scholarly journals A Review of Reverse Logistics: An Upstream Construction Supply Chain Perspective

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (15) ◽  
pp. 4143 ◽  
Author(s):  
NNC Pushpamali ◽  
Duzgun Agdas ◽  
Timothy M. Rose

Construction industry activities, from material extraction to the end of the structure life, affect the environment negatively. For a sustainable construction process, economically, environmentally, and socially friendly practices are essential, and reverse logistics is one solution that can provide such an approach. In reverse logistics, obsolete products are reused in a new production, while reducing negative effects to the environment. In this study, we assess the current state of research on reverse logistics practices in the construction industry. The study presents a comparative data mining analysis, followed by a content analysis. The results show that the construction industry literature ignores the impact of reverse logistics practices on upstream construction activities. We argue that industry practitioners must take reverse logistics decisions in the early phases of the construction process by considering both upstream and end-of-life construction activities, and we recommend a reverse logistics decision framework for successful reverse logistics implementation. The findings of this research are significant for decision-makers in the industry. We urge that sustainable practices be employed in the industry. Furthermore, a quantitative analysis is suggested to strengthen the arguments made in this article.

2021 ◽  
pp. 64-71
Author(s):  
V. Bilotil

The construction industry plays an important role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and reducing the impact on climate change through the introduction of green building principles. So the article has been devoted to this type of construction as an important area of sustainable development. The interaction of climate change and construction activities has been substantiated in the article. Tasks and principles of sustainable construction have been analyzed. The economic, ecological and social benefits of green construction have been studied. The difference between traditional and green construction has been described. The current state of development of sustainable construction in Ukraine and the world has been considered. Prospects for green construction in Ukraine have been identified. The urgency and necessity of its implementation in our country have been proved.


2011 ◽  
Vol 243-249 ◽  
pp. 6339-6343
Author(s):  
Guang Bin Wang ◽  
Gui You He ◽  
Li Bian

Due to the great negative impact, the construction industry needs to undergo a paradigm shift from traditional construction to sustainable construction. To reach the goal of sustainable development, the construction industry needs to intensify its efforts to move to a knowledge intensive mode. Based on the analysis of e-Cognos and the concept of ontology, this paper proposes that e-Cognos ontology can be applied in the development of sustainable construction process ontology, which is a key part of knowledge management system (KMS). Following this, the application process of ontology-based KMS is analyzed using IDEF0 modeling method. Finally, this paper analyzes interorganizational collaboration model in sustainable project.


2021 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Virginie Abat-Roy

As the academic and social-emotional needs of students in schools continue to increase, so too does the presence of dogs in educational spaces. This article aims to present an overview of past and present animal-assisted intervention practices in school settings. This comprehensive literature review examines the current state of research within this field of study. Data from 29 publications were selected according to strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The results highlight three categories in which the presence of dogs in schools have an impact: social-emotional, cognitive, and physiological. Challenges to program implementation include health risks, cultural context, and negative effects on the animal. Due to the lack of school-based research, more study is needed, especially in order to understand the effect of dogs on the social-emotional learning of students. Finally, the welfare and training of the animals involved should be taken into consideration, and regulations regarding handler and animal training should be enforced.


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 710-754 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Adya ◽  
Gloria Phillips-Wren

Purpose Decision making is inherently stressful since the decision maker must choose between potentially conflicting alternatives with unique hazards and uncertain outcomes. Whereas decision aids such as decision support systems (DSS) can be beneficial in stressful scenarios, decision makers sometimes misuse them during decision making, leading to suboptimal outcomes. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between stress, decision making and decision aid use. Design/methodology/approach The authors conduct an extensive multi-disciplinary review of decision making and DSS use through the lens of stress and examine how stress, as perceived by decision makers, impacts their use or misuse of DSS even when such aids can improve decision quality. Research questions examine underlying sources of stress in managerial decision making that influence decision quality, relationships between a decision maker’s perception of stress, DSS use/misuse, and decision quality, and implications for research and practice on DSS design and capabilities. Findings The study presents a conceptual model that provides an integrative behavioral view of the impact of a decision maker’s perceived stress on their use of a DSS and the quality of their decisions. The authors identify critical knowledge gaps and propose a research agenda to improve decision quality and use of DSS by considering a decision maker’s perceived stress. Originality/value This study provides a previously unexplored view of DSS use and misuse as shaped by the decision and job stress experienced by decision makers. Through the application of four theories, the review and its findings highlight key design principles that can mitigate the negative effects of stressors on DSS use.


