SUSTAINABILITY IN CONSTRUCTION SECTOR: INSIGHTS FROM ENGINEERING PRACTITIONERS

Leveraging on Work Integrated Learning to Enhance Sustainable Design Practices in the Construction Industry

This research explores the historic use of the concept of sustainability in civil engineering academic literature and identifies its conceptual evolution and connotative treatment over the last 40 years. We find that academic research addressing sustainability is exponentially increasing and that the focus on sustainability is enlarging from a primarily environmental perspective to include more social elements. Additionally, we propose a set of six connotations of sustainability: assessment, progress, permanence, abstractness, multidimensional, and intersectional. These connotations provide conceptual clarity for academics and practitioners in better-defining sustainability objectives and measuring outcomes. These connotations also promote more efficient collaboration with other necessary disciplines in the pursuit of project and societal-level goals. The research employs a novel use of computational corpus linguistics in CCE to identify and examine patterns of collocates associated with the word sustainability in a corpus of 335,020 peer-reviewed civil and construction engineering (CCE) scholarly abstracts published between 1981 and 2021. Demonstrating this research method is a contribution to CCE researchers systematically extracting meaning from large volumes of literature.

Investigating the drivers and acceptance of sustainable materials in Kuwait: A case study of CEB

Purpose The purpose of this study is to get a clearer knowledge of the reasons for, approaches to and challenges associated with integrating sustainable development concerns into pipeline construction projects in New Zealand. To achieve this, this study delves deeply into sustainable construction to understand the reasons behind and incorporate sustainable development trials into their newly established product management and development procedure. As a result, this study looks at identifying key elements of sustainable construction practices and various interpretations of sustainability in the construction industry; offering a strategy for incorporating sustainable construction practices into the pipeline construction project in New Zealand; and benefits and difficulties that the construction industry encounters when implementing sustainable construction. Finally, a framework is developed to help in understanding the issues and potential solutions for integrating sustainable building methods into the pipeline construction project in New Zealand. Design/methodology/approach This study followed a four-step method (Figure 1), beginning with the identification of the data, continuing with the first screening of the data, determining eligibility and, finally, including the data. This data collection is being done to provide knowledge and direction for further research. Data were collected from various websites on the Web of Science and from Scopus databases. Additionally, data were gathered with the assistance of aggregator databases such as Scopus (scopus.com) and publishing databases such as Elsevier (sciencedirect.com), Inderscience, Taylor and Francis (tandfonline.com), Emerald Insight (emeraldinsight.com) and Google Scholar. These databases have been considered by a number of scholars to be reputable databases. Findings This research provided a thorough description of the key justifications for sustainable construction. This study demonstrated how the idea worked in practice by reviewing the literature on the relevance and analysis of sustainability in construction. This body of research identified crucial components of sustainable construction techniques and varied interpretations of sustainability in the construction industry. To better grasp the current application considerations in the construction sector, it also offered literature on sustainable construction methods. To determine the most effective strategy to make certain adjustments to the current construction processes, the literature also includes a wide range of sustainability-related topics in both developed and developing country contexts. This study also demonstrated the many perspectives and strategies for sustainable behaviors. Because the purpose of this study was to develop a strategy for implementing sustainable construction in New Zealand, it was of the utmost importance to shed light on the most well-known and prominent sustainable construction applications from across the world. The output of this aim provided the literature on construction practices to acquire insight into the ongoing conversations on sustainable practices and systems in the construction industry. This was done to obtain insight into the existing talks. Originality/value This research's contribution to the body of knowledge is demonstrated by the fact that this study has led to a better understanding of sustainable construction practices in the construction industry as well as the identification of the most significant challenges that businesses, organizations, educators and policymakers must face to improve their ability to put these strategies into practice. This research has provided a solid foundation for future research that aims to advance knowledge in this field by providing options for future research to evaluate the influence that the approach has had on enhancing the implementation of sustainable construction. Additionally, this study presents options for future research to evaluate the influence the approach has had on improving the implementation of sustainable construction. The successful completion of the research aim in the more traditional forms of higher education in the built environment can contribute to a better representation of new trends in the practice area associated with expanding and improving the construction industry sustainably.

