Chapter I- Research Context and Introduction

Background

Enhancement in technology has created fundamental changes in the designs and infrastructure of global construction sector. Enforcement of Building Information Modelling (BIM) is considered as one of the transformational changes in construction industry that transform the collaboration of stakeholder s of a project to new limits. BIM stands for the digital demonstration of functional, model, and physical characteristics of any construction project (Ameh and Osegbo 2011). Also, BIM is served as a shared resource of knowledge among stakeholders of a project to provide comprehensive information for decisions related to infrastructure, designs, durability, material choices, and sustainable aspects of the project.

According to Oyewobi et al (2011), BIM based project modeling in 3-D and 4-D has not only enhance the planning and project scheduling but also considerably improves the planners and designers’ perceptions.  The research in this area explored the increasingly adoption of BIM technology in construction industries of UK (Khosrowshahi and  Arayici 2012), US (Becerik-Gerber and Samara 2010), and other developed countries. This technology facilitated strong data base modeling, project visualization in 4D and more, capabilities of simulation and analysis.  Also, with the rapid increase in the concerns of global warming and green house impacts, the trend of designing and implementing the infrastructure of sustainable construction has been increased in recent years (Wong and Fan 2013; Liua et al 2015). An important aspect of BIM is to facilitate sustainable buildings designs to optimize the designing of sustainable buildings.

This section asserted the research context, background, aim and objectives, research question, and literature review of the dissertation.

Purpose of the research

There are major concerns found in the performance of global construction industry related to lack of productivity and inefficiency apart from the project deliveries in fragments (Abubakar, et al 2014; Ameh, and Osegbo 2011).  Therefore, the industry required a need of mindset in setting the standards of performance and efficiency in delivering sustainable projects (Succar et al 2013). The important factors of consideration are infrastructure, quality, value, design attributes, cost effectiveness, and effective collaboration of all stakeholders of particular construction projects (Nederveen, et al 2011). Building Information Modelling (BIM) is one of the several initiatives adopted by the global construction sector in recent decades to address these major factors. The rapid popularity of this collaboration framework that has evolutionary transformed the technology of construction infrastructure, quality, and designs has encouraged developed economies to utilize BIM on mass scale.

However, Barati et al (2013) asserted that BIM has the potential not only for the developed economies but its awareness is important in the construction industry of developing countries also. There are very few researches found on the application of BIM in Middle Eastern countries. Infrastructure and designing of sustainable buildings is an important concern of Middle Eastern countries as well. Hence, this research is proposed to study the level of awareness and the factors affecting the development of sustainable construction sector in Saudi Arabia. The sustainable construction industry is also important for Saudi Arabia due to the emerging threats of global warming (Li et al 2012) and its consequences in the region. Krygiel et al (2008) emphasized on the concept of green construction facilities provided by the implementation of BIM, also termed as “Green IT” by Tomlinson (2010). Hence the research is important to evaluate the implications of BIM in the selection of material and aspects of carbon emission in the infrastructure requirements and the design aspects of construction sites in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA).

Research Aim and Objectives

The aim of proposed study is evaluate the readiness, awareness, benefits and implications of construction industry in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) to adopt the organizational framework of BIM implementation in order to deliver sustainable infrastructure projects in KSA.

The proposed objectives of this research are as follows:

1. To investigate the factors important for BIM implementation in delivery of sustainable infrastructure.
2. To examine the contributions of BIM in production of sustainable building designs in KSA.
3. To explore the challenges and benefits of adopting Building information modeling (BIM) in KSA construction industry.
4. To identify the level of awareness and adoption of BIM framework for infrastructure delivery in KSA.
5. To recommend the strategies for effective implementation of BIM in perspective of KSA construction industry adoption level of new technologies.

Research Question

The following research question addresses the issues to explore in this research:

What is the level of the readiness and awareness of construction industry in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and how the construction industry can adopt the organizational framework of BIM in order to deliver sustainable infrastructure projects in KSA?

Chapter II- Literature Review

This chapter is based on the theoretical framework presented in the previous researches done in the fields of BIM and its implementation in the construction industry. The evaluation of factors affecting the awareness adoption, and efficiency of BIM will be critically reviewed in context of the construction industry of KSA. This chapter will provide the basis for the conceptual framework of the study.

Chapter III- Research Methodology

Research methodology for the proposed research will be based on the descriptive design and will include both quantitative as well as qualitative data collection approaches.  In deductive approach of conducting the research, both secondary and primary data sources will be used.

