Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States

Chong, Wai Kiong; Kumar, Sanat K.; Haas, Carl T.; Beheiry, Salwa; Coplen, Lonnie; Oey, Marvin

doi:10.1061/(asce)0742-597x(2009)25:3(143)

Cited by 90 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 21 publications

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“…Communication is also an essential and a critical factor affecting the stakeholders' perceptions of sustainability. Knowledge of sustainable construction is often fragmented amongst different stakeholders [49], but frequent communication amongst them could help integrate the information and knowledge, align objectives, and reduce conflicts. In fact, the quality of communication in the context of the construction industry plays an important role in the process of construction.…”

Section: Stakeholders and Factors Surrounding Sustainable Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incentive Model Based on Cooperative Relationship in Sustainable Construction Projects

Zuo

Zhao

2017

Sustainability

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Considering the cooperative relationship between owners and contractors in sustainable construction projects, as well as the synergistic effects created by cooperative behaviors, a cooperative incentive model was developed using game theory. The model was formulated and analyzed under both non-moral hazard and moral hazard situations. Then, a numerical simulation and example were proposed to verify the conclusions derived from the model. The results showed that the synergistic effect increases the input intensity of one party's resource transfer into the increase of marginal utility of the other party, thus the owner and contractor are willing to enhance their levels of effort. One party's optimal benefit allocation coefficient is positively affected by its own output efficiency, and negatively affected by the other party's output efficiency. The effort level and expected benefits of the owner and contractor can be improved by enhancing the cooperative relationship between the two parties, as well as enhancing the net benefits of a sustainable construction project. The synergistic effect cannot lower the negative effect of moral hazard behaviors during the implementation of sustainable construction projects. Conversely, the higher levels of the cooperative relationship, the wider the gaps amongst the optimal values under both non-moral hazard and moral hazard situations for the levels of effort, expected benefits and net project benefits. Since few studies to date have emphasized the effects of cooperative relationship on sustainable construction projects, this study constructed a game-based incentive model to bridge the gaps. This study contributes significant theoretical and practical insights into the management of cooperation amongst stakeholders, and into the enhancement of the overall benefits of sustainable construction projects.

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Section: Stakeholders and Factors Surrounding Sustainable Constructionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incentive Model Based on Cooperative Relationship in Sustainable Construction Projects

Zuo

Zhao

2017

Sustainability

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“…The sustainability practices identified are: (1) prefabrication, preassembly, modularization, and offsite construction (PPMOF) evaluation [20,[43][44][45]48,49,52,54,56,57]; (2) startup processes and systems [20,42,46,47]; (3) meeting startup quality [20,42,46,47]; (4) community relations [15,20,[58][59][60][61][62]; (5) life cycle cost analysis [20,32,36,48,50,57,61,63]; (6) regulatory requirement, permitting, and environment [15,20,35,60,61,[64][65][66]; and (7) sustainability [20,35,64,66]. The description and sources of sustainability practices from the literature review are summarized in Table 1.…”

Section: Identifying Sustainability Practicesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Benchmarking Sustainability Practices Use throughout Industrial Construction Project Delivery

Yun

Jung

2017

Sustainability

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Despite the efforts for sustainability studies in building and infrastructure construction, the sustainability issues in industrial construction remain understudied. Further, few studies evaluate sustainability and benchmark sustainability issues in industrial construction from a management perspective. This study presents a phase-based benchmarking framework for evaluating sustainability practices use focusing on industrial facilities project. Based on the framework, this study quantifies and assesses sustainability practices use, and further sorts the results by project phase and major project characteristics, including project type, project nature, and project delivery method. The results show that sustainability practices were implemented higher in the construction and startup phases relative to other phases, with a very broad range. An assessment by project type and project nature showed significant differences in sustainability practices use, but no significant difference in practices use by project delivery method. This study contributes to providing a benchmarking method for sustainability practices in industrial facilities projects at the project phase level. This study also discusses and provides an application of phase-based benchmarking for sustainability in industrial construction.

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“…Over the last few decades, alongside the development of sustainable science, technologies, materials, and assessment and measurement tools, the need for the infrastructure industry to take a stronger role in delivering on the promise of sustainable development has been highlighted in the research and within the engineering profession [3,33,34]. However, progress in sustainable infrastructure is slow.…”

Section: State Of Progress-infrastructure Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Studies that investigated barriers and challenges to sustainable design and construction have highlighted limited sustainability knowledge and understanding, uncertainty and unfamiliarity with sustainable materials and technologies, and a tendency to maintain current practices [13,35,36]. Chong et al's study of sustainability in the construction industry [34] identified a strong level of conservatism in the civil engineering sector and recommended broadening the knowledge in sustainability, making sustainability more relevant and necessary to the professionals and their organizations, and providing platforms for communication and sharing ideas. In 2011, Willetts et al [37] found that, while sustainability is acknowledged as important to engineering firms, the engineering consultancy sector was behind other sectors such as mining, oil and gas, and financial services in terms of sustainability performance and reporting.…”

Section: State Of Progress-infrastructure Industrymentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond the Certification Badge—How Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Tools Impact on Individual, Organizational, and Industry Practice

2018

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Sustainability consideration in designing, constructing, and operating civil infrastructure requires substantive action and yet progress is slow. This research examines the impact third-party infrastructure sustainability rating tools-specifically CEEQUAL, Envision, Greenroads, and Infrastructure Sustainability-have beyond individual project certification and considers their role in driving wider industry change. In this empirical study, engineering and sustainability professionals (n = 63) assess and describe their experience in using rating tools outside of formal certification and also the impact of tool use on their own practice and the practices of their home organizations. The study found that 77% of experienced users and 59% of infrastructure owners used the tools for purposes other than formal project certification. The research attests that rating tool use and indeed their very existence has a strong influence on sustainability awareness and practice within the infrastructure industry, providing interpretation of sustainability matters in ways that resonate with industry norms. The rating tools impact on individuals and their professional and personal practice, on the policies and practices of infrastructure-related organizations, and more widely on other industry stakeholders. The findings can be used to increase the value gained from sustainability rating tool use and to better understand the role such tools play in creating cultural change within the industry.

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Understanding and Interpreting Baseline Perceptions of Sustainability in Construction among Civil Engineers in the United States

Cited by 90 publications

References 21 publications

Incentive Model Based on Cooperative Relationship in Sustainable Construction Projects

Incentive Model Based on Cooperative Relationship in Sustainable Construction Projects

Benchmarking Sustainability Practices Use throughout Industrial Construction Project Delivery

Beyond the Certification Badge—How Infrastructure Sustainability Rating Tools Impact on Individual, Organizational, and Industry Practice

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