The construction industry plays a crucial role in a sustainable development. The United States Green Building Council (USGBC) has traced almost 40% of Carbon Dioxide emissions in the United States to the construction industry. As the world’s population grows, the demand for housing, infrastructures, and other facilities grows as well. If trends continue as they are now, CO2 emissions initiated by the construction industry will continue to grow exponentially significantly endangering our planet. Therefore, implementing and developing sustainable practices in construction is critical to curbing the rising CO2 emissions, global warming, and environmental crisis to build sustainable and smart cities. Sustainable design and construction aim for efficiency and low operating costs at the life cycle of projects. Sustainable buildings and sustainability in construction have received much attention in recent years. Although statistics show a steady increase in the popularity of sustainable projects, the construction industry is lacking a large movement in sustainability. There are many obstacles and barriers in the way of future development for green living in smart cities. In order to widely implement sustainable practices and construct sustainable buildings, these barriers need to be identified, investigated, and tackled. The current study aims to investigate the barriers to the implementation and development of sustainable construction. Thirty construction professionals in the US were interviewed to find the most critical barriers of the sustainable construction. Fifteen obstacles were identified among which financial constraints, design constraints, inadequate technology are among the top factors. The results of this article can be used by construction professionals and policymakers to accelerate broad implementation of sustainability in construction projects. By implementing sustainability, the construction industry will take a huge step to protect our environment for the next generation and also to the development of smart green cities.

Sustainable construction practices are increasingly recognized worldwide for their importance in promoting environmentally responsible and socially conscious development. In Nigeria, the construction industry is gradually adopting these practices despite facing significant challenges. This systematic literature review aims to evaluate existing literature on sustainable construction in Nigeria, identify current sustainability models and frameworks, assess the adoption and effectiveness of these practices within the industry, and identify key challenges in implementing sustainable construction. Using a systematic approach, the review analyzes peer-reviewed articles, case studies, and industry reports to provide comprehensive insights into sustainable construction practices and models in Nigeria. The findings reveal a growing awareness of sustainability within the Nigerian construction industry, paralleling global trends. However, the review highlights a critical need for context-specific sustainability models tailored to address Nigeria's unique challenges, such as resource scarcity, climate change impacts, and social inequalities. Case studies of successful sustainable construction projects in Nigeria demonstrate the potential of these practices to address these challenges effectively. Despite the increasing awareness, the actual adoption of sustainability practices remains limited, underscoring the need for enhanced policy support, industry practices, and educational initiatives. This review emphasizes the pivotal role of the construction industry in advancing Nigeria's sustainable development. The study recommends the creation and implementation of tailored sustainability models, stronger policy frameworks, and increased collaboration within the industry to promote sustainable practices. These steps are crucial for addressing social disparities, enhancing environmental resilience, and improving resource efficiency, ultimately fostering a more resilient and sustainable future for Nigeria.

Green construction procurement is a part of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) that influence economic growth on a strategic level. Adopting green technologies and practices has no longer been an option but a well-worth route for gaining a competitive advantage in the construction sector. The emergent concepts of green procurement and sustainability have raised the need to measure the financial performances in supply chain practices. Green procurement is now gaining importance in the construction industry and supply chain practices for a safer tomorrow. The study aimed to investigate the impact of construction procurement on green logistic services, innovation practices, and their subsequent role in gaining sustainable economic development goals. The population frame for this study was the project teams (engineers and project managers) of construction companies in China. The sampling design followed was convenient random sampling. The study was conducted using self-administered questionnaire surveys to avoid any respondent biases and/or errors. The study's findings show that construction procurement is partially associated with green logistic services management, which thoroughly determines the sustainable economic development goals. Furthermore, construction procurement is found to have a significant impact on green innovation practices that partially predict the SDGs, and the mediation of green logistic services and innovation practices are partially mediated to the construction procurement and sustainable goals. In the future, the study results will help the construction practitioners, contractors, bidders, and engineering community to shape their relationships in a greener way up or down the stream of their supply chains. Additionally, the implication of green procurement and logistic services offers many challenges in the long run for attaining SDGs; however, in the short run, it gives operational efficiency and less hazardous environmental emissions.

