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Although many health and safety (H&S) studies have widely examined safety risk perception in the construction industry, few studies have explored how this perception influences site workers' risk-taking behaviours during construction. This study aims to examine how construction site workers perceive and judge safety risks in risk-taking behaviours of site workers for intervention safety policy framework that may encourage safe work.

The study employed Pictorial-based Q-Methodology, which documented 63 picture scenarios of risk-taking behaviours from building sites and submitted them for validation from H&S inspectors. In total, 33 pictures emerged as having great potential to cause harm. After using these 33 pictures to elicit data from randomised site workers, the study used Frequency Tabulation, Relative Importance Index (RII) and Kruskal–Wallis Test to analyse the collected data. To fully explain the analysed data for deeper understanding, the study conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) with these site workers to share the thoughts of site workers on these pictures.

Two distinctive pictures emerged from these analyses: one showing risk-taking behaviour likely to contract internal and skin disease and the other likely to fall from height. One of the implications is that construction site workers are unfamiliar with the dangerous contaminants in the materials the site workers use to work, which can potentially harm the site workers' skin and internal organs. Hence, site workers continue engaging in risk-taking behaviours. The other is that site workers are aware of and can mention catastrophic physical injuries attached to site workers' jobs. However, site workers continue engaging in risk-taking behaviours because of site workers' safety plights and rely on the favour and mercies of a supreme being as coping strategies to escape from these physical injuries.

This study is original in that the study uses picture scenarios of risk-taking behaviours to amass an empirical-based understanding of how site workers perceive and respond to H&S risks during construction. This piece of evidence is missing in the numerous research studies in this area. Again, the findings contribute to the state-of-the-art literature regarding risk-taking behaviours on construction sites.

The Ghanaian banking industry has over the last 20 years witnessed tremendous growth to the extent that rural banks are now expanding their activities into urban centres. Hitherto, rural banks operated in rural and peri-urban areas in Ghana, but nowadays, there is an upsurge of rural banks activities in the urban centres of Ghana; and, they operate from rented premises, most of which are existing buildings in the urban areas. To meet the banking demands and the urban banking competitions such as the introduction of new technologies and regulations, the rural banks endeavour to expand (refurbish) the old/existing buildings with inherent adaptation and retrofitting challenges. Even though, adaptation and retrofit projects may not be popular in Ghana at large scales, this paper through combined methodology of constructive dialogue, case studies and condition survey approaches presents rural banks projects in Ghana as case studies of refurbishment and maintenance to “unearth” and resonate some key challenges of managing adaptation and retrofits in Ghana for future effective projects management solutions during their conception and execution. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Through combined methodology of constructive dialogue, case studies and condition survey approaches this paper presents rural banks projects in Ghana as case studies of refurbishment and maintenance to “unearth” and resonate some key challenges of adaptation and retrofit projects.

The condition survey revealed unprecedented infrastructural drive by rural banks throughout Ghana and their desire to penetrate the urban areas as well. However, this drive unfortunately as it appeared, is not informed and carried out within the confines and dictates of existing legislations in Ghana. Again, it was found that adaptations and retrofitting will improve and integrate the rural banks in the urban economy through prudent project management practices.

Availability of local researches and literature on adaptations and retrofitting as project management practices in Ghana.

Retrofitting and adaptation projects in Ghana is crucial for project management practices on low-impact building as Ghana faces energy challenges.

This research brings to bear realistic programme to build capacity of personnel to strategically integrate the rural banks into the central banking system of Ghana as well as project management practices through better and effective monitoring for social, ethical and equity impacts of their project managers.

Apparently, adaptation and retrofit projects are not be popular in Ghana at large scales and this is the first time an academic paper of a kind has been written to guide and manage future adaptation and retrofit projects during their conception and execution as well as project management practices in general.

The purpose of this paper is to examine why building owners are often reluctant to adopt adequate mitigation measures despite the vulnerability of their buildings to earthquake disasters, by exploring the economic-related barriers to earthquake mitigation decisions.

A case study research method was adopted and interviews chosen as the method of data collection.

