1657384

7/27/2019 1657384

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/1657384 1/11

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 1999 6 3, 276-286

T h e i m p l i c a t i o n s o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s su es o n U K

c o n s t r u c t i o n m a n a g e m e n t

C H R I S T I N E P A S Q U I R E

Civil and Building Engineering, Loughboroug h University, Leicester LE11 3TU, UK

Abstract The paper identifies the broad environmentalissues and legislation affecting the construction industryin the UK and goes on to place the environment firmly onthe construction agenda, highlighting the major issuesfor concern. This paper summarizes w ork undertaken infive pilot studies. The work reveals that the considerationof environmental issues within a framework related tothe c onstruction process facilitates the allocation of man

agement responsibility within the construction team. Theillustrative representation of t his framework forms a prototype decision-making strategy for use in constructionprocurement and methods for incorporating environmental issues into every day construction management areproposed.

Keywords construction management, contractor, designer, environment, project management, quantity surveyor

I N T R O D U C T I O N

Protect ing the environment wil l be one of the major

challenges confronting construct ion in the next cen

tury. Far f rom being an abstract concept , environmen

tal issues are, and will continue to be, driven by

legis lat ion, c l ient and public demand and commercial

benefits. Environmental issues already pervade every

aspect of construction, only they often fail to be recog

nized as such. Consequently the term 'environmental

issues' conjures up a picture of highly specialized and

technica l know ledge—the domain of the ' envi r onmental consultant ' ; which has l i t tle to do with construct ion

management .

There are aspects of environmental concern which

are, and will always be, outside and beyond the scope

of practice for the typical construction professional. I t

is the aim of this paper to demonstrate , however , that

many environmental matters are well within the exis t

ing br ief of the construct ion management team, i f not

already es tabl ished considerat ions for them. This is

achieved by achieving the following objectives:

1. to demonstrate the increasing social awareness of

environmental issues;

2 . to demonstrate the growing significance of environ

mental issues in construct ion by measur ing their

cost;

3 . to classify environmental issues to reflect the con

s truct ion process ;

4 . examining the decis ion-making process required to

deal with those issues which have environmental

consequences ;

5 . identify who, within the design and construction

team, would be involved in that process ;

6. propose a strategic framework to identify the deci

s ion-making responsibi l i ty within the construct ion

process ; and

7. propose techniques for incorporat ing environmen

tal issues into everyday construct ion management

processes .

M E T H O D O L O G Y

The work described has its origins in research funded

by the RICS under their Environmental Research Pro

gramme and combines the findings from five small

research studies. These studies looked at qualitative

topics such as defining the issues, services available,

examining tasks under taken; and quanti ta t ive cost

based issues ranging from individual mitigating mea

sures to whole project cost . Each s tudy comprised an

extensive literature review and interviews with contrac

tors, consultants, client organizations and/or f inancial

bodies . The quanti ta t ive cost issues were measured

through case s tudies compr is ing construct ion project

data provided by industry par t ic ipants . The number of

interviews under taken v ar ied f rom 14 to 40 d epend ing

on the extent of case study data collected and the type

of information required.

Validation of the research findings was undertaken

on all the projects although this process was confined

to interviews with up to three industry practitioners.

These people were considered by the researchers to

have relevant exper t ise and had not previously been

2 7 6© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd

7/27/2019 1657384


Implications of environmental issues on UK construction management 277

involved with the research. Fur ther methodological

detail is given within the paper as specific examples are

discussed.

I N C R E A S I N G S O C IA L A W A R E N E S S O F

E N V I R O N M E N T A L I S S U ES

Society expresses its self-awareness through its govern

ment and its legislation. The legislation concerning

environm ental issues is broad and var ied and there is

no s ingle s ta tute governing the environment as a

whole. In addition, legislation is emanating from Eu

rope and ultimately there will be global laws and

conventions. In the UK, a legal definition of 'environ

ment ' has been given in the Environmental Protect ion

Act 1990 as :

The environment consists of all, or any, of the

following media, namely, air , water and land; andthe medium of air includes the air within buildings

and the air within other natural or man-made s truc

tures above or below ground.

