Exploring the Driving Factors of Construction Industrialization Development in China

Evolutionary Game Research on Green Construction Considering Consumers' Preference under Government Supervision

Construction is closely related to people's lives and public activities. With regard to issues of energy conservation, emission reduction, and sustainable development put forth, the word "green" is increasingly used in the construction industry. Green construction is an inevitable requirement for the sustainable development of the construction industry. In addition, the government regulation mechanism is also the key to the establishment and development of green construction. Thus, on the basis of evolutionary game theory, this paper constructs an evolutionary game model of developers, general contractors, and the government. Then, the evolutionary stability strategies under different conditions are discussed. Lastly, the evolution mechanism in the game process of the green construction system and the influence of relevant parameters on the evolution path of the game model are analyzed through numerical simulation. The results show that (1) when consumer preferences change, the evolutionary stability strategies also change. Consumer preference plays a positive role in the establishment and development of green construction, but a certain increase in consumer preference will lead to free-rider behavior. (2) The government's control mechanism can not only effectively mobilize the enthusiasm of enterprises to participate but also effectively inhibit the free-rider behavior of enterprises; however, it cannot completely prevent the occurrence of free-rider behavior. (3) On the one hand, the government can advocate green consumption to promote the improvement of consumers' green preferences; on the other hand, enterprises actively carry out technological innovation and equipment advances to enhance the likelihood that consumers will embrace green preferences to achieve the optimal ESS. This study not only provides good guidance for developers and general contractors to make optimal strategic choices under different consumers' green preferences, but also provides a reference for the government to formulate reasonable regulatory policies. At the same time, it promotes the development of green construction and further promotes environmental protection.

Evaluation of Characteristics and Building Applications of Multi-Recycled Concrete Aggregates from Precast Concrete Rejects

The construction industry must meet current environmental requirements, mostly those pertaining to the reduction in construction and demolition waste and the consumption of raw materials. The use of recycled concrete aggregates can be part of the solution, but one question that arises is how many times recyclables can be recycled. This unknown involves other related queries regarding the properties and possible uses of repeated recycled concrete aggregates. This research is derived from the precast concrete industry, where multi-recycling is a pressing need. From good-quality parent concretes, three cycles of recycled concrete aggregates were produced and analysed. The final results are promising due to the good quality of the recycled and multi-recycled concrete aggregates obtained. Not only can they be used in low-level applications (backfilling) as usual, but they can also be used for more demanding purposes, such as graded aggregates, cement-treated road bases and concrete pavements. Their use in structural concrete is feasible, but it will be dependent on the water absorption level and the amount of recycled aggregate substitution. This research proves the viability of multi-recycled concrete aggregates with all of the associated environmental benefits.

Evaluation and Optimization of Sustainable Development Level of Construction Industrialization: Case Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Region

In order to promote the sustainable development of architectural industrialization, it is necessary to evaluate its development level, identify the development status and key restricting factors, and achieve the effect of “promoting the development by evaluation”. However, the existing studies are mostly limited to the scope of provinces and cities, and there are few studies on the construction industrialization of an economic circle as a whole. Therefore, this paper locates the research within the scope of the region, constructs the evaluation model of the sustainable development level of the regional construction industrialization, and selects the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region as a case study. The research shows that the sustainable development level of construction industrialization in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is in the middle level, which needs to be improved from the aspects of economic support, technological innovation, and management. This paper provides a reasonable reference for how to evaluate and better promote the sustainable development of regional construction industrialization.

Efficacy of anterior-posterior decompression on thoracolumbar spine fracture with spinal cord injury and analysis of risk factors for postoperative deep vein thrombosis

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the efficacy of anterior-posterior decompression on thoracolumbar spine fracture (TSF) and spinal cord injury (SCI), and assess hazard factors for postoperative deep vein thrombosis (DVT) through logistics regression.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was made on 130 patients with TSF and SCI admitted to our hospital between Jan 2018 and Jan 2020. Specifically, 72 were treated with anterior decompression (experimental group) and 58 were posterior decompression (control group). The intraoperative blood loss, procedure time, hospitalization, incision size, tactile and motor scores, injured vertebral body height, Cobb angle and complications were observed. Patients were grouped based on DVT occurrence. The risk factors were assessed through logistics regression.

RESULTS

In comparison to experimental group, the intraoperative blood loss, procedure time and incision size in the control group were lower (P<0.05), while the hospitalization time was shorter (P<0.05). After treatment, the tactile and motor scores were improved 3 months after operation, and the experimental group was better (P<0.05). Additionally, injured vertebral body height and Cobb angle increased, and the experimental group was higher (P<0.05). Incidence of postoperative complications revealed no marked difference (P>0.05). Logistics regression analysis manifested that ASIA rating, diabetes, obesity and age were tied to postoperative DVT.

CONCLUSION

Anterior decompression therapy can effectively improve the clinical outcome of patients with thoracolumbar spinal fractures and spinal cord injury on the improvement of tactile and motor functions, but posterior decompression is better than anterior surgery in terms of bleeding, incision length, operating time, and hospital stay. Surgical treatment needs to be selected according to the condition of patients. Furthermore, it was identified that ASIA rating, history of diabetes, obesity and age are risk factors affecting patients with postoperative lower extremity DVT.