Critical economic-related impediments that inhibited seismic retrofitting of earthquake-prone buildings were revealed in this study. Economic-related barriers identified include perception about financial involvement in retrofitting, property market conditions, high insurance premiums and deductibles, and the high cost of retrofitting. The availability of financial incentives such as low interest loans, tax deductibles, the implementation of a risk-based insurance premium scale and promoting increased knowledge and awareness of seismic risks and mitigation measures in the property market place are likely to address the economic-related challenges faced by property owners when undertaking seismic retrofitting projects. The provision of financial incentives specifically for seismic retrofitting should be introduced in policy-implementation programme tailored to local governments’ level of risks exposure and available resources.

The recommendations provided in this study suggest strategies and answers to questions aimed at understanding the types of incentives that city councils and environmental hazard managers should focus on in their attempt to ensure that property owners actively participate in earthquake risk mitigation.

This paper adopts a holistic perspective for investigating earthquake risk mitigation by examining the opinions of the different stakeholders involved in seismic retrofit decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a knowledge elicitation strategy to elicit and compile home energy retrofit knowledge that can be incorporated into the development of an intelligent decision support system to help increase the uptake of home energy retrofits. Major problems accounting for low adoption rates despite well-established benefits are: lack of information or information in unsuitable and usable format for decision making by homeowners. Despite the important role of expert knowledge in developing such systems, its elicitation has been fraught with challenges.

Using extensive literature review and a Delphi-dominated data collection technique, the relevant knowledge of 19 industry experts, selected based on previously developed determinants of expert knowledge and suitable for decision making was elicited and compiled. Boolean logic was used to model and represent such knowledge for use as an intelligent decision support system.

A combination of comprehensive knowledge elicitor training, Delphi technique, semi-structured interview, and job shadowing is a good elicitation strategy. It encourages experts to describe their knowledge in a natural way, relate to specific problems, and reduces bias. Relevant and consensus-based expert knowledge can be incorporated into the development of an intelligent decision support system.

The consensus-based and relevant expert knowledge can assist homeowners with decision making and industry practitioners and academia with corroboration and enhancement of existing knowledge. The strategy contributes to solving the knowledge elicitation challenge.

No previous study regarding a knowledge elicitation strategy for developing an intelligent decision support system for the energy retrofit industry exists.

The purpose of this paper is to adduce the most appropriate thermal comfort assessment method for determining human thermal comfort and energy efficient temperature control in office buildings in tropical West Africa.

This paper examines the Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard, from its research evolution to its contemporary use as an environmental design assessment Standard. It compares the adaptive component of ASHRAE Standard 55 and the European CEN/EN 15251. It begins by reviewing relevant literature and then produces a comparative analysis of the two standards, before suggesting the most appropriate Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard for use in assessing conditions in tropical climate conditions. The suggested Standard was then used to analyse data collected from the author's pilot research into thermal conditions, in five office buildings situated in the city of Enugu, South Eastern Nigeria.

The paper provides insight as to why the ASHRAE adaptive model is more suitable for thermal comfort assessment of office buildings in the tropical West African climate. This was demonstrated by using the ASHRAE Thermal Comfort Standard to assess comfort conditions from pilot research study data collected on Nigerian office buildings by the author.

The paper compares the adaptive component of ASHRAE Standard 55 with CEN/EN 15251, and their different benefits for use in tropical climates. It suggested the need for further research studies and application of the ASHRAE Adaptive Thermal Comfort Standard in the tropical West African climate.

Building energy efficiency is an inescapable part of the solution to Africa's sustainable development; its implementation can result in cost effective ways that can contribute to economic and social development as well as environmental sustainability. Despite this, a number of factors including financial barriers and market barriers are perceived by policy makers and building designers to influence the efficient use of energy in buildings. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of architects in relation to the challenges of building energy efficiency in Ghana.

From a review of pertinent literature 18 factors were identified as challenging. Empirical investigation was carried out using survey questionnaire. The consideration of overlapping aspects of the study largely motivated the use of factor analysis to analyse the data which made it possible to make scientific deductions and built explanations from the results.

The study derives five brands of uncorrelated variables that better explains challenges faced in implementing building energy efficiency in Ghana. These variables include financial barriers, information barrier, private sector participation, behavioural barriers and production barrier. The study provides insight on the contextual provision of realities faced in implementing building energy efficiency in Ghana.

