Introduction
Buildings, roads, and bridges are examples of physical infrastructure that can gauge a country’s economic prosperity and development. In the development of a construction project, there are several participants, numerous processes, and numerous stages and phases of work, all with the primary purpose of bringing the project to a successful conclusion. However, to measure the success rate of any building project, key performance indicators are employed, which use quantitative data to determine the health and sustainability of the project under construction. A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric that measures the performance of an activity that is critical to the success of a business. Key performance indicators applied for sustainable construction should consider sustainability pillars: economic benefits, environment friendly, and socially significant (Hristov & Chirico, 2019).
Sustainable development is a development that meets the needs of present without effecting the needs to meet their future generations. Environmental sustainability is the shifting from using of non-renewable resources to renewable resources. Economical sustainability focuses on improving quality of life of humans. It entails investing in the future demands that will result the growth of economical GDP of country as well as the per capita income of the person. Social sustainability involves creating of sustainable places by understanding what people need from the places they live. It involves in the design of infrastructure which supports social and cultural life which are not only used by the current generations may also include the future generations. For instance, Soho House & Co. and Sydell Group considered these three pillars of sustainability when renovating and refurbishing abandoned former Midland Bank building in the center of London city into modern and prestigious hotel known as The Ned Hotel[1].
Construction is a complex process requiring a complete approach to deal with the different facets of launching, planning, funding, designing, approving, and implementing a construction project. To rejuvenate and revitalize defunct industrial building into a successful and profitable commercial building, the project manager may evaluate project performance during construction using key performance indicators such as time of project completion, percentage defect levels in the structure, cost of rework, waste management, and design labor (Franceschini at el., 2018).
Time of project completion
This indicator determines the total amount of time the entire construction project should take, the schedule for each task, and the plan within the set deadline. Typical duties which are a significant part of the project are assigned specific cycle times for accurate estimation accuracy progress. Using a time tracking solution, the project manager should employ this indicator because it helps estimate resources needed for completing a project and determine the number of changes in work procedure that may cause delays and missed deadlines.
Percentage defect levels in construction
Design defects resulting from the failure of the designer to produce accurate and well-organized construction documents, material defects resulting from the use of damaged or inadequate building materials, and workmanship defects resulting from the failure of the contractor to construct the structure following the construction document are just a few examples of substantial defects in construction (Lima, L., et al., 2021). To ensure quality work and avoid expensive construction defect litigation, the project manager should ensure that the percentage defect level in the construction project is minimal and act swiftly whenever a defect is discovered.
Cost of rework
The cost and schedule performance of a construction project are adversely affected by the amount of rework that occurs. Changing the scope and specifications of a project, making design errors, using substandard construction techniques, or following lousy construction management rules are all reasons for rework in construction (Helen, G., & Albert, L., 2018). To improve project cost performance, the project manager should reduce the occurrence of rework in building by identifying and classifying the cause of rework and ensuring good quality management prevails in the project.
Waste Management
Waste can be managed well during the revitalization of the industrial building to cut down on environmental degradation and the effect of climate change. The project manager can use solar panels by utilizing inexhaustible solar energy to produce power during construction, thereby reducing dangerous greenhouse gases produced during electricity generation and reducing the cost of construction. Green initiatives can also be manifested by providing bins for organic and inorganic waste in construction sites to help collect waste and using clerestory windows on top of the wall to enlighten the building, reducing electricity bills. The project manager should harvest the rainwater and use it for construction purposes.
Labor productivity
Labor productivity refers to units of output performed per hour by a worker. The construction process is very intensive; hence construction project success depends on optimizing labor productivity. Low labor productivity may result from inadequate planning, bad leadership, and a lack of design sketches (Lima at el., 2021). To ensure the project’s success materialize, the project manager must have good leadership skills, plans, and effective labor design for workers.
Upon rehabilitation and conversion of a defunct industrial building into an economical commercial building, the client can measure the performance of this building using key performance factors such as design, quality-indoor and visual impact, safety, serviceability and functionality, and maintenance.
