Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology

ISSN No:-2456-2165

Sustainable Building Project Delivery in the Era of

4th Industrial Revolution
TPL. Adeniyi, JoshuaOlu¹; Tpl. Odogiyon Agunloye H.²
1&2:
Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, Nigeria.

Ezekiel Ufuoma Lucky³

3
Department of Urban & Regional Planning,
Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

Abstract:- Harnessing the fourth industrial revolution in the 21st century as a result of growing interconnectedness
for sustainable building projects requires digitization, and intelligent automation. The word has been widely used
automation, and the increased use of Information and in scientific literature, and World Economic Forum founder
Communications Technology (ICT). The construction and executive chairman Klaus Schwab popularized it in
industry compared to other industries seems to lag 2015 ( Bai, et al.2020). By obfuscating the distinctions
behind in incorporating these innovative technologies. between physical, digital, and biological entities,
However, there are numerous challenges in technological advance has discovered new ways to
implementing and engaging the use of technology in the demonstrate their capabilities. In addition to modern
construction industry. A review is done to identify the procedures supporting every industry component, the
issues underlining the adoption of technology in the revolution also promotes sustainability (Colombo, et al.
construction industry. 2014), of which renewable energy and energy efficiency are
two key elements (Lee, et al. 2018). Although the
This study shows that the critical factor affecting implementation is challenging, renewable energy still
the successful implementation is the lack of awareness accounts for 19.2% of consumption and is impacted by
and technical know-how. However, the study also technological advancements in the sector (Carvalho, et al
highlights that there are numerous opportunities in the 2018). The Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0) aims for a
future if critical steps are taken to bridge the gap in workable and sustainable manufacturing system and has a
technical knowledge for sustainable building projects higher level of complexity for integrating the production and
whilst adopting the technology of the fourth industrial product processes, where it becomes a part of the
revolution. sustainable system (Carvalho, et al 2018). When adopting
Industry 4.0 to create sustainable industries, all three aspects
Keywords:- Sustainability; Industrial Revolution; of sustainability—social, economic, and environmental—are
Information and Communication Technology; and valued and used for long-term competitiveness (Carvalho, et
Construction. al 2018). For both short- and long-term impacts on
I. INTRODUCTION sustainability, consideration of tactical, operational, and
strategic dimensions is crucial. By implementing 4IR, which
Since the 1700s, when the era of industrialization increases product quality while reducing time-to-market and
began, each industrial revolution has contributed improving operational performance, the benefits of 4IR are
significantly to the advancement of modern development. evident. Despite the many advantages offered by the other
The introduction of mechanical looms, which supplanted the industries, the building industry has been reluctant to adopt
agricultural industries and significantly improved the these ideas. Construction industry resistance to adopting IR
economic structure, occurred in the 1700s (Philbeck, & 4.0 was evident even in the complicated construction
Davis, 2018). These looms were powered by water and environment (Alaloul et al. 2020). Whereas the entire value
steam on mechanical machinery. The introduction of chain of construction involves numerous dispersed
electrical energy, which led to the establishment of the mass counterparts from all levels with a variety of backgrounds to
production system, sparked the Second Industrial cater to the unique needs of each project. Small and
Revolution in the 1870s (Alaloul, et al. 2020) These medium-sized businesses (SMEs) are now less able to invest
revolutions were dependent on how much more capable in new technologies due to the phenomenon's increased
humans were. The Third Industrial Revolution, brought on complexity in implementation.
by the development of electronics, took place in the 1970s.
The term "Digital Revolution" describes the technological Despite the obvious advantages that IR 4.0 principles
advancement from analog electronic and mechanical devices provide, the construction industry is still having trouble
to the current state of digital technology (Alaloul, et al. implementing them. There are a few difficulties in the
2020). The Fourth Industrial Revolution (IR 4.0) is now construction sector that lead to incompatibility. Complexity,
being constructed upon the Digital Revolution, in which ambiguity, a disjointed supply chain, short-term thinking,
people and technology are interconnected. The Fourth and culture are among the issues, according to Oesterreich
Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, is a and Teuteberg (Oesterreich, &Teuteberg, 2016). The
concept that describes the significant changes in technology, engagement of numerous stakeholders makes construction
industries, and societal patterns and processes that will occur projects difficult, making them special. A project's degree of

