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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Engineering and Science".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 August 2022) | Viewed by 28906

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Special Issue Editors

Prof. Dr. Sunkuk Kim

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Guest Editor

Department of Architectural Engineering, Kyung Hee University, 1732, Deogyeong-daero, Giheung-gu, Yongin-si 17104, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea
Interests: sustainable construction project management; energy use and CO₂ reduction in construction project; performance evaluation of buildings and infrastructures; simulation and optimization; risk management; free-form building technology; sustainable facility management
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Son Kiyoung

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Guest Editor

School of Architectural Engineering, University of Ulsan, Ulsan 44610, Korea
Interests: sustainable construction project management; risk management; safety management; energy use; automation; modeling and simulation; procurement; contracting and legal issues

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Sustainability has been applied in a variety of areas, including human activities, economics and management, climate and environment, and national policy, since first being mentioned by the Club of Rome in their 1972 report, The Limits to Growth (Kim, 2020). Among them, the sustainability of the global environment is the most important area. Sustainability of the global environment cannot be maintained due to greenhouse gas (GHG) generated by excessive CO₂ emissions and, as a result, the world suffers from various types of climate change. According to UNEP, buildings use about 40% of global energy, 25% of global water, 40% of global resources, and generate about one-third of global GHG emissions. Moreover, buildings account for 45%–65% of waste disposed in landfills (Yudelson, 2007). This share becomes even greater if we include such infrastructures as bridges, roads, tunnels, and sewerage lines. Considering this fact, it would not be an exaggeration to say that the construction industry plays the role of the villain in harming the global environment. Thus, it is very important to share information about the research and practices of sustainable construction project management (SCPM) at a time when construction projects are becoming super-high-rise, mega-scale, and functionally sophisticated in accordance with the development of science and technology. This Special Issue aims to provide a hub for construction experts, engineers, and researchers to share their results of SCPM-related research and its practical application in various fields. This Special Issue encourages the submission of case study papers as well as academic and practical research, with focus on the keywords listed below.

Sustainable construction project management (SCPM)
Sustainable construction technology
Sustainable construction engineering
Sustainable operation and maintenance
Life cycle assessment
Simulation, optimization, and risk management
Sustainable facility management
Strategies for SCPM
Policies and regulations for sustainable buildings and infrastructures

Original papers related to the above keywords and also dealing with innovative technologies, management techniques, experimental investigations, mathematical and logical algorithms, policies and regulations, strategies, and case studies for SCPM are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Sunkuk Kim
Prof. Dr. Son Kiyoung
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

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Published Papers (9 papers)

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Research

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11 pages, 1013 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Analysis of the Impact of Building Shape on Safety Management Cost

by Bumjin Han, Youngju Na and Seunghyun Son

Sustainability 2022, 14(21), 14171; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142114171 - 30 Oct 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1503

Abstract

Even if a building has the same building area or number of floors, the effect on construction safety varies depending on the building shape, and thus, safety management cost (SMC) should be calculated differently. If the effect of the building shape on the SMC is clearly analyzed and reflected, a reasonable SMC could be calculated. This study analyzes building shape’s impact on SMC, including apartment buildings’ impact. Following the data collection from 21 projects for this study, an analysis was conducted using the independent variables of the building perimeter (BP), building floor area (BA), and the building shape factor (BSF), and the dependent variable of SMC. As a result of analyzing the correlation between the three main factors and SMC, it was found that the BP, BSF, and BA have a very strong positive Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.876, 0.801, and 0.792, respectively. In the future, the results of this study can be used as supporting data for improving the safety management cost-related system and will develop into a more reliable model through continuous data accumulation and utility verification. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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16 pages, 6548 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Indoor Thermal Environment and Energy Characteristics with Varying Cooling System Capacity and Restart Time

by San Jin, Chanuk Lee, Dongsu Kim, Donghoon Lee and Sunglok Do

Sustainability 2022, 14(15), 9392; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14159392 - 31 Jul 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1705

Abstract

Office cooling systems are controlled with on/off control according to typical occupancy patterns. During unoccupancy, the cooling systems remain switched off to reduce unnecessary energy consumption. During occupancy, however, the cooling systems are in operation to decrease the indoor air temperature, which is increased during unoccupancy, to the cooling set-point temperature. The time required to decrease the indoor air temperature to the cooling set-point temperature is defined as the “recovery time”. According to the recovery time, the indoor thermal comfort at the occupancy start time may worsen, and unnecessary energy may be consumed. Moreover, a cooling system capacity affects the recovery time and the energy consumption because the amount of heat that the cooling system can remove varies according to its size. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze the indoor thermal environment and the energy consumption according to the capacity and the restart time of the cooling system. This study implemented a building system energy simulation using EnergyPlus to evaluate the indoor air temperature, recovery time, and energy consumption of the cooling system while varying the capacity and restart time. As a result, the recovery time was between 49 and 425 min. and energy consumption varied between 419.0 and 521.4 kWh for various capacities. The recovery time was between 26 and 153 min. and energy consumption was between 426.0 and 439.0 kWh for various restart times. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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18 pages, 6575 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Development of Flow-Based Heating Supply Water Temperature Control for Apartment Building Using District Heating System

by Chanuk Lee, San Jin, Donghoon Lee and Sung Lok Do

Sustainability 2022, 14(13), 7826; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14137826 - 27 Jun 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1758

