Sustainable construction Practices: A perspective view of Indian construction industry professionals

Author(s):  
M. Gehlot ◽  
S. Shrivastava
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 3831 ◽  
Author(s):  
Liang Ma ◽  
Yun Le ◽  
Hongyang Li ◽  
Ruoyu Jin ◽  
Poorang Piroozfar ◽  
...  

Emerging construction practices such as building information modelling (BIM), prefabrication construction, green building, and integrated project delivery methods are gaining momentum in China, with great potential due to the size of its construction market. Through this, the sustainability level of China’s construction industry is expected to be enhanced from the economic, social and environmental perspectives. So far, there has been limited understanding of how BIM, as a digital technology, would affect other contemporary sustainable construction practices from the industry professionals’ point of view. Limited studies have been carried out to study the regional differences of these contemporary sustainable practices in China. This study adopted a questionnaire-based approach targeting industry professionals from three different metropolitan cities (Shanghai, Guangzhou, and Wenzhou).The follow-up comprehensive statistical analysis revealed that with regards to these contemporary sustainable construction practices, survey participants held much varied views on the growth of renovation projects, traditional Design–Bid–Build delivery, and conventional on-site construction methods. These three types were also generally perceived to have weak correlation with BIM application. Regional comparison further conveyed information on differences in perceptions among survey respondents from these three cities. For example, respondents from Wenzhou perceived more positive effects of BIM use in conventional construction projects. This research addressed the inter-correlation among these emerging sustainable construction practices, as well as the regional differences in China’s construction market. The findings provide insights and the big picture for both governmental authorities and industry practitioners on the latest sustainable practices of China’s construction industry. Recommendations are also offered towards improved economic, social and environmental sustainability performance for construction projects in the country.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (12) ◽  
pp. 5088
Author(s):  
Ali Karji ◽  
Mostafa Namian ◽  
Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli

The need to build more facilities has intensified the inherited adverse impacts of the construction industry on the triple bottom lines of sustainability (i.e., people, planet, and profit). The current practice of sustainability in the construction industry is far from reaching the targeted green goals. In order to foster these endeavors, this study aims to explore sustainable construction barriers in the United States. To achieve the objective, first, 12 sustainability barriers were identified based on an excessive and comprehensive literature review and solicitation of experts’ opinions to validate the barriers. Next, a questionnaire survey was developed and distributed among 135 industry professionals to evaluate the relative importance of factors. To offer a practical solution, principal component analysis (PCA) was used to analyze the data and find the most effective barriers. The results show that four major barriers, including (1) pre-construction constraints, (2) managerial constraints, (3) legislative constraints, and (4) financial and planning constraints are the most influential challenges that the industry faces to foster sustainable construction. Practical solutions are suggested to tackle sustainable construction barriers. The findings of this study are beneficial to the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry members along with owners and policymakers.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (11) ◽  
pp. 4460 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammadsoroush Tafazzoli ◽  
Ehsan Mousavi ◽  
Sharareh Kermanshachi

Although the two concepts of lean and sustainable construction have been developed due to different incentives, and they do not pursue the same exact goals, there exists considerable commonality between them. This paper discusses the potentials for integrating the two approaches and their practices and how the resulting synergy from combining the two methods can potentially lead to higher levels of fulfilling the individual goals of each of them. Some limitations and challenges to implementing the integrated approach are also discussed. Based on a comprehensive review of existing papers related to sustainable and lean construction topics, the commonality between the two approaches is discussed and grouped in five categories of (1) cost savings, (2) waste minimization, (3) Jobsite safety improvement, (4) reduced energy consumption, and (5) customers’ satisfaction improvement. The challenges of this integration are similarly identified and discussed in the four main categories of (1) additional initial costs to the project, (2) difficulty of providing specialized expertise, (3) contractors’ unwillingness to adopt the additional requirements, and (4) challenges to establish a high level of teamwork. Industry professionals were then interviewed to rank the elements in each of the two categories of opportunities and challenges. The results of the study highlight how future research can pursue the development of a new Green-Lean approach by investing in the communalities and meeting the challenges of this integration.


2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 6339-6343
Author(s):  
Guang Bin Wang ◽  
Gui You He ◽  
Li Bian

Due to the great negative impact, the construction industry needs to undergo a paradigm shift from traditional construction to sustainable construction. To reach the goal of sustainable development, the construction industry needs to intensify its efforts to move to a knowledge intensive mode. Based on the analysis of e-Cognos and the concept of ontology, this paper proposes that e-Cognos ontology can be applied in the development of sustainable construction process ontology, which is a key part of knowledge management system (KMS). Following this, the application process of ontology-based KMS is analyzed using IDEF0 modeling method. Finally, this paper analyzes interorganizational collaboration model in sustainable project.


