Journals Published by Vilnius Tech
Not a member yet
12596 research outputs found
Sort by
Estimation of land surface temperature based on GIS and remote sensing data in Dahuk city
Get PDFLand Surface Temperature (LST) is a crucial variable across various domains, including studies on the global ramifications of climate change, urban land use and cover, and geo- and biophysical modelling. Satellite data from Landsat 8, specifically the NIR channel, was utilized to generate LST maps, NDVI, and LU/LC for Dahuk City. The correctness of LULC maps was verified by ground observation locations. The results indicate that the LST ranged from 4 to 14 degrees Celsius in 2013 and from 10 to 20 degrees Celsius in 2023. The highest temperatures, ranging from 14 to 20 degrees Celsius, occur in urban areas, whilst the lowest temperatures, recorded in 2013 and 2023, are in forests and aquatic environments, measuring 4 and 10 degrees Celsius, respectively and this occurred because of unplanned expansion of urban areas on behalf of green area as indicated by NDVI. Through this study planners and decision making could predict the future increase in LST if no action taken against these activities
Do ICT boost business-to-business satisfaction in times of uncertainty?
Get PDFTourism is a highly sensitive industry concerned about the social and economic consequences of instability. In this sense, it is vital to understand how relationships develop and what factors lead to satisfaction among the stakeholders. Most research on tourism has focused on analysing B2C relationships, but B2B relationships have been considerably neglected. This paper aims to test whether theoretical relationships postulated in a B2C setting are transferable to the B2B environment. A novel model is postulated to explain the factors that lead to satisfaction among tourism businesses by considering technology, customer orientation, sustainability, and brand equity as key antecedents for social and economic satisfaction in B2B relations. Data from 268 managers of Spanish hotels were collected through a survey. The results obtained through partial least squares regression show that all but one of the hypotheses proposed in the model are supported, so that technology fosters both customer orientation and sustainability. Moreover, the chain customer orientation-brand equity-sustainability-social satisfaction-economic satisfaction, and therefore, this work contributes to understanding the elements that boost economic satisfaction in the relationships between hotels and travel agencies, and provides recommendations on the efficient use of technology
Could e-commerce activities drive to climate change mitigation? Novel evidence from panel quantile regression model
Get PDFThis study aims at shedding light on how e-commerce contributes to climate change in European Union countries. To explore this relationship, we introduced a novel index designed to measure the evolution of climate change as the dependent variable, while considering e-commerce activities as the independent variable within 2011 to 2022 period. Our investigation of the correlation between these variables employed a panel quantile regression model. The outcomes revealed a statistically significant increasing trend for higher quantiles. This finding indicates that, as we traverse the climate change index from lower to higher percentiles, the impact of e-commerce becomes more conspicuous and is statistically significant. This underscores that the influence of e-commerce on climate change intensifies as we move towards the upper percentiles of the climate change index. To address how e-commerce affects climate change, it becomes imperative to introduce and enforce the concept of environmental responsibility in the management of e-commerce activities. This could involve adopting sustainable practices, optimizing packaging materials, and encouraging eco-friendly delivery methods. Policymakers and businesses alike should consider these findings in their efforts to strike an equilibrium between the convenience of e-commerce and the need to curb its environmental impact
The impact of energy consumption on economic growth: application of CES function for Romania
Get PDFThis paper analyses the contribution of the renewable and non-renewable primary energy consumption per capita and the gross fixed capital formation per capita to sustainable economic growth using two models approximated by CES-type functions. Estimates are made by applying the TRANSLOG method. The results obtained following the analysis of data over a period of 33 years (1990–2022), show that only the increase in gross fixed capital formation per capita contributes to the economic growth. The increase of the consumption of renewable primary energy per capita, respectively of non-renewable primary energy leads to decreases of real GDP per capita. The Granger causality test, reflects that only non-renewable primary energy consumption per capita has a unidirectional causality relation with real GDP per capita. Also, the technical efficiency of inputs in relation to GDP, analysed through an SFA model, suggests that, in general, the resources are used efficiently in the case of Romania. The current inability of renewable primary energy consumption to generate increases in real GDP per capita can be an aspect for policymakers to consider in their efforts to adapt successful low-carbon energy transition models to national needs, so that renewable energy becomes a determinant with a positive and substantial influence on economic growth
Exploring BIM technology development using patent citation analysis: USA case study
Get PDFBroadening the perspective on technology and stakeholders within the construction sector, this study aims to uncover the trajectories of BIM’s technological progression, alongside the interconnected industries and knowledge networks. Information in Derwent Innovation’s patent database originates from the United States Patent Database (USPTO). Initially, 1,062 patents related to BIM were gathered to form a patent citation network. The subsequent stage of expanding patent citations involved accumulating a total of 9,755 patents. The main path is composed of three streams: Stream I is used for the construction and application of 3D models, Stream II is used for the presentation of 3D images, and Stream III is used for the automatic analysis of architectural information. This study also uses edge-betweenness clustering for cluster analysis and conducts a more in-depth main path study of the specific patent clusters on the main path. These findings are: (1) Energy consumption management control, (2) 3D building modeling for design and construction, (3) Asset tracking, monitoring, and security monitoring. The development of BIM should be directed towards the integration and application of transformative information and communication technologies. Integration with innovative technologies such as the Internet of Things, big data, artificial intelligence, and 5G is an important trend.
