Analysis of time, cost, and environmental impact relationships at the building-material level

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

7-1-2016

Abstract

Recently many studies have shown interest in understanding the relationship between different project objectives in the context of sustainable development in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. However, those studies were mainly focused on the relationship at the building level. The authors of this study argue that a better understanding of such a relationship at the material level is equally important, because many decisions related to design and construction methods are made based on the selection of materials or products. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine data patterns of installation time, cost, and environmental impacts in terms of CO2 emissions at the material level. Six material categories, i.e., structural components, exterior claddings, insulation, roofing, concrete footings, and concrete slabs-on-grade, were analyzed to examine the relationship between material cost and CO2 emissions. Two scenarios were considered for each category to better understand the impact of material installation on the relationship and identify dominant materials within each category under a certain level of confidence. Results show that only under a very low level of confidence that a dominant material exists in all six categories. In addition, the relationships at the material level appear to be rather random. It is thus important to have a better tool for decision-making and for future studies to understand how the randomness at the material level affects the relationships at the building level.

Publication Source (Journal or Book title)

Journal of Management in Engineering

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