A total environmental risk assessment model for international hub airports

This paper presents a multi-criteria decision analysis for environmental risk assessment (ERA) with regard to avoiding and eliminating damages and loss under natural disasters in international airport projects. It starts from an assumption that the strategy of eliminating damages and losses under natural disasters is related to the location selection problem, and it is necessary to use the multi-criteria decision analysis for calculated decision-making support. The paper uses the analytic network process (ANP) to demonstrate one of its utility modes in decision-making support to location selection problems, which aims at an evaluation of different projects from different locations. A set of generic criteria for risk assessment at international projects was put forward to support ANP modelling, and it was due to the consideration of social, technical, economic, environmental and political (STEEP) criteria related to the built, social and natural (BSN) trinity environment of international airport projects. At the end, an experimental case study on three international hub airports in China is given to test the ANP model called ERA.Airport, and it is concluded that ANP can be effectively used for risk assessment in the specific utility mode. The ERA.Airport is a generic multi-criteria decision-making model and can be used across the world for accurate environmental risk assessment for international airports.     

A multi-criteria analysis for bridge sustainability assessment: a case study of Penang Second Bridge,Malaysia

Bridges are a critical part of our nation's economic prosperity and local community well-being. One of the latest trends in bridge engineering is sustainable design, which is designing so that resources are available for many generations to come. Sustainable design considers the ecological, economic and socio-cultural environments and works to balance all three. There are some sustainable infrastructure rating systems (RSs) available, such as Envision that can be applied to bridges. However, no system has been developed that would specifically apply to bridge sustainability assessment. The objectives of this study are first, to investigate bridge sustainability issues from three main aspects: environmental, economical and social; and second, to apply multi-criteria analysis to assess the sustainability of the Penang Second Bridge in Malaysia. A hierarchy structure of the sustainable bridge attributes was developed for each RS, and an analytical hierarchy process method was then applied for the appraisal of the sustainability of a bridge pertaining to the relative attributes. The research involved a committee of Malaysian bridge professionals to support the rational decision-making. The results reveal that the case study has achieved most of the criteria of the sustainability assessments.     

Selection of sustainable sanitation technologies for urban slums--a case of Bwaise III in Kampala, Uganda

Provision of sanitation solutions in the world's urban slums is extremely challenging due to lack of money, space, access and sense of ownership. This paper presents a technology selection method that was used for the selection of appropriate sanitation solutions for urban slums. The method used in this paper takes into account sustainability criteria, including social acceptance, technological and physical applicability, economical and institutional aspects, and the need to protect and promote human health and the environment. The study was carried out in Bwaise III; a slum area in Kampala (Uganda). This was through administering of questionnaires and focus group discussions to obtain baseline data, developing a database to compare different sanitation options using technology selection criteria and then performing a multi-criteria analysis of the technology options. It was found that 15% of the population uses a public pit latrine; 75% uses a shared toilet; and 10% has private, non-shared sanitation facilities. Using the selection method, technologies such as Urine Diversion Dry Toilet (UDDT) and biogas latrines were identified to be potentially feasible sanitation solutions for Bwaise III. Sanitation challenges for further research are also presented.     

Developing a multicriteria approach for the measurement of sustainable performance

In Australia, cost–benefit analysis (CBA) is one of the conventional tools used widely by the public and the private sectors in the appraisal of projects. It measures and compares the total costs and benefits of projects that are competing for scarce resources in monetary terms. Growing concerns that the values of environmental goods and services are often ignored or underestimated in the CBA approach have led to the overuse and depletion of environmental assets. A model of a sustainability index as an evaluation tool that combines economic, social and environmental criteria into an indexing algorithm is presented and described. The sustainability index uses monetary and non-monetary approaches to rank projects and facilities on their contribution to sustainability. This process enables the principle of trade-off to occur in the decision-making process and thereby allows environmental values to be considered when selecting a development option. This makes it possible to optimize financial return, maximize resource consumption and minimize detrimental effects to the natural and man-made world. A case study is used to demonstrate the model.     

