Mirshekarlou, B R (2018) An investigation of material waste management in prefabricated construction industry and developing an integrated waste management tool. PhD thesis, Middle East Technical University, Turkey.
Abstract
In order to formulate effective waste reduction strategies in construction projects, it is essential to continuously monitor and analyze the waste generation and improve the existing processes continuously. This requires to establish a waste benchmark, based on the previous experiences in the organization, to assist the project team in taking efficient and timely actions to prevent the waste at source, and enhance the corporate waste management capability. The current study is carried out to explore the waste management in prefabricated steel structure construction companies in Turkey and develop a process model using an integrated waste management tool, to facilitate and improve the efficiency of existing waste management procedures. A classified set of materials and potential waste causes were listed through detailed literature review, studying real project records and interviewing with experts in the sector. A questionnaire survey has been carried out in collaboration with the Turkish prefabricated steel structure building companies to investigate the current performance of companies in material waste management and identify the most waste-prone materials and the main causes of waste generation. Also, the existing deficiencies in waste management processes were explored and factors plugging the way of effective waste management were identified. An integrated waste management process model and a supporting application were developed for the Turkish prefabricated building companies, in order to facilitate waste estimation, management, monitoring and controlling. Finally, the developed tool, the “Waste Tracker”, was tested and verified by the sector professionals. The testing and verification process gave favorable results. Although the findings on waste-prone materials and waste management practices reflect the situation in the Turkish prefabricated construction industry, it is believed that the proposed process model as well as the tool are generic and be modified to other countries and industries after some modifications.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Toker, İ D and Birgönül, M T |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Turkey; collaboration; monitoring; project team; questionnaire survey; waste management |
| Index terms: | efficiency, Turkey, waste generation, effective waste management, waste reduction strategy, estimation, monitoring, investigation, prefabricated building, testing, construction industry, project team, steel structure, literature review, survey, construction company, collaboration, construction project, waste management, questionnaire |
| Subjects: | Geography, production management, building construction, environmental impact, waste management, organization, professional practice, performance management, specialized materials and systems, management, industry analysis, control systems, data collection methods, financial and cost management, project delivery, data analysis and analytics |
| Topics: | Cost Management, Business Strategy, Construction Materials, Research Practice, Construction Technology, Site Management, Organizational Design, Engineering Principles, Project Management, Geographical Context, Sustainability, Quality Management |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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