Some 29 UK Acts of Par l iament and Statutory

Instruments were l is ted by the Construct ion Industry

Research Information Associat ion (CIRIA) (1994) as

affecting environmental issues in construction. In addi

t ion to these, are the Environment Act 1995, a large

number of subordinate legis lat ion and regulat ion, a

range of Government White Papers and Repor ts , a

variety of EU Directives and Regulations and quality

standards such as BS7750 Specification for Environ

menta l Management Sys tems , I SO 1 4 0 0 1 , etc .

A simple analysis of the frequency of legislation

com ing into effect (Ashforth & Pas qu ire 19 97) dem on

strates the rising importance of environmental issues

and is illustrated in Fig. 1. Although many of the

ear l ier Acts may have been superseded by la ter ones ,

that no s ingle s ta tute governing the env ironmen t exis ts

suppor ts the theory that new legis lat ion supplements

rather than supersedes previous legis lat ion in a cumu

lative way. Fig. 1 does not show the relative impor

tance, impact or subject of each Act, it merely

illustrates the historical trend. What the trend illus

trates is increasing social awareness of environmental

issues.

I N C R E A S I N G CO S T O F E N V I R O N M E N T A L

P R O T E C T I O N

A case s tudy based on the construct ion of two waste

incineration plants at Portrack, Cleveland, the first in

1976 the replacement in 1996 (Ashfor th & Pasquire

1997) . The unusual aspect of this case s tudy is the

number of repeated factors, for example adjacent site,

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 6 | 3, 276-28 6

7/27/2019 1657384


2 78 Pasquire, C.

same function, similar f loor area, similar design spe

cification (except for incineration plant) . A simple

index was constructed to supplement and val idate

the published ones used to level out the cost data .

The compar ison exercise excluded the incinerat ion

plant, as the technological specifications for these

were too different and the work was highly special

ized, thus fal l ing outs ide what might be considered

as nor mal cons t r uc t ion components . The r emain ing

work comprised a f ramed high bay s tructure with

office and mess facilities. Little technological advance

was made in the s tructure and fabr ic leading to the

hypothesis that the environmental protect ion mea

sures would account for much of any cost dif ference.

The analysis found the cost of protect ing the envi

ronment to be 2% of the total building cost in the

1970s and 14% in the 1990s. Th e surpr is ing factor

was the small overall increase in cost, only some

3.2%, which only served to emphasize the increasein the cost of environmental matters .

E N V I R O N M E N T A L IS S U E S

Much research into the identif icat ion of the environ

mental issues confronting construct ion has been un

der taken and repor ted upon. Some of the

comm enta tor s inc lude : Br ight ( 1991) ; the Co ns t r uc

t ion Industry Research Information Associat ion

( 1987 , 1993 , 1994 ) ; D epar tment of the Envi r onment

( 1990) ; D epar tment of Tr ad e and I ndus t r y ( 1994 ) ;

Gilpin (1996) ; and Pasquire (1997 ) .CIRIA (1993) , have published a detai led and com

prehensive categor izat ion of the environmental issues

in construction. These issues are defined as:

• energy use, global warming an d cl imatic change;

• resou rces, waste an d recycling;

• pollut ion and hazardou s substances: pollut ion f rom

the construct ion industry is considered in four

br oad gr oups :

- a tmosph er ic pollut ion,

- water pollut ion,

- noise and vibrat ion pollut ion;

- hazardou s mater ials ;• internal environm ent; and

• planning, land use and conservat ion.

The ar ray of factors contr ibuting to the environmen

tal debate is vast and the classification and struct urin g

of the information does not clearly relate to the con

s truct ion process nor to the design and management

procedures that are implemented. I t is easy therefore

to believe that these issues, regulations and legislation

exist at a 'higher level' above and beyond the every day

matters of construct ion ma nage men t a lthough the

technical design of sustainable construction is a grow

ing field.

