Blockchain Enhanced Construction Waste Information Management: A Conceptual Framework

Zhen Liu, Tzuhui Wu (), Fenghong Wang (), Mohamed Osmani and Peter Demian
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Zhen Liu: School of Design, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Tzuhui Wu: School of Design, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Fenghong Wang: School of Design, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou 510006, China
Mohamed Osmani: School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK
Peter Demian: School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering, Loughborough University, Loughborough LE11 3TU, UK

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 19, 1-35

Abstract: Despite the large quantities of secondary materials flowing within the built environment, their actual volume and respective waste management processes are not accurately known and recorded. Consequently, various sustainability and material efficiency policies are not supported by accurate data and information-reporting associated with secondary materials’ availability and sourcing. Many recent studies have shown that the integration of digital technologies such as city information management (CIM), building information modeling (BIM), and blockchain have the potential to enhance construction waste management (CWM) by classifying recycled materials and creating value from waste. However, there is insufficient guidance to address the challenges during the process of CWM. Therefore, the research reported in this paper aims to develop a blockchain-enhanced construction waste information management conceptual framework (BeCW). This paper is the first attempt to apply the strengths of integrated information-management modeling with blockchain to optimize the process of CWM, which includes a WasteChain for providing a unified and trustworthy credit system for evaluating construction-waste-recyclability to stakeholders. This is enabled through the use of blockchain and self-executing smart contracts to clarify the responsibility and ownership of the relevant stakeholders. As a result, this study provides a unified and explicit framework for referencing which quantifies the value-contribution of stakeholders to waste-recovery and the optimization of secondary construction materials for reuse and recycling. It also addresses the issue of sustainable CWM through information exchange at four levels: user, application, service, and infrastructure data levels.

Keywords: blockchain; city information management (CIM); building information modeling (BIM); construction waste management; recycling (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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