INTEGRATED QUALITY AND SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT IN CONSTRUCTION: A CONCEPTUAL MODEL

In today’s world, the definition of quality has been extended to more comprehensive level, which also comprises sustainable performance. The paper systematically builds an integrated model that includes quality as well as sustainable performance of the built environment and accompanying construction processes. This model for the “Integrated Quality and Sustainability Performance Assessment in Construction” presents a three-level arrangement, namely: the structure, process/ project, and construction product. We propose a holistic sustainability assessment methodology based on the authors’ previous research work for structures. The strict implementation of quality and environmental management systems in the participating organisations and in the whole construction project guarantees quality and environmental performance at project/process level. On the construction product level, we complement the existing requirement of providing a statement of conformity for each product of the structure with the Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) for all construction products. We use the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodology to obtain the EPDs for specific construction products; in this way, we can evaluate their environmental impacts throughout the life cycle of a product or structure. On the structure level, a model for the integrated sustainability and quality assessment, which was previously proposed by the authors, is employed. Integration of all three levels ensures that the desired plateau of quality and sustainability performance is achieved for structures, processes and products. In the present version, the model is tailored to the specific features of buildings, and the sustainability aspect is limited to the environmental performance. An investigation of measures required to implement the proposed model into practice shows that clients have a major influence upon the procurement rules. Consequently, the targeted audience of potential users is that of clients procuring buildings.

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Life Cycle Management and Sharing Economy

Customer Satisfaction and Sustainability Initiatives in the Fourth Industrial Revolution - Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services ◽

10.4018/978-1-7998-1419-1.ch008 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 152-166

Author(s):

Roberta Guglielmetti Mugion ◽

Gabriella Arcese ◽

Martina Toni ◽

Luca Silvestri

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Service Industry ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Holistic Approach ◽

Life Cycle Management ◽

Sharing Economy ◽

Management Tool ◽

Life Cycle Thinking ◽

Sustainable Value ◽

Definition Of

The life cycle sustainability assessment based on Life Cycle Thinking is currently considered the most crucial paradigm that includes three kinds of sustainability variables. Life cycle management (LCM) is the most holistic approach in promoting sustainable value creation, embedding the social, economic, and environmental dimensions as a management tool. LCM is mainly applied in the manufacturing and products chain, whereas it is understudied in the service industry. This chapter proposes the development of the LCM general framework and the definition of indicators for the assessment of sustainability in the urban shared mobility. The research framework has been tested in the transportation sector focusing on car sharing context.

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Distribution of environmental performance in life cycle assessments—implications for environmental benchmarking

The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment ◽

10.1007/s11367-020-01852-3 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Sebastian Welling ◽

Sven-Olof Ryding

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Environmental Performance ◽

Public Procurement ◽

Bakery Products ◽

Calculation Methods ◽

Public And Private ◽

Product Categories ◽

Common Structure ◽

Definition Of ◽

Lca Results

Abstract Purpose Life cycle assessment (LCA) is considered a robust method to analyse the environmental impacts of products and is used in public and private market applications such as Green Public Procurement (GPP) and Environmental Management Systems (EMS). Despite the usefulness of the methodology, difficulties exist with the interpretation of LCA results. The use of benchmarks can facilitate this process, but there is yet little research on the definition of environmental benchmarks. The aim of this paper is to analyse the distribution of environmental performance used for the definition of the benchmark and how it effects the use in selected product categories. Method LCA results from 54 Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for insulation materials and 49 EPDs for bakery products are tested for their distribution. The outcome from the statistical analysis is used to compare and evaluate three calculation methods for a benchmark. Results and discussion The results of the study show that distributions and mid- and end-points of environmental performances of the studied indicators differ significantly for the two product categories. While some indicators for bakery products were closer to a normal distribution, most of the indicators are not normally distributed. This is reflected in the comparison of the chosen calculation methods for a benchmark, which showed that the distribution of the data affects the classification of the benchmark as well as the position of values on the benchmark. Conclusion The results emphasise that analysis of further product groups and the associated distribution of the environmental performance is needed to understand the implications of calculation methods on a benchmark. The availability of comparatively large datasets in a common structure is crucial for these analyses and can be facilitated through the digitalisation of LCA- and EPD-information. Furthermore, more research is needed on the communication formats for different benchmarking options, which must be applied for the different intended audiences to be effective.

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Gate-to-Gate Sustainability Assessment for Small-Scale Manufacturing Businesses: Caddisfly Jewelry Production

Volume 4: 19th Design for Manufacturing and the Life Cycle Conference; 8th International Conference on Micro- and Nanosystems ◽

