Moussavi Nadoushani, Z S; Akbarnezhad, A and Rey, D (2018) Optimization of concrete placing operation based on competing carbon footprint, cost and production rate objectives. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 25(7), pp. 938-957. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose: Due to considerable contributions of the construction industry to the global carbon emissions, a great deal of attention is placed on possible incorporation of carbon footprint minimization as an important objective in the planning of construction operations. The purpose of this paper is to present a framework to estimate and minimize the carbon emissions of the concrete placing operation through identifying the optimal number of pumps and the inter-arrival time of truck mixers. Design/methodology/approach: The proposed framework integrates discrete event simulation and multi-objective optimization to estimate and minimize the carbon emission, costs and production rate of the concrete placing operation. An actual construction project is used to demonstrate the application of the proposed framework. Furthermore, a sensitivity analysis is performed to investigate the sensitivity of the results to variations in modeling parameters including the ratio of idle to non-idle emission rates of equipment and the activity duration distributions. Findings: The results of the case study highlight that variations in the number of pumps and inter-arrival time of truck mixers significantly affect the carbon emissions, cost and production rate of the concrete placing operation. Furthermore, the results of the sensitivity analysis show that variations in the ratio of idle to non-idle emission rates for pumps and truck mixers have little effects on the selected setting for the project. This is contrary to the effect of uncertainty in the activity duration distributions, which was found to be significant. Originality/value: Results of this study provide an insight into the trade-off between carbon emissions, cost and production rate of the concrete placing operation.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | construction planning; optimization; productivity; simulation |
| Index terms: | productivity, construction operation, carbon footprint, case study, discrete event simulation, carbon emission, duration, construction industry, estimate, modelling, construction planning, placing, multi-objective optimization, sensitivity analysis, minimization, methodology, variation, construction project |
| Subjects: | contractual condition, production management, concrete and cementitious materials, management, research methods, algorithms, industry analysis, environmental hazards, project controls, environmental impact, climate science, data collection methods, construction operations, construction planning, analytical methods, financial and cost management, modelling and simulation |
| Topics: | Sustainability, Project Management, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Engineering Principles, Cost Management, Business Strategy, Site Management, Contract Administration, Time Control, Digital Applications |
| 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