Abstract

In the heating supply systems in apartment buildings utilizing district heating, the supply water temperature setting is a critical control for providing sufficient heating and effective usage of the heating energy. Conventional water temperature control methods such as fixed temperature (FT) control can result in energy wastage and outdoor air temperature reset (OTR) control cannot reflect the variation in the heating demands of households because it only considers the outdoor air temperature. Therefore, this study proposes an advanced control method called flow-based residential energy demand (f-RED) control, which sets the supply water temperature based on the outdoor air temperature and household heating demands (i.e., the changes in the circulated heating water flow). To determine the performance of the proposed method compared to the conventional one, this study utilizes building energy simulation. The simulation analysis results confirm that the f-RED control method appropriately sets the supply water temperature based on a combination of the two factors, supplies heat according to heating demands, and reduces the energy consumption of the circulation pump by approximately 1.6% and that of the secondary pump by 4.2%. Thus, the f-RED control method is able to utilize heat energy more effectively and efficiently than the conventional control method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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19 pages, 3881 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Ergonomic Risk Assessment of Aluminum Form Workers’ Musculoskeletal Disorder at Construction Workstations Using Simulation

by Shraddha Palikhe, Jae Young Lee, Bubryur Kim, Mi Yirong and Dong-Eun Lee

Sustainability 2022, 14(7), 4356; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074356 - 6 Apr 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 4071

Abstract

This study analyzes an existing scenario of musculoskeletal disorder (MSD) associated with the ergonomic hazard of the aluminum formwork workstation and its workers. Aluminum form-workers have increasing evidence of MSDs from repetitive tasks such as the adjustment, alignment of pins, pulling, pushing, and installation of panels, because of the cumulative exposure to ergonomic risks. Existing research indicates that this is due to insufficient expertise, form-worker awareness, and a complex construction plan. Using the Tecnomatix process simulate, this study aims to identify awkward postures during the process of lifting, assembling, and installing formwork to quantify MSDs and assess the ergonomic risk of aluminum form-workers and provide simple solutions. This simulation method makes use of input data from a random sample of 92 participants retrieved from four construction sites. The Rapid Upper Limb Assessment (RULA), Ovako Working Analysis System (OWAS) scores, and Energy Expenditure Rate (EER) for three identified awkward cases were determined to be unsatisfactory, unsafe, and acceptable with suggested alternatives. The ergonomic scores correspond to various bodily stresses, allowing workers to better understand which body parts experience major stress when performing manual jobs. The suggested integrated preventive ergonomics system reduces MSDs and improves how people interact with their surroundings. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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14 pages, 1011 KiB

Open AccessArticle

An Analytical Study of the Latest Trends of Free-Form Molds

by Jongyoung Youn, Jiyoung Yun, Sungjin Kim, Bumjin Han, Sunglok Do and Donghoon Lee

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 3084; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14053084 - 7 Mar 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1928

Abstract

With the development of technology, the number of free-form structures—as well as their value—is increasing. In order to construct such free-form structures, a number of studies are being conducted on free-form molds from multifaceted perspectives. However, it is difficult to identify the progress of studies related to free-form molds, as the scope of the studies is redundant or similar in many cases. Therefore, the current study focused on the identification of the trends of preceding studies on free-form molds using the PRISMA technique. The study classified the studies into three topics in order to identify the trends: ‘free-form curve fabrication technology’, ‘free-form mold fabrication technology’, and the ‘analysis of free-form panel forms.’ Each topic was further categorized into two tiers for more in-depth analysis. The whole process was adopted in order to suggest the trends of studies on free-form molds. The findings are expected to be used to provide fundamental data for future studies on free-form molds, and to set the directions for new studies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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17 pages, 1924 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Improving Sustainable Project Success Strategies Focused on Cost and Schedule for Electrical Construction Project Management

by Janghwan Kim, Jeeyoung Lim, Hyoung-Chul Lim and Dae Young Kim

Sustainability 2022, 14(5), 2653; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14052653 - 24 Feb 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2680

Abstract

Electrical contractors encounter problems such as limited construction sites, schedule interference, and inefficient communication with other contractors when they typically subcontract with general contractors. Electrical projects require effective and systematic project management strategies to overcome these problems and achieve the desired goal. In an electrical construction project, individual tasks are interconnected at different stages, including pre-construction planning (PCP) and project execution (PE). Therefore, analyzing the effect of task strings on the project success in terms of schedule and cost performance is necessary. The main objective of this study is to perform a static analysis to compare successful and failed projects with a focus on the cost and schedule performances, using the PCP and PE task strings in electrical construction projects. To achieve this, a continuous PCP-PE task strings implementation score was calculated for each PE group in terms of cost and schedule, and successful and failed projects on unweighted and weighted values were compared and analyzed by performing an independent sample t-test. Consequently, it was confirmed that the use of most task strings had a positive effect on the cost success at a confidence level of 95%, and that only the subcontractor management group had a positive effect on the schedule success. Hence, it was derived that the usage of task strings for these groups is recommended for cost success in electrical construction, and continuous PCP-PE task strings do not have a positive effect on schedule success; therefore, it is recommended to use the PCP-PE task strings only for specific groups for schedule success in electrical construction. Demonstrating the relationship between the PCP and PE tasks, the findings of this study are expected to help electrical contractors achieve a better performance using effective project management strategies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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17 pages, 1330 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Deep Learning Model Development to Predict Safety Accidents for Sustainable Construction: A Case Study of Fall Accidents in South Korea