10.1115/detc2014-34559 ◽

2014 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Jessica L. Armstrong ◽

Ian C. Garretson ◽

Karl R. Haapala

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Injury Risk ◽

Production Control ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

High Volume ◽

Small Scale ◽

Transfer Of Knowledge ◽

Inventory Analysis ◽

Sustainability Performance

Recent manufacturing research has focused attention on methods for improving the sustainability performance of high-volume manufacturing. Most manufacturing businesses operate at the small to medium scale, however, and would benefit from the transfer of knowledge gained from this work to lower volume production. To demonstrate an example of this knowledge transfer, the sustainability performance of two manufacturing strategies is investigated for small-scale caddisfly jewelry production. Control over the aesthetics of the end product is an important feature of jewelry manufacturing. In this case, however, increasing product quality control can have life cycle impacts which are unaccounted for in typical decision making. To make a decision between two caddisfly jewelry manufacturing strategies, a comparative gate-to-gate sustainability assessment was performed. The method combines life cycle inventory analysis, life cycle costing, and worker injury risk assessment to develop a holistic comparison encompassing the three pillars of sustainability. The assessment revealed tradeoffs between environmental impacts, costs, and social impacts for the two scenarios. Thus, hierarchical importance of the three sustainability pillars is needed to make stakeholder decisions. In this small-scale manufacturing case, such decision-making is found to be primarily driven by the personal values of the business owners.

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Life Cycle Sustainability Performance Assessment Method for Comparison of Civil Engineering Works Design Concepts: Case Study of a Bridge

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17217909 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (21) ◽

pp. 7909 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Kristine Ek ◽

Alexandre Mathern ◽

Rasmus Rempling ◽

Petra Brinkhoff ◽

Mats Karlsson ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Performance Assessment ◽

Civil Engineering ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Concrete Slab ◽

Assessment Method ◽

Sustainability Performance ◽

Design Concepts ◽

Composite Bridge

Standardized and transparent life cycle sustainability performance assessment methods are essential for improving the sustainability of civil engineering works. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the potential of using a life cycle sustainability assessment method in a road bridge case study. The method is in line with requirements of relevant standards, uses life cycle assessment, life cycle costs and incomes, and environmental externalities, and applies normalization and weighting of indicators. The case study involves a short-span bridge in a design-build infrastructure project, which was selected for its generality. Two bridge design concepts are assessed and compared: a concrete slab frame bridge and a soil-steel composite bridge. Data available in the contractor’s tender phase are used. The two primary aims of this study are (1) to analyse the practical application potential of the method in carrying out transparent sustainability assessments of design concepts in the early planning and design stages, and (2) to examine the results obtained in the case study to identify indicators in different life cycle stages and elements of the civil engineering works project with the largest impacts on sustainability. The results show that the method facilitates comparisons of the life cycle sustainability performance of design concepts at the indicator and construction element levels, enabling better-informed and more impartial design decisions to be made.

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Review of Sustainability Assessment Approaches Based on Life Cycles

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su11205717 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (20) ◽

pp. 5717 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Christina Wulf ◽

Jasmin Werker ◽

Christopher Ball ◽

Petra Zapp ◽

Wilhelm Kuckshinrichs

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Case Studies ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Life Cycles ◽

Life Cycle Thinking ◽

Holistic Approaches ◽

Number Of Publications ◽

Definition Of ◽

Methodological Aspects

Many different approaches have been developed to quantify and evaluate sustainability. Here a review is performed on sustainability assessment based on Life Cycle Thinking, which mostly means Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA). Until the end of 2018, 258 publications can be found, from which 146 include a case study. The highest number of publications appeared between 2016 and 2018 and, compared to the years before 2016, the number of authors has increased. However, in recent years the focus has been more on case studies than on methodological aspects of LCSA. The presented holistic approaches for LCSA are either too broad or too narrow for scientific guidance. Therefore, many questions concerning LCSA are still open, e.g., regarding definition of sustainability dimensions and the desire or need for multi-criteria decision-analysis. An underlying problem is the lack of discussion about sustainability concepts. The momentum in the community to perform case studies for LCSA should be used to also develop more guiding principles.

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Life Cycle Assessment of Lighting Systems and Light Loss Factor: A Case Study for Indoor Workplaces in France

Electronics ◽

10.3390/electronics8111278 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (11) ◽

pp. 1278 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Bertin ◽

Canale ◽

Ben Abdellah ◽

Mequignon ◽

Zissis

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Loss Factor ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Human Impacts ◽

Light Emitting Diode ◽

Light Loss ◽

Lighting Systems ◽

Definition Of ◽

Whole Life Cycle

Life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology has been used to evaluate the performance of the following lighting systems: compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), light-emitting diode (LED) lamps, and fluorescent tubes (T5 type). This work covers the singularity of the French electricity mix for indoor workplaces lighting and describes the best strategy for lamp replacement. We have defined the light loss factor to integrate the following additional parameters: lumen depreciation, dirt accumulation, and risks of failure. Therefore, we propose a new definition of the functional unit (maintained megalumen hour), and we conduct this assessment to be compliant with the standards of lighting system equipment (NF EN 12464-1). Unlike previous studies, we observed that the manufacturing phase is the most impacting over the whole life cycle, thus making the extension of LED lamps’ lifetime a more effective strategy to reduce the potential environmental impacts than increasing their efficacy. This paper highlights how the light loss factor affects the LCA results and proves that it should be taken into account for subsequent assessments. Finally, this new approach includes the real usage of the lamps in the study and contributes to lay the foundation for life cycle sustainability assessment to also evaluate the economic, social, and human impacts of lighting.

