Emerging Building Information Modelling (BIM) has been hailed as a revolutionary technology and information management process that facilitates collaboration and more efficient design and construction processes through innovative 3D modelling software, open access to information and multidisciplinary integration. The deadline of compliance to BIM level 2 on all public sector centrally procured construction projects has expired leaving many construction firms anxious to adopt BIM. Most common documented applications of BIM have been in the areas of architectural and structural design, quantity surveying, construction project management, and sustainability with very limited peer-reviewed studies on construction logistics management. The aim of this study is to investigate how BIM can be applied to construction logistics management. This study adopts a desk-top approach, with articles sources from renowned scientific databases such as ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and Emerald. The study culminated in the identification of benefits and barriers of adopting BIM for construction logistics management. Given only a desk-top approach has been used, the recommendation for future study is to build on this to conduct an empirical study using both qualitative and quantitative data. This will provide an in-depth understanding of the use of BIM for construction logistics management and open opportunities for further research.

Successful management of construction projects in the Building Information Modelling (BIM) era of the 21st Century should include intelligent systems to support construction project teams in making informed decisions. Project teams are routinely faced with contractual obligations to deliver projects to meet key construction parameters such as cost, time, quality and more recently stringent sustainability requirements. These sorts of pressures are no longer new as widely acknowledged by experienced project managers, contract administrators and clients. The poor performance of one or more of the aforementioned parameters will undoubtedly compromise the entire project, thus leading to the dissatisfaction of clients. This paper explores the use of mobile/cloud BIM in facilitating the adoption of an integrated approach to project delivery through automated or semi-automated dynamic information sharing processes with the ultimate goal of improving construction performance. The adopted methodology involved the use of an online-administered questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews. The study identifies the adoption and uptake of cloud/mobile BIM technologies and the benefits and barriers.

This paper presents a feasibility study of stand-alone solar photovoltaic (PV) systems for the electrification of three residential case study buildings (T4, T5 and T6) in the capital city of Yaoundé, Cameroon. The system was sized taking into account the load of the buildings and the available energy from the sun. The power, area of PV modules and daily energy generated by the PV for T4, T5 and T6 were respectively determined as: 2 103W, 14m 2 and 9.8kWh/day; 3779W, 25.2m 2 and 17.6 kWh/day; and 2 766W, 18.4m 2 and 12.9 kWh/day. The battery bank capacity, size of inverter and controller were respectively obtained as: 40 323Wh, 635W and 93A for T4; 72 433Wh, 795W and 156A for T5; and 53 017Wh, 826W and 114A for T6. The life cycle cost and annualized life cycle cost (ALCC) of the systems were respectively found to be: €15 714 and €1 039 for T4; €27 227and €1 800 for T5; and €20 006 and €1 322 for T6. The average unit electricity cost for T4, T5 and T6 was respectively determined to be €0.52 kW h-1 , €0.50 kW h-1 and €0.51 kW h-1 , higher than the unit cost of residential grid electricity in Cameroon.

No abstract

Many households in Cameroon live in energy poverty. Thus, energy usage and energy efficiency have become increasingly important in Cameroon. An important step towards improving building energy efficiency is knowledge about household energy appliances. In Cameroon, the construction sector is mostly informal, presenting huge challenges for stakeholders including clients or dwelling owners to establish quality factors of household energy appliances for use in various building projects. Furthermore, studies about household energy appliances are scarce. The aim of this study is to investigate household energy appliances in relation to energy efficiency in dwellings. To achieve this aim, 15 dwellings in the political capital Yaoundé of Cameroon were surveyed. Given the wider nature of building energy efficiency and the limited research materials about the same, the scope was limited to typology of household energy appliances, typical dwellings' characteristics and energy consumption pattern. Some factors that have influence on energy consumption/pattern such as occupants' daily activities were also considered. Although this study is still in its preliminary stages, the findings reported here can be useful in conducting detail research in the future.