scholarly journals Challenges of a Healthy Built Environment: Air Pollution in Construction Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (18) ◽  
pp. 10469
Author(s):  
Antonija Ana Wieser ◽  
Marco Scherz ◽  
Alexander Passer ◽  
Helmuth Kreiner

Air pollution is a global concern, especially in cities and urban areas, and has many implications for human health and for the environment. In common with other industrial sectors, the construction industry emits air pollutants. In scientific literature, the contribution the construction industry makes to air pollution is underexposed. This systematic literature review (SLR) paper gives an overview of the current literature regarding air pollution within the construction industry. Air pollution is discussed focusing mainly on three levels: (i) buildings and their building life cycle stages, (ii) construction processes and components, and (iii) building material and interior. The final sample of the SLR comprises 161 scientific articles addressing different aspects of the construction industry. The results show that most articles address the use stage of a building. Particulate matter in different sizes is the most frequently examined air pollutant within the SLR. Moreover, about a third of the articles refer to indoor air pollution, which shows the relevance of the topic. The construction industry can help to develop a healthier built environment and support the achievement of cleaner air within various life cycle stages, e.g., with optimized construction processes and healthier materials. International agreements and policies such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) can support the sustainable development of the construction industry.

2018 ◽  
Vol 251 ◽  
pp. 05026 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalia Verstina ◽  
Evgeny Evseev

Scientific-and-practical aspects of regulating the matters of the assessment of sustainable development, are considered in the article. The tendencies of the heating systems development construction are systematized. The authors offer the methodical approach to the formation of information for the definition of indicators of sustainable development of heating systems construction in the built-up territories, taking into account the interrelation of the heating systems life cycle stages.


2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 292-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
De-Graft Joe Opoku ◽  
Joshua Ayarkwa ◽  
Kofi Agyekum

Purpose The construction industry plays an important role in the achievement of the 11th and 15th of the Sustainable Development Goals. Efforts have been made by most developing and developed economies toward the achievement of these goals. Despite the efforts being made by the construction industry toward the achievement of these goals, there are still barriers that prevent built environment consultants from advancing environmental sustainability (ES) of construction projects. The purpose of this paper is to identify barriers to ES of construction projects. Design/methodology/approach An extensive literature review on barriers to the adoption of ES was conducted and face-to-face semi-structured interviews of purposively selected built environment consultants in Ghana were carried out. Thematic template analysis of qualitative data was conducted. Findings The key findings from the study include perceived initial costs, lack of knowledge on ES, technological difficulties, external pressures in adopting ES practices and environmental conditions in developing countries. Originality/value The outputs of this study offer strategies which are very significant to the construction industry in embracing ES. Further, the findings contribute to knowledge on achieving the sustainable development agenda.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 4916
Author(s):  
Zhiwu Zhou ◽  
Julián Alcalá ◽  
Moacir Kripka ◽  
Víctor Yepes

At present, reducing the impact of the construction industry on the environment is the key to achieving sustainable development. Countries all over the world are using software systems for bridge environmental impact assessment. However, due to the complexity and discreteness of environmental factors in the construction industry, they are difficult to update and determine quickly, and there is a phenomenon of data missing in the database. Most of the lost data are optimized by Monte Carlo simulation, which greatly reduces the reliability and accuracy of the research results. This paper uses Bayesian advanced fuzzy mathematics theory to solve this problem. In the research, a Bayesian fuzzy mathematics evaluation and a multi-level sensitivity priority discrimination model are established, and the weights and membership degrees of influencing factors were defined to achieve comprehensive coverage of influencing factors. With the support of theoretical modelling, software analysis and fuzzy mathematics theory are used to comprehensively evaluate all the influencing factors of the five influencing stages in the entire life cycle of the bridge structure. The results show that the material manufacturing, maintenance, and operation of the bridge still produce environmental pollution; the main source of the emissions exceeds 53% of the total emissions. The effective impact factor reaches 3.01. At the end of the article, a big data sensitivity model was established. Through big data innovation and optimization analysis, traffic pollution emissions were reduced by 330 tonnes. Modeling of the comprehensive research model; application; clearly confirms the effectiveness and practicality of the Bayesian network fuzzy number comprehensive evaluation model in dealing with uncertain factors in the evaluation of the sustainable development of the construction industry. The research results have made important contributions to the realization of the sustainable development goals of the construction industry.


2014 ◽  
Vol 587-589 ◽  
pp. 228-231
Author(s):  
Yi Lin Yin ◽  
Juan Bai

Currently, there exsits a Serious resource wasting phenomenon. In order to achieve the sustainable development of construction industry, the development of green building has become the inevitable choice of all countries in the world. This paper based on the sustainable development as the guiding ideology, through the basic theory of green building, based on the life cycle cost theory understanding as the foundation. First of all ,know the current situation of the development of green building cost at home and abroad, then according to the life cycle theory will be divided into green building decision-making, design, construction debugging, operation maintenance and recycling discarded five stages, points out the life cycle cost characteristics of green building.