Research on Factors Influencing Intelligent Construction Development: An Empirical Study in China

Intelligent construction (IC) is an innovative development model of the construction industry in which construction is integrated with digital technologies against the backdrop of the new technological revolution. The development of IC involves many influencing factors which are actively promoting IC development. However, investigations focusing on identifying and examining the relationships among the factors necessary for IC development are limited. In contributing to bridging this gap, this paper investigated and analyzed influencing factors for IC development by developing structural equation modeling (SEM) based on 5 variables and 28 measures, including (1) identifying the factors and examining their influence on IC development in China and (2) clarifying the paths and key measures for successful IC development. The results showed that (1) the three variables of government, company, and technology had a direct and significant impact on the development of IC, (2) the three variables of industry, company, and technology actually formed a “closed-loop” within which they interact and promote each other, and (3) it was widely realized and accepted that IC development has bright prospects in China. Furthermore, four paths for IC development were obtained and the key measures of the five variables were further analyzed. This research contributes to the body of knowledge on IC by identifying the factors influencing IC development. The four paths and key measures were proposed to clarify the relationship between factors. Recommendations were put forward to promote IC development.

Analyzing Critical Factors for the Smart Construction Site Development: A DEMATEL-ISM Based Approach

The wide and in-depth adoption of advanced information technologies within the construction industry has led to its revolution of all aspects; the construction site is not an exception. Recently, the notion of a smart construction site (SCS) has drawn the attention of all stakeholders within the industry. While the practice of SCS could be witnessed in various regions and the notion is mentioned frequently, the concept of SCS is still emerging, a sound framework for SCS development is still absent. As a bottom-up phenomenon, a systematic analysis of critical factors would provide all stakeholders with a comprehensive view of SCS development. In this research, previous research and existing practices of SCS are referred to, which helps to identify 17 critical factors for SCS development from the perspective of management, technology, and organization. The DEMATEL-ISM approach is introduced to conduct the factor analysis, and a questionnaire survey is conducted among 10 experts to investigate their attitudes on these factors. Following the proposed method, the 17 factors are classified into seven hierarchies and further categorized into three layers, i.e., effect layer, operational layer, and input layer, which helps to demonstrate the interrelationship among the critical factors for SCS development. The effect layer consists of the first to the third hierarchy, which contains the factors of cost (F2), safety (F4), schedule (F5), environment (F9), and quality (F3) management; these factors belong to the management perspective and reflect the expectations during SCS development. The operational layer consists of the fourth to the sixth hierarchy, which contains seven factors, namely, processing (F8), information (F10), communication and coordination (F15), personnel (F5), material (F6), equipment (F7), and management regulation (F17); these factors are critical in processing the input resources into the final effect of SCS development. The input layer only consists of the seventh hierarchy, which contains hardware and software facility (F11), integrated platform (F12), data sharing center (F13), smart decision system (F14), and technical team (F16); these factors represent the investment of SCS development. The systematic analysis of critical factors provides new insights on SCS development, which could be adopted as references for future SCS development by all stakeholders like government and construction enterprises.

Modeling Adoption Behavior of Prefabricated Building with Multiagent Interaction: System Dynamics Analysis Based on Data of Jiangsu Province

In recent years, the development of prefabricated building (PB) mode in China has gradually attracted the attention of stakeholders. It is of great significance to explore the adoption behavior of PB mode by Chinese construction enterprises. Using the method of combining evolutionary game theory with system dynamics and considering the multiagent interaction of the government, construction enterprises, and consumers, as well as the influence of multiple factors, this paper constructs a model of construction enterprises' adoption behavior of PB mode. The purpose is to clarify the mechanism of Chinese construction enterprises' adoption behavior of PB mode and the evolution law of market share. The research results show the following. Firstly, government subsidy plays an important role in promoting the maturity of PB market, but it plays a relatively small role in the more mature and stable market. Secondly, the higher the initial acceptance probability of the construction enterprise, the greater the peak of the PB market share and the greater the volatility, but it has no differential impact on the balance of the PB market in the later stage. Thirdly, price factors and quality factors, respectively, have an important impact on the increase of the PB market share in the early and late stages of the formation of the PB market, but the delivery waiting time factor has no significant impact on the PB market share.

Mapping the Knowledge Domains of Emerging Advanced Technologies in the Management of Prefabricated Construction

Emerging advanced technologies (EAT) have been regarded as significant technological innovations which can greatly improve the transforming construction industry. Given that research on EAT related to the management of prefabricated construction (MPC) has not yet been conducted, various researchers require a state-of-the-art summary of EAT research and implementation in the MPC field. The purpose of this paper is to provide a systematic literature review by analysing the selected 526 related publications in peer-reviewed leading journals during 2009–2020. Through a thorough review of selected papers from the state-of-the-art academic journals in the construction industry, EAT is recognised as the key area affecting the development of the MPC discipline. This study has value in offering original insights to summarise the advanced status quo of this field, helping subsequent researchers gain an in-depth understanding of the underlying structure of this field and allowing them to continue future research directions.