assessing sustainable development

8/3/2019 Assessing Sustainable Development

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An Alternative Model for Assessing the Sustainable Development of a Construction

Project

Min Wu

School of Management, Chongqing Qiao Tong University, Xuefu Rd No 66, Nanan District, Chongqing, China,

400074. Email: [email protected]

The concept of sustainable construction has become popular in

research. However, there is little existing work providing methods

to assess the degree of the contribution of developing a

construction project to the attainment of sustainable development.

This paper thus proposes an alternative quantitative model to

address this issue. The model, developed based on the general

principle of sustainable development, is proposed for the

application at project feasibility stage. A case study is provided to

demonstrate the application of the proposed model.

Keywords: construction project, sustainable development,

assessment, feasibility study

1. Introduction

Traditional works have developed a number of measurements such

as net present value, return on investment, payback period, etc., to

assess the feasibility of a project investment. These measurements

have been widely adopted when the profitability of the investment

is examined. However, it appears that there is little existing

mechanism for assessing the sustainability of a construction

project investment [1]. This mainly reflects the tradition, which

concerns less about the environment than profitability. The

pursuance of sustainable development presents the challenge that

the sustainability of a construction project development must be

assessed before its commencement. The aim of this paper is, thus

to introduce an alternative model to assist in assessing the

contribution of a construction project in attaining the principle of

sustainable development.

2. Sustainable development value (SDV) of a construction

project

An effective methodology of undertaking such assessment is to

develop a measurement, and sustainable development value (SDV)

is introduced for such purpose. Sustainable development value of a

construction project is defined in this study as the contribution of a

construction project to the attainment of sustainable development

principle. The major principle of sustainable development mainly

concerns the sustainability of economic development (E), social

development (S) and environmental development (En) [2], which

are usually described as the three dimensions of sustainable

development. Based on this principle, the three dimensions are

considered as variables affecting the level of contribution from a

construction project to the attainment of sustainable development.

Therefore, it is considered that SDV can be used to indicate the

significance of developing a construction project to the attainment

of the three dimensions of sustainable development, called

elementary indicators of sustainable development. Based on this,

an analytical expression can be established to indicate the relation

between SDVand the indicatorsE, SandEn, shown as follows:

),,( nESESDV f= (1)

Where: SDVdenotes for sustainable development value of a

construction project;Edenotes for the significance of developing a

construction project to sustainable economic development; S

denotes for the significance of developing a construction project to

sustainable social development; and nE denotes for the

significance of developing a construction project to sustainable

environmental development. Model (1) indicates the existence of

the relation between SDV and the key sustainability indicators.

However, the implementation of a construction project will have

various impacts to economic development, social development and

environmental sustainability at different stages in different formats

of presence during the whole development process of a

construction project. Therefore, when the sustainability of a

construction project is examined, time must be specified. In other

words, the indicators E, Sand nE will carry different values indifferent time in the life cycle of a construction project. For

example, a construction project will not generate any economic

benefits but consume various resources at construction stage, thus

its economic impact at this stage can be considered negative,

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whereas the project will generally make positive economic

contributions during its operation stage. Thus time (t) is the key

parameter toE, SandEn when they are examined, and the value of

SDVshould be assessed across the life cycle of a project. Model (1)

therefore can be re-written as follows:

))(),(),(( tEtStESDV nf= (2)

This measure specifies a specific value at a specific time.

3. Sustainable development ability (SDA) of a construction

project

Whilst it may be impossible to allow a project having positive

contributions all the time during its life cycle, it must be the

objective of developing an adequate project to ensure that the total

contribution during its life cycle is positive. In other words, SDV

can be positive or negative at a specific time, but the total value of

SDV during the whole life cycle must be positive. The current

project management practice contributes efforts mainly on the

construction and the functional performance of a project during its

effective operation period. In fact, a project can bring serious

negative impacts particularly on social and environmental

development when it becomes obsolete technologically and

economically. It is therefore more proper to assess a project with

considering its whole process, and a project with a positive total

value ofSDVcan be considered feasible or adequate in line with

the sustainable development principle. This conception requests

that the assessment on the feasibility of developing a construction

project should be undertaken from the viewpoints of social,economical and environmental perspectives throughout project life

cycle. The application of this conception pursues the maximum

totality of SDV. For supporting the following analysis, this paper

defines the totality ofSDVduring the life cycle of a construction

project as the ability that the project will have in contributing to

the attainment of sustainable development, and such ability is

called as sustainable development ability (SDA). An analytical

model can be used to present SDA as follows:

