Khattak, S B (2020) Evaluation of the construction industry from sustainability perspective. PhD thesis, University of Engineering & Technology Peshawar, Pakistan.
Abstract
Construction Industry is one of the largest employers of both skilled and unskilled labour and has a positive impact on the national and international economy. However, it does add economic burden and have a negative impact on the environment and society. Moreover, construction industry no longer enjoys unlimited resources. Sustainable construction can be one of the solutions to reduce its adverse effects. With no universal definition, the concept of sustainability and sustainable construction varies from region to region. A number of researchers have tried their hand to identify the factors which constitute sustainable construction for a specific region or country. The literature review indicates that no such study exists for Pakistan. This research with the help of a literature review and experts identifies Pakistan specific sustainable construction factors and then with the help of a questionnaire quantifies these factors. As per the Slovin’s formula, a sample size of hundred is calculated to be valid for this research. The research also identifies the challenges and opportunities associated with sustainable construction in Pakistan. Methods such as Relative Importance Index (RII), Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), and Taguchi Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR) are employed to analyze the available data. The analysis shows that the construction practitioners in Pakistan are more interested in economic aspect especially the factors related to funding. The social and environment factors which have economic benefits, are also considered in most of the projects. However, the environmental factors associated with carbon foot prints such as carbon emissions, recyclable products, and renewable energy are least considered. The social factors associated with safety and the economic factors associated with employees are also least considered. This research also uses the application of machine learning and big data through multinomial logistics regression to evaluate each aspect of the sustainable construction in totality. The results show that currently Pakistan construction industry is at moderate level, and with the help of stakeholders, it can be transformed into a much more sustainable industry.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Hussain, I |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Pakistan; analytical hierarchy process; carbon emissions; funding; learning; logistics; machine learning; noise; renewable energy; safety; sample size; sustainability; sustainable construction |
| Index terms: | analytical hierarchy process, construction industry, economic factor, funding, social factor, sample size, carbon emission, renewable energy, environmental factor, machine learning, questionnaire, Pakistan, multinomial, construction practitioner, literature review, big data, relative importance index, society, sustainable construction |
| Subjects: | economic analysis, environmental science, climate science, decision-making and optimization, communities and social development, sustainable construction, economic concepts, Geography, artificial intelligence, energy systems, data analysis and analytics, research design and methodology, data collection methods, risk assessment, information systems, statistical analysis, industry analysis, sociology, professional development |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Stakeholder Management, Information Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy, Sustainability, Risk Management, Geographical Context |
| 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