Quantitative Decision Making Model for Carbon Reduction in Road Construction Projects Using Green Technologies

Woosik Jang, Hyun-Woo You and Seung Heon Han
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Woosik Jang: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea
Hyun-Woo You: Offshore and Engineering Division, Hyundai Heavy Industries, Ulsan 682-792, Korea
Seung Heon Han: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University, Seoul 120-749, Korea

Sustainability, 2015, vol. 7, issue 8, 1-20

Abstract: Numerous countries have established policies for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and have suggested goals pertaining to these reductions. To reach the target reduction amounts, studies on the reduction of carbon emissions have been conducted with regard to all stages and processes in construction projects. According to a study on carbon emissions, the carbon emissions generated during the construction stage of road projects account for approximately 76 to 86% of the total carbon emissions, far exceeding the other stages, such as maintenance or demolition. Therefore, this study aims to develop a quantitative decision making model that supports the application of green technologies (GTs) to reduce carbon emissions during the construction stage of road construction projects. First, the authors selected environmental soundness, economic feasibility and constructability as the key assessment indices for evaluating 20 GTs. Second, a fuzzy set/qualitative comparative analysis (FS/QCA) was used to establish an objective decision-making model for the assessment of both the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the key indices. To support the developed model, an expert survey was performed to assess the applicability of each GT from a practical perspective, which was verified with a case study using two additional GTs. The proposed model is expected to support practitioners in the application of suitable GTs to road projects and reduce carbon emissions, resulting in better decision making during road construction projects.

Keywords: carbon reduction; green technology; decision making; fuzzy set/Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA); road project; construction stage (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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