2012 ◽  
Vol 446-449 ◽  
pp. 937-944 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.A Kazerooni Sadi ◽  
Arham Abdullah ◽  
Masoud Navazandeh Sajoudi ◽  
M.F.M. Kamal ◽  
Fatemeh Torshizi ◽  
...  

The construction industry consumes a substantial amount of raw materials in its processes and the output is obviously the product and most importantly the waste material. Other than that, the construction industry is well known as one of the worst environmental polluters. This study is to determine the use of waste minimisation technique in creating sustainable waste management in order to identify the technique which has the most capabilities to reduce on-site waste. The objective of this study is to assess the waste minimization techniques taken from the 4R concept (which includes reduce, reuse, recycle and recovery techniques) in minimizing the waste in construction waste management. The most used waste minimization technique found in the 4R concept would be waste reduction. This shows that the local construction industry has the knowledge necessary to plan out the waste management processes but the implementation is still far from satisfying. Additionally, the findings reveal that because the industry is profit-driven, construction practitioners are motivated by profit to adapt to this techniques.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (16) ◽  
pp. 9219
Author(s):  
Craig Langston ◽  
Weiwei Zhang

Design for manufacture and assembly (DfMA) is an important part of the future of the construction industry due to the promise of speed of project delivery, quality control, worker safety, and waste minimization onsite via the purposeful design for manufacture and assembly offsite. However, the adoption of DfMA in Australia has been slow. This paper investigates the barriers prohibiting widespread uptake and how digital construction will be a catalyst for improving use on commercial-scale projects. A total of six leading experts were interviewed to elicit their opinions, and seven recent case studies of high-rise modular apartment and hotel buildings constructed by Hickory were cross-referenced as evidence of DfMA capability. The experts suggested that the reasons for slow adoption in Australia were community mindset, government regulations and incentives, planning and building codes, unionization and business politics, finance, and supply chain management. The case studies suggest that compatible building type and transportation distance are also factors. These barriers can be addressed by the clever integration of building information modelling tools with lean construction processes as part of a proposed strategy leading to smarter (more productive) and better (more sustainable) outcomes predicated on growth in digital construction practices. The paper concludes with a proposed framework for change that conceptualizes the ‘ecosystem’ needed to support widespread DfMA in the Australian context, including the paradigm shift from building to manufacturing/assembly, the displacement of workers from onsite to offsite activity, and the expansion of interdisciplinary design and construct collaboration.


2014 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 315-330 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle C. Brennan ◽  
Alison J. Cotgrave

Purpose – Despite the surge of interest in construction sustainability and the many Government initiatives encouraging reform in the UK construction industry (CI), the prevalence of sustainable development (SD) in the industry is still largely lagging behind that of other industries. Given the amount of focus and activity identified nationally in this area, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the reasons why this is not being translated into action and to seek counsel from industry professionals as to how they believe change can be achieved with a particular focus on how they believe higher education institutions (HEIs) can contribute. Design/methodology/approach – An explorative, qualitative study using three focus groups was of construction professionals. Findings – Despite a lack of action, many in industry support sustainability and actively attempt to engage in sustainable practices but a number of barriers preclude successful implementation. Government initiatives are having a positive impact, with participants believing that both Government and HEIs are imperative in driving the sustainability agenda forward. Research limitations/implications – Whilst limited in scale, this paper highlights the current state of the CI in relation to SD and evidences that progress is being made albeit slowly. The findings may help both Government and HEIs alongside industry in achieving how this can be overcome. Originality/value – Previous research in this area has generally adopted a quantitative approach. Adopting a qualitative approach provides a more in depth view as to why the status quo remains with regards to SD in the CI.


Author(s):  
Begum Sertyesilisik

Sustainability of the economy depends on the reduction of the environmental footprint of the supply and demand as economy relies on the production enabled by natural resources. The construction industry is one of the major industries influencing sustainable and social development. The construction industry and the built environment, however, have important environmental footprints. Therefore, the demand and supply sides in the construction industry must be transformed into more sustainable ones. Furthermore, the principles and emerging concepts of sustainable and innovative economy need to be adopted by the construction industry. Based on an in-depth literature review, this chapter focuses on the integration and impacts of the emerging concepts for the sustainable and innovative economy in the construction industry. This chapter is expected to be useful for academics, graduate and undergraduate students, researchers, policymakers, and construction industry professionals.


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