by Ji-Myong Kim, Kwang-Kyun Lim, Sang-Guk Yum and Seunghyun Son

Sustainability 2022, 14(3), 1583; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14031583 - 29 Jan 2022

Cited by 10 | Viewed by 4416

Abstract

So far, studies for predicting construction safety accidents have mostly been conducted by statistical analysis methods that assume linear models, such as regression and time series analysis. However, it is difficult for this statistical analysis method to reflect the nonlinear characteristics of construction safety accidents determined by complex influencing factors. In general, deep learning techniques are used to analyze the nonlinear characteristics of complex influencing factors. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to propose a framework for developing a deep learning model for predicting safety accidents for sustainable construction. For this study, 1766 cases of actual accidents were collected by the Korea Occupational Safety Authority (KOSHA) over the 10-year period from 2010 to 2019. Eight factors influencing accident prediction such as medical day, progress rate, and construction scale were selected. Subsequently, the predictive power between deep learning models and conventional multi-regression models was compared using actual accident data at construction sites. As a result, a deep neural network (DNN) improved predictive power by 9.3% in mean absolute error (MAE) and 10.6% in root mean square error (RMSE) compared to a conventional multi-regression model. The results of this study provide guidelines for the introduction of deep learning technology to construction safety management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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Review

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21 pages, 2165 KiB

Open AccessReview

Sustainable Decommissioning Strategies for Nuclear Power Plants: A Systematic Literature Review

by Kwangheon Park, Seunghyun Son, Jinhyuk Oh and Sunkuk Kim

Sustainability 2022, 14(10), 5947; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14105947 - 13 May 2022

Cited by 12 | Viewed by 4788

Abstract

The decommissioning of nuclear power plants (NPPs) is rapidly increasing because NPPs are not only no longer profitable in many cases but are also being decommissioned due to a lack of public acceptance or political reasons in many countries, particularly in Europe, following the explosion of the Fukushima Daiichi NPP. Accordingly, a significant body of research has focused on achieving safe, environmentally sound, and sustainable decommissioning in many countries where there is demand for NPP decommissioning. In order to achieve sustainable decommissioning that restores the NPP site to its pre-NPP environmental state, it is necessary to understand the safety, technology, and cost aspects as well as having the process and strategy to systematically promote them. Although there are a limited number of countries with experience and knowledge in the management of decommissioning multiple NPPs, researchers in countries just starting NPP decommissioning need diverse research information on how to formulate a sustainable decommissioning strategy as well as related factors. In particular, a systematic review of decommissioning strategies, such as DD, ID, and ET, and the influencing factors associated with each strategy is needed from the researcher’s point of view. In this regard, this study reviews the research literature on decommissioning strategies for nuclear power plants with a sustainable perspective. A systematic method involving a meta-analysis is used. The results of this study confirm that many researchers are most interested in DD and are dealing with ID and ET at the same level, but in reality, DD and ID are being adopted at similar rates. Thus far, only three ETs have been adopted in the United States. Most countries that have adopted ID are deemed to have been influenced by political decisions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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20 pages, 1861 KiB

Open AccessReview

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Integration with Digital Technologies toward Construction 4.0: A Systematic Literature Review

by Titi Sari Nurul Rachmawati and Sunkuk Kim

Sustainability 2022, 14(9), 5708; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14095708 - 9 May 2022

Cited by 32 | Viewed by 4818

Abstract

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have been employed in the construction industry in the last decade for various purposes such as progress monitoring and building inspection. Recently, there has been a rising trend of employing UAVs with other digital technologies (DTs), such as Building Information Modeling and Extended Reality. The integration of these technologies encourages automation and digitization toward better project performance. However, little is known about the implementation of UAVs in conjunction with other DTs. Therefore, this study performs a systematic literature review to determine application areas and technology trends regarding UAVs’ integration with other DTs. The search yielded 287 articles, of which 36 satisfied the established inclusion criteria and formed the foundation of this systematic review. Seven application areas of UAV integration with other DTs were identified: progress monitoring, historic building conservation, information management, construction safety, construction education, structural and infrastructure inspection, and transportation. This study also revealed UAV technology trends encouraging automation and digitization: automated progress monitoring, automated UAV inspection planning, real-time video streaming, and parametric model development of historicbuildings. This study is expected to be a starting point of future in-depth research by providing a general understanding of the current applications of UAVs integration with other DTs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Research and Practice of Sustainable Construction Project Management)

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