Design
The first criteria that the client should consider as a rehabilitation projects are the new design and the prospect of a commercial structure that will be constructed shortly after that. To keep track of expenses, pick new materials, analyze numerous alternatives, provide a high degree of constructability, acquire a high level of compatibility, and provide adequate depth in plans and specifications, the client must recruit a qualified project designer. Controlling the quality of the indoor environment through systems like lighting and temperature is based on environmental quality management principles. This change in the design will influence customers’ perceptions of the facility’s physical appearance, sanitary conditions, functioning, visual appeal, and ergonomic comfort (Helen, G., & Albert, L., 2018).
Quality-indoor and visual impact
The health, well-being, and efficiency of occupants are directly correlated with the quality of the building’s indoor environment. For continuous monitoring of building performance, the client should ensure the building has good indoor environmental quality such as air purification system and moisture, having waterless urinal, avoiding using materials with high volatile compounds, and vitamin C infused water. These factors will influence and attract customers who like to rent shops.
Safety
The safety of the labor is essential since it was an old building and may have less strength. The client should have surety of safety of the building because a much safer building gains lesser risks and long-term costs. However, safety accidents might mean much higher insurance payments which will be detrimental to the client and customers of commercial shops. Therefore, understanding and knowing the current safety rating of the workplace is a primary key in reducing costs and keeping customers’ trust.
Serviceability and functionality
The client should ensure the serviceability and functionality of various building parameters upon construction project completion (Hristov, I., & Chirico, A. 2019). The serviceability and functionality of different parts of the building is a vital indicator because a commercial building to be built will accommodate many people within a concentrated time. Therefore, stability, fire resistance, vibration are to be planned very carefully.
Maintenance
The cost of the project should be directly compared to the benefits that would occur post the opening of the commercial building, thereby maintaining the proper cost of efficiency. The client should inspect the commercial building periodically to check to sustain the standard of the building, thereby maintaining the customers. The daily attendance of people visiting the building shall also be estimated so that various key aspects like parking facilities, assessment from one place to another without any congestions.
Conclusion
There are various upgrade hypothetical technologies used in the construction project to help achieve sustainability goals. Such technology includes building information modeling (BIM) software, drones, 3D printing, data collection apps, virtual reality and wearables, and artificial intelligence (Janjua at el., 2021). Drones are utilized to conduct site surveys more quickly and accurately than a workforce on the ground because they are less expensive despite having high-quality cameras. Building information modeling software is a drawing building structure where different people contribute in drawing through streamlining, adding their piece to the same model. When used in conjunction with BIM, virtual reality and wearable technology help people better understand complicated situations. It is possible to modify the material source in construction technology by 3D printing. Projects can be created and brought to the job site, which is immediately usable (Yu, Z., Peng., et al., 2018). With the discovery of advanced apps, data collected in construction companies have is very accurate and of high quality. Artificial intelligence has improved construction projects by enhancing safety, reducing costs, speeding up completion times, and improving quality.
References
Franceschini, F., Galetto, M., & Maisano, D. (2018). Designing performance measurement systems: theory and practice of key performance indicators. Springer.
Helen, G., & Albert, L., (2018). Construction-Industry-klp-report-final http://www.constructionfoundation.ca/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Construction-Industry-KPI-report-FINAL.pdf
Hristov, I., & Chirico, A. (2019). The role of sustainability key performance indicators (KPIs) in implementing sustainable strategies. Sustainability, 11(20), 5742.
Janjua, S. Y., Sarker, P. K., & Biswas, W. K. (2021). Sustainability implications of service life on residential buildings–An application of life cycle sustainability assessment framework. Environmental and Sustainability Indicators, 10, 100109.
Lima, L., Trindade, E., Alencar, L., Alencar, M., & Silva, L. (2021). Sustainability in the construction industry: A systematic review of the literature. Journal of Cleaner Production, 289, 125730.
Yu, Z., Peng, H., Zeng, X., Sofi, M., Xing, H., & Zhou, Z. (2018, November). Smarter construction site management using the latest information technology. In Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers-Civil Engineering (Vol. 172, No. 2, pp. 89-95). Thomas Telford Ltd.
[1] Source of this information: The Ned Hotel: A Stately London Landmark Transformed, English Vintage Edition – Remodelista
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