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Achieving sustainability through
reducing construction waste
during the design process
A value management perspective
Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman and Sherouk Mohamed Abdelrahim
Architectural Engineering Department, The British University in Egypt,
Cairo, Egypt
Abstract
Purpose –The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of Value Management towards achieving
sustainability through reducing the construction waste during the design process.
Design/methodology/approach –To achieve the abovementioned aim, a research methodology
consisting literature review and survey questionnaire is designed to achieve the following objectives: first,
building a comprehensive understanding of the research topic through reviewing literature related to the
nature of the construction industry, waste in construction, sustainability, the design phase and Value
Management; second, presenting and analysing two case studies to validate the role of Value Management
towards reducing waste in construction projects; third, conducting a survey questionnaire with a
representative sample of architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt to evaluate their perception and
application of Value Management towards reducing the construction waste during the design phase; and
finally, proposing a business improvement framework to facilitate the integration of Value Management into
the design phase as an approach for reducing construction waste.
Findings –The construction waste has a negative impact on achieving sustainability objectives. The
design process plays a major role in generating waste throughout the project life cycle. This is a result of
improper decisions taken during the design phase. Egypt as a developing country does not have the required
technical or financial resources to deal with the huge amount of waste generated during the construction
process. The Egyptian Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 focussed on eradicating the waste from its
source (i.e. design phase). Integrating Value Management into the design phase will help developing creative
ideas and better decisions, which will enable achieving sustainability objectives and reducing construction
waste.
Originality/value –The Egyptian Sustainable Development Strategy 2030 has discussed the importance
of dealing with the wastes from the source. Although the construction waste is a dangerous type of waste,
most research studies have not focussed on the design process as a source for the construction waste. In this
research, the design phase was discussed as an important element in reducing the construction waste by
using Value Management approach.
Keywords Design, Material, Value management, Construction waste, Waste reduction,
Sustainability, Design phase
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The construction industry is one of the biggest industries worldwide. It plays a
significant role towards attaining the national and international sustainable economic
and social development objectives. Economically, the construction industry contributes
about 7 to 10 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of highly developed economies
and around 3 to 6 per cent for underdeveloped economies (Wibowo, 2009;Lowe, 2003). In
Value
management
perspective
Received 11 March2019
Revised 20 May 2019
Accepted 4 August2019
Journal of Engineering, Design
and Technology
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1726-0531
DOI 10.1108/JEDT-03-2019-0064
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/1726-0531.htm
addition, it employs about 10 (e.g. Algeria) to 30 per cent (e.g. Mauritius) of populations
around the globe (CIA, 2015). Moreover, governments worldwide use the construction
industry as a means to develop the national economy through increasing public
expenditure to overcome the impact of recession and decrease the ratio of unemployment.
Furthermore, the output of the construction industry is a major component of investment
and part of fixed capital assets and infrastructure. Prosperity of the construction industry
encourages and improves the performance of other supporting industries (Ball and Wood,
1995). Socially, the construction industry is concerned with fulfilling community needs
through providing end users with facilities for housing, education, culture, medication,
business, leisure and entertainment. In addition, it constructs infrastructure projects
including roads, water and electricity stations as well as telecommunication networks to
enable these projects to perform their intended functions effectively (Metcalf, 2017).
Conversely, the construction industry is blamed to be a non-sustainable business in terms
of its massive amount of wastes produced. According to Hong Kong government
statistics, the construction industry is accountable for about half of the waste generated
annually. (Environmental Protection Department, 2016). In the UK, about 32 per cent of
the landfill is resulted from construction waste (sharman, 2018). The Egyptian report of
waste management published in 2014, stated that 4.5 per cent of the total waste in Egypt
is construction waste (German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation, 2014). The
construction industry generates many types of wastes such as material wastes and
construction and demolition waste. While the first type refers to the materials that have
been bought and never used, the second refer to the waste generated due to the
construction process. These wastes either disposed by dumping in water or deserted
areas, which act as a threat towards the environment (Sapuay, 2016). Every construction
project has its own value represented in the client investment. From the client’s
perspective, the value of the project is materialised through achieving its objectives on
time, within budget and as specified (Connaughton and Green, 1996). However, the value
of the project decreases as the waste increases. According to Osmani et al. (2006) one third
of construction waste produced can be avoided by taking the right decisions during the
design process. In Egypt, one of the main objectives of the Sustainable Development
Strategy: Egypt’sVision2030(SDS2030)istopreventthegeneratedwastefromits
source (Ministry of Planning, M.a.A.R, 2015). Therefore, decisions taken during the
design phase should be informative and precise to eliminate the waste as much as
possible. As construction projects increase around the world, wastes resulted also
increase. The construction waste has a great impact on the economy, environment, and
society. Millions of dollars are charged each year as a cost of the waste generated due to
construction. In the UK, about 200 million Euros are paid annually as landfill taxes.
