Impediments affecting a comprehensive emission assessment at the construction stage of a building

Abstract

Emissions at the construction stage of a building have been overlooked due to several impediments and complications. Identification and categorization of these complications could be the initial step towards carrying out a systematic assessment of construction stage emissions. This study aims to investigate major impediments affecting an emission study in building construction. Triangulation approach was adopted to collect the required data for the study in the form of literature review study, interviews and questionnaire survey distribution. Eighteen factors were identified through literature reviews and interviews with professionals in the construction industry and further investigated through a questionnaire survey. Ranking analysis was used to identify 11 critical factors out of which 'difficulties in collection of construction site specific data', 'commercial sensitivity of the data' and 'lack of data inventories and standards to estimate emissions' were identified as the most important factors. Using factor analysis, the identified factors were grouped into three categories, namely data related issues, scope definition issues and cost and technology related issues. Findings and the future research directions from the study provide valuable reference to researchers and industry practitioners who seek to pursue a comprehensive emission study at the construction stage of a building.