Provide an overview of the function and performance of buildings and discuss the fundamental principles of construction, for example, material selection, footing systems, building structure (load bearing or framed construction, pre-fabrication), integration of building elements and hardware, etc. Briefly introduce how consideration of sustainability issues may impact the decision making process informing design & material selection in respect to the built environment.
Critically evaluate one of the topics in sustainability in respect to the built environment. Outline how decisions made in the disciplines of urban planning, building design and facilities management can impact on the overall sustainability of an urban area or of a specific building. Once you have set a clear description of your topic, its theoretical basis and underlying principles, outline how this issue informs urban planning or building design decisions, in respect to sustainability. You can also include identified best practice in respect to sustainable development, to support your argument.
Functions Affecting Sustainability of Construction
The sustainability of the construction is imperative for protecting environment through the damage from the construction activity (Mateus & Bragança, 2011). However, in the modern era, construction sector must consider the specific sustainability issue and apply the relevant or suitable practices in the field of construction for the ethical conduct of the business. In this regard, the present report is based on the development of sustainable buildings and construction which focuses on the fundamental principle of construction and the impact on the decision making for sustainable development. In addition to this, a sustainability issue as energy consumption has been selected which has direct impact on the decision-making process of building design. Moreover, varied related academic sources have been referred for the vivid insight.
In the present era, the constructions of building are imperative for fulfilling the basic need of public. Due to this, it is necessary for management to focus on the different view of construction process to enhance its productivity. In this regard, there are several functions which affect the sustainability of construction which includes planning, directing, employment, managing, controlling and coordinating (Walker, 2015). By focusing on these functions in proper manner, the construction process is effectively managed which in turn enhances the performance of construction process. Owing to this, function management helps to increase the productivity of the construction.
According to Allen & Iano (2013) achieving sustainability is important in the field of building construction process where it is crucial to focus on the basic principle of the construction.
- Environment friendly- In the present time, the environment protection is the major issue because of the environment is more polluted from the harmful emission in the construction process (Razak Bin Ibrahim, Roy, Ahmed & Imtiaz, 2010). In this manner, construction process requires raw material and machineries the uses of those things are harmful for environment because of it reduces harmful gasses in the environment. Thus, focus on the environment friendly construction process is imperative for protecting environment from hazard activity. Apart from this, by using environment friendly construction the construction firm enhance their image in the public. On the other hand, it also helps to build environment friendly building which further helps in the conservation of natural resources as water and energy. Owing to this, it is one of the main principles which must follow in every construction process and protect the environment.
- Material selection- The focus on the selection of high-quality material for construction for enhancing safety. Along with this, proper selection of material creates safety workplace culture which enhances the productivity of the workplace. In this regard, the consideration on safety in construction process is most necessary because the chances of an accident in the construction process is high (Zhang, Teizer, Lee, Eastman & Venugopal, 2013). However, proper selection of material reduces that risks which may occur after the construction such as low life of buildings and high maintenances. In this regard, Flórez, Castro& Irizarry (2010) asserted that the green material selection enhances the sustainability of the construction. Owing to this, the focus on material selection is imperative workers’ safety at construction site and industry as well as environment conservation.
- Structure- The structure of buildings is important for the durability of buildings. In this context, there are several types of framing methods which are used for creating building structure such as light framing and heavy framing (Allen & Iano, 2013). The uses of these methods depend upon the requirement of country specific region and the budget of construction. In this manner, the technological innovation helps to reduce the cost and creates durable buildings (Eastman, 2018). Apart from this, the structure plays important role in the sustainable development of buildings (Fernández-Sánchez& Rodríguez-López, 2010). Therefore, by using innovative method in construction of building structure, the project manager reduces the cost of construction project and enhances the sustainability of the buildings.
The completion of construction at specific time is necessary for maintaining the cost of project (Ramanathan, Narayanan & Idrus, 2012). This is because the delay in construction enhances the financial expenditure in the budget of the construction project. Owing to this, for giving attention to structure of buildings increase the speed of construction process. In this regard, the pre-fabrication of structure material increases the speed of construction. For example, in the China the construction industry build lots of buildings in minimum time with the help of pre-fabrication technology (Arif & Egbu, 2010). Therefore, modular construction of buildings helps to build the structure in the minimum time with high quality.
- Integrated supply chain- In the present time the construction of buildings is more complex because the needs of taller and large buildings are increasing. In this regard, the integration of supply chain creates continuous slow in the construction process (Shin, Chin, Yoon & Kwon, 2011). Thus, the integrated supply chain helps to supplying construction material at accurate time. In the same manner, the integrated supply chain minimizes the wasting of workers time by reducing their waiting time in the delivery of raw material through enhancing the collaboration in the supply chain management (Cheng, Law, Bjornsson, Jones & Sriram, 2010). Apart from this, the logistic are one of most key problem in construction which dominates the construction and it can be effectively handled by integrated supply chain (Segerstedt & Olofsson, 2010). Therefore, the supply chain integration helps to avoid this type of problem through enhancing control on the supplier.