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Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
uncertainty is also determined by the project's unpredictable There is also a need for improvements in performance in
environment and its added complexities. Whereas the short- construction that have the potential to improve a perceived
term nature of building projects is a barrier to innovation, need for the implementation of Industry 4.0 (Keogh, &
the supply chain is fragmented and construction businesses' Smallwood, 2021).
short-term mindset has constrained their capacities. Whereas
the construction industry's culture is infamous for its slow- Taher (2021) states that The adoption of IR 4.0 within
to-adapt methods. the construction sector would boost performance on par with
that of its competitors in the industrial and automotive
II. OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY sectors. Industry 4.0 must be embraced since it is the
direction of the future. Even on the construction site,
This study seeks to ascertain the: digitization is the only option. Construction needs to catch
 Awareness and utilization rate of technology in building up. According to a study on the impact of 4IR on developing
in the 4th industrial revolution. nations, Industry 4.0 may make it possible for these nations
 Challenges in deploying technologies of the fourth to take a larger share of the global manufacturing value
industrial revolution in construction. chain (Hopali, &Vayvay. 2018).
A. Scope of the Study An article that examines the applicability of the major
The construction industry's scope of work is broad and Industry 4.0 technologies of a digital twin, robotics,
includes everything from building infrastructure to automation, building information management, sensors,
residential, commercial, and industrial projects. The wearables, and industrial networking to the construction
industry's contribution to a nation's Gross Domestic Product industry. To fully realize the benefits of Industry 4.0, it is
is more significant (GDP). The construction industry stated that Industrial connection is a crucial component. This
generates over US$10 trillion in total yearly sales, US$3.6 ensures that all technologies are integrated. In addition, the
trillion in added value, and contributes roughly 6% of the article outlines a research agenda for the adoption of
global GDP, according to the World Economic Forum Industry 4.0 technologies in the construction industry, a
(WEF) [1]. Additionally, it represents more than 8% of GDP three-phase use of intelligent assets from the point of
in underdeveloped countries and roughly 5% of GDP overall manufacture to after construction, and a four-stage R&D
in affluent nations. (Keogh, & Smallwood, 2021). This process for the application of smart wearables in a digitally
study is concentrated on investigating key elements enhanced construction site. Building components might be
influencing the effective adoption of 4 IR in the construction used in three stages as intelligent assets, creating a new real-
industry. time and context-aware data stream that could be used to
communicate with both workers and automated industrial
B. Significance of the Study processes in a digital twin environment. Machines and
This study looks at the potential problems faced by goods should be able to connect with and learn from one
construction businesses that want to use modern another thanks to faster processing, smarter tools, smaller
technologies to further their goals and remain competitive in sensors, and lower data storage and transmission costs
both domestic and international markets. It provides an (Turner, et al.2020).
overview of Industry 4.0 and its primary technologies as
they apply to the construction industry. Knowledge of the The conventional nature of the methodologies used in
most recent technologies empowers businesses with the construction industry's activities and the low use of ICT
excellent management vision. The second advantage of this are what define these activities. The quality of the resulting
piece is that it can assist companies in assessing the level of infrastructure is thus in doubt, which has an impact on the
digitization of their processes. Kids can now understand that general performance of the construction industry [17].
combining two of these technologies can be more However, the use of technology to deal with these issues is
advantageous in other ways. growing. According to research done in the construction
sector in the United Kingdom in 2019, 75% of construction
III. LITERATURE REVIEW businesses reported using file-sharing applications to share
and access designs, up from 52% in 2018 (Keogh, &
A study by Keogh, & Smallwood reviews that,
Smallwood, 2021). Only a small percentage of responders
Construction still faces several difficulties, including
(7%) use technology to oversee the entire procedure.
outdated processes and practices, adhering to regulations,
Furthermore, there is a significant gap between businesses
data collection and recording, monitoring, a lack of
that approach new technology expenditures strategically and
competent labor, and a decline in enthusiasm for working in
those that do so on an ad hoc basis: 26% of businesses lack a
the sector. Then, difficulties are encountered regarding
strategy, while 36% of businesses merely invest on an as-
performance with the project's cost, environment, health and
needed basis.
safety, productivity, quality, and schedule limits. In light of
the difficulties and the arrival of Industry 4.0, research was The industry is moving toward digitization and
carried out to ascertain the difficulties encountered, project including technology in the construction process. The
performance to the parameters, and the potential construction industry should aggressively adopt relevant
contribution of Industry 4.0 to overcome the difficulties. software or computer systems that can communicate and
They concluded that there is a need for interventions to utilize information, such as BIM, where applicable.
increase awareness and to integrate such technologies into Accordingly, they should incorporate off-site fabrication,
built environment/construction education and training.

