Headnote
ABSTRACT
Objective: The objective of this study is to evaluate the use of synchronous online focus groups for requirements gathering in the development of a computational tool that integrates Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in hydro-sanitary building system projects.
Theoretical Framework The theoretical framework is based on the integration of BIM and LCA as essential methodologies for promoting sustainability in civil construction, particularly in water and sanitation building systems, improving efficiency and reducing environmental impacts. Previous studies indicate that this integration is complex, with challenges in interoperability between software.
Method: The methodology adopted follows Design Science Research (DSR), using focus groups to elicit requirements, providing a collaborative and qualitative environment. The data was collected through focus groups made up of designers, professors and civil engineering students, conducted online and synchronously.
Results and Discussion: The results show that the application of focus groups made it possible to identify functional and non-functional requirements relevant to the development of the artifact, as well as highlighting the importance of visualization and interoperability of the systems. The discussions show that the use of online focus groups is effective, although there are challenges related to adapting the methodology to a digital format.
Research Implications: The implications of the research suggest that the use of Focus Groups in the elicitation of requirements for the tool results in better development of the computational tool for integrating BIM and LCA, meeting the expectations of the stakeholders and the system itself, which can improve sustainable design practices in civil engineering, especially in the area of sustainability in water and sanitary building systems.
Originality/Value: The originality of the study lies in the use of synchronous online focus groups in a DSR approach to integrate BIM and LCA in water and sanitary installation projects, through the construction of software, contributing to the evolution of more sustainable practices in the construction industry.
Keywords: Focus Groups, DSR, BIM, LCA, Requirements.
RESUMO
Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo é avaliar a utilização de grupos focais online síncronos para o levantamento de requisitos no desenvolvimento de uma ferramenta computacional que integre Building Information Modeling (BIM) e Avaliação do Ciclo de Vida (ACV) em projetos de sistemas prediais hidrossanitários.
Referencial Teórico: O referencial teórico fundamenta-se na integração de BIM e ACV como metodologias essenciais para promover a sustentabilidade na construção civil, em particular nos sistemas prediais hidrossanitários, melhorando a eficiéncia e reduzindo os impactos ambientais. Estudos anteriores indicam que essa integração é complexa, com desafios na interoperabilidade entre softwares.
Método: A metodologia adotada segue o Design Science Research (DSR), com a utilização de grupos focais para elicitaçäo de requisitos, proporcionando um ambiente colaborativo e qualitativo. Os dados foram coletados por meio de grupos focais compostos por projetistas, professores e estudantes de engenharia civil, conduzidos de forma online e síncrona
Resultados e Discussão: Os resultados revelam que a aplicação dos grupos focais permitiu identificar requisitos funcionais e náo funcionais relevantes para o desenvolvimento do artefato, além de destacar a importáncia da interoperabilidade dos sistemas. As discussões evidenciam que o uso de grupos focais online é eficaz, embora existam desafios relacionados a adaptação da metodologia para o formato digital.
Implicações da Pesquisa: As implicações da pesquisa sugerem que a utilização de Grupos Focais na elicitaçäo de requisitos resulta em um melhor desenvolvimento da ferramenta computacional de integração entre o BIM e ACV, atendendo as expectativas dos interessados e propriamente do sistema podendo aprimorar práticas sustentáveis de projeto em engenharia civil, especialmente em sistemas prediais hidrossanitários.
Originalidade/Valor: A originalidade do estudo está no uso de grupos focais online síncronos em uma abordagem DSR para integrar BIM e ACV em projetos de instalações hidrossanitárias, por meio da construção de um software, contribuindo para a evolucáo de práticas mais sustentáveis na construcáo civil.
Palavras-chave: Grupos Focais, DSR, BIM, ACV, Requisitos.
RESUMEN
Objetivo: El objetivo de este estudio es evaluar el uso de grupos focales síncronos en línea para recopilar requisitos para el desarrollo de una herramienta informática que integre Building Information Modelling (BIM) y Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) en proyectos de sistemas de construcción hidrosanitarios.
Marco Teórico: El marco teórico se basa en la integración de BIM y ACV como metodologías esenciales para promover la sostenibilidad en la construcción civil, en particular en los sistemas de construcción de agua y saneamiento, mejorando la eficiencia y reduciendo los impactos ambientales. Estudios previos indican que esta integración es compleja, con retos en la interoperabilidad entre el software.