In the present era, the management focus on sustainability of construction is most important for development of sustainable buildings (Fawcett, Hughes, Krieg, Albrecht &Vennström, 2012). In the same manner, the sustainability is imperative for enhancing the utilization of resources in the construction process. Due to this, the mangers of construction site are aware about utilization of resources. For example, for reducing water waste on the construction site the management focuses on the reuses of water by using different techniques as recycling and regular maintenance of water supply system for water saving. Apart from this, the material selection process is influenced by the sustainability of construction (Jato-Espino, Castillo-Lopez, Rodriguez-Hernandez & Canteras-Jordana, 2014). In the same manner, the managers are concern about the selection of those materials which are reused and recycled at construction sites. For instance, the project managers prioritize the usage of light weight carbon fiber rather than plastic.
Achieving Sustainability in Building Construction
Corporate Social Responsibility-The corporate social responsibility (CSR) also influence the decision-making process at the construction site. This is because the management focuses on the CSR to reduces accountability of the firm towards the exploitations of natural resources (Zhao, Zhao, Davidson & Zuo, 2012). In this context, the construction managers need to be aware about for those issue which influence the nearby community. For example, they covered whole construction area and reduces the dust pollution in nearby area. Further, they select those advanced machineries which are less accountable for noise pollution in the surrounding areas. Therefore, the sustainability of construction changes the decision-making criteria of construction manager.
Sustainability in urban planning, facilities and building designs
In the present era, the energy is the basic utility for every human being. In the same manner, the construction industry uses the large amount of energy in the construction of buildings and other infrastructures as bridges. This is because, every operation of construction are dependent upon the energy as machineries, lighting and other construction equipment. In this context, Chel & Kaushik (2017) asserted that the building design, energy efficient machineries, low energy consumption material and incorporating of renewable energy technology are the main aspect which helps in the energy conservation at urban planning. This is because the populations are increasing exponentially in the present time which enhances the requirement of urban planning. However, the over urban planning force the over uses of energy, which has negatively impact on the environment and reduce the quantity of those natural resources which are produce energy. Due to this focus on energy conservation is imperative for reducing the energy and protecting environment in the urban planning. Therefore, the conservation of energy is significant for sustainable development of urban planning and environment protection.
The solar energy is key alternative source of energy which fulfills all the needs of energy at the site (Kalogirou, 2013). Furthermore, the use of solar energy is the ideal for environment conservation because it does not reduce any hazard gas or chemical in the climate. In this context, Guy & Shove (2014) asserted that the renewable energy minimizes the usage of conventional energy as fossil fuels and enhances the uses of infinite natural energy resources as solar, wind, thermal and photovoltaic. Owing to this, the usage of solar energy in urban planning is potential to enhance the sustainability of construction. Apart from this, the usage of solar energy minimizes the other expenditure of construction process. In this regard, the solar system has lower cost in comparison to other conventional energy generation system and decreases the amount of electricity bills (Mekhilef, Saidur & Safari, 2011). Thus, the usage of alternative energy sources reduces the unnecessary investment for construction in energy. Hereby, the onsite generation of energy is also important for reducing the energy consumption at the construction site.
Importance of Construction Completion Time
According to Sozer (2010) the development of the energy efficient building changes the design and material of the constructing building. In this manner, for conserving energy in the building, the structure of buildings is based on the direction of sunlight through the buildings the easily observe the sunlight (Chou & Bui, 2014). On the other hand, the glasses are uses in window of buildings are both energy collective and reflective (Guy & Shove, 2014). This is because at the winter the glasses observe the heat from sun light and minimize the use of building heating equipment. Similarly, in the summer it reflects sun light and decrease the internal temperature of buildings without any uses of air condition equipment. In this context, the sensors for obtaining internal temperature of buildings are also efficient for energy saving (Wei & Li, 2011). This is because the sensor alerts the internal system of buildings and change the working the glass window through it the maintenances of internal temperature are done in effective manner. Therefore, the decisions on the selection of material are in the favor of energy efficient for the development of sustainable buildings.
In the green buildings, the regular monitoring of energy consumption in the building minimizes the wastage of energy (Wei & Li, 2011). In this manner, the infrastructure of the buildings includes the monitoring devices for energy usage in the buildings and alert for over uses of energy. In this regard, Ghaffarian Hoseini et al. (2013) stated that the green building enhances the opportunities for sustainable development of buildings. However, the motoring devices increases the development cost of infrastructure but, the amount of saving energy from those devices are greater than the investment in infrastructure. Apart for this, the installation of solar panel required extra space on the buildings. Owing to this, it affects the decision making of building design because of the consideration on space requirement for solar panel. Nonetheless, the development of green building by focusing on the several energy saving techniques are helpful for development of sustainable buildings
Conclusion
On the basis of above report, it has been concluded the sustainable development of the buildings, the environment friendly, high quality material, building structure and integrated supply chain are the basic principle for the construction of buildings. These are considered for the sustainable development in the construction sector so as to resolve the sustainability related issues. Apart from this, the consideration of sustainability issues influences the decision-making process in the selection of material. It can also be concluded that energy conservation is the imperative sustainability issue; thus, the alternatives sources of energy and advanced technology reduces the wastage of natural resources along with the development of green buildings.
Material Selection and Corporate Social Responsibility
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