Developing a multicriteria approach for the measurement of sustainable performance

In Australia, cost-benefit analysis (CBA) is one of the conventional tools used widely by the public and the private sectors in the appraisal of projects. It measures and compares the total costs and benefits of projects that are competing for scarce resources in monetary terms. Growing concerns that the values of environmental goods and services are often ignored or underestimated in the CBA approach have led to the overuse and depletion of environmental assets. A model of a sustainability index as an evaluation tool that combines economic, social and environmental criteria into an indexing algorithm is presented and described. The sustainability index uses monetary and non-monetary approaches to rank projects and facilities on their contribution to sustainability. This process enables the principle of trade-off to occur in the decision-making process and thereby allows environmental values to be considered when selecting a development option. This makes it possible to optimize financial return, maximize resource consumption and minimize detrimental effects to the natural and man-made world. A case study is used to demonstrate the model.     

Investment priorities for the management of hydraulic structures

Maintenance management of the hydraulic structures requires the selection of the most necessary maintenance intervention to ensure their proper operation and structural safety. Given the characteristics of these structures, many types of damage may appear, so it is not easy to take a decision. The purpose of this paper is to present the Prioritisation Index for the Management of Hydraulic Structures (PIMHS), a multi-criteria decision-making system based on the three axioms of sustainability (social, environmental and economic), which orders and prioritises non-similar maintenance investments in hydraulic structures. The results obtained show that PIMHS can be used by decision-makers to prioritise, in hydraulic structures, all kinds of maintenance interventions where the damages cannot lead to dam break.     

Environmental assessment in construction using a Spatial Decision Support System

This research proposes a Spatial Decision Support System based on the Geographical Information System (GIS) to evaluate the environmental performance in construction. The system has been designed to add a spatial component to the current tools for the inspection and management of the sustainability of buildings and to assist the planners in their decision-making. The multi-criteria evaluation method developed in the Green Building Challenge and implemented in the software SbTool has been used as a reference. The evaluation method presents a hierarchical structure of criteria and variables which is applied to buildings spatially indexed in GIS and the environmental data of the buildings comes from an external data-base developed in Access. In order to validate the system, the environmental assessment of a group of residential, industrial and public service buildings during the phases of operation was simulated. The application of this tool in the inspection and environmental assessment of buildings allows the geographical scale of analysis to be extended to a group of buildings within the area of interest and consequently to extend the limits of its usefulness within the field of planning and environmental assessment.     

Key performance indicators and assessment methods for infrastructure sustainability—a South African construction industry perspective

This paper identifies key performance indicators (KPI) for infrastructure delivery and maps computational methods required to achieve sustainability objectives in developing countries. It builds on previous research that developed taxonomy of infrastructure sustainability indicators and computational methods, to propose an analytical decision model and a structured methodology for sustainability appraisal in infrastructure projects in a developing country like South Africa. The paper uses the ‘weighted sum model’ technique in multi-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) and the ‘additive utility model’ in analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making, to develop the model for computing the sustainability index—a crisp value for evaluating infrastructure design proposals. It discusses the development of the KPIs that are encapsulated within the analytical model. It concludes by discussing other potential applications of the proposed model and methodology for process automation as part of integrated sustainability appraisal in infrastructure design and construction in developing countries.     

Key performance indicators (KPIs) and priority setting in using the multi-attribute approach for assessing sustainable intelligent buildings