In secondary data, a critical review of literature will be performed about BIM and its implementation on construction industry. Credible literature sources such as journal articles, online data bases, and company reports will be used to collect this data. According to Saunders et al (2012), secondary data sources should be credible, relevant, and current.

The phase of primary data collection will be comprised on survey of various construction firms of KSA to evaluate the level of awareness and the potential barriers in effective implementation of BIM in this region.  This self-administered survey will be conducted from the local and foreign construction companies operating in major cities of KSA, and data will be collected from at least 50 numbers of practitioners.  Selection of survey strategy is suitable for collection of large amount of numerical data in short time. Also, it is an easy and cost expensive method of data collection to produce unbiased results (Saunders et al 2012). The main aspects of question will address the questions related to the readiness and awareness of these construction companies about the benefits and challenges of BIM. The concern for sustainable construction projects will be evaluated through this questionnaire.

The data analyses stage will be comprise of the classification, coding, and analysis of collected quantitative data. The statistical tools of regression analysis and correlation are suggested to use due to their suitability to find dependence of variables on each other. Therefore, the regression coefficients will assist two evaluate the most important factors that impact on Implementation of BIM in KSA. .

Chapter IV- Discussion on research Findings

This section of the dissertation will address he description of the findings of data analysis and the discussion on this result with the help of reviewed literature.

Chapter V- Conclusions and Recommendations

The chapter will provide a conclusion to answer the research question and on the basis of this conclusion, some recommendation will be provided to increase the efficiency of KSA construction industry by adopting BIM.  

Resources

 There will be many resources needed to effectively conduct this research like:

1. Access to extensive sources of literature, library access to online database portals will be used along with the Google scholar option.
2. Only limited financial resources will be needed to conduct the survey (as it will be sent through e-mail). Resource will be required if the researcher decides to undertake one to one interviews with the practitioners of the industry in KSA
3. SPSS/other software installation in computer will be needed to perform data analysis.

References

Abubakar, M., Ibrahim, Y., Kado, D., and Bala, K. (2014) Contractors' Perception of the Factors Affecting Building Information Modelling (BIM) Adoption in the Nigerian Construction Industry. Computing in Civil and Building Engineering (2014): pp. 167-178.  doi: 10.1061/9780784413616.022

Ameh, O.J., and Osegbo, E.E. (2011) Study of relationship between time overrun and productivity on construction sites, International Journal of Construction Supply Chain Management 1 (1). Pp 56-67

Barati, B., Charehzehi, A., and Preece,N. A., (2013),  Enhancing Planning and Scheduling Program by Using Benefits of BIM-Based Applications, Civil and Environmental Research 3(5).

Becerik-Gerber, B., and Samara R., 2010, The Perceived Value of Building Information Modeling in the U.S. Building Industry. Journal of Information Technology in Construction 15: 185-201.

Khosrowshahi F., and  Arayici, Y., (2012), Roadmap for implementation of BIM in the UK construction industry, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, Vol. 19 Iss 6 pp. 610 – 635

Krygiel and BradleyNies. Hoboken, (2008), Green BIM: Successful Sustainable Design With Building Information Modeling by Eddy NJ: Wiley, 241 pp., ISBN 9780470239605

Li, B. F.F. Fu, H. Zhong, H.B. Luo, (2012), Research on the computational model for carbon emissions in building construction stage based on BIM, Structural Survey, 30:5 , 411-425

Liua, S. mengb, X., and Tamc, C., (2015), Building information modeling based building design optimization for sustainability, Energy and Buildings, 105 (15). Pages 139–153

Nederveen, V, Beheshti, S. Willems, P.R (2010) Building Information Modelling in the Netherlands; A Status Report. Proceedings of the 18th CIB World Building Congress 2010, 10‐13 May 2010 The Lowry, Salford Quays, United Kingdom 28-40

Oyewobi, L. O; Ibironke, O. T; Ganiyu B. O; and. Ola-Awo, A. W (2011) Evaluating rework cost- A study of selected building projects in Niger State, Nigeria. Journal of Geography and Regional Planning Vol. 4(3), pp. 147-151

Saunders, M. et al (2012) Research methods for business students, 6th edition, London: Financial Times Prentice Hall

Succar, B. Sher, W and Williams, A (2012) Measuring BIM Performance: Five Metrics. Journal of Architectural Engineering and Design Management. 8:2, 120-142

Tomlinson, B., (2010), l Greening Through IT: Information Technology for Environmental Sustainability by Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 210 pages, ISBN 978-0-262-01393-2,

 Wong, Kam‐din and  Fan Qing (2013) "Building information modelling (BIM) for sustainable building design", Facilities, Vol. 31 Iss: 3/4, pp.138 - 157