Water leaking—that sank the Russian Kursk to the Arctic seabed in August 2000—is definitely a matter of life and death for any submarine. But it is a commonplace problem for the new housing blocks in Hong Kong. Water leaks through external walls, around windows, and from roof ceilings. A confidential internal memo of a major local developer of a new downtown residential development reveals the magnitude of the problem. During five consecutive months after the move-in, water leakage amounted to 10% of over 70,000 complaints filed in by the homebuyers. The general problem is thus about building defects in new housing development, and water leakage is just one of them. In the first 7 months of year 2000 alone, the Hong Kong Consumer Council received over 340 complaints on newly completed flats concerning sub-standard building works. That was equivalent to about one complaint for 40 newly completed domestic units. These complaints probably represented the more serious cases in which even the remedial works of the developers had failed to fix the problems for the buyers.

Academic researchers are not slow in addressing the causes of building defects and in recommending the implementation of the ISO 9000 based quality assurance schemes (CIRC, 2001; Kumaraswamy & Dissanayaka, 2000; Tam et al., 2000; Kam & Tang, 1998; Tam & Tong, 1996; Kumaraswamy, 1996). However, by defining the problem as a quality blemish rather than a ‘technical failure’, as in the case of the building of a submarine, all these remedies fall short of tackling the issue right at its root and in a holistic fashion. Indeed, if submarines can be built to be waterproof under extreme water conditions, why can’t our new housing units withstand the mere rainfall? One may argue that it is unfair to compare housing construction with submarine building because the latter has better quality control and it costs more to build. However, this argument begs the key question, what prevents housing construction to have a ‘slightly’ better quality control in order to solve a problem as ‘tiny’ as water leaking? Submarines must not leak because they will not function. This is not a matter of quality control but requirement. Surely cost is an issue. While nuclear submarines built by superpowers are expensive, we also witness smugglers building their cheap and primitive submarines at some inconspicuous spots. Turning to Hong Kong's property, there has never been shortage of capital invested in the local property sector, making it one of the most expensive in the world. Therefore, quality control and building costs are never the root causes of our problem; they are phenomena to be explained.

On-site production, slack construction supervision and poor workmanship are factors contributing to inferior building quality, but they alone could not offer the full explanation in our case (Ball, 1988). Take the submarines as the reference. They are built in dockyards where the working conditions are not much better than a typical building site. Construction of the pressure hull barrel sections is no less labour intensive—a “miserable work” as described by Clancy (1993)—than that of concrete frame and external walls for buildings. Barrel section metal has to be heated to 64°C just to prepare it for welding. Each section is then hand-welded to the next “often on the verge of heat prostration, exhaustion, and dehydration”. Labourers have to perform this operation because few machines can perform to the standards of Naval Sea Systems Command (Navesa) and Director of Naval Reactors (DNR). To prevent water leakage, the most crucial procedure is the thorough checking of the welding by Navy inspectors armed with sophisticated X-ray machines. This case suggests that on-site construction alone does not necessarily lead to mediocre workmanship. A combination of technological precision and human dexterity are essential in ensuring productivity and quality of the output.

Housing units are less sophisticated products than the submarines, and can be mass produced with the use of automation. Many studies (Crowley, 1998; Veeramani, Tserng, & Russell, 1998; Gann, 1996) have turned to the manufacturing industries for technology transfer in improving construction productivity and quality. Since the Industrial Revolution, manufacturing industry has undergone various epochs of technological breakthroughs. Technological advancement has enabled the manufacturing industry to progress from the stage of mass production, which emphasizes economy of scale, to the next stage of mass customization, which promotes economy of scope. This novel idea has been applied in Norwegian naval architecture in which the gaps between the prefabricated parts for assembling the ocean-liners can be made to be no more than a few millimetres. There is thus no inherent contradiction between component standardization and design flexibility. Though pre-assembly is no panacea, such technology could definitely be adapted and adopted by the construction industry to improve building productivity and even national competitive performance (Gibb, 2001; Matsumura, 2001). For instance, Swedish firms are world leaders in prefabricated housing. Their prefabricated builder-woodwork industry had 14% of the total world exports in terms of export value in 1985 (Porter, 1990). A study of innovations in the construction sector of 15 other countries (including Japan, the US, the UK) also shows that in general “(i)deas from advanced manufacturing and information technology will migrate more rapidly to the construction sector and that novel approaches for site assembly will be developed” (Manseau & Seaden, 2001).