The main objectives of this paper are to: firstly, identify key issues related to sustainable intelligent buildings (environmental, social, economic and technological factors); develop a conceptual model for the selection of the appropriate KPIs; secondly, test critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings; and thirdly develop a new model for measuring the level of sustainability for sustainable intelligent buildings. This paper uses a consensus-based model (Sustainable Built Environment Tool- SuBETool), which is analysed using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) for multi-criteria decision-making. The use of the multi-attribute model for priority setting in the sustainability assessment of intelligent buildings is introduced. The paper commences by reviewing the literature on sustainable intelligent buildings research and presents a pilot-study investigating the problems of complexity and subjectivity. This study is based upon a survey perceptions held by selected stakeholders and the value they attribute to selected KPIs. It is argued that the benefit of the new proposed model (SuBETool) is a ‘tool’ for ‘comparative’ rather than an absolute measurement. It has the potential to provide useful lessons from current sustainability assessment methods for strategic future of sustainable intelligent buildings in order to improve a building's performance and to deliver objective outcomes. Findings of this survey enrich the field of intelligent buildings in two ways. Firstly, it gives a detailed insight into the selection of sustainable building indicators, as well as their degree of importance. Secondly, it tesst critically stakeholder's perceptions and values of selected KPIs intelligent buildings. It is concluded that the priority levels for selected criteria is largely dependent on the integrated design team, which includes the client, architects, engineers and facilities managers.     

Sustainability assessment of flooring systems in the city of Tehran: An AHP-based life cycle analysis

In recent years, numerous attempts have been made to reduce the global environmental and associated socio-economic impacts of construction activities to achieve sustainable development goals. A sustainable system or activity refers to an eco-friendly, cost effective and socio-politically viable solution. This paper utilizes triple-bottom-line (TBL) sustainability criteria for the selection of a sustainable flooring system in Tehran (Iran). Three types of block joisted flooring systems – concrete, clay, and expanded polystyrene (EPS) blocks – have been investigated using life cycle analysis (LCA). Proposed approach provides a comprehensive evaluation system based on TBL criteria that are further divided into thirteen sub-criteria. It includes: (1) Environmental concerns (resource depletion, waste and emissions, waste management, climate change, environmental risk, embodied energy and energy loss); (2) Economic concerns (material cost, construction cost, and occupation and maintenance cost); and (3) Socio-political issues (social acceptance, vulnerability of area, and building weight). Analytical hierarchy process (AHP) is used as a multi-criteria decision making technique that helps to aggregate the impacts of proposed (sub)criteria into a sustainability index (SI) through a five-level hierarchical structure. Integration of AHP and LCA provides a framework for robust decision making that is consistent with sustainable construction practices. A detailed analysis shows that the EPS block is the most sustainable solution for block joisted flooring system in Tehran.     

Multi-objective optimisation of bridge retrofit and post-event repair selection to enhance sustainability

The decaying state of our infrastructure paired with rising emphasis on sustainable engineering suggests the need for upgrades which are selected based on their ability to provide adequate performance under natural hazards and minimise negative impacts on the three pillars of sustainability: society, environment and economy. This paper poses a framework based on a multi-objective genetic algorithm to help identify optimal retrofit and repair combinations which ensure public safety while minimising lifetime environmental, economic and social performance measures of sustainability for infrastructure exposed to natural hazards. Assessment of the case-study application results reveals the relationship between life-cycle environmental, economic and social indicators of sustainability for a bridge subject to earthquakes. The framework is anticipated to help guide the selection of retrofit and repair combinations by providing a set of ‘near-optimal’ non-dominated solutions, which enhance sustainability while ensuring public safety and mitigating or repairing damage from natural disasters.     

Multicriteria Planning of Post-Earthquake Sustainable Reconstruction

A multicriteria model is developed for analyzing the planning strategies for reducing the future social and economic costs in the area with potential natural hazard. The developed multicriteria decision-making procedure consists of generating alternatives, establishing criteria, assessment of criteria weights, and application of the compromise ranking method (VIKOR). The alternatives are the scenarios of sustainable hazard effects mitigation, generated in the form of comprehensive reconstruction plans, including the redevelopment of urban areas and infrastructures, multipurpose land use, and restrictions on building in hazardous areas. The plans have to be evaluated according to the criteria representing public safety, sustainability, social environment, natural environment, economy, culture, and politics. The multicriteria model can treat all relevant conflicting effects and impacts in their representative units. The evaluation of alternatives is implicated with imprecision (or uncertainty) of established criteria, and the fuzzy multicriteria model is developed to deal with "qualitative" (unquantifiable or linguistic) or incomplete information. The application of this model is illustrated with the post-earthquake reconstruction problem in Central Taiwan, including the restoration concerning the safe and serviceable operation of "lifeline" systems, such as electricity, water, and transportation networks, immediately after a severe earthquake.     