The provis ion of environmental services to the con

struction industry exists on two levels, f irst, services

required by the industry as a client (at corporate level) ,

and second, services needed in order to construct the

development ( the industry ' s core business) . The f ir s t

are services that will almost always be provided by an

environmental consultant , the second has a number of

services that are specialized and provided by environ

mental consultants but a lso includes many every day

construct ion tasks that can be routinely per formed by

the members of the construct ion team.

Env i ronmenta l serv ices cur ren t ly p rov ided to the

cons t ruc t ion indus t ry

Undoubtedly, there is a fast growing band of special

ized environmental consultants offering services to the

construct ion industry. Som e of the most com mon

services were identif ied by Pasquire (1996) and are

briefly outlined below:

• Co rporate Environmen tal S trategy and Environ

mental Audit : involving the examination and moni

tor ing of the environmental per formance of a

business , i ts equipment, mode of operat ion and

management. These are act ivi t ies super imposed

over the core business.

• Environm ental Imp act Assessments : introducedinto British law in 1988, these involve the consider

ation of the likely effects of proposed construction

on the sur rounding environment being contem

plated as par t of the planning and design phases .

This considerat ion may be extended through the

construct ion phase and into the completed project

phase, then represented by means of an environ

mental statement (Griffith 1996).

• W ate r Pollution : a highly complex area involving

the assessment of the effects of developments on the

aquatic environment in and around s i tes in a wide

range of geological strata, during such operations as

mineral extraction, landfill and the development of

ground water supplies . In addit ion, the quali ty of

the water maintained within the building should be

monitored and considerat ion given to the disposal

of aqueous waste, principally the characterization of

effluent and its treatment.

• Waste Manage men t: becom ing increasingly impor

tant and revolving around waste minimizat ion. On-

s i te waste management compr ises source reduction,

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Managem ent 6 | 3, 276- 286

7/27/2019 1657384


Implications of environmental issues on UK construction management 2 7 9

re-use, recycling treatment and disposal . Pr imary

methods of waste disposal in the UK are cur rently

landf i l l , incinerat ion and treatment .

• Con tam inated L and: involves an examination of a ll

matters re lat ing to heal th and safety, pollut ion con

trol , land drainage, compliance with legis lat ion, en

vironmental monitor ing, geotechnical engineer ing,

re-vegetat ion and re-development. Once the con

tamination problems are identif ied, alternative

clean-up technologies can be explored and a solu

t ion designed. This explorat ion process wil l include

assessments of effectiveness and cost. See Baker

( 1993) and H aw kins ( 1993) .

• Ecological and Land Management Surveys and

Evaluat ions: assess the impact of proposed develop

ments and include land-use surveys , landscape de

s ign, visual amenity, impact predict ion, mit igat ion

mea sures , advice on both res torat ion and cost ef fec

tiveness after use (RICS 1993).

The type of services offered centre on a very wide

range of highly specialized and technical skills, and

cover both the actual construct ion and use of a s truc

ture and the management of the organizat ions in

volved. What has been described so far bears little

relat ionship to the day to day construct ion procure

ment processes we are so famil iar with. This is proba

bly because the issue of 'The Environment ' is largely

def ined and serviced by non-construct ion related

parties and few construction professionals are con

tr ibuting to or inf luencing the direct ion of environ

mental research.

Env i ronm enta l i ssues fo r cons t ruc t ion

profess ionals

A re-classification of environmental issues into a more

meaningful structure (Pasquire 1997) reveals the areas

where the construct ion management team can and do

make a s ignif icant contr ibution. The three categor ies

are:

1. the overall effect the change of land use has on the

immedia te and sur r ounding envi r onment—f or example, the loss of amenity, diversion of water

courses ;

2 . the conseq uences of the construct ion metho ds an d

materials used, both locally and in the latter case,

globally—for example, disposal of construct ion

waste , use of t imber f rom sustainable sources; and

3 . the continuing environmental impact of the use of

the s tructure af ter construct ion—for example, en

ergy efficiency, process effluent and emissions.

There wil l be over laps in the type of problem. For

example, noise may be produced dur ing construct ion

as well as by the use of the structure, but the impact of

the problem wil l dif fer—noise f rom the construct ion

process is temporary and will be different from noise

produced by the operat ional s tructure (be i t bui lding,road, power station, etc.) . These differences give rise

to and are reflected within the definition of the cate

gories. Therefore, it is much more effective to consider

the issues within a framework defined in this way than

to try to tackle the whole problem of noise for exam

ple, as one issue (CIRIA 1994) .

