Valdes-Vasquez, R (2011) Social sustainability considerations during planning and design: A framework of processes for construction projects. PhD thesis, Clemson University, USA.
Abstract
With increased awareness of issues such as global resource shortages and climate change, sustainability efforts are becoming more common in the construction industry. While these efforts often consider economic and environmental factors, a truly sustainable construction project also needs to include such social considerations as its impact on the surrounding community and the safety, health, and education of the workforce. For the construction industry, social sustainability requires integrating processes for improving safety, health and well-being over the project life cycle. However, an empirical and comprehensive framework defining these social sustainability processes in construction projects has yet to be clearly delineated. To address this need, this study identifies these processes and categorizes them into a framework for integrating and evaluating social considerations in construction projects. These processes focus on the planning and design phases because they offer the greatest potential for influencing project performance. A concept mapping research method was applied to identify and categorize social sustainability processes based on the input of 25 experts from academia, industry and government. These experts contributed to process identification and then clustered and rated the processes based on similarity and importance, respectively. Multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis was applied to organize the experts' input into six categories defining social sustainability in construction projects: Stakeholder Engagement, User Considerations, Team Formation, Management Considerations, Impact Assessment, and Place Context. The primary contribution of this research to the knowledge in the field is the expert-based social sustainability framework. Practitioners can benefit from the framework, which will enhance existing sustainability assessment methods and help address the challenge of developing truly sustainable projects. This framework also provides educators with a tool to teach students about social sustainability for construction projects. While this research advances understanding of social sustainability for construction projects, the framework was not validated for every type of construction project and construction project stakeholder. Given the differences between construction projects and between stakeholder perspectives, future research to validate the framework with other expert groups would be useful. In addition, future research suggested by this project could include the development of metrics based on the processes included in the framework. Beyond the framework itself, a secondary contribution to the field is the method for applying the concept mapping research method in the construction industry.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Klotz, L E |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | education; sustainability; workforce; construction project; climate change; government; life cycle; safety; sustainable construction; project stakeholder; cluster analysis; project performance |
| Index terms: | scaling, construction industry, stakeholder engagement, design phase, academia, project performance, social sustainability, life cycle, sustainable construction project, becoming, shortages, concept mapping, climate change, environmental factor, impact assessment, practitioner, project stakeholder, cluster analysis, construction project, health and wellbeing, sustainable construction, sustainability assessment |
| Subjects: | data analysis and analytics, value management, community and social dimensions, mental health and wellbeing, industry analysis, educational institutions, decision analysis, sociology, project management theory and practice, environmental science, professional practice, economic analysis, practitioner, climate science, organization, philosophical process, communities and social development, production management, sustainable construction, sustainability assessment |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Project Management, Risk Management, Sustainability, Education, Business Strategy, Research Practice, Stakeholder Management, Roles and Professions, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTA |
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