Poor housing quality exposes the fact that our local building industry is notoriously inert in adopting technology well proven elsewhere. The building construction process remains extremely labour intensive. It has continued to rely upon manual skills, rather than on technical proficiency and automation. Ironically, the local building industry is not a small sector in the Hong Kong economy. For the 3   yr between 1996 and 1998 (2000 Gross Domestic Product), the aggregate contract value of the building sector (US$33.6 billion) was about double the civil engineering sector (US$16.4 billion), which has relied disproportionately on mechanization. Furthermore, the residential sector made up almost 56% of the building sector in terms of contract values. The substitution of capital for labour remained sluggish even when the building industry was facing a diminishing pool of construction workers during the 1990s, and was lobbying the government for labour imports. Low technological proficiency also weakens the international competitiveness of Hong Kong contractors (Ganesan, Hall, & Chiang, 1996; Walker, 1995). In 1999, only one Hong Kong contractor was listed in the Top-225 International Contractors in the Engineering News Record (ENR, 2000).

• Strategic planning for the sustainable development of the construction industry in Hong Kong

  2010, Habitat International Show abstract

  Excessive fluctuations in construction volume are undesirable and a comprehensive strategic planning is needed to sustain the development of the construction industry. This paper reports the findings of an industry-driven research project which aims to identify the available opportunities and the way forward for developing the construction industry of Hong Kong in a sustainable manner. Based on the collective views of experts from the industry, a set of strategic directions is proposed under a construction industry development framework. A long-term vision dedicated to the construction industry is indispensable for any country to position this important sector correctly. It is desirable to set up a centralized planning body to strategically plan and coordinate the overall output of the construction sector at a macro level in future. To ensure timely launching of major public-funded projects, an implementation framework with streamlined legal procedures and an efficient public consultation process are essential. The government, relevant professional institutions and trade organizations shall attract, maintain and nurture human resources to better match the needs of the industry and improve its productivity. For industry practitioners, timely diversification and adjustments in business model are necessary to adapt to the market transformations. With intense competition in construction services, all practitioners should continuously strive to sharpen their competitive edge and prioritize the identified opportunities to sustain growth. It is envisaged that the recommendations of this study would serve as a valuable reference for policy makers, in both developing and developed countries, to maintain a sustainable development of the construction industry.

• Prefabrication and barriers to entry-a case study of public housing and institutional buildings in Hong Kong

  2006, Habitat International Show abstract

  The Housing Authority in Hong Kong provides around 30,000 subsidized residential units per annum. It is the only major client in Hong Kong requiring prefabrication in its public housing construction, a policy which began in the mid-1980s. Recently, the government has started to promote prefabrication as a general principle to improve buildability, to increase quality and efficiency as well as to reduce construction wastes. However, an analysis of public tender results between 1988 and 2002 shows that the market appears to be less competitive in this housing sector than the other institutional building sector. The former mainly consists of the construction of large residential housing estates with their auxiliary commercial centres and car parks, whilst the latter are non-residential purpose-built structures such as schools and police stations, though occasionally residential quarters are constructed for the disciplinary forces. During this 15-year period, between 38% and 74% of the total annual public housing contracts, by value, were undertaken by only three contractors. Meanwhile in the institutional building sector, the range was between 24 and 61%. This raises the concern that the prefabrication requirement might have raised the market entry barriers, and probably construction costs as well. This study addressed the competition issue by measuring and comparing the Herfinndahl–Hershamann indices (HHI) of the public housing and the institutional building sectors. Regression analyses of the HHIs were then performed on various measures of contract values and a dummy variable representing the public housing or the institutional building sector. The analyses show that prefabrication, ceteris paribus, is not related to HHI. We conclude that the prefabrication requirement by itself does not seem to have raised the barriers to entry to prefabricated housing construction.