Método: La metodología adoptada sigue la Design Science Research (DSR), utilizando grupos focales para obtener requisitos, proporcionando un ambiente colaborativo y cualitativo. Los datos se recogieron mediante grupos focales formados por diseñadores, profesores y estudiantes de ingeniería civil, realizados en línea y de forma sincrónica.
Resultados y Discusión: Los resultados muestran que la aplicación de grupos focales permitió identificar requisitos funcionales y no funcionales relevantes para el desarrollo del artefacto, además de destacar la importancia de la visualización y la interoperabilidad de los sistemas. Los debates muestran que el uso de grupos focales en linea es eficaz, aunque existen retos relacionados con la adaptacion de la metodologia a un formato digital.
Implicaciones de la investigación: Las implicaciones de la investigación sugieren que el uso de Grupos Focales en la obtención de requisitos para la herramienta resulta en un mejor desarrollo de la herramienta computacional para la integración de BIM y ACV, cumpliendo con las expectativas de las partes interesadas y el propio sistema, lo que puede mejorar las prácticas de diseño sostenible en ingeniería civil, especialmente en el ámbito de la sostenibilidad en los sistemas de construcción de agua y sanitarios..
Originalidad/Valor: La originalidad del estudio radica en el uso de grupos focales sincrónicos en línea en un enfoque DSR para integrar BIM y ACV en proyectos de instalaciones de agua y saneamiento, a través de la construcción de software, contribuyendo a la evolución de prácticas más sostenibles en la industria de la construcción.
Palabras clave: Grupos focales, DSR, BIM, LCA, Requisitos.
1 INTRODUCTION
The construction industry, or the AECO (Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Operation) sector is characterized by still maintaining artisanal and/or manufactured processes, resulting in low performance, low quality, high costs and waste, in addition to high consumption of natural resources and emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) directly impacting the environment (SENNA et al. , 2022).
In this scenario, building information modeling (BIM) can be launched as an alternative, since BIM 1$ considered a construction modeling methodology that integrates various information, or dimensions (nD) applied to various use cases concerning the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) sector, which allow for increased efficiency, performance, quality, among others, and for assessing and quantifying the environmental impact generated. And in addition to this, it is possible to introduce in this way, as one of the BIM dimensions, 6D, the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology, which allows for the assessment and quantification of the various environmental impacts generated in the different phases of the project and construction, being a very useful tool for decision-making in offices and construction sites.
In the context of Design Science Research (DSR), requirements gathering is a critical step for the development of effective technological artifacts, such as computational tools. A promising approach for this task is the use of synchronous online focus groups, which allow the collection of qualitative data directly from experts and users. This technique, which involves real-time interaction through virtual platforms, allows the identification of functional and nonfunctional requirements in a collaborative manner, maximizing the exchange of information and opinions among participants. In particular, by applying online focus groups to the gathering of requirements for the integration of tools such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), it is possible to obtain valuable information to improve the sustainability and efficiency of building system projects, specifically with regard to plumbing installations.
In this sense, this article proposes to evaluate the use of synchronous online Focus Groups to gather requirements for the construction of a computational tool for integration between Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in projects of building systems for hydrosanitary installations, using Design Science Research (DSR) as a methodological approach .
2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK
2.1 BIM AND LCA INTEGRATION
After defining and separately explaining the characteristics of both BIM modeling and LCA, several studies present how BIM and LCA integration or interoperability occurs to promote sustainability in the AEC industry.
Araújo et al. (2017) carried out a systematic review of the literature to identify studies that relate LCA and BIM tools with the aim of observing the scope, which methods have been developed and how interoperability occurs between the software used. They were able to observe that, in the opinion of most authors, the methods are highly complex, quite laborious and have as their main focus the areas of research and consultancy, still far from the reality of engineering and architecture offices. However, the work suggests the creation of easier methods aimed mainly at the AEC market, as well as the development of APIs ( Application Programming Interface) in the BIM environment that assist interoperability with LCA.
Along these lines, Santos et al. (2016) realized that, although there is a growing concern in the scientific community about BIM-LCA integration, there are still few publications in this area and even though there are tools that perform this integration, there are still many gaps that make it difficult to use their results effectively.
