Research Aim and Objectives
Research Aims
The research aims in understanding the modes and applications of Designing out Waste in the construction industry. It also aims to understand the applications of Designing out Wastes in civil construction works and also the benefits and advantages accruing from the same.
Research Objectives
The objectives for conducting the research activity are underlined as follows.
- To understand the aspect of Designing out Wastes in the construction industry.
- To know the principles of Designing out Wastes.
- To understand the pattern of application of the principles of Designing out Wastes.
- To evaluate the benefits and advantages of applying Designing out Wastes principles in construction industry.
Study of Relevant Literature
Designing out Waste
Review of First Paper
Management and Designing out Waste is viewed as a significant issue in the construction industry of United Kingdom owing to the fact that around 25 million tonnes of waste production are sent for landfill purposes on an annual basis. Apart from the legislation governing the management and also disposal of construction wastes different initiatives are being undertaken by the government and the construction industry in triggering the reduction of waste production from construction works. Designing out Waste in the UK Construction Industry is essentially guided by five main principles underlined as follows.
-Designing for recovery and also reuse of the waste products
-Incorporating designs for offsite construction activity
-Developing designs for optimal utilisation of the construction materials
-Generating designs for reducing waste concerning procurement activities
-Developing designs for generating flexibility and deconstruction purposes (Wrap, 2011).
Review of Second Paper
The design of waste for recycling activities and reused purposes focus on reusing of already existing sites, use of both reused and recycled components of buildings and other demolition materials. For offsite construction activity, the Designing out Wastes encompasses employment of off-site prefabrication of pods, already cut building elements and also the prefabrication of different structural elements. Designing for optimisation of materials focuses on simplifying the construction layout, standardisation of designs, usage of local materials and also in reducing the amount of materials used. Generation of designs for enhancing procurement efficiency requires the incorporation of techniques like Just-in-Time (JIT) deliveries, reduction of packaging requirements and also effective collaboration with the supply chain. Similarly the design of waste during deconstruction activities is carried out through use of steel frames, using of lime mortar for helping in further reuse of bricks, incorporation of flexibility in the construction methods for enabling future changes and also in evaluating the reuse potential after the completion of design life (Kelly, 2015). The same is illustrated as under.
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(Kelly, 2015)
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(Kelly, 2015)
Review of Third Paper: Process for Waste Design and Management
Four different processes are identified through which the waste emanating from the construction industry can be effectively designed and managed.
Reduction of Waste Production at Source
Herein, different types of techniques like reduction of the amount and types of construction materials, substitution of construction materials, and substitution of the construction process and also the total elimination of the process involved ideally contribute in eliminating the level of wastage regarding construction activities.
Reuse
Different types of construction materials like pipes, plywood and asphalt singles to name a few are such that can be reused and also recycled for further construction activities. Reuse of the stated products ideally contributes in reduction of waste and generates environmental, economic and social benefits (KalilurRahman & Janagan, 2015).
Recycling
Recycling is identified as the reprocessing of used materials for converting them into novel products for further usage. Recyclable materials are largely demanded for their economic and aesthetic value and are valued differently depending on the availability of recyclable materials and recycling centres.
Landfill Wastes
Generation of landfills are considered as the last option available for treating of construction wastes such that the same raises environmental and regulatory concerns. Waste products that are identified to reflect no value are put for land filling purposes (KalilurRahman & Janagan, 2015).
Review of Fourth Paper: Application of the Principles of Designing out Waste
Designing for Reuse Principle
The application of the principle in civil construction works is carried out through reusing of already laid foundations, structures, floor slabs and drainage systems, manufacturing and treating of soils through diverse techniques and designing the layout of the site. The above activities would help in reducing the amount of materials required for carrying out the construction work.
Designing for activities involving Offsite Construction
The principle is applied in civil engineering through reduction of movement of construction associated transports, enhancing the quality of life in construction sites through improving of health and safety parameters, developing the quality of workmanship through reduction of errors and reworking and through reduction of timelines for meeting of construction activities (Hashemi et al., 2014).
Designing for Optimal Utilisation of Materials
Application of the above principle can be made through incorporation of innovative means for reducing material usage like use of lightweight materials like fibre based composites and lightweight composites in concrete.
Designing for Enhancing Procurement Efficiency
The designing for generating efficiency in procurement activities is rendered through the detailed sequencing and planning of work stages and also through development of effective programming for increasing work efficiency.
Designing for Deconstruction and also for generating Flexibility
The principle is applied through potentially avoiding the employment of hazardous materials that would affect future recycling initiatives. Further, such materials that would make future recycling activity difficult to be undertaken are required to be potentially avoided (Hashemi et al., 2014).
Method for Undertaking the Study
Research Design
The research activity focuses on the incorporation of both inductive and deductive research designs. Employment of inductive research design in the research requires the study of previous theories and concepts associated to Designing out Wastes. The study of previous theories, principles and concepts would contribute in the generation of newer concepts and principles (Cao & Li, 2015).
Employment of deductive research design requires the development of research hypotheses like null and alternative.
