Measuring non-road diesel emissions in the construction industry: A synopsis of the literature

Non-road diesel engines (NRDE) emissions are unregulated in several countries including Australia and there is an absence of data for construction sites in rapidly growing metropolitan Sydney. Secondary data from the NSW Environmental Protection Authority in Australia indicate that construction sites form a surprisingly high contribution to nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and greenhouse gas emissions given the small ratio of NRDE to total vehicles. Moreover, diesel consumption by the NRDE sector is projected to rise substantially in the construction industry over the next two decades. Thus, the objectives of this paper are to analyze the current literature on construction site emission monitoring, to identify the methods employed, and to propose an innovative way of overcoming deficiencies in existing measurement approaches. The contribution of the paper has been firstly, to classify the construction emissions literature into distinctive categories, not previously done and drawing attention to the almost complete absence of air quality data for construction sites in Australia. Categorizing the literature has revealed a significant gap in researchers' ability to provide accurate emissions data on construction sites, while the third consequential contribution is the proposal to develop and test a web-based emissions system for accurate and long-term monitoring.