Bueno and Fabricio ( 2018), also in a survey of the state of the art on BIM-LCA integration in an investigative approach, created a general framework with existing applications and their potential and limitations, leading to the conclusion that these are still in the initial development and discussion phase, without robustly consolidated methodological conclusions. Furthermore, they constitute innovative and quite incipient applications.
Using the methodological approach of Design Science Research (DSR), Crippa (2019)and Crippa (2017) prescribed an artifact to automate BIM/LCA integration, estimating the impacts and use of environmental resources from construction materials and transportation to the construction site, using visual and text programming languages, Dynamo and Python, respectively, a method called the DesignScript concept and thus, they were able to conclude that the numerous benefits of using the proposed method of inserting information linked to any LCA database in a BIM model are noticeable.
2.2 HYDROSANITARY INSTALLATIONS
Carvalho Jr. (2014)establishes, in general terms, the purpose of hydraulic and sanitary building installations:
"The purpose of sanitary building installations is to distribute water, in sufficient quantity and under adequate pressure to all the use parts and sanitary appliances of the building, promote the adequate collection and removal of rainwater and wastewater, prevent the return of polluted water in the pipes supplying the appliances as well as the entry of sewage gases, rodents or insects into the buildings, thus creating conditions favorable to the comfort and safety of users" (CARVALHO JR, 2014)
The Hydrosanitary Installations and/or Sanitary Hydraulic Building Systems (SPHS) include: Cold Water, Hot Water, Sanitary Sewage and Rainwater Building Systems. Table 1 presents the installations and their respective standards.
2.3 ARTIFACT REQUIREMENTS
In order to develop the artifact, or computational tool, proposed by this work, it is necessary to survey, or rather, elicit, the basic requirements for the functionalities intended or expected by designers of plumbing installations. Therefore, initially, it is necessary to establish conceptually what these requirements are and their importance in the construction of the artifact, which in the case of this research, is a computational tool for integrating BIM and LCA in plumbing installation projects.
In software engineering, the requirements stage is essential for establishing customer needs and objectives. Simply put, Valente (2020) defines that "the requirements of a system define what it should do and how it should operate". Pressman and Maxin (2021) state the importance of requirements for software development, as without meeting this stage there is a great risk of not meeting customer needs.
Requirements are characterized as functional requirements (FR) and non-functional requirements (RNF). The former concern the declarations of functions that the system must have, the way in which the system must react to specific inputs and how it must behave in certain situations and, in some cases, may declare what the system must not do (SOMMERVILLE as cited in ALENCAR, 2019 p.20). The latter, non-functional requirements, are those that are not directly related to properties such as accuracy, safety, ease of use, cost, performance and global state restrictions on how the functionality is displayed (CHUNG, 1991 as cited in ALENCAR, 2019, p.20).
Several techniques are used to elicit the requirements of the proposed artifact, such as: Interview with stakeholders, Focus Group, application of questionnaires, reading documents and forms from the organization that is contracting the system, holding workshops with users, implementing prototypes and analyzing usage scenarios (VALENTE, 2020).
However, focus groups are a qualitative research technique that is quick and low-cost to implement, and efficient in obtaining sufficient qualitative data and information for software development.
2.4 FOCUS GROUP
The focus group is a technique for extracting qualitative data, allowing an assessment through collective perception. Berenger ef al. (2012) show that:
"In it, small groups of people are mobilized to bring to light their reactions of liking, or disliking, a certain product (certainly an evaluative act), or to identify aspects that do not meet the expectations of adopting that product, that is, a perception about some problem that stands out in the list of what is offered".
Yin (2016) explains that groups are called "focused" because they bring together individuals who have had some experience in common, or presumably share some common opinions.
Focus groups ensure a deeper and more collaborative discussion regarding the artifacts developed by the research (DRESCH, 2015). Table 2, adapted by Dresch et al. (2015) from Trembleay ег al. (2010), shows the types of focus groups and their objectives.
This strategy allows the researcher to identify the artifacts to be proposed and the definition of the problem, and he or she can also use other research techniques to validate the artifact.
2.5 FOCUS GROUP DYNAMICS AND TECHNOLOGICAL TOOLS
Although most of the studies that choose to use the focus group technique to obtain qualitative data are face-to-face, it is possible to observe that some studies already point, in a satisfactory way, to the use of focus groups, called electronic, virtual or online, with the form of interaction being: synchronous (participants interacting in real time) and asynchronous (participants interact offline through virtual discussion lists, virtual messages and others).
