Sturges, J (1999) A methodology for environmentally-aware materials selection in construction. In: Hughes, W (ed.) Proceedings of 15th Annual ARCOM Conference, 15-17 September 1999, Liverpool, UK.
Abstract
The 20th century has witnessed the development of a huge range of materials for engineering and construction, during which time the Earth’s population has increased by between 3 and 4 times. There has been a corresponding increase in economic activity, and the global construction industry is now very large, and is a massive consumer of materials and energy. The environmental impact of all these activities has become a matter of major concern, and, as a consequence, we are exhorted to be more economical with materials and energy. Construction is no exception and it needs to be more efficient and environmentally aware, as well as more economical in its selection and use of materials. This is not a simple problem. Environmentalists and ecologists have proposed a number of criteria for assessing the impacts of materials use, and engineers have devised rational methods for materials selection on the basis of their physical and mechanical properties. This paper reviews one of these selection methods and some of the environmental criteria, and examines the problem of incorporating environmental parameters into the selection method. It is concluded that environmental criteria can be built into a rational selection method.
| Item Type: | Conference Paper (Paper) |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; energy; environment; materials |
| Index terms: | environmental impact, population, methodology, global construction, economic activity, selection method, engineer, mechanical property |
| Subjects: | strategic management, profession, environmental impact, economic analysis, research methods, tendering, material properties and characteristics, demography |
| Topics: | International Construction, Urban Studies, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Business Strategy, Procurement, Sustainability, Roles and Professions |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCT |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here