Transforming Construction

The global construction industry has seen slow progress in adopting advanced and sustainable technologies and green materials compared to the manufacturing and automotive industries. Such delays may stow negative environmental impact, exploitation of natural resources, high energy consumption, pollution, and high wastage. More importantly, such practices increase the carbon footprint, reducing above-ground and underground infrastructure resilience. For example, conventional construction methods using cast-in-situ construction practices are widely used due to relatively low labour costs and conventionally established methods. However, the energy usage required for extracting natural resources, producing cement and concrete, and the hydration process to make cement all significantly impact carbon emission. To address these issues, researchers are exploring alternative, greener base, and circular materials such as recycled aggregate concrete, glass fibre reinforced polymer, and others that can be reused, recycled, or upcycled for new construction systems. The soil and underground infrastructure also face a critical threat due to the changing climate, including the disturbance to hydro-geomorphological and biogeochemical cycles, climate change-induced natural hazards, and critical soil infrastructure. Adopting green materials for efficient construction aided by smart data collection is perhaps crucial in transforming the construction industry and impacting climate resilience for a more sustainable future.

• CCUS (Carbon Capture, Utilisation, and Storage) and lifecycle assessment of cementitious composite systems with recycled concrete powders (Lead PI – Sudharshan N Raman)

• Influences of oil palm wood core on bending and flexural creep behaviours of Glass Fibre Reinforced Polymer (GFRP) sandwich panels (Lead PI – Kong Sih Ying)

• Urban Slope Monitoring on Rainfall-Induced Slope Failure with the Internet of Things (Lead PI – Vivi Anggraini)

• Empowering Geotechnical Engineering through IoT: Enhancing Data-Driven Decision-Making in Construction and Infrastructure Development (Lead PI – Vivi Anggraini)

• An integrated intelligent/smart approach for monitoring and modelling water retention in urban vegetated soils (Lead PI – Vivi Anggraini)

• Optimization of GFRP framing systems for building applications (Lead PI – Kong Sih Ying)

• Analysis of waste alkali stream silicates as sustainable activators in geopolymer technology: rheological and characterization study (Lead PI - Daniel Kong) 

• Low carbon footprint precast concrete products for an energy efficient built environment (LowCoPreCon) (Lead PI - Daniel Kong)

• New sustainable concrete with recycled aggregates and recycled tire steel fibers towards net zero transition (Lead PI - Sudharshan N Raman)

• Qualifying and quantifying the sustainability impact and parameters of ultra-high-performance concrete (Lead PI - Sudharshan N Raman)

• Hydration Mechanism and Hydrated Phases in Composite Cementitious Binder Containing Silica-based Coal Combustion Products (Lead PI - Sudharshan N Raman)

• Movement of leachate through compacted clay liners using local clay deposits: Fundamental mechanism and suitability (Lead PI - Vivi Anggraini)

• Multi-phase analysis of effective thermal conductivity of shape-stable PCM mortar to improve thermal inertia of buildings (Lead PI - Kong Sih Ying)