Multidimensional sustainability benchmarking for smart megacities

This paper is focused on sustainability assessment for some of the most prominent global megacities: London, New York, Hong Kong, Los Angeles, Sao Paolo, Rio de Janeiro, Paris, Berlin, Moscow, Beijing, Singapore, Shanghai, Sydney and Tokyo. The alternative city rankings are compared and linkages between different sustainability and smart city dimensions are explored. The paper applied ELECTRE III multi-criteria decision aid tool to a panel of twenty indicators. The proposed approach allowed considering performance under four different policy priorities: environmental, economic, social and smart, changing the focus of the sustainability assessment. The results have shown that Singapore dominates the sustainability rankings under environmental policy priorities. Tokyo leads under economic and social priorities, and London and Tokyo – under smart city priorities. The worst performing cities were Shanghai, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro. The paper examines the innovative sustainability strategy and new governance structures that led Singapore to become the most sustainable city under environmental priorities and offers recommendations for the lower-ranking cities of Shanghai, Los Angeles and Rio de Janeiro. The assessment could be a valuable tool for policy makers and investors, and could help identify linkages between different sustainability dimensions, highlighting best practices as well as strategic opportunities in cities with sustainability potential.     

Multi-criteria decision-making model for whole life costing design

Various decision-making tools have been reviewed. The interview surveys revealed that some typical bad decisions made in building designs may cause problems in building maintenance. Therefore, the importance of decision making involving multiple criteria during whole life costing (WLC) design is highlighted. Several methods have been assessed in interview surveys, aiming to solve WLC decision-making problems. During structured interview surveys, some methods are found unsuitable for decision making in WLC design process. The appropriate methods are selected at each stage of the decision-making process to develop an integrated fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making tool.     

Assessment of stakeholders’ preferences towards sustainable sanitation scenarios

Decision making in sanitation planning is often complex, with inherent trade‐offs among sociopolitical, environmental, technical and economic factors. The selection of appropriate and sustainable sanitation systems for municipal wastewater treatment involves multiple criteria with conflicting stakeholder preferences. To fulfil conflicting yet complementary objectives, one of the best known and most widely used multi‐criteria analysis (MCA) approaches called the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) has been employed as a decision support tool to aid decision makers in sanitation planning process in developing countries. AHP, in combination with life cycle assessment (LCA) and a proposed set of multidimensional criteria, has worked as an effective decision support tool for the sustainability assessment and selection of appropriate wastewater treatment system with a capacity of 1200 m³/day, in a case study in Toan Thang, a small town in Vietnam. Results from this case study have indicated that the public's understanding of trade‐offs is critical in gaining public support for long‐term sustainability of the solution. The findings from this study have also shown AHP as an effective and flexible communication tool for group decision making in sanitation planning.     

Multi-criteria assessment of building performance: theory and implementation

This paper presents the development of a building performance assessment methodology and tool that is intended to assist the design process. The methodology is based on a multi-criteria decision-making approach where the performance of the building is always compared to a reference building. This approach allows the designer to test design strategies against different sets of criteria. The methodology is implemented into an assessment tool whose features include a module for automatically generating the reference building, changeable databases, validated calculation engine, and a user-accessible assessment-criteria module. A case study is presented to explain the operation and implications of this tool.     