Key contribution of the paper to the body of knowledge is manifested in the use of the principal component analysis. This has rigorously provided understanding into the complex structure and the relationship between the various knowledge areas of building energy efficiency barriers in Ghana.

The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss initial work to assess the moisture buffering performance of selected bio-insulations in lofts that suffer from excessive moisture following refurbishment.

These conditions were then reproduced in a physical lab-based experiment such that the comparative performance of the bio-insulations and stone wool could be measured.

It was found that the bio-insulations could remove over 60 per cent of the moisture in the loft air, and therefore reduce the risk of condensation and its severity.

The initial work reported here is indicative of the buffering potential of bio-insulations but further work is required to better quantify this performance. There is a need to further examine lofts with moisture problems and to produce reliable testing methods and protocols to be used when retrofitting loft insulation.

Installers and specifiers of loft insulation should ensure that insulation is installed correctly, as with the drive to increase loft insulation levels the risks of damaging the building fabric through condensation are increasing.

Excessive moisture can damage the building fabric and create health problems. Using insulations that perform well across a range of performance criteria tend to favour bio-insulations, which have a far less harmful impact on the environment than do typical fossil-fuel based insulations.

The paper presents preliminary findings that support arguments for specifying bio-insulations.

With pressing issues of climate change, greening buildings have emerged as a viable solution for meeting the increasing demand for buildings with minimal environmental impacts. Hence, the purpose of this paper is to establish the possibility of achieving this goal by investigating the drivers, challenges, and critical success factors (CSFs) involved in greening existing buildings. Since most of the relevant literature focuses on only acknowledging CSFs for new building projects in general, this study seeks to distinguish CSFs that are particularly related to the greening of existing buildings.

Based on a review of past literature, 28 selected factors were identified and were categorised into five main groups, namely pre-project-related factors, project management-related factors, client-related factors, project team-related factors, and external factors. Because older buildings have more constraints than new buildings, a comparison of the CSFs for greening new and existing buildings was also made. Surveys and interviews were conducted to validate the CSFs identified.

The top CSFs in each building category (new vs existing) were then further examined and analysed. These are “top management support”, “effective planning and control”, “building owner's involvement”, “cost management”, “responsiveness of building owners”, “clear scope and priorities of stakeholders”, and “legislation”. Furthermore, there was a strong consensus on the rankings of most factors between new and existing buildings.

By understanding the factors that are crucial for managing and delivering successful green projects in the Singaporean context, these CSFs can be used to direct an organisation's efforts in identifying critical issues and tackling them to achieve high performance.

An ambitious goal of greening 80 per cent of Singapore's building stocks has been set by the government in the Second Green Building Master Plan. To help achieve this goal, this study contributes to the knowledge of project management issues that would determine the success of managing new green building projects and retrofitting existing ones.

The aim of the paper is to examine the challenges to the pricing of construction projects in the Ghanaian industry. This remains a persistent problem among construction stakeholders because price is the basis for which offers are made. Project stakeholders are always faced with challenges relating to effective and efficient pricing system making it difficult to achieve value for money.

Research data were collected through a questionnaire survey involving quantity surveyors in the Ghanaian construction industry. Data collected were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis which helped to reduce the factors into six components. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was further carried out to explore whether these six observed variables would form a latent variable called challenges to pricing of construction projects.

The paper highlighted six underlying challenges which were cost-related, managerial-related, quality-related, variation of works, poor understanding of the terms of contract and time-related. Strong and significant relationships were found between all six of the observed variables. A CFA confirmed that they formed a latent variable the authors called challenges to pricing of construction projects.

The findings clearly can serve as a reference for both developed and developing countries in the quest for finding an antidote to pricing challenges. In addition, use of CFA improves measurement of the constructs and thus enhances understanding of the underlying components of a construct and their individual relationship with pricing. The paper is particularly useful for policy making and industry regulation because it identifies some of the factors that need attention.

This paper presents an exceptional contribution to the construction management literature by concentrating on the factors that challenge effective and efficient pricing system in the construction industry.