Construction materials are one of the most expensive elements in the project cost.
However, most projects end up with about 20 per cent of materials unused (Dajadian and
koch, 2014). Therefore, this waste is considered as a loss of money which decreases the
value of the delivered project. In Egypt, about 10,000 tons of construction waste are
generated daily; which is nearly third the total amount of waste resulted everyday (Al-
Ansary et al., 2017). The construction waste is bulky, heavy and toxic if compared to
wastes generated from other industries. It is usually disposed through illegal ways such
as burn, bury, mix with home wastes, or even throw it in the forest, desert or water. These
ways result in environmental serious problems (Sapuay, 2016). Socially, the construction
waste affects the social life of citizens as it has a negative impact on people’shealthand
welfare. In addition, preventing the construction waste at the pre-construction phase is
the most effective way to achieve sustainability. Thus, decisions made in the early design
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stages should consider waste reduction as a factor to achieve value for the project
(Nagapan et al., 2012). Ametepey et al. (2015) stated that by 1940s, Value Management
came to the light and was used as an approach to enhance the delivered project value
through waste reduction. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the role of Value
Management in achieving sustainability through reducing construction waste during the
design process.
2. Research objectives and methodology
To achieve the above mentioned aim, a mixed qualitative and quantitative methodology,
based on literature review and survey questionnaire was designed to accomplish the four
objectives:
(1) Providing a comprehensive background about the research topic through covering
the nature of the construction industry, waste in construction, sustainability, the
design phase and Value Management. This objective was achieved through
conducting in-depth literature review depending on textbooks, academic and
professional journals, conferences and seminars proceedings, dissertations and
theses, organisations and government publications as well as Internet and related
Web sites.
(2) Validating the role of Value Management towards reducing construction waste in
construction projects. This objective was attained through presenting and
analysing two case studies from Indonesia and India.
(3) Evaluating the perception and application of Value Management towards reducing
construction waste during the design phase. This objective was accomplished
through a survey questionnaire conducted with a representative sample of
architectural design firms (ADFs) in Egypt,
(4) Developing a framework to facilitate the integration of Value Management into the
design process as an approach for reducing construction waste.
3. Waste in the construction industry
3.1 An overview
Construction waste is defined as relatively clean, heterogeneous building materials
generated directly or indirectly from the various construction activities (Tchobanoglous
et al., 1993). Construction waste consists of unwanted material such as bricks, concrete,
wood, electric wiring, nails and insulations that are damaged or unused for various reasons
during construction. The increasing need for new buildings to fulfil community
requirements, ultimately increases the amount of construction waste (Ikau et al.,2016).
Although the quantity and quality of construction waste generated from any specific project
would vary depending on the project’s circumstances and types of materials used,
construction waste represents about 35 per cent of all wastes generated by other industries
(Polat et al.,2017).
3.2 Causes and impacts of construction waste
This section explains the causes and impacts of construction waste. Causes of construction
waste are divided into main causes, primary causes and secondary causes where their
impact was analysed in the light of their effect on sustainability aspects namely, economy,
society and environment (Table I).
Value
management
perspective
3.3 Methods of construction waste disposal
Disposing waste is the process of transporting waste materials from the site to another
place. About 30 per cent of the total construction waste is basically dumped into landfills
(Polat et al., 2017) through illegal ways (Sapuay, 2016).There are other different ways to
dump construction waste including throwing into the water, dumping in a deserted area,
dumping in forests, burying under the ground, collecting and then burning it, mixing with
other types of wastes. Construction waste dumped in the environment is bulky and toxic.
Construction waste is known for its chemical components such as asbestos, persistent
compounds, and volatile compounds. Thus, it has a negative impact towards the
environment; causing water contamination, fire risks, air pollution and attraction for pests
(Polat et al.,2017). Furthermore, Dajadian and Koch (2014) noted that 40 per cent of the
Table I.
