Fortunato Iii, B R; Hallowell, M R; Behm, M and Dewlaney, K (2012) Identification of safety risks for high-performance sustainable construction projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 138(4), pp. 499-508. ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The United States Green Building Council (USGBC)-sponsored Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) green building program represents the largest program in the United States for the measurement, verification, and certification of green buildings. A recent study found that LEED-certified buildings have accounted for a higher injury rate than comparative traditional non-LEED buildings. This finding served as the impetus for the present study, which aimed to identify and evaluate the safety and health risks associated with the design elements and construction management practices implemented to achieve LEED certification. To explore this topic, six detailed case studies and two validation case studies were conducted following a strict protocol developed from guiding literature. The results indicate that (1)workers on LEED construction projects are exposed to work at height, with electrical current, near unstable soils, and near heavy equipment for a greater period of time than workers on traditional projects; (2)workers are exposed to new high-risk tasks such as constructing atria, installing green roofs, and installing photovoltaic (PV) panels; and (3)some credits result in a positive impact on construction worker safety and health when low volatile organic compound (VOC) adhesives and sealants are specified. It is expected that these results can be used by practitioners to focus attention and resources on new highrisk work environments.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | leed; risk; safety; sustainability |
| Index terms: | certification, program, practitioner, construction worker, environmental design, injury, construction project, green roof, work environment, United States, health risk, case study, management practice, green building, validation, sustainable construction project, photovoltaic |
| Subjects: | sustainability and energy, sustainable construction, practitioner, design practice, data collection methods, sustainable design, health conditions and diseases, Geography, management, administrative processes, professional development, software systems, energy systems, production management, environmental health |
| Topics: | Business Strategy, Contract Administration, Geographical Context, Project Management, Health and Safety, Organizational Design, Information Management, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Digital Applications, Research Practice, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 3 PCE |
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