Duarte (2007) presents both the advantages and some limitations of using focus groups of this type. He mentions the work of Edmund, who highlighted cost reduction and the inclusion of geographically dispersed participants as benefits of using the Internet. Additionally, he cites Greenbaum , who pointed out limitations related to the lack of Internet access or adequate equipment, which can introduce biases into the data. Duarte also notes that asynchronous focus groups eliminate visual and real-time contact, but promote more spontaneous opinions.
To design a synchronous online focus group, it is essential to use an online meeting/conference software that is easy to access and operate and that allows you to record the meetings or sessions of the Focus Groups in audio and video with compatible extensions for later transformation into text. In this sense, the main online meeting/conference platforms (meeting) are available on the market, such as: Google Meet , Teams and Zoom .
2.6 MODERATOR PROFILE, NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS AND DURATION
Focus groups need to have some characteristics necessary for their full execution and to obtain the maximum possible information for the study. Such characteristics as: moderator profile, number of participants and duration
For Scrimshaw and Hurtado as cited in Sousa and Costa (2003) the moderator's duties arc:
"(a) introduce the discussion and keep it going; (b) emphasize to the group that there are no right or wrong answers; (c) observe the participants, encouraging each one to speak; (d) look for "cues" from the discussion itself and from the participants' speech; (e) build relationships with the informants to individually deepen answers and comments considered relevant by the group or the researcher; (f) observe the nonverbal communications and the participants? own pace, within the time allotted for the debate."
Regarding the number of participants in a focus group, some authors present suggestions for maximum and minimum numbers of participants in research and academic work.
Gondim (2003) shows that the size of the group conventionally varies between 4 and 10 people, but highlights that depending on the subject and the level of interest of each participant, the following may occur:
"If this sparks the interest of a particular group, people will have more to talk about and, in this case, the size should not be large, so as not to reduce the chances of everyone participating; with more than 10 elements, and the topic being controversial, it becomes difficult for the moderator to control the process, with a tendency to polarize and enter into conflict".
Trad (2009) warns that the number of participants will affect its duration. And that the complexity and degree of controversy can affect the duration of the sessions. However, he recommends a duration ranging from 90 to 110 minutes for efficient application of the technique.
2.7 FOCUS GROUP DATA ANALYSIS
When faced with a set of audio, video and text, it is necessary to use appropriate techniques to analyze this volume of data generated in the focus group sessions, and obtain the information necessary to support the research.
Bardin 's (2009) content analysis is used , which consists of extracting qualitative research data (interviews, questionnaires, focus groups, newspapers and others), important content that contributes to the interpretation of the results, elucidating the research objectives. The analysis is structured in three phases described below:
* Pre-analysis - This is the organization phase, where the work scheme is established with well-defined, albeit flexible, procedures;
* Exploration of the material - At this stage, the coding units are chosen (cutting, enumeration, classification and aggregation);
* Treatment of results - where it is possible, through inference and interpretation, to make the raw results significant and valid, as observed by Camara (2013).
To support research using Focus Groups, Computer Aided Qualitative Data Analysis Software (CAQDAS) can be used, available: ATLAS ti, MAXDA, Nvivo , RODA, Transana , IRaMuTeQ and others.
Camargo and Justo (2013) recommend IRaMuTeQ ( R Interface for analyses Multidimensionnelles de Textes et de Questionnaires ) because it is a free program, supported in the R and Python languages, which allows various statistical analyses on textual corpus and tables of individuals by words.
Camargo and Justo (2013) and Bof (2019) present the textual analyses used by the software and highlight that the Descending Hierarchical Classification Method (DHC) is one of the most important analyses of IRAMUTEQ ©. In it, text segments and their vocabularies are correlated, forming a hierarchical scheme of vocabulary classes. From the DHC, one can infer the content of the corpus, name the class and understand groups of discourse and ideas. The software organizes the data analysis in a dendrogram that illustrates the relationships between the classes.
3 METHODOLOGY
3.1 CHARACTERISTICS OF FOCUS GROUPS
For this research, 3 exploratory focus groups were formed, with their respective profiles for prior validation, definition and identification of the problem classes of the Building Information Modeling (BIM) interoperability artifact and Life Cycle Assessment to be built.
The desired profiles to contribute to the research are presented in Table 3.
