Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from construction activities and processes Conference

Orabi, W, Zhu, Y, Ozcan-Deniz, G. (2012). Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions from construction activities and processes . 1859-1868. 10.1061/9780784412329.187

cited authors

  • Orabi, W; Zhu, Y; Ozcan-Deniz, G

authors

abstract

  • The construction industry has a significant environmental footprint, especially in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. Substantial amounts of greenhouse gasses and non-greenhouse gasses that have an indirect radiative effect are emitted from construction activities and processes and during production, installation, maintenance, and end-of-life disposal of construction materials. These emissions can be controlled and minimized by optimizing the utilization of construction resources. This includes the optimal utilization of the available construction crews and materials in such a way that reduces greenhouse gas emissions while minimizing construction cost and duration. Therefore, this paper presents the development of a building construction planning model that is capable of minimizing greenhouse gas emissions, construction cost, and construction duration, simultaneously. The model is implemented in three main steps: (1) analyzing the impact of construction activities and processes on global warming potential (GWP); (2) evaluating the impact of these activities and processes on construction cost and duration; and (3) optimizing the utilization of construction resources in order to facilitate the selection and implementation of the construction methods that reduces the GWP while keeping construction cost and duration to a minimum. An application example is analyzed to illustrate the use of the developed model and examine the relationships between all three planning objectives. The analysis of the application example demonstrated the capabilities of the developed model in controlling the global warming impacts from construction activities and processes. Furthermore, the examination of the relationships between GWP and construction duration and cost can help designers and construction professionals in making environmentally-conscious yet cost-effective decisions during building design and construction phases. © 2012 ASCE.

publication date

  • September 19, 2012

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

start page

  • 1859

end page

  • 1868