Change of land use

It is under this category that most of the highly special

ized services offered by environmental consultancies

would be used, in par t icular Environmental Impact

Assessment (EIA or EA) required for planning deci

sions (Griffith 1996). However, there are aspects that

would fal l into the remit of the construct ion design

team. Some examples f rom the UK include:

• Con siderat ion of previous land use : brown f ie ld

s i tes may be subject to anything f rom toxic contam

inat ion to derel ic t s tructures . Appropr iate advice

should be given regarding the commissioning of

specialist site investigations and the selection of a

procurement route that adequately recognizes the

r isks involved. The deeper implicat ions of a l terna

t ive measures to remedy contamination should beanticipated, for example the addit ional costs associ

ated with disposal due to Land Fil l Tax.

• Exis t ing planning designation: a ll land in England

has an official designation, all developments need

planning permiss ion. Even where the proposed de

velopment fulfils the need allocated by the Local

Area Plan, appeals and protes ts are becoming more

widespread. The design team should be able to

anticipate the likely level of appeal and advise the

client accordingly. The effect of these may vary

from a delay in receiving planning permission to

severe disruption caused by environmental

protes ters . I t can probably be said that a lmost any

greenf ield development in the UK wil l be subjected

to some sor t of delay on environmental grounds.

This can be guaranteed if the develo pme nt uses

land with rare habitats , outs tanding natural beauty

or has trees on it.

• Conservat ion : protes ts , delays and disruption can

be mit igated by incorporat ing conserving solut ions

into the project des ign. These solut ions can be

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 6 | 3, 276 -286

7/27/2019 1657384


2 8 0 Pasquire, C.

classified as preservation, protection, diversion and/

or relocation and any initiatives can bring wide

spread publicity that enhances a client's image.

Conservation can be a positive force if harnessed at

the outset of a project (RICS 1996).

• Comm issioning of appropr iate environmental ser vices: as the legislative obligations increase, the pro

ject leader needs to be able to select and procure the

relevant environmental services. The project leader

must therefore be familiar with the legal require

ments. In some cases this is straightforward, the

need for an EIA is dictated by the type of develop

ment and these are clearly classified within the

s tatute . The EIA should consider a l l the broader

environmental issues of the land use.

Not a l l countr ies have such s tr ingent planning and

environmental laws as the UK ( though some have

more) but the issues raised here must be a consideration for developers worldwide. In most cases eco

nomic need has to be balanced with environmental

protect ion. The inf luence of the environmental lobby

is growing rapidly and their protest expertise is influ

encing nat ional act ions . The disruption and conse

quent cost resulting from environmental protest is

growing to such an extent that developers worldwide

are al ter ing or even abandoning their plans (BBC

Business News 1997) . The problem must not be

under es t ima ted .

Construction method and materials

Again, many of the broader issues resulting from the

construct ion method should be invest igated dur ing the

EIA, for example, the identif ication of sensitive areas

surrounding the s i te and measures required to protect

them. A large number of more specific issues such as

noise levels, access, supply and removal of temporary

and waste water, etc. , will be governed by statute, local

bylaws and consents . The scope and content of this

legislation should be well known by all parties to the

contract and may form par t of an EIA. The contract

documentation provides the vehicle for dealing with

these issues . However , there are a growing number ofenvironmental matters which are well within the remit

of the parties to the contract that are not subject to

legislation but are influenced by commercial factors

(Anon 1997) . These matters of ten involve both the

construct ion method and the mater ials used. Some of

the major issues include:

• Ground work: most scope is offered in the Grou nd

work, especially for f illing and stabilizing the site.

