Built Environment Sustainability: Review Of Key Concepts
Anna George Nellicka and Sivakumar Palaniappan
The world is witnessing rapid infrastructure development and economic growth. As a result, there is tremendous increase in the demand for material and energy resources. The rate of resource use has already exceeded the re-generating ability of eco-systems. We need to use the natural resources in a responsible manner and balance the development and environmental harmony. Creation of awareness about sustainability concepts among the construction industry stakeholders plays an important role to move towards sustainable built environment. This paper presents a review of key concepts of built environment sustainability. At first, the simple and composite indicators used for quantifying sustainability are presented and second, the concepts of industrial ecology and construction ecology are discussed. The unique aspects of construction projects are compared to other sectors and a comparison of traditional and modern construction practices are presented. Third, the twelve principles of green engineering are listed along with examples. Finally, the role of life cycle thinking and the application of life cycle assessment method towards sustainable development are discussed. In totality, this article aims to instil in every individual, the essence of sustainable development concepts.
Built Environment, Sustainability Indicators, Construction Ecology, Life Cycle Assessment,
Green Engineering
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Research Articles
Work Study For Sustainable Construction:
A Case Study
Pawan Pandey and J. Uma Maheswari
Sustainability is generally defined as a concept that meets the needs of the present without
compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs. It is a well-known fact
that construction industry is associated with scarcity of skilled workers against the abundant
unskilled workers. Consequently, there is a wide scope for utilizing these unskilled workers to meet
the demand of skilled workers apart from research investigations towards mechanization and
automation. Therefore, the aim of the present study is to propose a sustainable construction project
model which optimally utilizes available human resource.
A 'work study' which was primarily developed for enhancing productivity in construction
operations is utilized for this study to identify basic operations creating bottlenecks due to shortage
of skilled workers. Subsequently, bottleneck operations were simplified in such a way that not only
available skilled, semi skilled, unskilled workers are optimally utilized but speed of execution also
increases. For this purpose, the data was collected for a small project and the work study concept
was applied to RCC work. While present study has revealed complexity associated with work study
approach in construction, time, cost and other aspiring results are promising and suggest scope for
its further application in sustainable construction.
Sustainable construction, Work study, Skilled workers
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Research Articles
Evaluation Of Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) Vs Analytic Network Process (ANP)
As Decision Tools In Projects
Pratik T. Khedkar and Hariharan Subramanyan
Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Analytic Network Process (ANP)methods use pair wise
comparisons among factors or criteria in order to achieve the objective of selection of the best
alternative. ANP technique is a generalized form of AHP that allows interdependencies, outer
dependencies and feedbacks among decision elements in the hierarchical or non-hierarchical
structures. Both processes are used as multi-criteria decision making tools in evaluating closely
competing alternatives. The present paper discusses a case of contractor selection which involves
selection of the best contractor from five alternatives under six criteria of selection. While the results
of AHP analysis are mapped with the results of Expert choice, the results of ANP are mapped with
Super Decision software. The results of AHP are compared with ANP and then they are presented.
Analysis results suggest that AHP could lead to selection of alternatives based on the weight of the
criteria and it is likely that the results can be more aligned towards criteria that have higher weights
and can overlook poor performance on some of the other criteria. In order to avoid such biases, it is
suggested that ANP shall be performed on these alternatives to complement the results of AHP
before a final decision is made. The paper does not undermine the strength of AHP but only
attempts to demonstrate that a combined evaluation of AHP and ANP can take care of biases and
hence can contribute to better decision making process. Case scenario evaluation demonstrates that
a comparative evaluation of alternatives using AHP method when coupled with ANP analysis can
complement the results and can reveal a clear scenario in a decision analysis process.
AHP, ANP, Multi-criteria decisions, Expert choice, Super decision
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Research Articles
Application Of PROMETHEE II Technique For Evaluation Of Indian Construction Sites
On Safety Aspects
G. S. Vyas , S. J. Kattul and D. V. Morankar
The construction industry in India is one of the major contributors to the country's development
and progress. The advances in construction techniques and mechanization have brought a
tremendous change in this sector. The construction industry is grappling with challenges like
targeted completion schedules and escalating project costs. Often in such situations, safety is given
low priority by the stakeholders. The safety indicators are the safety measures. Use of safety
equipment and best safety practices with the aid of proactive safety indicators can help to minimise
the occupational accidents. A thorough study of all possible causes of accidents and well designed
effective safety indicators can drive the construction process safely. The construction sites based on
their safety performance can be ranked with the aid of Multi Criteria Decision Making (MCDM).
The present study uses PROMETHEE II as a MCDM analysis technique to evaluate the
construction sites based on their safety performance. The criteria of evaluation are human factors,
management factors, equipment and material factors, job site conditions and environmental
factors. The top ranked sites indicate better safety performance. The study would be useful to
different stakeholders of construction sites in improving the construction safety practices and
providing safe work site.
