Patcharachavalit, N; Limsawasd, C and Athigakunagorn, N (2023) Multiobjective optimization for improving sustainable equipment options in road construction projects. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 149(1): 04022160, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
The increasing awareness of sustainability has resulted in the progressive regulation of contractors for public projects to lower the pollution associated with their equipment fleet. Nevertheless, such implementation has not been fully developed yet due to the challenges this presents to contractor profitability and the practical usefulness of decision-support tools. This paper developed a sustainable equipment fleet (SEF) decision-support optimization model with the capability to reduce the CO2 emissions of construction equipment and to minimize the equipment fleet modification cost, subject to the contractor's budget and time constraints. The model utilizes a multiobjective genetic algorithm (GA) to search for the combination of equipment utilization, equipment model, and sustainable options that provide the optimal equipment fleet options to contractors. The results from the case study of a road construction project demonstrated the tradeoff between emissions and costs, with a wide range of optimal sustainable equipment fleet options. In addition, the fuel equivalent ratio (FER) and the equipment cost-effective ratio (CER) were newly established to normalize pollutant generation and equipment investment and to enable equipment comparisons for facilitating equipment selection by the contractor. The findings suggested that equipment selection involving a lower FER is preferable for sustainability and likewise, a lower CER for the cost aspect. However, effectiveness was measured as the proportion of FER to CER, with higher effectiveness when the proportion was lower. This paper facilitates the assessment and prioritization by construction companies of their equipment investment options to satisfy sustainability requirements.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | co 2 emission; decision-support tool; equipment cost; genetic algorithm; road construction projects |
| Index terms: | genetic algorithm, tradeoff, pollutant, case study, implementation, road construction, CO2 emissions, construction company, effectiveness, option, equipment selection, public project, regulation, pollution, construction equipment, profitability, equipment cost |
| Subjects: | political science, algorithms, decision analysis, data collection methods, economics, organization, procurement capability, construction equipment, infrastructure engineering, economic analysis, performance management, civil engineering, contractual arrangements, air quality, environmental health |
| Topics: | Research Practice, Risk Management, Digital Applications, Sustainability, Engineering Principles, Supply Chain Management, Quality Management, Plant and Equipment, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Procurement, Governance |
| 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