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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: m.wu@reading.ac.uk

Abstract
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 SDV and the indicators E, S and En, shown as follows:

SDV =

f (E, S , E )
n

(1)

Where: SDVdenotes for sustainable development value of a construction project; E denotes 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

En

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, S and

En

will carry different values in

different 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 to E, S and En when they are examined, and the value of SDV should be assessed across the life cycle of a project. Model (1) therefore can be re-written as follows:

denotes for the whole period of the project life cycle; and Tend denotes for the end of a construction project life cycle. The introduction of SDA 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 SDV of a construction project is determined by multiple factors, see model (1). The general factors E, S and En 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 SDV can 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:

SDV =

f ( E (t ), S (t ), E (t ))
n

(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 of SDV can 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 of SDV during 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:

SDV = i
i =1

Ri = ijRij
3 i =1 j =1

(4)

=
i = 1 j = 1v = 1

ijvR ijv
denotes for the first-level variables, namely, E social development),
Rij

Where

Ri

(significance to sustainable economy), S (significance to sustainable and En (significance


Rijv

to

SDA = SDV d

sustainable environment); (3)

denotes for the second-level denotes

variables, which are derived from first-level variables;

Tend

f ( E (t ), S (t ), E (t ))dt
n

for the third-level variables, which are derived from second-level variables; i denotes for the weighting values of the first-level

Where SDV denotes for the ability of a construction project in contributing to the attainment of sustainable development;

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variables, subject to:

=1 ;
i
i =1

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

denotes for the weighting

one. The annual coal consumption is 13663 ton. It is expected that sulphur emission in the coal will be 2%, thus
SO 2

will be a main

values of the second-level variables, subject to:

ij = i ;
j =1

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


ijv

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 protection.
SO 2

denotes for the weighting values of the third-level variables, subject to:

n ijv = ij . v =1
R2
and R3 are the significance values of the

In model (4), R1 ,

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
NaCN

indicating

the

significance

to

environmental

, CO, TSP (total suspended particulate), and NO (biological oxygen demand within a

are selected as the third-level variables for air quality. PH, SS (suspended solid),
BOD 5

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
NaCN

Modification Project is constructed in

Renovation Project. It is the extension of a

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.

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 NaCN Modification Project. The project is developed to produce NaCN . 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.

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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.
Economic

Table 1 SDV and SDA for case study


Variables Wt SDV Value Construction stage Cash flow Air 0.5 50 70 80 75 80 100 80 90 80 110 90 90 90 Operation stage 150 100 100 100 100 110 100 100 120 150 110 100 100

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):

Environ.

SO2
CO TSP NO

0.06 0.01 0.02 0.01 0.04 0.04 0.04 0.08 0.05 0.05 0.05 0.05

Water

PH SS BOD5

SDVconstruction stage =
i =1


j =1 v =1

ijv

Rijv = 68.5

Noise Social EOPMI CECE

SDVoperation stage =
i =1


j =1 v =1

ijv

Rijv = 130

CLCR WCR

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

SDA =

Tend SDVdt = 68.5 + 130 = 198.5 0

[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.

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.

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