First published online 20 December 202
How does the collaborative innovation network in construction industry evolve? Evidence from China
Get PDFTechnology innovation in the construction industry involves collaboration among multiple innovation organizations which formed an intricate collaborative innovation network (CIN). To understand the evolution characteristics of structural characteristics of CIN in China’s construction industry and to clarify the collaborative patterns among innovation organizations, the CIN were analyzed in terms of overall network characteristics and local collaborative patterns by using the social network analysis (SNA) and network motif analysis (NMA), respectively based on the data of projects winning the China’s Science and Technology Award in Construction (CSTAC) in 2004–2021. The results indicate that the CIN became larger but less connected and exhibited scale-free and small-world characteristics during the study period. There is a giant component in the CIN, which is gradually increasing in size and becoming more cohesive. China Academy of Building Research which had the highest degree centrality and closeness centrality and Tongji University which had the largest betweenness centrality had an important position in CIN. The main collaborative innovation mode in China’s construction industry is collaboration between enterprises, followed by collaboration between enterprise-university, which has an increasing share. The results help organizations clarify their position in the CIN and inform their development of co-innovation partners
A framework for effective construction workers safety training using flipped learning
Get PDFEffective safety training plays an important part in safety management on construction sites. Construction workers safety and safety training education remain to be the main issues in the construction industry, as current practices rely on traditional methods. These methods often lack classroom interaction, hindering active worker engagement and fail to accommodate diverse learning paces and styles. To enhance safety awareness among workers, there is a need for a more effective system for safety training programs within the construction industry. Therefore, this study aims to comprehensively analyse an experimental intervention using flipped learning to reduce costs and enhance learning outcomes in construction safety training. Flipped learning transforms traditional classroom learning by introducing students to web-based videos, presentations, and readings before class, freeing up in-class time for discussions and problem-solving. An intervention study was carried out to confirm the effectiveness of flipped learning approach within the construction industry. In this study, 40 personnel from a leading construction firm in Pakistan underwent safety training, with 20 following the traditional method and the remaining 20 following the proposed flipped model. The final quiz revealed a score increase from 27.9 to 31.5 in flipped learning, indicating a 12.90% increase. Based on these findings, it is suggested that adopting the flipped learning approach leads to better learning outcomes within the construction industry, as workers can pause, rewind, and replay the lectures at their leisure. This not only makes safety training more accessible but also enhances on-site safety in a cost-effective manner
Experimental and theoretical investigation of tension stiffening and curvature in RC beams with extended concrete cover
Get PDFAccurate assessment of tension stiffening is important for predicting deflection and crack width in RC structures. Earlier studies by the authors have shown that an extended cover thickness increases tension stiffening in bending RC members. The current study experimentally and theoretically investigates curvature and tension stiffening in RC beams nominally having a 50 mm cover for 32 mm bars of tensile reinforcement. The four-point bending tests were carried out on square section (400×400 mm) RC beams. Mean experimental curvatures were obtained for the pure bending zone by different approaches, namely, from a mid-point deflection and from strains at several horizontal layers measured either by LVDT or DIC technique. The tension stiffening effect in the test beams was quantified by inversely calculating the resultant internal force of tensile concrete, Nct, using the test moment – curvature diagrams. Tension stiffening is characterized by parameter β0 indicating the ratio of β0 = M / Mcr at which the force Nct reaches zero. The condition Nct = 0 represents the bending stiffness of a fully cracked RC section. Earlier studies by the authors have shown that parameter β0 equals to 3 for the beams with a typical cover thickness (25–35 mm). The current study has demonstrated that for the beams having nominal cover thickness of 50 mm and bar diameter of 32 mm, parameter β0 reached rather high values indicating a little degradation of tension stiffening with increasing load
Hybrid Revit and a new MCDM approach of energy effective nursing-home designed by natural stone and green insulation materials
Get PDFThe requisition for maintainable constructions has been greatly raising over the last several years. To fulfil the maintainability necessities of a construction, decisions or changes must be done to a construction in the course of the preconstruction and design steps. This can be plausible utilizing building information modelling. To indicate the utilize of building information modelling in maintainable planning, an example nursing-house is received for modelling research. The energy efficiency of nursing-home is analysed utilizing Autodesk Revit and Green Building Studio simulation which contained different characteristics such as annual heating and cooling loads, annual energy usage. Through using the utilize of different building, insulation and roof materials in the nursing-home modelling, the nursing-home modelling is changed into a greener construction modelling. In addition, the effects of using green walls on the facade of the building on the energy performance were analysed. Utilizing simulation, the utilize of non-natural sources can be dramatically decreased through substituting for them with the utilize of sustainable natural sources by that means energy saving. Building information modelling has substantiated to be effective in providing maintainability with alternative material’s assessment and earlier decision-making. Furthermore, this study employed an integrated new MCDM model to evaluate the performance of four natural stones for utilize in a nursing home setting
Sustainable investments: assessment of risks
Get PDFSustainable investments become a more and more relevant topic in all fields of economics. It is essential to measure both the benefits of sustainable products and risks. This article examines the risks associated with sustainable investments, mainly focusing on green bonds. It highlights financial institutions’ increasing interest in sustainable asset management, including central banks. The study addresses the complexity of integrating climate risk into existing risk management frameworks and the lack of tools for estimating and managing these effects. This research aims to measure the volatility of different fixed-income financial instruments, trying to identify which GARCH model is the best. Our research utilizes Bloomberg data from eight sustainable corporate fixed-income indices. The study’s sample comprises sustainable investment indices within the fixed-income market, selected based on data availability and the representativeness of the asset class. The dataset includes daily closing prices and daily returns of these indices, covering a unified sample period from July 25, 2019, to September 28, 2022. The models used for the research are ARCH, GARCH, TGARCH, EGARCH, and PARCH. The results show that sustainable investments are not risk-free, emphasizing the need for comprehensive risk assessment and management. From the applied models, the results show that the PARCH model is the best for fixed-income indices volatility modeling