=

=

endT

n dttEtStE

dSDVSDA

f0

))(),(),((

(3)

Where SDV denotes for the ability of a construction project in

contributing to the attainment of sustainable development;

denotes for the whole period of the project life cycle; and Tend

denotes for the end of a construction project life cycle. The

introduction ofSDA provides alternative mechanism for assessing

whether the development of a construction project is in line with

sustainable development. The implication of model (3) for its

application can be described as: (a) the development of a

construction project is feasible and acceptable in line with

sustainable development when SDA is positive; and (b) the

development of a construction project is not feasible and

unacceptable in line with sustainable development when SDA is

negative. Nevertheless, model (3) itself can find difficult for its

application. The following section is to investigate a practical

procedures of using the theories embodied in model (3)

4. Leveling method for analyzing the ability of construction

project in attaining sustainable development

The value SDVof a construction project is determined by multiple

factors, see model (1). The general factors E, SandEn describing

sustainable development are examined through investigating their

sub-level factors such as cultural, historical and political aspects.

In turn, sub-level factors can be examined through investigating

sub-sub-level factors. By adopting such leveling process, the value

SDV can be analyzed through examining all levels of factors.

Hypothetically, factors determining SDVcan be leveled into many

levels. For the simplicity of analysis, three levels of factors are

used in this study. The value SDV thus can be derived from the

following model:

ijvijv

iSDV

i

k

j

n

v

i i

k

j

R

RR

3

1 1 1

3

1

3

1 1

ijiji

=

==

= = =

== =

(4)

Where iR denotes for the first-level variables, namely, E

(significance to sustainable economy), S (significance to

sustainable social development), and En (significance to

sustainable environment); ijR denotes for the second-level

variables, which are derived from first-level variables; ijvR denotes

for the third-level variables, which are derived from second-level

variables; i denotes for the weighting values of the first-level

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variables, subject to: 13

1

==i

i ; ij denotes for the weighting

values of the second-level variables, subject to: =

=k

j

iij

1

; ijv

denotes for the weighting values of the third-level variables,

subject to: =

=n

v

ijijv

1

.

In model (4), 1R , 2R and R3are the significance values of the

first-level variables, which are economic contribution, social

contribution and environmental contribution of the project

concerned. As all other variables are derived from these three

general factors, the proper analysis on the composition of variables

at second-level and third-level is very important. The significance

of the variables and their weightings will be assessed with

considering many factors and project characteristics such as

cultural, historical, and political context where the project is

developed. The calculation of these values can be conducted by

employing Multi-attribute value technique (MAVT). The

employment of MAVT needs the assistance of a group of experts

in evaluating the weighting of all factors at each level.

The proposed procedure for applying leveling-method in assessing

project sustainability encompasses six steps and will be explained

in the case study.

5. A case study

A practical case is applied to demonstrate the application of the

procedures established in Figure 1. The project is named as

Fengdu CNNa Renovation Project. It is the extension of a

nitrogenous fertilizer factory. The data are derived from the

projects feasibility study report, environmental impact assessment

report, and social analysis report.

Step 1: Analyze the characteristic of Fengdu CNNa Modification

Project. The project is developed to produce CNNa . Its expected

annual product will be 4000 t. The project is located at the Fengdu

County in Chongqing. It is a resettlement of a previous nitrogenous

fertilizer plant, which was demolished due to Three Gorges Project.

The new plant is built with much larger scale compared to the old

one. The annual coal consumption is 13663 ton. It is expected that

sulphur emission in the coal will be 2%, thus 2SO will be a main

pollutant. The total area occupied by the plant is 30000m2. 25

management positions, and 250 technical positions are recruited

for the operation of the project. The total investment of the project

development is RMB50 million. Construction period is one year

and operation life is planned 10 years. The project inception,

commission, and demolish assume relatively short period of time,

three months for each stage.