Evaluation and prediction of sustainability of urban areas: A case study for Kermanshah city,Iran

Sustainable development is a balance between economic growth, environmental issues and social conditions. In this respect, urban sustainable development is an important challenge, and a considerable part of sustainable development. Therefore, this study was carried out to assess and predict urban sustainability in different areas of Kermanshah city of Iran using an integrated approach, including the improved full permutation polygon synthetic indicator (IFPPSI) and Shannon's entropy methods. Kermanshah is the largest city located in the west of Iran with six main urban areas, which is facing many environmental, economic and social problems. The results showed that among the six urban areas, Areas 1, 3 and 4 have been shown to be at a moderate level, based on the synthetic indicator value (0.25–0.5). According to the synthetic indicator value (< 0.25), the levels of the other areas (2, 5 and 6) are quite bad. The IFPPSI results were also compared with common multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques, ELECTRE of the concordance subgroup, TOPSIS of the compromising subgroup and SAW of the scoring subgroup. The results of the Friedman test showed that there is no significant difference between the MCDM and IFPPSI methods; however, the IFPPSI method is preferred due to its remarkable advantages over the other methods. In a subsequent part, based on the data collected from three time periods, the years 1996, 2006 and 2016, the indicator anticipated for 2026 showing no improvement in the environmental, economic and social indexes compared with the current conditions.     

Improving ecological performance of industrialized building systems in Malaysia

For construction stakeholders to fully embrace sustainability, its long-term benefits and associated risks need to be identified through holistic approaches. Consensus among key stakeholders is very important to the improvement of the ecological performance of industrialized building systems (IBS), a building construction method gaining momentum in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey examines the relative significance of 16 potentially important sustainability factors for IBS applications. To present possible solutions, semi-structured interviews solicit views from experienced IBS practitioners, representing the professions involved. Three most critical factors agreed by key stakeholders are material consumption, waste generation and waste disposal. Using SWOT analysis, the positive and negative aspects of these factors are investigated, with action plans formulated for IBS design practitioners. The SWOT analysis based guidelines have the potential to become part of IBS design briefing documents against which sustainability solutions are contemplated, selected and implemented. Existing knowledge on ecological performance issues is extended by considering the unique characteristics of IBS and identifying not only the benefits, but also the potential risks and challenges of pursuing sustainability. This is largely missing in previous research efforts. Findings to date focus on providing much-needed assistance to IBS designers, who are at the forefront of decision-making with a significant level of project influence. Ongoing work will be directed towards other project development phases and consider the inherent linkage between design decisions and subsequent sustainability deliverables in the project life cycle.     

A planning-oriented sustainability assessment framework for peri-urban water management in developing countries

DPSIR and the three-pillar model are well-established frameworks for sustainability assessment. This paper proposes a planning-oriented sustainability assessment framework (POSAF). It is informed by those frameworks but differs insofar as it puts more emphasis on a constructivist conception which recognises that sustainability needs to be defined anew for each planning problem. In finding such a consensus definition, POSAF uses participatory scenario analysis and participatory planning, technical feasibility study, participatory assessment, analysis of trade-offs and social networks in an unusual combination and for goals that differ from the original conceptions of these methods. POSAF was applied in a peri-urban area of Mexico City for the design of improved water service provision, integrating solid waste management. It supported consensus amongst users about the importance of environmental issues, informed planners about the values of stakeholders and users, detected local differences, and identified possible conflicts at an early stage of decision-making.     

The role of social sustainability in building assessment

ABSTRACT

Can social sustainability be built? What are the challenges and potential for incorporating the concept of social sustainability into the assessment of building projects? Theoretical approaches to social sustainability are examined for the ways it is applied in practice by building industry stakeholders. A fundamental question is whether and how social sustainability can be measured, assessed and certified in the construction or renewal of housing and neighbourhoods. In addition to physical and functional indicators, it is suggested that certification systems (e.g. the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen – DGNB) should also reward social initiatives. A framework was developed involving 12 indicators grouped three overarching themes: social cohesion; participatory processes; and accessibility to living opportunities. A collaborative case study project involving two Danish social housing neighbourhoods examines how social sustainability indicators could be integrated into the application of certification systems such as the DGNB and whether the certification system can be improved by integrating social and organizational aspects with the existing criteria for physical and functional layout. It is found that certifications must take the housing complex or neighbourhood's relationship with the surrounding city into account, as well as its development over time and flexibility towards future needs.