Causes of
construction waste
generation
Construction
waste main
causes Primary causes Secondary causes Impact
Design Design and detailing errors Inexperienced team Cost of material due to
redoing and overdoing
(economic impact)
(Osmani et al., 2006)
Incomplete details (Osmani et al.,
2006)
Lack of communication
between project parties
Project type, location, complexity
and unclear project and details
Hesitated client (Polat
et al., 2017) Frequent changes cause
waste in material which
can be thrown and causes
release of harmful gasses
(environmental impact)
Poor selection of materials
Frequent changes in design
Overordering (Elgizawy et al.,
2016;Polat et al., 2017)
Procurement Mistakes in quantity Human errors Overbuying and waste in
resourcesShipping or suppliers’error Unclear details (Osmani
et al., 2006)Materials purchased not
matching with required ( Polat
et al., 2017)
Storage Poor storage of materials on site Limited resources Poor storage can result in
material composition
(environmental impact)
Methods used for storage are
improper (Osmani et al., 2006)
Lack of knowledge
(Polat et al., 2017)
Workers Damages caused by workers Overtime Pressure in work can
result in human mistakes
and improper usage of
materials
Mistakes (Polat et al., 2017) Poor site conditions
Lack of training and
experience
Time pressure (Polat
et al., 2017)
Site
Management
Cutting in uneconomic way Lack of site-control Cost of material due to
redoing and overdoing
(economic impact)
Unused materials Lack of experience
Usage of incorrect materials Lack of communication
between workers and
management
Delay in passing information
Poor planning
Lack of awareness
(Polat et al., 2017)
Poor on-site lighting (Osmani
et al., 2006)
External
Factors
Weather condition (Osmani et al.,
2006)
Unpredictable
conditions ( Polat et al.,
2017)
Material destroying and
waste of resources
Theft
Political reason
Source: Developed by authors
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natural resources around the world are wasted due to the construction industry. Thus, not
only it is harmful for the environment, but also waste ofmoney and resources. The materials
are considered as the main financial consuming element in any construction project; about
20 per cent of the materials in the project end up as unused wasted materials.
4. The design phase
Any construction project passes through a series of phases. One of the most important
phases is the design phase; where the client requirements are translated into technical
drawing and specification. In addition, crucial decisions that affect the performance of the
building throughout its life cycle are made. The design process is considered as guidance
towards the development of the project through setting consecutive actions. These actions
are arranged according to their importance. Thus, the value of an action determines its
priority in the project (Bragança et al., 2014). Great benefits are expected when Value
Management principals are applied during the early stages of the project life cycle
(especially the design phase) (El-Alfy, 2010), as it focuses on delivering the required function
through creative solutions that balance between quality and cost (Kirk, 1989).
4.1 The RIBA plan of work
The RIBA plan of work is a plan developed by the Royal Institute of British Architects
(2011) to provide the clearest image of the stages for the construction industry. It is
frequently updated to keep up with the needed technological and sustainable development
approaches. In the RIBA plan of work, waste elimination has been integrated in the
sustainable processes. In the design brief, a site waste management plan is developed to
enable designers to make decisions, which reduce waste. In addition, in the concept stage,
the designer considers the complexity of the project as a factor for waste generation.
Moreover, in the design development stage, the designer needs to identify the opportunities,
which help minimising waste as much as possible. Finally, in the tender document stage,
requirements for the contractor are stated to enable minimising the waste by using the
material efficiently (RIBA, 2011).
4.2 Impact of the design process on construction waste generation
Dajadian and Koch (2014) noted that 33 per cent of construction waste results from failure in
reducing waste during the design process. The design process is considered as the main cause of
construction waste generation. Some design factors affect waste generation such as incomplete
information, late design changes, unclear specification, lack of communication, over ordering, and
detailing errors. The design phase is the main source of errors and mistakes, which result in
increasing the construction waste. As the cost for disposing waste from the construction sites is
high, construction organisations will benefit from reducing waste from the first place rather than
dealing with the waste after it was produced. In Egypt, during the current economic situation, the
country is in need for developing new buildings to meet community requirements, but at the most
cost effective manner. Thus, reducing waste will help improving the economy and development
of the country. Moreover, reducing waste in the design phase helps avoiding environmental
problems and protecting natural resources, avoiding landfills, reducing pollution, reducing
contamination of water, reducing gas emissions and global warming. Although construction
wasteisasignificant problem that encounters the construction industry, the precautions taken to
reduce it are mostly carried out during the construction phase. However, some solutions were
held through the design phase to minimise the waste production by choosing suitable type of
construction systems, using pre-fabricated elements and making proper material selection
decision (Australia’s Government, 2017). Value Management application should not only be
Value
management
perspective
considered to enhance the value of the project but also to achieve sustainability objectives (El-
Alfy, 2010). Designing out waste at an early stage of the project helps multiplying the opportunity
for waste minimisation (Baldwin and Austin, 2014).
5. Value management
Value Management is a well-established technique dated back to 1940s. It is the European
name given to a service concerned with providing the product or service demanded by a
customer at the required quality and at the optimum cost (Male et al., 1998). Value Management
helps clients ensuring that their investment in construction is cost effective (Connaughton and
Green, 1996) and enables the designer providing better solutions for complex problems (New
south wales Government, 2004). Value Management is characterised by providing the client
with the benefits expected for the project by applying certain techniques to enhance and
maximise the benefits while minimising the use of resources. It is a management approach that
focuses on improving the performance of organisations through delivering better values to the
customers at lower cost. Although, Value Management is popular for its cost reduction, it is
much more than just cost reduction exercise. Value Management helps enhancing the value
delivered to customers and the quality of the delivered product. In addition, it helps defining the
stages of the project which makes it easier to take decisions. It encourages providing innovative
solutions for the faced problems (Serebryakova and Musayelyan, 2016). Value Management
application during the design phase helps improving sustainability of the building expressed in
economic, social and environmental aspects (El-Alfy, 2010).