Step 2: Identify the variables affecting SDV of the project at

second and third level by using the leveling-tree. The first-level

variables embrace three general attributes, namely, the significance

to economical development, the significance to social development,

and significance to the environmental protection. Considering

economic contribution, attribute such as cash flow can be selected

as the sub-variable. Air, water, and noise are selected as the

sub-variables indicating the significance to environmental

protection. 2SO , CO, TSP (total suspended particulate), and NO

are selected as the third-level variables for air quality. PH, SS

(suspended solid), 5BOD (biological oxygen demand within a

sealed container at 20 oC, and some other factors are selected as

the third-level variables for water quality. Employment opportunity

per RMB1 million investments (EOPM1), comprehensive energy

consumption efficiency (CECE), consumption ratio of cultivated

land (CRCL), and water consumption ratio (WCR) are selected as

sub variables for social development.

Step 3: Establish standards or benchmarks through collecting and

applying relevant criteria or standards stipulated by authoritative

bodies. Fengdu CNNa Modification Project is constructed in

Chongqing of China. Therefore, the China National Environmental

Protection Standard and Chongqing local Environmental Code of

Practice are employed for establishing the benchmarks in assessing

the SDV of the variables of air, water, and noise. The criteria and

benchmarks can be obtained from National Air Quality Standard

GB3095-1996, National Water Quality Standard GB3838-88, and

Urban Environment Noise Standard GB-3096-93. For assessing

the SDVs of other variables, Construction Project Economical

Assessment Methodology, and Guidelines for Social Assessment

of Development Project can be applied.

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Step 4: Determine the weighting values of individual variables at

each level. Assume that through a comprehensive survey process

and using the MAVT technique, the weighting values for all

variables are established as in Table 1.

Step 5: Calculate SDV and SDA. For the purpose of simplicity,

only construction and operation states are considered. Assume that

the required benchmark values for all variables are 100.

Considering both project characteristics and benchmark standards

issued by authoritative bodies, the SDVs of all variables during

construction and operation are hypothetically established in Table

1. According to formula (4):

5.6811

3

1

== ===

ijv

n

v

ijv

k

ji

stageonconstructi RSDV

130

11

3

1

== ===

ijv

n

v

ijv

k

ji

stageoperation RSDV

And, according to model (3), the following calculation can be

obtained:

5.1981305.680

=+== endT

SDVdtSDA

Compared to the required benchmark, namely, 100, the sustainable

development ability of this project with 198.5 is considered of

good potential. In other words, the development of this project can

be considered in line with the sustainable development principles,

thus its implementation is acceptable.

6. Conclusion

Construction activity has been traditionally considered having

adverse impact on the sustainable development of the environment.

The traditional practice of assessing the feasibility of a

construction project concerns more on the economic and social

contribution of a construction project. This paper thus develops a

quantitative model to assess the feasibility of a construction project

in contributing to the attainment of sustainable development. A

case study is provided to demonstrate the application of the

proposed model.

Table 1 SDVand SDA for case study

SDVValueVariables Wt

Construction

stage

Operation

stage

Economic Cash flow 0.5 50 150

2SO 0.06 70 100

CO 0.01 80 100

TSP 0.02 75 100

Air

NO 0.01 80 100

PH 0.04 100 110

SS 0.04 80 100

Water

BOD5 0.04 90 100

Environ.

Noise 0.08 80 120

EOPMI 0.05 110 150

CECE 0.05 90 110

CLCR 0.05 90 100

Social

WCR 0.05 90 100

References

[1]Ding, G. and Langston, C., Multiple criteria sustainability

modeling: case study on school buildings, The International

Journal of Construction Management, Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 13-26,

2004.

[2]UNCHS, The Habitat Agenda: Goals, Principles, Commitments

and Global Plan of Action, Istanbul, Turkey, 3-14 June, pp13,

1996.

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