Construction site, Accident causes, Safety indicators, Entropy, PROMETHEE II, MCDM
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Research Articles
Barriers To Good Occupational Health And Safety (OHS) Practices By Small Construction Firms
Jocelyn Ying Ying Wong , Jason Gray and Zabihullah Sadiqi
The construction industry has long been considered to have unacceptably high injury and fatality
rates. Previous research has shown that small construction companies sustain higher injury rates
than large companies. However, despite the industry being dominated by a very large number of
such small companies, little is known of their occupational health and safety (OHS) needs,
practices and constraints. This paper takes a first step in aiming to identify the principal barriers
that affect good OHS performance of small construction companies so that effective OHS practices
can be developed to improve this in future. The contents of the literature are first summarised, in
which three critical barriers to good OHS practice in small construction firms are proposed. They
are : cost, time, lack of safety awareness and concern. The results of a questionnaire survey carried
out with South East Queensland construction personnel are presented, which largely confirm what
is suggested by the literature research and also succeed in providing an indication of their ranking
in terms of importance and suggestions for overcoming these barriers. The research results provide
a better understanding of the issues that restrict good OHS practice in small construction
companies and potential measures for improvement.
Health and safety, Good practice, Barriers, Small construction firms, South East Queensland
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Research Articles
Methodology To Evaluate Pedestrian Level Of Service In Indian Urban Context
Kamal Singh and P. K. Jain
SustainabWalking is the oldest mode of transportation for the humans. Pedestrians are an integral part of any transportation system constituting a large proportion of trip makers. Exclusive pedestrian facilities are generally missing in most of the cities. Wherever facilities are provided, they are either in a very bad shape or occupied by hawkers, vendors or shopkeepers. Pedestrians are compelled to use some space of the carriageway thus increasing their frictions and making them vulnerable. To make the entire transportation system efficient, we should plan and provide facilities for the people who walk. An assessment of walking conditions enables us to know how well roadways accommodate pedestrian travel, how they are pedestrian friendly or how safe is walking and crossing the road. An evaluation of Pedestrian Level of Service (PLOS) is the most common approach to assess the quality of operations of pedestrian facilities. There have been no comprehensive standard methods developed for the evaluation of pedestrian facilities in the Indian context. This paper presents a methodology to evaluate pedestrian level of service in Indian urban context.
Pedestrians, Pedestrian facilities, Pedestrian level of service, PLOS factors, Walk environment
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Research Articles
Enhancement Of Productivity Of Labours In Quality Control Lab Of A Highway Project Through Lean Principles: A Case Study Involving Learning Curve Application
Ram Prasad V S and Shrivastava Sandeep
Lean Construction has been the heart of the research in construction management in the past few decades. The present paper tries to identify the total time taken for the experiments over four trials in a quality control lab of a highway project through a case study. After identification, recommendations have been given to decrease the total time through learning curve approach as with experience and increase in technical knowledge, the time taken decreases. Hence, this leads to an increase in the productivity of the labours which yields positive results for the project.
Construction management, Lean, Learning curve, Productivity, Quality control
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Research Articles
Challenges For HR Professionals In Construction Industry : Engineers Attrition Risk
S. Kamal , S.M.Renuka and C.Umarani
The present paper aims to identify the critical factors influencing construction professionals to leave
their job. As an engineer is the most important asset for a successful organization than any other
asset, 'engineers' attrition' is a serious issue in today's construction industry. In view of that, forty
factors influencing the construction professionals to leave their job were identified and they were
categorized under six heads. Subsequently, a questionnaire was designed and the construction
professionals were asked to give their responses. Likewise, three hundred and twenty two responses
were collected from various categories of construction professionals. After that, the collected data
were analyzed by using statistical tools to find the Relative Importance Index for each factor and
the spearman correlation coefficient was used to find the degree of agreements in rankings between
two professionals' perspectives. From the analysis results, the top ten critical factors influencing
professionals to leave their job and the relationship between two construction professionals'
perspectives were found out. Finally, suitable recommendations were suggested to the HR
professionals to retain their engineers in the construction company/ organization.
Construction industry, Professional/Engineers, Relative index, Statistical analysis
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Research Articles
Advanced Construction Technologies For Nuclear Power Plants
Ashok Kumar Upadhyay and Karuna Jain
Nuclear Power Plants (NPPs) are capital intensive projects. In comparison to the fossil fuel power
plants, the NPPs are costlier to build but less expensive to operate and maintain. The higher capital
cost of NPPs is a serious setback to the renewed interest in nuclear energy from investors and
utilities. Therefore, there is a need to devise strategies for reduction in the total cost of nuclear power
while still maintaining high safety and quality standards. Reduction in the project gestation period
reduces interest during construction and thus the total cost of NPP. Advanced construction
technologies often claim to be reducing project gestation period. This paper reviews literature
pertaining to advance technologies that are appropriate for application in NPP construction.
Advanced excavation, steel plate reinforced concrete, modularization, open top construction,
automatic welding, 3D modelling and IT systems for construction management etc. are some of
the promising technologies that could be instrumental in reducing NPP project gestation period.
For effective application, the additional investment required for these technologies should be more
than offset by reduction in the total cost of NPP. The agility and rapid development introduced by
the advanced technologies may make NPPs more competitive with the fossil fuel power stations.
Advanced Construction Technologies, Nuclear Power Plants, Time Reduction
Research & Publications Department 