Moderation was carried out by the researcher who 1s organizing the research in question. And each focus group had a maximum of 6 participants, due to the small sample of the desired profile, being moderated to reach a maximum duration of 90 minutes. 3.2 ANALYSIS OF TEXTUAL CORPUS
The structure for content analysis proposed by Bardin is presented in the flowchart in Figure 1.
a) Pre-analysis
Participants received and signed the free and informed consent form (TCLE), however, before the start of each focus group session, the TCLE was read and participants were asked for their express agreement and it was highlighted to the participant that they could request their exclusion from the research at any time.
All sessions were conducted through the Google Meeting application , and the dynamics of the sessions had been established via email for the participants. However, before the sessions began, it was explained again how the session would be, with the introduction of the researcher, identified as the group moderator, and clarification that with each question, everyone would participate and could make additions, if necessary.
Immediately after the sessions held on Google Meeting , the files were processed, generated and recorded in MP4 format automatically by the platform. and forwarded to the email sennaeng(@gmail.com .
The session material was downloaded and underwent an automatic transcription process using the Transkiptor application on the Windows platform , from the company Transkiptor (website: transkiptor.com ), which allows transcribing audio and video into text with the possibility of using artificial intelligence (AI). However, the AI resource was not used due to its limitation in properly recognizing the interlocutors/interviewees, and the transcriptions were processed manually, that is, the videos were viewed by the researcher and related to the transcribed material, where it was possible to observe incorrectly transcribed parts of the text and inaudible excerpts from the video, and make the necessary corrections and adjustments for a better composition of the textual corpus (CT). After making the corrections and adjustments, the files were saved in docx.
a) Material exploration
Once the focus group sessions were transcribed and following Bardin's analysis flow, the material was prepared to constitute the textual corpus (TC), analyzed and, subsequently, treated and configured in the qualitative textual data analysis software - IRaMuteQ®.
Each focus group session (teachers, designers and students) constitutes its textual corpus , that is, 3 (three) textual corpuses were prepared and extracted , which underwent a procedure, described according to Camargo and Justo (2018) and Salvati (2017).
Following the procedure, the interviewer/moderator's speech was removed from the focus group; references or citations to the moderator/researcher or any other participant in the group during the session were also excluded; the various language vices of the participants were observed and removed from the CT (e.g.: eh, né, ah ...), idiomatic expressions (good, as well as,) words with excessive use (I think, we), repetitions; in addition to other terms that could be inappropriate, or would not represent circumstantial significance to the work.
b) Results Treatment - Inferential Analysis
Content analysis is used to understand the perceptions of stakeholders in this research, and from there establish minimum requirements to be achieved by a computational tool that integrates BIM and LCA, which enables the training of graduates from undergraduate courses in civil engineering with a more sustainable profile and systemic vision, in the area of hydrosanitary installation projects.
To begin processing the results, all prepared textual corpuses were imported into IRaMuteQ ® (v7.2 alpha 2), following the following steps:
Step 1 - Import a textual corpus into IRaMuteQ ® - The textual corpus was imported from a folder that contained the file with the determined extension (file.txt) (unicode:utf-8). Step 2 - Defining the textual corpus for analysis.
The analysis performed by IRaMuTeQ ® is based on lemmatization through which words are searched and related by their root, ignoring their verbal tense, gender, number, among other particularities of the words.
3.3 ETHICAL ASPECTS OF RESEARCH
All ethical precepts were followed regarding research involving people and submitted to the Brazil platform registered under number CAAE 65867922.6.0000.9287 for evaluation by the Ethics Committee (CEP) of SENAI-CIMATEC and approved, according to the substantiated opinion of CEP No. 5,895,030 .
4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
4.1 PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF PARTICIPANT FOCUS GROUPS
The duration of the focus group sessions for Teachers, Designers and Students were 122 min, 70 min and 79 min, respectively. The statistical analysis of the textual corpus of the Teachers, Designer and Students carried out by the software is presented in Table 4.
According to Table 5, 6 texts were analyzed for each textual corpus , these texts come from the focus groups corresponding to the participants (teachers, designers and students) where the number of occurrences of each group are presented, that is, the total number of words/vocabularies (repeated or not) of the textual corpora of the participants, respectively. The number of forms (which is the number of distinct words/vocabularies), number of hapax (words with a frequency equal to 1) and the average number of occurrences (which is the average number of words contained in the texts).
