Shojaei, A; Wang, J and Fenner, A (2020) Exploring the feasibility of blockchain technology as an infrastructure for improving built asset sustainability. Built Environment Project and Asset Management, 10(2), pp. 184-199. ISSN 2044-124X
Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to show the feasibility of blockchain technology to perform as an infrastructure for improving built asset sustainability by providing all the necessary information for better decision making at all the stages of its life cycle. Design/methodology/approach: Blockchain technology can be used as a tool to build a reliable and secure decentralized information system to capture and disseminate all the data required for different sustainability assessment models. A model is designed and tested through a synthetic scenario to substantiate the research objective with empirical work. Findings: It is shown that blockchain can revolutionize the current state of knowledge for long-term sustainability thinking and provide necessary information in different stages of the life cycle of a built asset. With the proposed decentralized, transparent and comprehensive database using blockchain, the life cycle assessment methods can become much more inclusive and reliable. The new holistic analysis of the built asset sustainability enables better decision making in design, build, operation and demolition of each asset. Originality/value: This paper proposes and tests a model for using blockchain as an infrastructure to support built asset sustainability. Practitioners from different backgrounds at different stages of a built asset life cycle can use such a network to make better decisions and better assess the sustainability of their built assets.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | assessment; blockchain; built asset sustainability; decision support; information systems; sustainability |
| Index terms: | decision-making, methodology, practitioner, information system, built asset, blockchain, sustainability assessment, decision support, life cycle, life cycle assessment, database |
| Subjects: | environmental impact, computing systems, practitioner, value management, sustainability assessment, research methods, information systems, data management, asset management, decision analysis |
| Topics: | Digital Applications, Sustainability, Roles and Professions, Risk Management, Project Management, Research Practice, Business Strategy |
| 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