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IDENTIFICATION OF TECHNOLOGIES AND PROCESSES TO ENHANCE THE SUSTAINABLE DESIGN, MANUFACTURE, OPERATION, AND END-OF-LIFE OF THE MOTOR YACHT ABOVE 24 METERS

10.3940/rina.smy.2019.18 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

M Liang ◽

R Birmingham

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Value Added ◽

Design Stage ◽

Sustainable Solutions ◽

Sustainable Technologies ◽

Sustainable Performance ◽

Sustainable Value ◽

Efficiency And Effectiveness ◽

Enhance Efficiency

Sustainable development is a continuing concern in the Superyacht Industry due to the pressure on not only minimizing environmental impact but also considering economic viability and social acceptability. It is possible to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of resource use in manufacture, operation and recycle by identifying the sustainable technologies at the design stage. However, there is a lack of a holistic method to measure sustainable performance over the life cycle of the motor yacht during the technologies selection. A Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment (LCSA)based Sustainable Value Added (SVA) method has been developed to measure the sustainable performance for each technology using on the motor yacht over 24 meters. It is a new approach using the financial measure to aggregate data with existing economic terms to communicate with the investor with one language. This paper presents a systematic method and process to guide designer and owners to select and invest relatively sustainable solutions for the motor Superyacht.

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Application of Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment to Used Lubricant Oil Management in South Brazilian Region

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132413583 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (24) ◽

pp. 13583

Author(s):

Malaquias Zildo António Tsambe ◽

Cássio Florisbal de Almeida ◽

Cássia Maria Lie Ugaya ◽

Luiz Fernando de Abreu Cybis

Keyword(s):

Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Economic Performance ◽

Environmental Performance ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Life Cycle Sustainability Assessment ◽

Sustainability Index ◽

Lubricant Oil ◽

The Social ◽

Used Lubricant Oil

Used Lubricant Oil (ULO) is a hazardous waste resulting from lubricant oil used in motorized equipment to reduce friction between moving surfaces that, over time, wear outs and becomes contaminated. The purpose of this study is to compare the sustainability of two ULO management systems in Brazil: one designated in this study by the TTR scenario (which includes transportation, trans-shipment, and re-refining phases), the other designated by the TsTR scenario (without the trans-shipment phase) to evaluate which scenario is socially, economically, and environmentally more efficient. The study uses the life cycle sustainability assessment (LCSA) methodology. As a combination of life cycle assessment (LCA), life cycle cost (LCC), and social life cycle assessment (s-LCA), it integrates the three sustainability dimensions (environmental, social, and economic). The sustainability index was calculated by aggregating data from eight environmental indicators, five economic indicators, and five social indicators. The results showed that the TsTR scenario presented the best values for the sustainability assessment than the TTR scenario. The TsTR scenario had the best social and economic performance, and the TTR scenario had the best environmental performance. The differences observed in those scenarios’ performances were noted by the absence or presence of the trans-shipment center. The absence of this center improved the social and economic performance of the scenario. The social dimension was improved by the elimination of the stage that causes problems related to social and economic dimensions by reducing several costs that can be associated with it. The presence of the trans-shipment center improves the environmental performance scenario by reducing the number of hazards that could impact the re-refining phase. The LCSA methodology enables a comparative life cycle assessment of two alternative system evaluations of ULO management by the sustainability index of each scenario. This index helps to analyze the contributions of each of the 18 categories and subcategories in the perspective of the sustainability dimensions and, consequently, to carry out their integrated evaluation, aiming to define the best sustainability scenario.

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LIFE CYCLE SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR MULTI-CRITERIA DECISION MAKING IN BRIDGE DESIGN: A REVIEW

Journal of Civil Engineering and Management ◽

10.3846/jcem.2020.13599 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 26 (7) ◽

pp. 690-704

Author(s):

Ignacio Javier Navarro ◽

Vicent Penadés-Plà ◽

David Martínez-Muñoz ◽

Rasmus Rempling ◽

Víctor Yepes

Keyword(s):

Decision Making ◽

Life Cycle ◽

Sustainability Assessment ◽

Sustainable Design ◽

Life Cycle Stage ◽

Point Of View ◽

Multi Criteria Decision Making ◽

Agenda 2030 ◽

Sustainable Performance ◽

Neutrosophic Logic

Sustainable design of infrastructures has become a major matter of study since the recent establishment of the Agenda 2030. This paper provides a systematic literature review on the use of multi-criteria decision making techniques used so far for the sustainable design of bridges. Special attention is put as well on how the reviewed studies assess the sustainable performance of bridge designs along their life cycle from the economic, the environmental and the social perspective. Although SAW and AHP are recurrently used in the sustainable assessment of bridges, the analysis of the most recent articles show that the application of TOPSIS and PROMETHEE techniques are gaining increasing relevance for such purpose. Most of the studies focus on the research of the construction and the maintenance stage of bridges. However, a need for further analysis is identified when it comes to the assessment of the impacts resulting from the End of Life cycle stage of bridges from a sustainable point of view. The use of intuitionistic and neutrosophic logic have been detected as emerging alternatives to the fuzzy approach of decision making problems.

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