H0: The application of principles associated to Designing out Waste fails to generate needed efficiency to construction activities.
H1: The application of principles associated to Designing out Waste generates needed efficiency to construction activities.
The use of deductive research activities potentially contributes in narrowing down the scope of the research and in conducting survey activities for generation of quantitative inferences. The application of quantitative analysis would rightly help in proving the research hypotheses (Verhoef, Kannan, & Inman, 2015).
Research Strategy
Application of both secondary and primary research activities are required to be employed for carrying out the research activity.
The secondary research activity requires the study of different literature from accessing of books, journals, reports and other online articles associated to the principles and application of Designing out Waste. Similarly, the use of case studies associated to different construction companies would further contribute in understanding of real-time applications of Designing out Waste principles. The employment of secondary research would actively help in reducing both research cost and time and also generates authentic information about the subject (Brown, 2010).
Primary research activity is planned to be conducted through the development of unstructured and structured questionnaires such that the same is applied for interviewing and survey activity respectively. Interviews are required to be conducted through the formation of focused groups of managers associated to the construction industry. Interviewing of focused group respondents ideally contributes in generation of qualitative and narrative inferences. Survey is required to be carried out for employee groups and other stakeholders like suppliers through the employment of closed or structured questionnaires. It would help in generation of quantitative inferences for addressing the research objectives (Babbie, 2009).
Data Collection
Data collection for focused group interviews are made by the interviewer through interviewing focused groups based on the use of unstructured questionnaires. The researcher further focuses on the use of microphones and recording instruments for recording of inferences rendered by the respondents and also of pen and paper for generation of interview transcripts (Lynch, 2012).
Regarding survey activity, the structured questionnaire sets are despatched to the respondents through the use of mailers, online survey tools like survey monkey and also based on e-mailing of questionnaires. Distribution is made to a larger sample such that effective responses can be gained from the target population. Use of five point likert scale is made against the different questions wherein the respondents are required to render their responses through selection of a specific option. The responses gained are tabulated in an excel sheet in terms of percentage of responses gained (Frazer & Stiehler, 2014).
Sampling
The sampling population for constituting the focused group would be constituted through the use of the convenience sampling method. The use of convenience sampling contributes in selection of sample respondents in a simple and faster manner from a larger section of managerial respondents working in the construction industry. A sample population of 20 managerial respondents constituting both of higher and middle level managers would be chosen for constituting the focused group.
For the survey activity, the respondents belonging to two strata sets like those belonging to the operation and supply chain team would be chosen through the use of stratified random sampling. Use of stratified random sampling helps in reduction of sampling errors obtained in cases of simple random sampling and thereby is taken for selection of 100 respondents in a collective fashion (Srinivasan, Sridhar, & Narayanan, 2013).
Data Analysis
Qualitative data gained from the interview activity is analysed through the process of codification such that specific words, phrases and sentences can be identified and grouped wherein inferring the correlation between the different groups serves as the need for addressing the research aims. Quantitative data gained from the survey activity is analysed through the involvement of diagrammatic analysis like the use of pie, bar and line charts for reflecting the different inferences (Oh, Teo, & Sambamurthy, 2012).
References:
Babbie, E., 2009. The Practice of Social Research. USA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.
Brown, A.P., 2010. Qualitative method and compromise in applied social research. Qualitative Research, 10(2), pp.229-48.
Cao, L. & Li, L., 2015. The Impact of Cross-Channel Integration on Retailers’ Sales Growth. Journal of Retailing , pp.1-19.
Frazer, M. & Stiehler, B.E., 2014. OMNICHANNEL RETAILING: THE MERGING OF THE ONLINE AND OFF-LINE ENVIRONMENT. Global Conference on Business and Finance Proceedings, 9(1), pp.655-57.
Hashemi, H., Mamaghani, N.H.M.H. & Daei, M., 2014. DESIGN AND UTILIZATION WASTES IN CONSTRUCTION. ARPN Journal of Engineering and Applied Sciences, 9(11), pp.2212-19.
KalilurRahman, M. & Janagan, S.S., 2015. Construction Waste Minimization and Reuse Management. International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET), 2(8), pp.266-71.
Kelly, M., 2015. Design out Waste. Dublin: EPA Research.
Lynch, D., 2012. Preparing Teachers in Times of Change. United States : Lulu.com.
Oh, L.-B., Teo, H.-T. & Sambamurthy, V., 2012. The effects of retail channel integration through the use of information technologies on firm performance. Journal of Operations Management, 30, pp.368-81.
Srinivasan, R., Sridhar, S. & Narayanan, S., 2013. Effects of opening and closing stores on chain retailer performance. Journal of Retailing , 89(2), pp.126-39.
Verhoef, P.C., Kannan, P.K. & Inman, J.J., 2015. From Multi-Channel Retailing to Omni-Channel Retailing Introduction to the Special Issue on Multi-Channel Retailing. Journal of Retailing , pp.1-8.
Wrap, 2011. Designing out Waste: A design team guide for buildings. Oxon: Wrap.