Geosynthetics, factory-manufactured polymer materials, have been successfully used to solve many geotechnical problems in civil engineering. Two common applications are earth stabilization and erosion control. Geosynthetics used for earth stabilization include but are not limited to stabilized slopes, walls, embankments, and roads. Geosynthetics used for erosion control are mostly related to slopes, river channels and banks, and pond spillways. To enhance environmental sustainability, vegetation has been increasingly planted on the facing or surfaces of these earth structures. Under such a condition, geosynthetics mainly function as surficial soil stabilization while vegetation provides green appearance and erosion protection of earth surfaces. Recently, geosynthetic or geosynthetic-like material has been used to form green walls outside or inside buildings to enhance sustainability. Geosynthetics and vegetation are often integrated to provide combined benefits. The interaction between geosynthetics and vegetation is important for the sustainability of the earth and building wall surfaces. This paper provides a review of the current practice and research in the geosynthetic stabilization of vegetated earth and building surfaces for environmental sustainability in civil engineering with the emphases on geosynthetic used for erosion protection, geosynthetic-stabilized slopes, geosynthetic-stabilized unpaved shoulders and parking lots, and geosynthetic-stabilized vegetated building surfaces.

PrefaceSustainable development is actually an important topic which needs the attention of the society. The civil engineering is figured as one of the most impacting domains on the environment because of numerous problems such as the energy consumption, the CO2 emission and the natural resource depletion. Alternative solutions have been searched during the last decades to reduce environmental impacts of the civil engineering sector. Different approaches have been proposed: reducing the energy consumption by using low-embodied energy materials (“eco-materials”); developing the energy-efficient buildings with high thermal performance, with renewable energy integrations (solar, wind, geothermal, etc.), or by using the eco-architecture principles to optimize the energy consumption of the buildings. Today, sustainable development in civil engineering is not still restrained at a building scale but the city scale should be considered: the transport of the occupants between their residence and their work, the energy loss in the energy distribution network, etc.In this context, the 2nd International Conference on Sustainable Development in Civil, Urban and Transportation Engineering (CUTE 2018) is organized at Ton Duc Thang University, Ho Chi Minh City, from 17 to 19 April 2018. This conference is organized by Ton Duc Thang University (Vietnam) in cooperation with Université Savoie Mont Blanc (France), Hasselt University (Belgium), Technical University of Ostrava (Czech), Wrocław University of Technology (Poland) and University of Trieste (Italy). This is the second edition after the first conference which was organized in 2016. The main scope of CUTE 2018 conference is to propose an exchange platform for different approaches which can contribute to the sustainability of the civil engineering sector: investigations on sustainable materials and structures; intelligent principles in architecture design; sustainable solutions in transportation and urban planning.The host organization Ton Duc Thang University is gratefully acknowledged for the administrative and logistical support. The co-organizer universities are thanked for their cooperation and support.The sponsors of the conference are gratefully acknowledged for their financial supports.The organizers would like also to thank Honorary Chairs, Conference Chairs, International Scientific Committee, and Local Organizing Committee.EditorsQuoc-Bao BUI, Radim CAJKA, Minh-Tung TRAN, Tu-Anh TRINH Ansar-Ul-Haque YASAR, Geert WETS, Monika WOLOSZYN

High carbon emission alerted different stakeholders to look into sustainable practices and green building is one of the initiatives. Despite the efforts from various parties, the maturity level of green practices in Malaysia is still low compared to the developed countries. This study aims to investigate the maturity level of green building practices and factors influencing such practices in the Sarawak construction industry from contractors’ perspective. Semi-structured interviews with five contractors with experiences in green building projects were conducted. Content analysis was employed to analyse the collected data. The findings revealed that the interviewees were aware on the existence and benefits of green building practices but not taking initiatives to get involved. Hence, the results indicated that the maturity level of green building practices in Sarawak construction industry is still at the low level. The results showed that the key factors that affect the maturity level are cost and limited market demand. This study could serve as a basis and provide greater insights into the adoption of green building practices in the Sarawak construction industry.

Employers in the engineering sector require certain standard of English proficiency among their employees as the language is widely used for numerous job scopes. In order to understand the current demand of the civil engineering industry on the use of the English language in the workplace, this study was conducted on 20 undergraduates of the Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia who undertook the industrial training. Based on focus group discussions, the participants learned and shared significant use of English language through their industrial training experience. The findings of the study highlighted the activities that were conducted in English for speaking, listening, reading and writing including the language skills. In addition, the amount of time spent on each activity in English was also identified in understanding the importance of English language in the civil engineering sector. The findings of the study are vital in making informed decisions for the design and development of appropriate English language courses for present and future civil engineering students.

