Yao, H (2009) A dynamic approach for evaluating the sustainability performance of infrastructure projects. PhD thesis, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
Abstract
Implementation for sustainable development principles has been attracting increasing attention across various sectors including the construction industry since the evolution of the concept in the publication of Brundtland Commission Report in 1987. In line with this development, implementation of infrastructure construction projects has been given particular attention as they have more significant impacts on the environment, society and economy. It is considered that proper development and operation of infrastructure construction projects can contribute significantly to the mission of sustainable development. The focus of this study is to investigate the sustainability of highway projects during construction and operation stages, and illustrate the application of a dynamic approach for evaluating sustainability performance of infrastructure projects. The research objectives include the identification and selection of the indicators for evaluating the sustainability performance of highway projects; the development of a dynamic model for evaluating the sustainability performance of highway projects during construction and operation stages; and the demonstration of applying the dynamic evaluation model by using a practical case. The major contribution of this study is the introduction of a new methodology for evaluating the sustainability performance of highway projects, which considers collectively the project economic, social and environmental contributions. It provides an alternative which mitigates the weakness of static and isolated evaluation built in traditional evaluation approaches. Other key results from this research include the identification of the key performance indicators for evaluating the sustainability performance of highway project. The dynamic approach introduced also captures a holistic view on a system being assessed. It provides a simple and applicable tool to assist project decision makers in assessing the feasibility of implementing a highway project from the perspective of sustainability performance. The dynamic approach supports the analysis on the impact of dynamic interactions between various factors on project sustainability performance. An understanding on this impact allows project decision-makers to know how a particular level of project sustainability performance is attributed. Improvements in sustainability performance can therefore be made if the performance level is not up to satisfactory level.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Shen, L |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | sustainability; construction project; highway; infrastructure construction; infrastructure project; key performance indicators; sustainable development |
| Index terms: | key performance indicator, sustainability performance, highway construction, infrastructure project, implementation, interaction, construction industry, society, sustainable development, construction project, evolution, methodology, infrastructure construction, publication |
| Subjects: | behavioral psychology, communities and social development, industry analysis, infrastructure and transport systems, production management, health safety and environment, research methods, civil engineering, sustainability assessment, project delivery, environmental science, contractual arrangements, research dissemination and communication |
| Topics: | Procurement, Sustainability, Health and Safety, Project Management, Engineering Principles, Stakeholder Management, Research Practice, Information Management |
| 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