Tam, C M; Tam, V W Y and Zeng, S X (2002) Environmental performance evaluation (EPE) for construction. Building Research & Information, 30(5), pp. 349-361. ISSN 0961-3218
Abstract
Environmental management system (EMS) has been advocated for all economic sectors. Construction, as one of the pollution generators, is not exempt from EMS. However, in performing EMS, the greatest obstacle is the lack of objective performance evaluation criteria. ISO 14000 is an international environmental management system (EMS), which deals with the management of the organizational environmental performance. In 1999, ISO 14031 Environmental Performance Evaluation (EPE) was introduced for assessing the environmental performance related to the management and operational systems. The Hong Kong construction industry lags behind other sectors of the economy in implementing EMS and EPE because the self-initiating nature of the scheme lacks any external stimulus. The high initial cost of the scheme deters contractors from the implementation. However, the application of EPE offers many benefits to the Hong Kong construction industry. Therefore, this paper discusses the benefits and difficulties when implementing EPE in the construction industry. Some obstacles have been identified and suggestions to overcome them are made.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction; environmental management systems; environmental performance evaluation; Hong Kong; sustainability |
| Index terms: | performance evaluation, construction industry, implementation, pollution, environmental performance, environmental management system, Hong Kong, ISO |
| Subjects: | Geography, performance measurement, sustainability assessment, industry analysis, environmental health, control systems, contractual arrangements, standards development |
| Topics: | Quality Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Sustainability, Procurement |
| 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