The disposal/supply of material is subject to greater

commercial incentive, or in the case of Land Fill

Tax (UK), disincentive. Cost studies can reveal

positive cash benefits in recycling, using materials

from alternative sources, e.g. borrow pits, using

more spoil in permanent landscaping. All of thesehave varying environmental impact or commercial

benefit, not least the reduction of the need for

transpor tat ion and consequently emiss ions , and re

ducing the demand for non-renewable resources

such as aggregates

• Super-structure materials: all structural materials

used in construct ion today have an environmental

price tag. Concrete, stone, brick/block, steel/metal,

t imber and U/PVC al l or iginate f rom non-renew

able f inite resources. The major differences in the

environmental cost will be in the amounts of energy

(embodied energy) required to extract and manu

facture the individual materials and components

and, again the dis tances and methods of t ranspor t

ing them. Consideration can also be given here to

the amounts of energy required to incorporate the

mater ials into the s tructure.

• Fix ture s, fittings an d finishes: the wide st scop e for

choosing environmentally friendly and commercially

sound materials exists within this element of build

ing work. The farming of timber as a replenishable

resource is becoming more common place and con

sideration of its use is growing as Tarmac have

demo nstrated (Anon 1997) . F loor and wall cover

ings such as vinyl, PVC , nylon, etc . , are all oil-basedproducts and are therefore neither a sustainable

resource nor environmentally friendly. Yet there are

many natural f ibres that can perform equally well as

floor and wall coverings, e.g. wool, cotton, linen,

flax, hessian, etc. , although the environmental

benefit may be reduced by certain dyeing, colouring

or treatments of the fabric.

• Durabil i ty of com pon ents : a fundamental pr inciple

of environmentalism is the reduction of waste. One

of the ways this manifests itself in construction is

thr ough mor e dur able components and/or compo

nents that can lend themselves to recycling. Oneinteresting feature noted during the research was

the growing market in recycling str ipped out materi

als to the extent of pre-selling items for recycling at

the end of a pre-determined life span.

In most projects, the contractor is responsible for

the working environment dur ing construct ion in terms

of health and safety and the choice of construction

method. This research showed that whils t contractors

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 6 | 3, 276-286

7/27/2019 1657384



are certainly motivated by legislation and commercial

considerat ion, many of the largest organizat ions

wished to be seen to be 'green' . This desire came

about f rom pressure of both public and s taf f opinion

and to appeal to c l ient organizat ions many of whom

were also found to desire a 'green' image. The specificat ion of mater ials and components is the responsibi l

i ty of the designer (cl ient and/or contractor )—

environmentally aware specification merely involves

keeping up to date with cur rent product information

and/or asking a few per t inent quest ions about an

i tem's or igin and manufacture.

Use of the structure

Certain aspects of the use of the structure will be

investigated by the EIA, such as traffic f lows, emissions

and effluent, noise. I t will also recommend mitigating

act ions to help reduce or overcome any problems

identif ied. However, errors and omissions do occur;

for example, an incineration plant was originally design

to discharge cooling water directly into the river. Part

way through construct ion, i t was discovered that the

waste water temperature was too high to be discharged

directly and expensive redesigning was needed to ov er

come the s i tuat ion. The designers wil l of ten know

more about the operat ion of a s tructure than the

environmental consultants . Consequently, the design

ers should become more involved in this part of an

EI A .

Three major environmental considerat ions in the

use of structures which fall within the remit of the

design team are the health and safety of the users,

energy efficiency and the reduction of water

c o n s u m p t i o n .

• Health and safety: this concerns the health and

safety of the end users of the building. Some of the

environmental issues concerning users include con

ditions resulting from the use of the building such

as Legionnella, Sick Building Syndrome, hazardous

processes, etc. , or external factors that need to be

control led such as radon, methane, e tc .• Energ y efficiency: mo st energy pro duc ed in the UK

comes from a finite source, e.g. oil, coal, gas, whilst

nuclear power al though more sustainable , undoubt

edly has environmental problems. The convers ion

of these fuels into power or heat (be it at the power

station or within the building itself) releases harmful

gases into the atmosphere. These are thought to

contribute to the greenhouse effect. Therefore, the

more energy efficient a structure is the more envi

ronmentally friendly it is. I t might be envisaged in

the future that energy greedy structures may be

penalized in some way, for example, through higher

energy charges or by fines for heat loss measured by

infrared photography. Energy efficiency is achieved

in three ways. First, through the design of thestructure and fabric; second, through the sophistica

tion of the services systems themselves or by a

comb ination of both . Althoug h the main benefi ts

are achieved through advanced HVAC design, im

provements in l ighting systems can also be made.