Author(s):  
Peter S. P. Wong ◽  
Luke Edmonson ◽  
Michael Phillip Kanellopoulos

Prefabrication has been widely adopted in the construction projects in recent years. It has also been advocated as a greener and more sustainable approach of project delivery. However, with a wealth of evidence supporting other reasons as the drivers of using prefabrication, it is questionable whether the real goal of prefabrication is to achieve sustainable construction. This study aims to investigate the roles of prefabrication in fostering sustainable construction. The effectiveness of prefabrication on fostering sustainable construction was evaluated on the five aspects enlisted by the UK’s Green Construction Board: Waste, Water, Carbon, Materials, and Biodiversity. An industry survey was conducted in Melbourne, Australia for data collection. 200 questionnaires were sent via email or post to a variety of fields within the construction industry. Entropy ranking analysis was adopted to analyze the effectiveness of using prefabrication in construction. The results suggest that prefabrication is effective in reducing construction waste and sourcing energy efficient materials. However, the utilization of prefabrication was found unsuccessful in reducing carbon emissions during the construction process. It is suggested that proactive actions should be taken at the design stage to unleash the potential of prefabrication in construction.


2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4-6) ◽  
pp. 149-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dionys Van Gemert ◽  
Özlem Cizer

Abstract The study of microstructure formation in polymer-cement concrete provides opportunities to exploit synergetic actions between cement and polymer, leading to performance improvement and to a wide range of new and innovative properties and applications. Polymers can reduce the impact of construction industry on environment, by decreasing the carbon footprint of cement and concrete production. Renovation and restoration, largely figuring in the concept of sustainable construction development, thank their growing share in construction activity to the input of polymers in repair and binder materials and in rehabilitation procedures. The study of ancient binders and mortars reveals aspects of the origins of the observed long lasting durability of those ancient mortars. It also reveals the interaction mechanisms between carbonation of air hardening components and hydration of hydraulic components, which in turn helps to develop chemical activation methods (i.e. alkaline activation) to improve the hydraulic properties of pozzolans and industrial residues to develop inorganic polymers (i.e. geopolymers) for eventually full replacement of cement in binders.


2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicholas Chileshe ◽  
Raufdeen Rameezdeen ◽  
M. Reza Hosseini

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate and analyse the perceptions of South Australian construction practitioners on drivers affecting the implementation of reverse logistics (RL). In this context, RL is defined as the process of moving goods from their typical final destination for the purpose of capturing value or ensuring proper disposal. Design/methodology/approach – Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight practitioners to collect data and the interview transcripts were analysed using the NVivo (version 10) package. Cluster analysis was used to cross-validate the findings and provide an in-depth insight into the findings. Findings – The findings indicate that most of the drivers identified in earlier research are relevant for the construction industry. In addition, the study identified some new drivers that are categorised as “targeted demands by an exclusive clientele”. These drivers were found to be complementary to the economic, environmental and social drivers as previously conceptualised. In addition, a set of factors affecting the strength of drivers that had been overlooked in previous studies emanated from the interview analysis. These include the type of project and the attributes of clients, both of which strongly affect the drivers of RL implementation in construction. Research limitations/implications – The major limitations are the relatively small size of the sample of interviewees and having interviewees from one geographic area with specific socio-economic characteristics. Practical implications – The identified drivers and the clustering of RL themes could be used by practitioners as a “road map” for the development of appropriate solutions to successfully promote RL within the construction industry. Organisational energies could thus be channelled towards the drivers that need the most improvement. Originality/value – The study contributes to this research sphere by employing cluster analysis to customise and contextualise the drivers that were previously identified. The study goes beyond the extant literature by discovering the prominent effects of these drivers on the impact of targeted demands by an exclusive clientele. This could be of great value in terms of creating avenues for future investigations on the topic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhijnan Datta ◽  
Johan Ninan ◽  
Shankar Sankaran