Even in simple textual statistical analysis, it is possible to observe differences in the occurrences and forms presented in the texts between the participating groups. The focus group of teachers presented a higher number of occurrences, forms and hapaxes than the other groups, due to their professional practice of teaching, giving lectures and the proximity of the topics covered (BIM, LCA, BIM+LCA Interoperability).
It is possible to highlight the number of hapax of teachers in relation to the other groups, as this characteristic reflects the greater vocabulary present in their text, which can be understood with greater knowledge of the subjects covered. The number of hapax also allows us to check whether there are words/vocabularies with incorrect spelling present in the textual corpus .
b) Descending Hierarchical Classification (DHC)/Reinert Method
The interpretation of the results of the CHD or Reinet method is based on the hypothesis that the use of similar lexical forms is linked to common representations or concepts (SOUSA et. al. , 2020), that is, the CHD is based on lexical proximity and the idea that words used in a similar context are associated with the same lexical world (NOGUEIRA et al. , 2020).
The Descending Hierarchical Classification is a grouping performed by IRaMuTeQ® based on the analysis of the text segments present in the set of all interviews based on their vocabulary (SOUSA and BUSSOLOTTI, 2022). Camargo and Justo (2013) define that these text segments (TS) "are classified based on their respective vocabularies and the set of them is divided based on the frequency of the reduced forms" generating ST and word matrices and applying statistical tests, such as chi-square ( X?) to make inferences about the textual corpora
Table 5 shows that the software generated the number of text segments for each CT (teachers - 359, designer - 176 and students 155) and that there was a utilization rate of over 70%, considered by Acauan et.al (2020) as the minimum acceptable. According to Sousa and Bussolotti (2022), this information is necessary for the continuity of the analyses, which can be an indicator of the success of the elaboration of the corpora and subsequent analyses.
In the context of IRaMuTeQ ® active forms are nouns, verbs, adjectives that allow for a greater understanding of their meaning in the context of the text and supplementary forms are considered supporting in the analyses.
The CHD of the teachers' textual corpus is illustrated in the dendrogram in Figure 2, where the words that appear most frequently and that characterize that group are listed in each class or cluster . Six classes were created, each identified with a specific color, allowing for better visualization and, certainly, a better understanding of the teachers' perception of the construction of a BIM and LCA interoperability tool in plumbing installation projects.
Class 1 (red), responsible for 18.5% of the text segments (TS), presents words with great proximity, such as: model, exist, bim, receive, understand, better, important, try, visualization. Class 2 (gray) was responsible for 19.8% of the text segments and its main words are: there, well, thank, today, concern, know, construction, complement, interoperability, market. Class 3 (green) presented 14.3% of the text segments and its main words are: revit, autocad, there, pass, beautiful, grid, way, basic, contact, person, semester, drawing. Class 4 (light blue) was responsible for 15.6% of the TS and its main words are: course, university, base, student, there, next, discipline, learn, use, apply, show, tool, uefs, determined, experience. Class 5 (dark blue) presented 20.1% of the text segments and its main words are: building, system, reuse, renovation, functionality, evaluate, water cycle, maintainability, durability, use, plumbing, part demolition. And finally, class 6 (magenta) responsible for 11.7% of the ST and its main words are: electrical results, work, technique, occupy, worker, incorporate, only, building, enterprise, hydraulic, life cycle, structural, until, fundamental, installation, analysis.
These classes of text segments are generated by the software, but for Camargo and Justo (2021) they explain that, "at an interpretative level, the meaning of the classes depends on the theoretical framework of each research", that is, each researcher will correlate it with the context of their research.
Then, the significant words and their insertions in the text segments were read. Therefore, based on the semantic contents, the classes were named: Class 1 - Tool to improve interaction and visualization of the BIM model; Class 2 - Stimulate interoperability in the construction market, and especially among colleagues; Class 3 - Use of software in the basic semesters; Class 4 - Learn to use computer tools in university courses; Class 5 - Evaluate the functionality and durability of building systems; and Class 6 - Present fundamental results of the life cycle assessment.
The dendrogram in Figure 03 presented 5 classes, with a utilization of 70.45% of the text segments. That is, the ST generated from the designers' textual corpus were statistically validated by the software.
