Myers-Lawson School of Construction

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Browsing Myers-Lawson School of Construction by Department "Civil and Environmental Engineering"

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    Disciplinary Influences on the Professional Identity of Civil Engineering Students: Starting the Conversation
    Groen, Cassandra J.; Simmons, Denise Rutledge; McNair, Elizabeth D. (2016-06)
    As the discipline of civil engineering has evolved from an apprentice-based trade to a socially-engaged profession, the role of the civil engineer has responded to shifts within the ever-changing culture of society. These shifts and historical events have directly influenced what is considered to be valued civil engineering knowledge, behaviors, and practices that we teach to students during their undergraduate careers. As part of a larger grounded theory study that is currently being conducted by the authors, the purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we present the topic of professional identity formation as heavily influenced by unique historical events that shape the civil engineering discipline. . To establish the connection between identity formation and the history of civil engineering, we interpret historical events as constituents that create a disciplinary identity that is communicated to and subjectively applied by students during their undergraduate careers. Second, we hope to promote and invoke conversations surrounding the relevancy of civil engineering professional identity formation in engineering education among our colleagues within the technical disciplines. Through this paper, we add to ongoing research exploring the professional formation of engineering identities and promote discussions surround this topic at the disciplinary level. While most research conducted on identity formation has been generalized to include all or most engineering disciplines, we focus our discussion solely on professional identity formation within the civil engineering discipline. To reinforce the relationship between the history of the civil engineering profession and students’ professional identity formation, we review the literature on these two areas of inquiry. In particular, we will frame our paper using the following key discussion points: 1) providing a brief overview of key historical events of civil engineering in the United States; 2) discussing the influence of this history on instructor pedagogies and student learning within civil engineering education; and 3) conceptualizing this learning process as a means of professional identity formation. From this work, we will begin to understand how major historical shifts within our discipline maintain the potential to impact its future as we educate the next generation of civil engineering students. To conclude this paper, we will introduce current research that is being conducted by the authors to further understand the nuances of professional identity formation in undergraduate civil engineering students and how instructors may help or hinder that development.
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    Exploring the Role of Cultural Boundary Spanners at Complex Boundaries in Global Virtual AEC Networks
    Zelkowicz, Andres; Iorio, Josh; Taylor, John E. (2015)
    As the architecture, engineering and construction industry continues to globalize, project work is more often executed by geographically distributed, technologically mediated teams of knowledge specialists organized into global virtual project networks. These networks are characterized by a number of boundaries that must be spanned in order to develop effective project outcomes. Prior research has examined the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners and technical boundary spanners in these types of networks, but we lack an understanding of how spanners perform in complex boundary environments where boundaries co-occur. Our research aims to explore the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners who are positioned at technical and knowledge domain boundaries. The results of our preliminary research suggest that cultural boundary spanners may only be effective at facilitating efficient information transfer when they are positioned at a knowledge domain boundary in which they have specialization. We found that the interactional norms that develop within the network based on the efficacy of boundary spanners can also position them at inappropriate knowledge domain boundaries, which can lead to decreased efficiency of information transfer. Our research provides an initial contribution to our understanding of boundary complexity in global virtual projects networks with implications for improving network performance.
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    flEECe, an energy use and occupant behavior dataset for net-zero energy affordable senior residential buildings
    Paige, Frederick; Agee, Philip; Jazizadeh, Farrokh (Nature, 2019-11-26)
    The behaviors of building occupants have continued to perplex scholars for years in our attempts to develop models for energy efficient housing. Building simulations, project delivery approaches, policies, and more have fell short of their optimistic goals due to the complexity of human behavior. As a part of a multiphase longitudinal affordable housing study, this dataset represents energy and occupant behavior attributes for 6 affordable housing units over nine months in Virginia, USA which are not performing to the net-zero energy standard they were designed for. This dataset provides researchers the ability to analyze the following variables: energy performance, occupant behaviors, energy literacy, and ecological perceptions. Energy data is provided at a 1 Hz sampling rate for four circuits: main, hot water heater, dryer, and HVAC. Building specifications, occupancy, weather data, and neighboring building energy use data are provided to add depth to the dataset. This dataset can be used to update building energy use models, predictive maintenance, policy frameworks, construction risk models, economic models, and more.
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    User Experience of Green Building Certification Resources: EarthCraft Multifamily
    Jefferson, Dwayne; Paige, Frederick; Agee, Philip; Jackson, France (MDPI, 2021-07-14)
    To improve the construction industry’s capacity to deliver sustainable infrastructure, guidance on delivering green building systems needs to be more usable. Green buildings have certifications and ratings in place that ensure that projects are environmentally responsible and meet standards in resource efficiency. EarthCraft Multifamily (ECMF), an evolving green building certification, has been successful in increasing the delivery of energy-efficient affordable housing, and this study leverages user experience (UX) methodologies to understand how to further improve ECMF and replicate its success. This study identifies the impact ECMF tools and resources, such as the program manual, worksheet, and technical guidelines, have on enhancing project delivery for architects. This study conducted data analysis on project specifications, heuristic evaluation data, and stakeholder interview data. As the strengths and weaknesses of ECMF were identified, knowledge on the usability of the green building certification program was unveiled. Heuristic evaluations data show that accessibility and usability issues are present in ECMF resources. Interview data show that architects’ experiences with ECMF resources were affected by some of the usability issues identified in the heuristic evaluation data. Coded interview transcripts show the most prominent participant-identified improvements represented within the data. Resources need appropriate visual representation such as readability and hierarchy to improve their usability. Understanding how ECMF resources are utilized during project delivery allows for the appropriate content and options to be strategically framed to improve accessibility and enhance user decision making. ECMF resources can allow for the inclusion of a broader set of stakeholders by lowering the level of expertise required for sustainable infrastructure delivery.