• Frankenstein urbanism: Eco, smart and autonomous cities, artificial intelligence and the end of the city

  2021, Frankenstein Urbanism: Eco, Smart and Autonomous Cities, Artificial Intelligence and the End of the City

• Dissecting the Frankenstein city: An examination of smart urbanism in Hong Kong

  2018, Inside Smart Cities: Place, Politics and Urban Innovation

• Exposing smart cities and eco-cities: Frankenstein urbanism and the sustainability challenges of the experimental city

  2018, Environment and Planning A

• Prioritizing criteria of earthquake safe housing in earthquake prone areas: A case of housing in Padang City

  2018, International Journal on Advanced Science, Engineering and Information Technology

• Research article

  Maintenance & Quality Control: A First Methodological Approach for Maintenance Policy Optimization

  IFAC Proceedings Volumes, Volume 45, Issue 6, 2012, pp. 1041-1046 Show abstract

  Most of the existing companies are seeking ways to increase their production efficiency. Attempts to reduce production costs are perfectly in line with this quest. Therefore, to establish an effective correlation between equipment maintenance and quality control to anticipate process downtime and bad quality losses can be very interesting in many ways. This paper initially tries to demonstrate the importance of the relationship between maintenance and quality. A methodological approach is then presented to evaluate the potential role of quality control in the improvement of maintenance policy. Finally, an industrial case study is briefly described and related conclusions are discussed.

• Research article

  Assessment of investment efficiency in a power system under performance-based regulation

  Energy, Volume 51, 2013, pp. 330-338 Show abstract

  The paper presents a new method for reliability investment decisions when a reward/penalty scheme is applied to the regulation of (distribution system operators) DSOs. The method was developed in order to facilitate the transition from (cost-based regulation) CBR to (performance-based regulation) PBR for distribution utilities. New investment planning criteria for distribution utilities subjected to the new regulatory regime are identified and mathematically formulated as a new (investment efficiency index) IEI, which yields the relation between the improvement of system reliability due to the investment in the electric system and total investment costs. To determine the improvement of system reliability due to the investment in the electric network, the method uses the (Monte Carlo) MC simulation technique for the modeling of the stochastic nature of outages in electric networks, along with a (linear program) LP, which enables us to calculate load flow equations under a fault state and provides information about power deficits in the electric system. The method was tested on Slovenian distribution systems, where several investment candidates were compared in order to determine which projects need to be undertaken in order to achieve the highest possible reliability increase.

• Research article

  Criterion of Crack Resistance of Corrosion Damaged Concrete in Plane Stress State

  Procedia Engineering, Volume 117, 2015, pp. 179-185 Show abstract

  A criterion of crack resistance corrosion damaged concrete in plane stress state with colmatation transformation of the concrete structure is built in the coordinate system of the principal normal stresses. Criterion of crack resistance is described by the elliptic curve typical dimensions of which are determined by the kinetics parameters of corrosion damage progress in time and by depth of damages, level and sign of the stress state. This criterion allows taking into account changes in the structure of concrete at various kinds of stress state (tension - tension, compression - compression and tension - compression) with respect to the characteristic types of possible cracks in plane stressed elements. The resulting criterion is quite general and can be used not only for the evaluation of crack resistance for plane stressed concrete and reinforced concrete elements, as well as for solving problems of exposure of residual resource and survivability of exploited reinforced concrete structures under the simultaneous display of force and environmental impacts over time.