In the context of the growing global emphasis on sustainable development, the construction industry, particularly the field of civil engineering construction, is facing unprecedented challenges and opportunities. Under the new real estate development model, traditional construction techniques can no longer meet the increasingly stringent environmental requirements and market demands. Therefore, exploring sustainable development strategies for new construction techniques in civil engineering is of great significance. This paper first outlines the application of sustainable development in the construction industry, specifically in civil engineering construction. It analyzes the main challenges faced by construction techniques under the new real estate development model. The focus then shifts to the introduction and innovation of new techniques, sustainable development technical strategies, and comprehensive management strategies, aiming to provide references and guidance for the industry's development. The research indicates that adopting innovative construction techniques and comprehensive management strategies not only enhances project quality and efficiency but also effectively reduces environmental impact, achieving sustainable development goals.

The role of, and need for, universities to create and promote a holistic approach to engineering is a key part of developing sustainability literacy among future engineers. This paper reports on three different, but linked, exercises that teach undergraduates the complexity of sustainability in civil engineering. In the first exercise, students prepared a written commentary on an exploration of their campus locale to identify typical civil engineering issues such as construction trends over time and set these against economic and social demands and impacts at a city scale. The second exercise asked students to rank the importance of components of sustainable communities as a civil engineer, and then rank them separately as a citizen. In the third exercise, ten groups of approximately ten students were led through a discussion around a holistic approach to engineering and the impact of civil engineering infrastructure development. These exercises provide students with an understanding of hard-to-measure boundary conditions, more informally ‘context’, which can surround the technical excellence at the heart of civil engineering systems. The paper reports student feedback and discusses implications for teaching sustainability. The exercises and experiences presented in this paper can be utilised by other civil engineering degree providers.

This study investigates the current state of industry-academia research collaboration within the Philippine civil engineering management sector, emphasizing its significance to engineering management practices. Recognizing the essential role such partnerships play in fostering innovation, addressing industry challenges, and improving operational efficiencies, the research explores the key barriers and opportunities for strengthening these collaborations. An online survey was administered to civil engineers from both academia and industry to gather insights into their experiences, perspectives, and perceived challenges regarding joint research activities. The findings reveal that limited time, resources, and a lack of clear research incentives within the industry are substantial impediments to active participation. Institutional misalignment, administrative bottlenecks, and funding constraints further hinder sustained collaboration. Despite these challenges, the study identifies a shared interest among professionals in fostering strategic partnerships, particularly in areas critical to engineering management, such as construction project management, infrastructure sustainability, and technological innovation. The research highlights the need for proactive strategies to bridge the gap between academic research and industry practice. Recommendations include establishing structured engagement platforms, incentivizing collaborative initiatives, and aligning academic outputs with industry needs. This study contributes valuable insights into the field of engineering management by exploring how industry-academia collaboration can improve decision-making processes, resource allocation, and project management within the civil engineering sector. It provides practical recommendations for policymakers, academic leaders, and industry stakeholders, aiming to enhance professional development and the impact of civil engineering practices in the Philippine context.

The construction of pile foundation is a multifaceted activity among rest of the construction activities that are performed by heavy machines, materials, and energy sources generating substantial amount of CO2 and greenhouse gases along with many other forms of environmental pollution. Sustainable piling construction guarantees that the whole piling process meets environmental sustainability and ultimately human health and wellbeing. Many countries around the world, including United States, China, the United Arab Emirates, are in the forefront of reengineering piling construction activities. Implementation of sustainable practices in piling construction Sri Lanka is still at a low level. Succinctly, several hindrances and barriers can be identified when adopting sustainable piling construction practices. Hence, the aim of this paper is to identify the environmental impact due to the current piling construction practices in Sri Lanka and to investigate barriers in implementing sustainable piling construction practices. A questionnaire survey was conducted among thirty (30) experts in piling construction. Significant barriers were identified using the relative importance index technique in data analysis. The findings revealed that among the ten (10) barriers identified, cost overrun and poor pile design, investment risk, lack of awareness of sustainable techniques and technologies as the top three (3) barriers in implementing sustainable piling construction practices. The study clearly identified the need for improving sustainability practices that can also enhance cost-effectiveness and performance efficiency. Findings of this study will be useful in formulating strategies to overcome the barriers and improve sustainability practices in the local construction industry.