Investigating the effect of construction management strategies on project greenhouse gas emissions using interactive simulation

The challenges posed by global climate change are motivating the investigation of strategies that can reduce the life cycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of products and processes. While new construction materials and technologies have received significant attention, there has been limited emphasis on understanding how construction processes can be best managed to reduce GHG emissions. Unexpected disruptive events tend to adversely impact construction costs and delay project completion. They also tend to increase project GHG emissions. The objective of this paper is to investigate ways in which project GHG emissions can be reduced by appropriate management of disruptive events. First, an empirical analysis of construction data from a specific highway construction project is used to illustrate the impact of unexpected schedule delays in increasing project GHG emissions. Next, a simulation based methodology is described to assess the effectiveness of alternative project management strategies in reducing GHG emissions. The contribution of this paper is that it explicitly considers projects emissions, in addition to cost and project duration, in developing project management strategies. Practical application of the method discussed in this paper will help construction firms reduce their project emissions through strategic project management, and without significant investment in new technology. In effect, this paper lays the foundation for best practices in construction management that will optimize project cost and duration, while minimizing GHG emissions.

POST-PROJECT ASSESSMENT OF PIT LATRINES IN RURAL PANAMA

In Panama, one of the Environmental Health (EH) Sector’s primary goals is to improve the health of rural Panamanians by helping them to adopt behaviors and practices that improve access to and use of sanitation systems. In complying with this goal, the EH sector has used participatory development models to improve hygiene and increase access to latrines through volunteer managed latrine construction projects. Unfortunately, there is little understanding of the long term sustainability of these interventions after the volunteers have completed their service. With the Peace Corps adapting their Monitoring, Reporting, and Evaluation procedures, it is appropriate to evaluate the sustainability of sanitation interventions offering recommendations for the adaptions of the EH training program, project management, and evaluation procedures. Recognizing the need for evaluation of past latrine projects, the author performed a post project assessment of 19 pit latrine projects using participatory analysis methodologies. First, the author reviewed volunteers’ perspectives of pit latrine projects in a survey. Then, for comparison, the author performed a survey of latrine projects using a benchmarking scoring system to rate solid waste management, drainage, latrine siting, latrine condition, and hygiene. It was observed that the Sanitation WASH matrix created by the author was an effective tool for evaluating the efficacy of sanitation interventions. Overall more than 75%, of latrines constructed were in use. However, there were some areas where improvements could be made for both latrine construction and health and hygiene. The latrines scored poorly on the indicators related to the privacy structure and seat covers. Interestingly those are the two items least likely to be included in project subsidies. Furthermore, scores for hygiene-related indicators were low; particularly those related to hand washing and cleanliness of the kitchen, indicating potential for improvement in hygiene education. Based on these outcomes, the EH sector should consider including subsidies and standardized designs for privacy structures and seat covers for latrines. In addition, the universal adoption of contracts and/or deposits for project beneficiaries is expected to improve the completion of latrines. In order to address the low scores in the health and hygiene indicators, the EH sector should adapt volunteer training, in addition to standardizing health and hygiene intervention procedures. In doing so, the sector should mimic the Community Health Club model that has shown success in improving health and hygiene indicators, as well as use a training session plan format similar to those in the Water Committee Seminar manual. Finally, the sector should have an experienced volunteer dedicated to program oversight and post-project monitoring and evaluation.