• Redu ction of water consu mptio n: decreasing rainfal l

and increased consumption combined with dis tr ibu

t ion problems al l add up to more expensive water

for the UK (C raven & Pasquire 1997 ) . Th ere are

already many innovations that can reduce domestic

and industr ia l water consumption, not leas t the

re-use of waste white water f rom washing mach ines ,

baths, etc. , for f lushing toilets, cooling processes,etc .

An examination of environmental issues in this way

reveals that the protec tion of the en viro nm ent is no t a

single 'big issue' with little relevance to construction,

but rather a whole series of small issues that affect

every aspect of the construct ion process . More impor-

tandy, this series of small issues need managing, effec

tively broadening the role of the project leader and/or

construct ion manager .

D E C I S I O N P R O C E S S

There is l i t t le formally s tructured information about

the procedures associated with the inclusion of envi

ronmental issues in the construct ion procurement pro

cess (Pasquire 1997). Clearly there is a need for the

development of specif ic procedural information.

This research has identif ied a broad allocation of

decis ion-making responsibi l i ty to var ious construct ion

management roles showing the relat ionship of environ

mental issues to the pre-design, des ign and construc

t ion phases of a project . More impor tantly, the outl ine

of which team mem bers could have the decis ion-making responsibility for particular environmental issues

shows how interwoven the environment and construc

t ion management a r e .

This decis ion-making process is represented by a

prototype model shown in Figs 2 -4 (Haru n 19 97) .

The personnel associated with the decis ion making are

described main ly by their function rath er than their

profess ional des ignation. This is because many of the

roles, such as project leader, designer, etc. , can be

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Managem ent 6 | 3, 276-286

7/27/2019 1657384


28 2 Pasquire, C.

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Managem ent 6 | 3, 276- 286

7/27/2019 1657384


Implications of environmental issues on UK construction management 283

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 6 |3 , 276-286

7/27/2019 1657384


284 Pasquire, C.

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 6 | 3, 276- 286

7/27/2019 1657384



fulfilled by people from a variety of professions or

organizat ions .

It can be seen from these figures and the earlier

discuss ion, mat much of what is required to place

environmental issues under the remit of construct ion

management only involves the extension of exis t ingtasks to incorporate the considerat ion of environmen

tal implicat ions combined with the recognit ion that

many of the aspects a lready included are indeed envi

ronmental considerat ions . The construct ion manage

ment team must recognize the role of the

environmental and special is t consultants as an integral

par t of the procurement process .

T E C H N I Q U E S U S ED

Cont inu ing p ro fess iona l deve lopment

Much of what is required involves keeping up to datewith new legislation and technology. This already

forms par t of CPD and is under taken by profess ionals

whatever their discipline. However, such is the vast-

ness of the subject matter that this is unlikely to be

achieved in its entirety by individuals, the logical result

of this is the development of niche specialisms.

Risk analysis

Many of the decisions to be made in the early stages of

the project development will involve the analysis of the

risks and options involved. Although risk analysis is

not new, i t is not a technique widely used by construc

tion professionals. In general terms, it involves the

consideration of the probability of an event occurring,

combined with an assessment of how sensi t ive the

project, client or other pertinent factor, is to the occur

rence. Most often, this sensitivity is expressed in mon

etary terms. One disadvantage to the use of r isk

analysis is the need for construction consultants to

check professional indemnity insurance for cover if

they are going to incorporate it into their portfolio of

services. This is an express concern if the risk being

considered can be viewed by the insurance company as

a long- term environmental r isk.

Procurement

The issues to be tackled under procurement are two

fold. First, there is the appointment of specialist envi

ronmental consultants , which wil l be dictated by the

scale and scope of the proposed project . The second

issue is the effect the need for environmental services

has on the overal l construct ion procurement decis ion

making process . The main points to be addressed for

both issues are:

• wha t specialist environ men tal advice is required?

