Creating a Holistic Systems Framework for Sustainability Assessment of Civil Infrastructure Projects
Publication: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 141, Issue 2
Abstract
The available sustainability tools and rating systems need to better incorporate the broader socioeconomic settings associated with the built environment. This paper develops, and contributes to the current body of knowledge, two innovative system-based benchmarks for sustainability assessment. On one hand, the “work” benchmark defines the behavioral relationships between the construction products and actors to study technical, social and cultural, and economic sustainability. On the other hand, the “nature” benchmark defines the interactions between construction processes and the surrounding ecosystems to study environmental, individual, and economic sustainability. The authors developed and distributed an expert survey to validate these two benchmarks. Consequently, to test these two novel concepts, the authors analyzed three different civil infrastructure projects. To this end, the authors evaluated the actors, products, and dynamics within the construction processes and their interactions. The analysis provided insights related to degrees of communication between communities and the construction industry, and highlighted occurrences of a lack of communication. The relationship between the construction industry and its customers was also investigated, and it was clear that within a single construction project, all sustainability indicators can cross boundaries and overlap. Based on the results, the authors succeeded in: (1) defining a holistic sustainability systems–based approach to studying the built environment; (2) assessing the degree of communication between the construction industry and its community host systems; and (3) evaluating the relationship between the construction industry and its customers. For future work, the authors are developing a flow benchmark to predict the overall system change through overtime simulation of human-built environment resource dynamics.
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Acknowledgments
The second author appreciates the invaluable insights provided by Mr. Jerome Knapp, President of Dedalus Corporation, who instilled the basis and need for this ongoing research project.
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Information & Authors
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Published In
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management
Volume 141 • Issue 2 • February 2015
Copyright
© 2014 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Nov 13, 2013
Accepted: Jun 15, 2014
Published online: Aug 25, 2014
Discussion open until: Jan 25, 2015
Published in print: Feb 1, 2015
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