to their perceptions and potential engagement with CM. Increasing awareness and familiarity with CM will be an important strategy to increase engagement with CM.
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    Towards contracting strategy usage for rework in construction projects: A comprehensive review
    (Taylor & Francis Online, 2021) Asadi R; Wilkinson S; Rotimi JOB
    Rework has been the core of attention for several years in the industry and academia as it affects the performance of projects. However, the trend of rework academic papers indicates an increasing rate in recent years; the overall research lacks a comprehensive review of the implemented theories and proposed models to explore further directions for rework management. Thus, to achieve a better understanding of rework it is necessary to perform an extensive review. This research aims to explore various insights from rework-related articles, discuss major research areas, and identify gaps for future studies looking closely at construction contracts. The selected articles are from three databases: “Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar”. The findings are categorized into six study areas: sources of rework, models and solutions, management and strategies, theories and techniques, rework impacts, and factors affecting rework. The analysis of the employed techniques across these topics showed that System Dynamic Modelling, Action Research, Analytic Hierarchy Process, and Regression have been used more frequently than other methods. The comprehensive review also shed light on the new ways of thinking, analyzing, and controlling the impacts of the rework. This paper proposes the assessment of rework causes in the conditions of contract which provides opportunities for improvement of the construction contracts.
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    Locked Out: Generational inequalities of housing tenure and housing type
    (Emerald, 12/07/2022) Lowies B; Squires G; Rossini P; McGreal S
    Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to first explore whether Australia and the main metropolitan areas demonstrate significant differences in tenure and property type between generational groups. Second, whether the millennial generation is more likely to rent rather than own. Third, if such variation in tenure and property type by millennials is one of individual choice and lifestyle or the impact of housing market inefficiencies. Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs a comparative research approach using secondary data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) to consider housing tenure and type distributions across generations as well as through cross-city analysis. Findings: The results show that home ownership is still the dominant tenure in Australia, but private rental is of increasing significance, becoming the tenure of choice for Millennials. Owner occupation is shown to remain and high and stable levels for older generations and while lower in percentage terms for Generation X; this generation exhibits the highest growth rate for ownership. Significant differences are shown in tenure patterns across Australia. Originality/value: The significance of this paper is the focus on the analysis of generational differences in housing tenure and type, initially for Australia and subsequently by major metropolitan areas over three inter-census periods (2006, 2011 and 2016). It enhances the understanding of how policies favouring ageing in place can contradict other policies on housing affordability with specific impact on Millennials as different generations are respectively unequally locked-out and locked-in to housing wealth.
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    Construction project performance: The role of client knowledge and procurement systems
    (Emerald, 2021) Windapo A; Adediran A; Rotimi JOB; Umeokafor N
    Purpose: This study aims to investigate whether clients’ knowledge about construction procurement systems influence project performance objectives and the role of procurement systems on project performance objectives in South Africa. Design/methodology/approach: Using a two-round survey, 90 usable questionnaires from construction professionals in South Africa plus 3 expert clients were collected. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics – means, percentages and the analytical hierarchy process to determine the rank of client project performance criteria, while inferential statistics – Pearson product-moment correlation was used in establishing the relationship between the level of clients’ knowledge and project performance. Findings: It was found that the common procurement systems used are traditional, followed by management-oriented and integrated procurement systems. In addition, it emerged that client’s knowledge of procurement systems shows a positive relationship with the achievement of project performance objectives. Based on these findings, it is concluded that some procurement systems being selected by clients in South Africa are inappropriately selected. This is despite the emergence of more efficient procurement systems. If procurement systems are selected based on the knowledge of the client, it will give better chances of a successful project outcome. Practical implications: The research suggests the need for clients to seek ways to improve their understanding or increase their knowledge of procurement systems in construction. Policymakers’ responsibilities in driving policies that will place responsibilities on clients to seek a reasonable way to improve their knowledge where possible is implied in the study. Originality/value: It contributes to improving project performance by examining whether the level of knowledge possessed by a client influences project performance.
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    An evaluation of risk factors impacting project budget performance in New Zealand
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 3/03/2021) Adafin J; Rotimi JOB; Wilkinson S
    Purpose There has been a lack of research, particularly within the New Zealand (NZ) context, focusing on the identification and assessment of risk factors for construction projects, leading to a wide variation between design-phase elemental cost plans (ECPs) and the outturn tender sums (OTS). Still to be investigated is how risks interact to produce such variability. This study aims to determine the risk-influencing factors, identified through risk measurement, during design development. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted literature review and online questionnaire survey. The literature review was used to identify the factors affecting project budgetary performance, which was used to design the questionnaire survey culminating in data analysis. The questionnaire was administered to 64 practising project managers (PMs) in NZ. Their responses were analysed using descriptive statistics, mean ranking analysis, degree-of-risk measure and correlational analysis, to find the top-five risk factors impacting the variability observed, through ranking the mean and degree of risk values that produce such variability. Findings Significant risk factors were identified from the questionnaire survey analysis, such as changes in project owner/stakeholder requirements, experience of project team, site condition information, competency of consultants and information flow and quality. These provided some insights in explaining the variability between the design-phase ECPs and OTS based on risk impacts from PMs’ viewpoints. Research limitations/implications Findings revealed a drift of 23.86% in budgeted costs (inflated risks), which seems significant. Prioritising top risk factors may provide handy information for researchers on the variables that could be relied upon for the development of a forecasting model for application in NZ. Practical implications The study findings have implications for PMs seeking to provide information on mitigation strategies by using risk management approach, considering the influence of development risks on building project delivery and, consequently the project owner’s financial position. To guard against wide variation between design-phase ECPs and OTS, the main contribution of this study is to raise consultants’ awareness of the important risk factors for their planning at the outset, thus assisting PMs in pro-actively managing their clients' budgets. Originality/value This study creates value by synthesising literature on construction project budgeting and highlighting areas for further research. By giving adequate attention to key risks associated with budget overruns in commercial projects, variability between ECPs and OTS, a common phenomenon in NZ, can be controlled to achieve cost savings. Based on this, further study suggests the development of a model that could assist the stakeholders in NZ to more reliably predict OTS from the design-phase ECP and pro-actively avoid unfortunate budget/cost overruns, disputes and even project abandonment.