The CHD dendrogram of the Designers' Corpus is presented , Class 1 (red) presents 19.4% of the ST, the words can be seen in Figure 3, Class 2 (gray) presents 15.3% of the ST, Class 3 (green) responsible for 16.9% of the ST, Class 4 (blue) presents 25% of the ST and finally Class 5 which presents 23.4% of the ST.
The naming of each CHD Class of the designers' textual corpus was carried out in the same way as that of the teachers. Class 1 - Facilitate the visualization of the installation project; Class 2 - Life cycle analysis methodology; Class 3 - Learning sustainable and efficient tools; Class 4 - Present BIM and LCA design disciplines in the classroom; Class 5 - Project cycle and environmental impacts.
The dendrogram in Figure 4 presented 5 classes, with a utilization of 73.55% of the text segments. That is, the ST generated from the students' textual corpus were statistically validated by the software.
CHD dendrogram of the Student Corpus is presented . Class 1 (red) presents 18.4% of the STs, the words can be seen in Figure 4, Class 2 (gray) presents 19.3% of the STs, Class 3 (green) is responsible for 21.9% of the STs, Class 4 (blue) presents 16.7% of the STs and finally Class 5 presents 23.7% of the STs.
Adopting the same procedure as the previous ones, we have: Class 1 - Learning to integrate BIM and LCA; Class 2 - Reducing environmental impact; Class 3 - The importance of developing software at university; Class 4 - Practical Software; Class 5 - Allowing for learning about sustainability and efficiency in undergraduate courses.
From the analysis of the classes obtained from the speeches from the interested focus groups, it was possible to extract the functional and non-functional requirements necessary for the construction and validation of the proposed computational tool. Table 6 presents the Functional Requirements (FR) and Non-Functional Requirements (RNF) of the computational tool.
hydrosanitary installation projects , the users' expectations regarding the tool were also raised through focus groups:
Teachers: 1. Ease of inserting LCA into the context of the subjects; 2. Use of the software as a pedagogical tool in practical classes; 3. Generation of reports that facilitate teaching about environmental impact and assessment.
Designers : 1. Direct integration with modeling software; 2. Efficient tool for decisionmaking in material selection; 3. Fast and clear environmental impact and LCA reports.
Students : 1. Intuitive interface that facilitates learning; 2. Possibility to view results in real time; 3. Support for academic projects and practical simulations.
It is expected that requirements aligned with the expectations of different user profiles (teachers, students and designers) will guide the construction and validation of the tool, ensuring its applicability and efficiency.
5 CONCLUSION
This study aims to evaluate the use of synchronous online focus groups for requirements gathering in the development of a computational tool that integrates Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) in plumbing installation projects . The theoretical framework covers the interconnection between BIM and LCA, with a focus on improving the efficiency and sustainability of plumbing installation projects . Several studies indicate the complexity of integrating these two methodologies, especially in terms of interoperability between the software used.
The methodology adopted is based on Design Science Research (DSR), using focus groups with designers, professors and civil engineering students. These groups were conducted synchronously online, enabling real-time interaction that facilitated the collection of qualitative data essential for defining the functional and non-functional requirements of the tool. The results showed that this collaborative approach is effective in identifying practical and technical demands, in addition to highlighting the importance of tools that allow better data integration, meeting their expectations as customers of this computational tool.
The implications of the research indicate that the tool developed based on these requirements can significantly contribute to the training of construction professionals with a focus on sustainability, in addition to optimizing the management of hydrosanitary projects . The originality of the study lies in the application of synchronous online focus groups within the DSR approach, an innovative method for data collection in the area of technology applied to civil construction.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the State University of Feira de Santana for granting the license and financial support.
Sidebar
References
REFERENCES
Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas.( 2020) NBR 5626: Sistemas prediais de agua fria e agua диете - Projeto, execução, operação e manutenção. Rio de Janeiro: ABNT.
Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas. (1999) NBR 8160: Sistemas prediais de esgoto sanitário. Rio de Janeiro: ABNT.
Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas (1989) NBR 10844: Sistemas prediais de aguas pluviais. Rio de Janeiro: ABNT.
Acauan, L. V.; Abrantes, С. V.; Stipp, M. A. C.; Trotte, L. A. C.; Paes, С. O.; Queiroz, A. В. A.(2020) Utilização do software Iramuteq® para análise de dados qualitativos na enfermagem: um ensaio reflexivo. REME - Revista Mineira de Enfermagem, у. 24, е1326.