The literature on megaprojects are oriented towards ‘knowing’ the problems and ‘knowing’ the solutions, and there is a dearth in literature aimed at explaining strategies adopted in ‘doing’ or implementing that knowledge. Particularly, the literature highlights communication as important as part of the ‘knowing,’ while there is a gap in ‘doing,’ as performance improvements are still not evident. This research aims to explore how this knowing-doing gap in the communication of risk information was addressed by using 4D visualization. This article discusses the vent facility of a megaproject in Australia as a case study to illustrate the innovation. The 4D model developed for the facility helped the project team to visualize the construction of a critical part of the project, discuss the construction methodology, identify the risks in the construction process and persuade the non-technical decision-makers of the project to take appropriate action. The risks identified through the visualization covered safety, program, and interface risks. This study offers insights into the role of visualization in bridging the knowing-doing gap in the construction industry in the context of a megaproject.


Author(s):  
V.I. Anin ◽  
A.O. Ichetovkin

Problem statement. The introduction of new requirements for rationing in the construction industry provides for changes in the rationing methodology, through the use of a predominantly parametric method. This stimulates the use in management of modern approaches, methods and mechanisms, technologies, innovative organizational and technological solutions to improve the quality and volume of construction, which in turn can accelerate the recovery from the crisis and the development of the construction industry as a whole.The use of the parametric method, in addition to the certain advantages indicated above, creates new challenges for the efficiency of management in the construction industry. On the one hand, there is an increase in the alternatives of possible managerial and organizational and technological solutions; identification of the list and consequences of risks for each alternative; improvement of the procedure and processes for predicting the consequences of each of the alternatives; putting forward new requirements for the information necessary for decision-making, the possibilities of its analysis and interpretation.On the other hand, the use of such a selection mechanism and the lack of clear requirements and orders can increase the costs of achieving the declared quality and reliability requirements of the construction object, and accordingly increase financial and organizational and technological risks. This creates the preconditions for the use of integrated management with the use of appropriate organizational and technological solutions that can satisfy both the requirements of quality management and risk management in construction. Purpose of the article − describe and substantiate the possibility of applying the mechanism for choosing organizational and technological solutions aimed at achieving parametric criteria as target indicators for managing construction processes in conditions of uncertainty using a functional model of a system-integrated approach. Conclusion. It has been substantiated that for an effective process of managing construction processes within an integrated approach, in conditions of uncertainty, it is necessary to use a system-wide algorithmic mechanism, which will ensure the coordination of control functions, their parallel and continuous execution within individual processes, the choice and decision-making in emergency situations for a minimum possible time period.This requires the compliance of each organizational and technological solution with the established criteria and the possibility of their comparison, in order to select the most effective in terms of leveling risk, achieving efficiency − in relation to their cost; and criteria for feasibility, assessment of the impact on quality indicators, implementation in time, competence and technological feasibility − in relation to their ability to implement. Keywords: construction process management; rationing; parametric method, integrated approach; processapproach; situational approach; a mechanism for choosing organizational and technological solutions


2021 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 441-457
Author(s):  
Christian Schranz ◽  
Harald Urban ◽  
Alexander Gerger

The digital transformation in the construction industry, which is also referred to as Construction 4.0, is gaining impact in recent years. BIM as the central point for model-based planning and communication is at the centre of this development. This paves the way for the implementation of further technologies, such as augmented reality (AR) or artificial intelligence (AI) in the construction process. However, the submission process currently receives little attention in the BIM project cycle, even though it has a significant impact on a building project. There is a huge potential for the application of BIM and AR in the building submission process. BIM allows partly automatic compliance checks to be performed. The BIM model and the results of these checks can be used as basis for the AR model. This paper investigates an application for AR in a BIM submission process. Here we show that especially the plan check process and hearings in the approval process can be improved and sped up by combining BIM and the visualization technology of AR. In this process, AR can support the building authority in checking the compliance with building regulations. Additionally, non-experts involved often have problems grasping the planned building project just based on the technical 2D plans. In this case, AR helps them to visualise the impact of the planned project and allows for better judgement. Use-cases are presented, showing strategies to improve the plan check process and assist the building authority as well as the persons involved, for both experts as well as non-experts. Finally, the requirements, technical implementations, and effects of an AR application for the plan check process are described. An AR-supported plan checking process can vastly improve the presentation of technical content. This leads to better understanding and more transparency for non-experts. Because AR is relatively easy to use, it might become ubiquitous not only to experts, but also to the general public.


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