• wh o will provid e these services? and

• where will the mana gem ent responsibility lie?

This latter point will be crucial to the selection of

the construct ion procurement method and only ful l

consideration of the issue of allocation of responsibility

wil l enable appropr iate procurement advice to be

given.

Cost adv ice

The oppor tunit ies to incorporate environmental cost

advice are var ied and many (Pasquire 1996) . I t has

already been suggested that the cost of protect ing the

environm ent m ay be as great as 14% of the capita l cost

of a project so there is certainly a cost issue. The type

of cost advice ranges from the traditional function of

component cost compar ison through to cost ing envi

ronmental protect ion measures .

However, to counter this, there is a distinct lack of

quanti ta t ive information about the cost implicat ions of

environmental ly f r iendly options . In may be argued

that this is i tself an environme ntal protect ion measu re,

as once something has a pr ice then i t becomes avail

able for pur cha se (C orr & Pas quir e 199 7), this is

undesirable for the environment in i ts widest sense.

There is a need though, for cost information concern

ing the smaller detail and the indu stry mu st look to thesupply chain for this, e.g. specific costs for construc

t ion methods and mater ials . Designers have a role to

play here as the supply chain will only be able to

supply cost information in response to customer

d e m a n d .

Life-cycle costing

Life-cycle costing is an extension of general cost ad

vice, but is singled out here because durability is a

major part of the design of environmentally friendly

structures . The concept of durabil i ty necess i ta tes consideration of the life span of the structure at an early

s tage and opens up oppor tunit ies to provide long- term

cost projections on a variety of construction design

options .

Value engineer ing

Value engineering seeks to identify those aspects of

design which have little value to the client and those

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Managem ent 6 | 3, 276-2 86

7/27/2019 1657384


2 8 6 Pasquire, C.

w h i c h o f fe r a d d e d v a l u e . A s p e c t s s u c h a s p u b l i c o p i n

i o n a n d c u s t o m e r c a r e a r e i n c r e a s i n g ly b e c o m i n g a r e a s

w h e r e c l i e n t s c a n s e e k a n d o b t a i n a d d e d v a l u e . I t i s i n

t h e s e a r e a s t h a t e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s s u e s c a n p l a y a m a j o r

r o l e e s p e c ia l ly t h r o u g h c o n s t r u c t i o n m e t h o d s a n d t h e

i n c o r p o r a t i o n o f t h e v a r i o u s a s p e c t s o f c o n s e r v a t i o n . I nm a n y c a s e s , s m a l l g e s t u r e s m a y c o s t l it t le b u t a d d a

g r e a t d e a l t o t h e c l i e n t 's i m a g e a n d , a s a c o n s e q u e n c e ,

t h e o t h e r p a r t i e s i n v o l v e d i n t h e p r o j e c t .

C O N C L U S I O N S

T h e r e s e a r c h u n d e r t a k e n s o f a r , c l e a r ly i n d i c a t e s t h a t

m e a s u r e s t a k e n t o s a f e g u a r d t h e e n v i r o n m e n t a r e a l

r e a d y a m a j o r c o s t i t e m i n c o n s t r u c t i o n a n d t h a t t h i s

c o s t h a s i n c r e a s e d f r o m 2 % o f b u i l d i n g c o s t t o 1 4 % o f

b u i l d i n g c o s t i n j u s t 2 0 y e a r s . T h e c o s t i n c r e a s e i s i n

p a r a l l e l w i t h i n c r e a s i n g l e g i s l a t i o n , w h i c h i n t u r n c a n

b e a t t r i b u t e d to h e i g h t e n e d p u b l i c a w a r e n e s s . T h e

s t u d y a l s o d e m o n s t r a t e s m a t m u c h o f t h e w o r k a l r e a d y

u n d e r t a k e n b y c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o f e s s i o n a l s i n v ol v e s

m a k i n g d e c i s i o n s a b o u t e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s s u e s d u r i n g

t h e c o n s t r u c t i o n m a n a g e m e n t p r o c e s s .