2017 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 858-863
Author(s):  
Mihaela Oprea ◽  
Marius Olteanu ◽  
Radu Teodor Ianache

Fine particulate matter with a diameter less than 2.5 �m (i.e. PM2.5) is an air pollutant of special concern for urban areas due to its potential significant negative effects on human health, especially on children and elderly people. In order to reduce these effects, new tools based on PM2.5 monitoring infrastructures tailored to specific urban regions are needed by the local and regional environmental management systems for the provision of an expert support to decision makers in air quality planning for cities and also, to inform in real time the vulnerable population when PM2.5 related air pollution episodes occur. The paper focuses on urban air pollution early warning based on PM2.5 prediction. It describes the methodology used, the prediction approach, and the experimental system developed under the ROKIDAIR project for the analysis of PM2.5 air pollution level, health impact assessment and early warning of sensitive people in the Ploiesti city. The PM2.5 concentration evolution prediction is correlated with PM2.5 air pollution and health effects analysis, and the final result is processed by the ROKIDAIR Early Warning System (EWS) and sent as a message to the affected population via email or SMS. ROKIDAIR EWS is included in the ROKIDAIR decision support system.


Author(s):  
Abimbola Windapo

The focus of research has mainly been on the life cycle approach to project development, while limited attention has been given to the ageing construction companies that make all these activities/processes happen. This paper examines the organisational factors determining the sustainability and growth of building and civil engineering contractors in South Africa. The paper explores whether there are specific organisational factors that aid the sustainable development and growth of contractors in the South African construction industry. The paper analyses data gathered from face-to-face interviews conducted with four established and twelve upgraded and successful building and civil engineering contractors listed on the Construction Industry Development Board’s (cidb) Register of Contractors. The aim of the study is to identify the organisational factors critical for sustainable contractor development and growth in South Africa. The study found that organizational factors responsible for the sustainable development and growth of construction contractors include the size of the founding team members, management capabilities, strategic decisions made by founders/leaders and the ability of the company to constantly evolve, adapt and respond effectively to threats/challenges whenever they surface, amongst other findings. Capacity to generalise the results of the study to the large cidb registered contractor group is limited by the smallness of the sample size. Future research should make use of a larger sample size to obtain more general findings. The results of the study imply that the founding team size, experience, entrepreneurial and managerial capabilities, capacities and organisational structures that enable the efficient response of companies to external and internal challenges are key components of the definable arrangements that will support the sustainability and growth of construction organisations. The paper is of value to government departments and agencies such as the cidb and contracting firms in the construction industry.


2022 ◽  
pp. 269-288
Author(s):  
Parul Bhyan ◽  
Bhavna Shrivastava ◽  
Nand Kumar

Sustainable development is a requisite for future generation, as increasing urbanization, destruction of natural resources by anthropic activities, degrading ecosystems for the sake of present economic development at cost of environmental exploitation are increasing by each passing day on earth. The goal of this chapter is to provide meaningful insights for policy-makers and decision-makers towards sustainable development in the construction industry. This study is first-of-its-kind study focusing on the Sustainable Developments Goals and sustainability dimensions and their criteria and indicators in one compilation through literature study. The study concludes that there is a need to integrate the construction industry into the Sustainable Development Goals and their targets to test the built environment sustainability and there is a need to develop the most adequate frameworks for commencing the topic. Two possible frameworks suggested for future research recommendation needed for the Indian context to enhance sustainability within construction industry are based on LCSA and MCDM analysis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 73-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Higham ◽  
Chris Fortune ◽  
Howard James

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to establish the extent to which life cycle costing (LCC) is used as an early stage project evaluation tool by practitioners in the UK construction industry. The use of this evaluation tool has long been advocated by academics as a means of ensuring best value rather than lowest cost is a driver for business decisions related to potential built environment projects. Therefore there is a need to appraise its current uptake levels amongst built environment professionals and assess whether there are any barriers affecting its use in UK practice. Design/methodology/approach – Using a mixed methods approach, the authors present the findings from a survey of construction professionals located in the UK and the results from a series of follow up semi-structured interviews designed to further explore the factors found to affect the use of LCC in practice. Findings – The study shows that LCC is still not widely used by built environment professionals in the UK. The greatest inhibitor on the take up of the tool is the need of clients to budget on short-term horizons. Other factors such as a lack awareness of the tool by practitioners and clients, unreliability of data into the long term and the overriding need for commercially driven projects to achieve maximum return on investment continue to inhibit the widespread adoption of LCC as an early stage project evaluation tool. These findings have implications for the capability of the UK construction industry to deliver on its commitment to enhance the sustainability of the built environment. Originality/value – The paper offers insights into the current use of LCC and the factors affecting its use in the UK.


2013 ◽  
Vol 368-370 ◽  
pp. 1143-1147
Author(s):  
Hao Wang ◽  
Hong Tang

Green and Pollution-Free is Widely Advocated as a New Trend in the Construction Industry Nowadays. the Key Measures for this Technology are Energy Saving, Material Saving, Water Saving, Land Saving, as well as Protecting the Environment during Construction. Green Construction is a Concrete Manifestation of the Concept of Sustainable Development in the Construction Phase, the Implementation of which is of Great Significance to Promote the Sustainable Development of the Construction Industry. Technical Measures on Green Construction of the Project in Huangshi are Described in Detail. these Measures on Energy-Saving and Environmental Protection will have some Reference on the Promotion of Green Construction.


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