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Construction industries are bulk generators of waste globally; improper management leads to environmental catastrophes. This paper identifies the significant factors through exploratory factor analysis and presents a novel approach to determining the causal relationships of various factors that lead to waste generation at construction sites by structural equation modelling. The analysis identifies maintaining and managing a site waste-management plan (SMP) as the top factor, with a path coefficient of 0·96. The impacts on waste generation of factors such as the operation stage (0·91), ordering and purchasing stage (0·84), hauling and handling stage (0·76), material handling stage (0·73), documentation (0·60) and culture (0·46) are quantified. Appropriate documentation provides the framework for SMP, on the basis of which other mitigation measures may be enforced, thus reinforcing the analysis results of SMP variables. Standardised documentation procedures for SMP need to be initiated and incentivised within existing green building performance rating frameworks, such as Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design–India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Thames Tideway tunnel is a large sewer running up to 66 m below the tidal river Thames in London, UK. Its construction, started in 2016, was urgently needed to protect the tidal Thames from pollution due to the combined sewer overflows of untreated sewage that every year are spilled into the river. This paper reports on an exercise for evaluating the environmental impact associated with the construction process of the east section of the tunnel quantified by means of a life-cycle assessment, which not only primarily considered carbon dioxide emissions, but also took into account a wider series of impact categories. Operational and decommissioning impacts were not included. The results indicated the processes with the greatest effects on the environmental performance of the east sector construction and hence where alternatives on the design or materials used needed to be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past few years, the Building Research Establishment environmental assessment method (Breeam) has increasingly been used for building projects in the UK. This presents design teams with numerous challenges, not the least of which is the need to manage and accommodate the Breeam requirements in their design. This paper examines the impact of the Breeam assessment process on the design of building projects in the UK using eight case studies. The main effects were found to be in the areas of building features, materials and water services. This impact varied from project to project depending on the building type, location, targeted/required Breeam rating, date of assessment and the assessor's role, as well as the team's knowledge of the assessment process. There were significant design changes in the cases aiming to achieve the highest Breeam rating. The results suggest in some cases that Breeam may limit design teams in their design by drawing their attention to achieving Breeam credits rather than the building in its entirety. For instance, Breeam tends to dictate design solutions rather than focusing on the intention - as an example, a designer may focus more on major leak detection than saving water. The paper also discusses potential incorporation of Breeam requirements into building regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over last 15 years it has been increasingly important to understand the sustainability performance of buildings across a broad range of considerations. This has stimulated the development of a number of sustainability assessment tools intended to measure objectively a project's impact in sustainability terms and so encourage designers and planners to improve a building's performance. This paper examines the nature and contribution, as well as the limitations, of current sustainability rating assessment tools in evaluating building sustainability in different countries. Two yardsticks are used to review the current tools: first, how well they relate to the goal of sustainable development, and second, how adequately they adhere to the principles of objective assessment. Scope for further development of sustainability assessment tools is identified - in particular, the need for tools to assess more adequately how buildings provide well-being, and to expand how assessment systems capture qualitative information. The paper proposes that methodology and procedures of assessment methods should feature the broad participation of user groups drawn from the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This briefing addresses an urgent issue for engineering innovators, institutions and journals: how can the spread of infrastructure innovation for sustainability be speeded up? It discusses the challenges and the reasons why innovation can be hard and slow, and focuses on a key innovation sequence: doing the 'first use' project, and early reporting of it, which 'enables' the first copying of the idea - the 'first follower project'. This starts to validate the new idea for the sector. The briefing finishes with some suggested questions to be answered by a good report paper on a 'first use' case study; and calls for more such papers to be submitted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors have constructed a model for choosing between ten structural steel and concrete forms for an office block on the basis of a number of decision criteria, including cost, initial embodied energy, frame construction time and overall construction time. A multi-criteria decision model was utilised within this analysis, resulting in a ranking from 1 to 10 of the different structural options. A centrally important part of the modelling process was the assignment of importance weightings by different stakeholders to the four criteria, with these weightings then input directly into the multi-criteria decision model. Stakeholders were divided into different groupings with potentially significant inputs into the planning/design/construction process, including engineers, architects, planners, contractors and developers. The decision model was then run using each set of weightings derived from the weighting preferences of the different groupings. This paper outlines the method used to derive the weightings, analyses the effect the different weighting inputs have on the rankings of the ten structural options examined, and thus demonstrates how the views of the various stakeholders in this decision-making process regarding the choice of an optimal structural form can be accommodated using a weighted multi-criteria decision model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction industry is known to be a major contributor to environmental pressures due to its high energy consumption and carbon dioxide generation. The growing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over buildings' life cycles has prompted academics and professionals to initiate various studies relating to this problem. Researchers have been exploring carbon dioxide reduction methods for each phase of the building life cycle - from planning and design, materials production, materials distribution and construction process, maintenance and renovation, deconstruction and disposal, to the material reuse and recycle phase. This paper aims to present the state of the art in carbon dioxide reduction studies relating to the construction industry. Studies of carbon dioxide reduction throughout the building life cycle are reviewed and discussed, including those relating to green building design, innovative low carbon dioxide materials, green construction methods, energy efficiency schemes, life cycle energy analysis, construction waste management, reuse and recycling of materials and the cradle-to-cradle concept. The review provides building practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of carbon dioxide reduction potential and approaches worldwide. Opportunities for carbon dioxide reduction can thereby be maximised over the building life cycle by creating environmentally benign designs and using low carbon dioxide materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of achieving a sustainable society is partly dependent on providing an infrastructure to minimise resource flows and associated environmental damage in ways that enhance a community's aspirations and needs. This implies that civil engineers need to understand the impact of population growth and its changing aspirations, developing technology and means to limit environmental impact in order to maintain, enhance or create interdependent infrastructure systems that are multifunctional and operate within complex qualitative and quantitative systems. Developing an understanding of existing resource networks and the interventions and initiatives needed to create a sustainable future leads to a framework that permits political and business decisions to be taken. Such an understanding is essential for appropriate civil engineering solutions for the underlying economic infrastructure - an infrastructure that is now developed through the UK's national infrastructure plan. This paper reviews the interventions, initiatives and barriers that affect the transformation of the food network, as a case study, to a sustainable network. This is to highlight the need for the resource flows to be factored into the national infrastructure plan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article informs on a research paper that studies the scope of constructing sustainable building in Great Britain. The various advantages of sustainable development includes, utilization of fewer nonrenewable resources, improved living and work environment and the increased life of the buildings. It is informed that sustainable buildings amount to lesser operating and building costs. Also discussed is the involvement of the government and society in encouraging sustainable development.