I t i s s h o w n t h r o u g h t h e f l o w c h a r t s t h a t , d e s p i t e t h e

s h o r t f al l s in a v a i l ab l e d a t a a n d s t a n d a r d p r o c e d u r e s ,

c o n s t r u c t i o n p r o f e s s i o n a l s h a v e a m a j o r r o l e t o p l a y i n

m a n a g i n g e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s s u e s w i t h i n c o n s t r u c t i o n ,

a n d t h a t it i s p o s s i b l e t o d e f i n e t h e p r o c e s s e s i n v o l v e d .

M o r e r e s e a r c h is n e e d e d t o i d e n ti f y t h e is s u e s m o r e

c l e a r l y , p r o v i d e q u a l i t a t i v e a n d q u a n t i t a t i v e d a t a a n dd e v e l o p f or m a l p r o c e d u r e s f or th e p r o c u r e m e n t a n d

m a n a g e m e n t o f e n v i r o n m e n t a l i s s u es i n c o n s t r u c t i o n .

R E F E R E N C E S

Anon (1997) Tarmac makes 'g reen ' t imber p l edge . Construc-

tion News, February 6 .

Ashforth, S. & Pasqu ire, C.L. (1997) The cost significance of

environmental issues. Unpubl i shed Research Repor t , Lough

borough Universi ty.

Baker, C.P. (1993) Cost Managing the Environment, The

Quantity Surveyor's Role ( . Draft paper for RICS Const ruc

t ion & Environ ment Ski ll s Pan el , Oc tober.

BBC Business News (1997) 06:40 am, 13 January, British

Broadcas t i ng Corpora t i on .

Bright , K. (1991) Building a Greener Future: Environmental

Issues Facing the Construction Industry. C I O B .CIRIA (1987) The Construction Industry and the Environment:

The Way Forward. Special Publ icat ion 77.

CIRIA (1993) Environm ental Issu es in Construction, vol . 2.

Technical Review Special Publ icat ion 94.

Ciria, C. (1994) Environmental Handbook for Building and

Civil Engineering Projects, Construction Phase. Special Publ i

cat ion 98.

Corr , C . & Pasqui re , C .L . (1997 ) The use of secondary aggre-

gates in road building. Unpubl i shed Research Repor t ,

Loughborough Univers i t y .

Craven , J .M. & Pasqui re , C .L . (1997) Conservation of water.

Unpubl i shed Research Repor t , Loughborough Univers i t y .

Depar tment o f t he Envi ronment (1990) This common inheri-

tance, Britain's environmental strategy— the first year report.

H M S O .Depar tm ent o f Trad e and Indus t ry (1994) An Introduction To

UK Environmental Technologies. H M S O .

Gilpin, A. (1996) Dictionary of Environment and Sustainable

Development. Cambridge Universi ty Press.

Gri ffi th, A. (1996) Review of environmental assessment in

UK bui lding const ruct ion: current awareness, concerns and

issues. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Manage-

ment, 3 ( 3 ) , 2 0 5 - 2 1 7 .

Harun , H . (1997) The application of environmental issues for

construction professionals. MSc Di sser t a t i on , Loughborough

Universi ty.

Hawkins , R .G .P . (1993) Contaminated land: the impact of the

EPA 1990 on rural land management. Draf t Repor t , RICS.

Pasqui re , C .L . (1996) An Investigation into the Application of

Quantity Surveying Skills in the Cost Management of Environ-

mental Issues. The Environmental Impact of Land and Property

Management. Wiley.

Pasquire, C.L. (1997) The impl icat ions of environmental

issues on const ruct ion procurement . In: CIB W92, Procure-

ment Systems Symposium, Montreal.

RICS, (1993) Environmental statements. Envi ronmenta l Man-

agement Ski l l s Panel , Draft Paper, RICS.

RICS (1996) Environm ental assessm ents and audits. An

overview for the rural practice cha rtered surveyor, R I C S ,

N o v e m b e r .

© 1999 Blackwell Science Ltd, Engineering, Construction and Architectural Managem ent 6 | 3, 276 -286

Documents

1657384