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Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
prefabrication, pre-assembly, modularization, and used to analyze the gathered data for validity and reliability
demonstrative installations into their building processes (Hu, of gathered data.
& Liu, 2016)). According to Autodesk & CIOB (Keogh, &
Smallwood, 2021), successful organizations will be those Average Index (AI) The AI method is used to evaluate
whose executives pursue measures to lower adoption the influencing factors and identify the most critical factor in
barriers and integrate digital technologies into their IR 4.0 having a higher impact on the construction industry.
corporate strategies.
The study was conducted using the Six Sigma Quality
IV. EMPIRICAL REVIEW Initiative method ( Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and
Control)
There are numerous studies on sustainable building
projects in the 4th industrial revolution. According to the The AI equation is as described below:
World Economic Forum in conjunction with PWC (2017). Average Index AI ð Þ¼ PðWnÞ N ð1Þ
They surveyed over 50 countries with descriptive statistics
and analysis. Their findings were that the 4tth industrial where W: scale weightage from 1 to 5, given to each
revolution technologies can potentially aid transparency and factor by respondents;
projection in risk assessment, mitigations, and responses. n: frequency of respondents,
Technologies like AI and IoT can be deployed to N: total number of respondents.
communicate and predict future shocks on the go and
technologies like 3D printing can be deployed to enhance The classifications of the rating scales are: 1 =
the rebuilding of urban infrastructure making it more Strongly Disagree (1.0 Average Index < 1.5), 2 = Disagree
resilient and with a lower ecological footprint. (1.5 Average Index < 2.5) 3 = Neutral (2.5 Average Index <
3.5), 4 = Agree (3.5 Average Index < 4.5), 5 = Strongly
V. METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS Agree (4.5 Average Index 5.0).

Because we utilized primary data for the research, an Relative Importance Index (RII)
ex post facto research design was adopted since the data
already exists and we will not carry out any further The AI equation is as described below:
iterations on the data.For this study questionnaires were Relative Importance Index RII ð Þ¼
distributed to multiple construction companies, PW
Questionnaires were distributed by E-mail and hard A N ð2Þ
copies.Table 1 represents the demographic data of the where
respondents. W: scale weightage from 1 to 5, given to each factor
by
For this study, MS Excel was utilized for Average respondents,
Index (AI) and Relative Importance Index (RII), SPSS was A: highest weightage is given,
N: total number of respondents.

VI. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Descriptive Statistics
Table 1: Demographic Summary of Respondents

Source: Authors Survey results

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Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
53% of respondents do not have an awareness of the consultants while the remaining 20% were service providers
use of IR 4.0 technologies in the construction industry, and Government officials.
while 34% have some exposure due to their working
experience. However, the remaining 13% of respondents are Although the 13% of respondents who replied may be,
not comfortable with the technology used and are listed as after being shown a list of IR 4.0-related technologies as
the technology related to IR 4.0. The distribution of listed in the Table.2, positively affirmed that they have been
companies amongst respondents profiles 41% of exposed to these technologies. This brings up to 47% of the
respondents as contractors, 15% of respondents as sample who are aware of the technologies of the fourth
developers,11% as client service managers, and 13% as industrial revolution.

Table 2: Summary of IR 4.0-related technology

Fig. 1: Industry-related technologies and concepts

As listed in fig.1 47% of the respondents who Given the list of technologies, by verifying and
identified as being exposed to IR 4.0-related technologies, identifying the IR 4.0-related technologies and concepts. the
identified Social Media and Building Information Modeling data concludes that all the Industry 4.0-related technologies
(BIM) as the most common technologies they have used. have been implemented and utilized. This data proves that
Identified in the mid-range (40– 60%) of the combined despite the even distribution of responses in FIG 2. It shows
technologies were Internet of things (IoT) that these innovative technologies listed as attained some
Modularization/Prefabrication, /Internet of Services (IoS), level of maturity within the construction industry.
Digitization, and Automation.

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Volume 8, Issue 4, April 2023 International Journal of Innovative Science and Research Technology
ISSN No:-2456-2165
VII. CONCLUSION [5.] Carvalho, N., Chaim, O., Cazarini, E., &Gerolamo,
M. (2018). Manufacturing in the fourth industrial
IR 4.0 has been around for a while in the construction revolution: A positive prospect in sustainable
sector, and the technologies are at various stages of manufacturing. Procedia Manufacturing, 21, 671-
development. While other technologies like Augmented, 678.
Virtual, and Mixed Reality are still being developed and [6.] Hopali, E., &Vayvay, Ö. (2018). Industry 4.0 is the
might have an impact on the industry's sustainability, some last industrial revolution and its opportunities for
technologies like BIM, Cloud Computing, and developing countries. In Analyzing the Impacts of
Modularization have advanced greatly. Despite having Industry 4.0 in Modern Business Environments (pp.
access to these technologies, IR 4.0 adoption within the 65-80). IGI Global.
construction industry is still quite poor. The construction [7.] Hu, X., & Liu, C. (2016). Profitability performance
industry has adopted IR 4.0 methods, and the assessment in the Australian construction industry: a
implementation of these practices has resulted in major global relational two-stage DEA method.
effects across numerous platforms. However, the difficulties Construction management and economics, 34(3),
encountered must be resolved by all parties concerned to 147-159.
guarantee a successful implementation. The adoption of [8.] Keogh, M., & Smallwood, J. J. (2021, February). The
IR4.0 within the construction sector would boost role of the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) in
performance on par with that of its competitors in the enhancing performance within the construction
industrial and automotive sectors. industry. In IOP Conference Series: Earth and
Environmental Science (Vol. 654, No. 1, p. 012021).
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