Abstract:

Under support of the Emirates Foundation in the United Arab Emirates, research was undertaken to investigate sustainability in the construction processes and techniques for ‘green’ evaluation. As a part of this research effort, a decision was made within the research team to collaborate in a ‘green’ manner solely using electronic medium. One rule was followed throughout the effort: all work would be performed without producing any paper. The research team desired to explore whether such paperless paradigm has become a reality with today’s technology. In order to explore this subject, a variety of disparate devices were employed by the research team. Team members used Mac OS, Windows 7 and 8 desktops and laptops, iPad and android tablets, and iOS, android and windows phones to explore cross platform collaboration. Both positive and negative experiences were encountered with the software and operating system platforms and with the users comfort and preferences. Experiences are documented and discussed with lessons learned provided to summarize the effectiveness of paperless research collaboration with today’s technology.