Matching Items (3)
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- All Subjects: Design for disassembly
- All Subjects: Occupational safety
- Creators: Grau, David
- Creators: Ford, Emily Lucile
- Status: Published
Description
Today, we use resources faster than they can be replaced. Construction consumes more resources than any other industry and has one of the largest waste streams. Resource consumption and waste generation are expected to grow as the global population increases. The circular economy (CE) is based on the concept of a closed-loop cycle (CLC) and proposes a solution that, in theory, can eliminate the environmental impacts caused by construction and demolition (C&D) waste and increase the efficiency of resources’ use. In a CLC, building materials are reused, remanufactured, recycled, and reintegrated into other buildings (or into other sectors) without creating any waste.
Designing out waste is the core principle of the CE. Design for disassembly or design for deconstruction (DfD) is the practice of planning the future deconstruction of a building and the reuse of its materials. Concepts like DfD, CE, and product-service systems (PSS) can work together to promote CLC in the built environment. PSS are business models based on stewardship instead of ownership. CE combines DfD, PSS, materials’ durability, and materials’ reuse in multiple life cycles to promote a low-carbon, regenerative economy. CE prioritizes reuse over recycling. Dealing with resource scarcity demands us to think beyond the incremental changes from recycling waste; it demands an urgent, systemic, and radical change in the way we design, build, and procure construction materials.
This dissertation aims to answer three research questions: 1) How can researchers estimate the environmental benefits of reusing building components, 2) What variables are susceptible to affect the environmental impact assessment of reuse, and 3) What are the barriers and opportunities for DfD and materials’ reuse in the current design practice in the United States.
The first part of this study investigated how different life cycle assessment (LCA) methods (i.e., hybrid LCA and process-based LCA), assumptions (e.g., reuse rates, transportation distances, number of reuses), and LCA timelines can affect the results of a closed-loop LCA. The second part of this study built on interviews with architects in the United States to understand why DfD is not part of the current design practice in the country.
Designing out waste is the core principle of the CE. Design for disassembly or design for deconstruction (DfD) is the practice of planning the future deconstruction of a building and the reuse of its materials. Concepts like DfD, CE, and product-service systems (PSS) can work together to promote CLC in the built environment. PSS are business models based on stewardship instead of ownership. CE combines DfD, PSS, materials’ durability, and materials’ reuse in multiple life cycles to promote a low-carbon, regenerative economy. CE prioritizes reuse over recycling. Dealing with resource scarcity demands us to think beyond the incremental changes from recycling waste; it demands an urgent, systemic, and radical change in the way we design, build, and procure construction materials.
This dissertation aims to answer three research questions: 1) How can researchers estimate the environmental benefits of reusing building components, 2) What variables are susceptible to affect the environmental impact assessment of reuse, and 3) What are the barriers and opportunities for DfD and materials’ reuse in the current design practice in the United States.
The first part of this study investigated how different life cycle assessment (LCA) methods (i.e., hybrid LCA and process-based LCA), assumptions (e.g., reuse rates, transportation distances, number of reuses), and LCA timelines can affect the results of a closed-loop LCA. The second part of this study built on interviews with architects in the United States to understand why DfD is not part of the current design practice in the country.
ContributorsCruz Rios, Fernanda (Author) / Grau, David (Committee member) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Parrish, Kristen (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
Productivity in the construction industry is an essential measure of production efficiency and economic progress, quantified by craft laborers' time spent directly adding value to a project. In order to better understand craft labor productivity as an aspect of lean construction, an activity analysis was conducted at the Arizona State University Palo Verde Main engineering dormitory construction site in December of 2016. The objective of this analysis on craft labor productivity in construction projects was to gather data regarding the efficiency of craft labor workers, make conclusions about the effects of time of day and other site-specific factors on labor productivity, as well as suggest improvements to implement in the construction process. Analysis suggests that supporting tasks, such as traveling or materials handling, constitute the majority of craft labors' efforts on the job site with the highest percentages occurring at the beginning and end of the work day. Direct work and delays were approximately equal at about 20% each hour with the highest peak occurring at lunchtime between 10:00 am and 11:00 am. The top suggestion to improve construction productivity would be to perform an extensive site utilization analysis due to the confined nature of this job site. Despite the limitations of an activity analysis to provide a complete prospective of all the factors that can affect craft labor productivity as well as the small number of days of data acquisition, this analysis provides a basic overview of the productivity at the Palo Verde Main construction site. Through this research, construction managers can more effectively generate site plans and schedules to increase labor productivity.
ContributorsFord, Emily Lucile (Author) / Grau, David (Thesis director) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Regulatory agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), recognize that decisions regarding occupational health are often economically driven, with worker health only a secondary concern (Ruttenberg, 2014). To investigate the four National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) long-standing health concerns—welding fumes, crystalline silica, noise, and musculoskeletal disorders—a mixed methods research is conducted. Fourfold structuration, a holistic communication process with roots in indigenous/ancient knowledge, is used to organize data and facilitate making tangible relationships of health to productivity and profits that are abstract and often stated by industries, such as construction, as difficult to quantify. From both construction trade worker and occupational health and safety expert interviews data/codes are developed. For the qualitative method, the codes are organized into a constructivist grounded theory depicting the construction industry with regard to its foundation – profits. A theoretical exercise translating the qualitative codes into potential productivity losses is presented as a way for quantifying the abstract relationships of health to productivity. For the quantitative study, the data/codes are used to develop a comprehensive list of practices, barriers to, and catalysts for addressing health in construction. A significant quantitative finding is that occupational health and safety (OSH) experts are not traditionally involved at the highest levels of the OSHA Hierarchy of Controls, where the greatest opportunity to prevent exposure to health hazards is possible. Organized via a holistic framework, this research emphasizes our primary responsibility to each other as highlighted in recent NIOSH worker health agendas.
ContributorsTello, Linda Marguerite (Author) / Grau, David (Thesis advisor) / Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka (Committee member) / Hanemann, Michael (Committee member) / Chong, Oswald (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017