Alencar, G. A. (2019). Mapeamento de requisitos em sistemas de saude: o caso do CER- VI IMIP (Dissertação de Mestrado). UFRPE.
Araújo, A.; Crippa, J.; Uehara, L.; Lopes, T. V.; Scheer, S. (2017). Interoperabilidade de ferramentas BIM e avaliação do ciclo de vida de edificações. In: Simposio Brasileiro de Tecnologia da Informação e Comunicação na Construção, 1.; Simpósio Brasileiro de Gestão e Economia da Construção, 10, Fortaleza. Anais [...]. Fortaleza,. p. 251-259.
Berenguer, M. M.; Elliot, L. G.; Parreira, A (2012). Grupo focal. In: ELLIOT, L. G. (org.). Instrumentos de avaliação e pesquisa: caminhos para construção e validação. Rio de Janeiro: Wak Editor. Cap. 6, p. 229-279.
Bof, S. M. S. (2019) Preceptoria em medicina de familia e comunidade na atenção primária a saude em Vitória - ES. Rio de Janeiro, 99 f.
Bueno, C.; Fabricio, M. M.(2018) Comparative analysis between a complete LCA study and results from a BIM-LCA plug-in. Automation in Construction, v. 90, n. March, p. 188-200.
Camargo, В. V.; Justo, A. M. (2013) Tramuteg: um software gratuito para análise de dados textuais. Temas em Psicologia, у. 21, п. 2, р. 513-518.
Camara, К. H. (2013) Análise de conteúdo: da teoria à prática em pesquisas sociais aplicadas ás organizações. Revista Interinstitucional de Psicologia, у. 6, п. 2, р. 179-191.
Carvalho Jr., К. (2014) Instalações prediais hidraulico-sanitárias: princípios básicos para elaboração de projetos. Sao Paulo: Blucher.
Crippa, J.; Scheer, S. Interoperabilidade de ferramentas para BIM e avaliação do ciclo de vida de edificações. [s.1: s.n.].
Dresch, A.; Lacerda, D. P. (2016). Apresentacäo Design Science e Design Science Research: método de pesquisa para o ауапсо da ciéncia e da tecnologia. Стар | Unisino, р. 1-72.
Godim, $. M. G.( 2003). Grupos Focais como Técnica de Investigação Qualitativa: Desafios Metodológicos. Paidéia, 12(24), 149-161.
Nogueira, D. X. P.; Ferreira, M.; Sacerdote, H. C. S.; Faria, N. R.; DA Silva, B. B.; Souza, K. M.(2020), 4 Evasão em Cursos Superiores a Distancia: um estudo acerca de fatores que interferem na permanência dos estudantes. In: Seminario de educação a distancia da região centro-oeste (sead-co), 3., Evento Online. Anais [...]. Porto Alegre: Sociedade Brasileira de Computação,
Pressman, R.S., Maxim, B.R. (2021). Engenharia de Software : Uma abordagem profissional. Ed. McGraw Hill.
Santos, R., Neves, E., Silvestre, J. D., Costa, A. A. (2016). Integração de BIM com avaliação ACV: Análise do estado da arte e das ferramentas disponíveis. In 16% Congresso de Inovação na Construção Sustentável.
Saviati, М. E. (2017) Manual do Aplicativo Iramuteg (Versão 0.7 Alpha 2 e К versão 3.2.3). Planaltina.
Senna, D. O., Cardoso, L. D. S. P., Santos, A. A. B. (2022). Building Information Modeling Integrated With Life Cycle Analysis in Plumbing Projects: A Preliminary Systematic Review. Journal of Bioengineering, Technologies and Health, 5(2), 136-140.
Souza, М.А, Bussolotti, J. М. (2021). Análises de entrevistas em pesquisas qualitativas com о software iramuteq. Revista Ciéncias Humanas.
Trad, L. А. В. (2009). Conceitos, procedimentos e reflexões baseadas em experiências com o uso da técnica em pesquisas de saude. Physis: Revista de Saude Coletiva, 19(3), 777-796.
Valente, М.С. (2020). Engenharia de Software Moderna: Principios e Práticas para Desenvolvimento de Software com Produtividade, Editora: Independente;
YIN, К. К. (2016). Pesquisa Qualitativa do Início ao Fim. Porto Alegre: Penso.