• Research article

  How to promote prefabricated building projects through internet of things? A game theory-based analysis

  Journal of Cleaner Production, Volume 276, 2020, Article 124325 Show abstract

  Prefabricated building projects (PBPs) have been recognized as an effective method for reducing energy consumption, carbon emissions, and resource depletion. Various information, material, product, service, and fund flows exist in PBPs, leading to high requirements of information exchange and collaboration among the multiple stakeholders. The Internet of Things (IoT) platforms are powerful tools that can support these requirements. However, the IoT platforms have not been extensively applied in industry, which is a significant bottleneck in PBP promotion. Stakeholders are the entities that make decisions on the use of IoT in PBPs and play an important role in its successful implementation. This study proposes a game-theory-based model to reveal the mechanisms of stakeholders’ decision-making on the adoption of IoT platforms in PBPs. The game analysis results reveal the optimal selection strategies of critical stakeholders regarding the IoT adoption under different conditions. The market penetration rate (MPR) of IoT platforms in the PBP markets has been found to be a critical factor that influences the decisions of critical stakeholders considerably. The results of this paper could provide valuable policy implications (i.e., improving the market penetration rate of IoT platforms by developing pilot projects, motivating clients to use the platforms in PBPs, and providing relevant IoT educational programs) for promoting the adoption of IoT in PBPs, which is of benefit to enhance PBP development and further improve energy and resource conservation.

• Research article

  Comparison of Adherence to Guideline-Based Cholesterol Treatment Goals in Men Versus Women

  The American Journal of Cardiology, Volume 117, Issue 1, 2016, pp. 48-53 Show abstract

  Studies show women do not receive aggressive cardiovascular interventions and may not be given guideline-based treatment to reduce cardiac events. We describe cholesterol treatment in an academic practice of family and internal medicine physicians to understand factors associated with achievement of guideline-based treatment goals in women compared with men. Primary care patients aged 40 to 75 years were included if they were prescribed a statin, had a Framingham risk score of ≥10%, had diabetes, or had atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Patients were classified into Adult Treatment Panel III categories and assessed to whether they were in compliance with Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines. Odds ratios of goal adherence between women and men were calculated, and a multivariate model for goal achievement was created. In 2,747 patients, women were less likely to achieve cholesterol goals (odds ratio [OR] 0.82; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.70 to 0.95) despite having more prescriptions for statins (48% vs 39%, p <0.001). More women than men failed to reach low-density lipoprotein goals because they were not prescribed a statin (OR 0.69; 95% CI 0.56 to 0.85) and women on high-intensity statins were less likely than men to achieve goals (OR 0.51; 95% CI 0.27 to 0.96). In all patients, diabetes was associated with nonattainment of cholesterol goals, but in high-risk women, the presence of diabetes improved goal achievement. In conclusion, women achieved guideline-based cholesterol recommendations at a lower rate than men, even when individual goals are considered.

• Research article

  Aorto-Right Atrial Fistula After Sutureless Valve Implantation

  Canadian Journal of Cardiology, Volume 33, Issue 5, 2017, pp. 688.e9-688.e11 Show abstract

  Aortic valve replacement with sutureless valves has many potential applications including in redo surgery, minimally invasive scenarios, and heavily calcified aortic roots. Herein we report a case of the development of an aorto-right atrial fistula after replacement of a Medtronic Freestyle stentless subcoronary bioprosthesis (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN) with a Perceval sutureless valve (LivaNova PLC, London, UK). This eventually necessitated repair with repeat surgery and aortic valve replacement with a stented valve. For patients with failing stentless bioprostheses returning for reintervention, we suggest removal of only Freestyle leaflet tissue without supra-annular debridement to avoid weakening of the native root tissue.

  Le remplacement de la valve aortique par des valves sans suture a de nombreuses utilisations potentielles (reprises chirurgicales, interventions peu effractives, racine de l’aorte très calcifiée, etc). Nous décrivons ici un cas de fistule aorto-auriculaire droite survenu après le remplacement d’une bioprothèse en position sous-coronaire sans armature Medtronic Freestyle (Medtronic Inc, Minneapolis, MN) par une valve sans suture Perceval (LivaNova PLC, Londres, Royaume-Uni). Une réintervention et un remplacement de la valve aortique par une valve avec armature ont fini par être nécessaires. Pour les patients qui doivent subir une réintervention à cause d’une bioprothèse sans armature défaillante, nous recommandons de retirer seulement le feuillet valvulaire Freestyle, sans débrider au-dessus de l’anneau, pour prévenir l’affaiblissement du tissu d’origine de la racine.