5.1 Value management phases
Value Management is basically depending on creating team spirit by performing good
communication environment between the team members which ultimately enables the team
to develop successful creative alternatives and decisions. Table II shows the 5 phases of
Value Management job plan (Toy, 2017).
5.2 Contributions of Value Management towards the construction industry
The construction industry is a team-based business, which depends on team cooperative
work to perform a certain task. Value Management has great benefits towards construction
projects as follows (Oke and Aigbavboa, 2017):
helps defining a clear image of the project objectives and enhance its value;
helps identifying the unnecessary cost;
improves communication between project stakeholders and team spirit;
helps achieving maximum efficiency and proper decisions throughout the design phase;
provides proper analysis to project elements and processes;
encourages innovative ideas and efficient designs;
improve the client involvement in the design decision-making process;
helps identifying the project constrains and issues; and
provides a well-defined role for everyone in the project (Oke and Aigbavboa, 2017).
6. Case studies
This section represents two practical case studies from Indonesia and India to show how
applying Value Management concept contributed towards reducing construction waste in
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construction projects. Due to the lack of Value Management application during the design
phase in Egypt, the selection of both case studies was based on being from developing
countries that are similar to Egypt in many aspects of the construction industry.
6.1 Governmental building, Jakarta, Indonesia
The project is a governmental building consists of 17 floors located in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The project duration was 371days with a budget of 38 million USD. The Value Management
study was conducted by the Faculty of Civil Engineering, University of Teknologi,
Malaysia. The aim of study was to reduce the waste and enhance the performance of the
project (Firmawan et al.,2012). The study consisted of three stages:
(1) Stage 1: This is the planning stage of the project. It depends on collecting data
which, will be used later in the study. Organising the activities, schedule, and team
composition will pave the road for an effective Value Management study.
(2) Stage 2: This is the core stage of the Value Management workshop and it is
divided into 6 phases namely, information phase, function analysis phase,
creativity phase, evaluation phase, development phase and reporting phase.
(3) Stage 3: In this stage, implementation of the previously discussed ideas takes
place, in addition to following up the process.
During the evaluation process of an idea; if the idea is acceptable, the team must proceed to the
development phase, if no they should go back to the creativity phase and try to brainstorm
more alternatives. Moreover, in the third stage if the result is acceptable, the team should
proceed to the implementation and follow up, but if the results are unacceptable, the team
should go back to the creativity phase to think of more suitable ideas (Firmawan et al., 2012).
Table II.
Phases of value
management
Phase Explanation
Information
phase
The objective of this phase is to establish a good understanding of the project, its design
and operation, the functions of the project itself, and its constituent elements, and to
determine areas with the greatest potential for saving and needed improvements
Creativity
phase
This phase includes any of various creativity/motivational techniques to generate
alternative ideas to achieve the same basic functions at lower costs or to achieve
necessary improvements. The most often used method is the brainstorming technique
Evaluation
phase
Various evaluation methods may be used during this phase to analyse and highlight the
best ideas generated during the creativity phase. Ideas are evaluated, both on economic
and non-economic criteria such as aesthetics, environmental impact, etc.
Development
phase
The ideas for alternatives selected during the evaluation phase are now developed into
fully detailed proposals, which generally comprise:
Description of both the original and the proposed design
A narrative on the advantages and disadvantages of each proposal
Initial and life cycle cost consequences of the proposals
Detailed technical calculations, sketches, etc.
Proposals must be detailed and avoid ambiguity otherwise they may be rejected with
little consideration by decision-makers
Presentation
phase
This phase includes a presentation of the refined and developed proposals to enable
decision makers and other interested parties make their decision. Proposals are
summarised, and the life cycle cost saving presented as well as the rationale behind each
of the recommendations presented
Source: (Toy, 2017)
Value
management
perspective
The functional analysis is considered as the most important core of Value Management
approach. In this project, the functional analysis conducted by using FAST (Functional
Analysis System Technique) diagram. The method for analysing the function of elements is by
expressing the function as a concise phrase. There are two types of phrases; the active and
passive phrases. The active phrase consists of an active verb followed by a noun, the active
verb expresses action like protect, hold, attract, and enclose. While the passive verb is vaguer
like allow and provide. The active phrase is preferred in the functional analysis as it provides
more description precisely. According to Firmawan et al. (2012) if a function couldn’tbedefined
in two words only, then there is insufficient information available. Combining between
different functions should be avoided and the distinction between primary and secondary
functions should be facilitated. Figure 1 shows the FAST diagram of the case study.
In the fast diagram, the aim of the Value Management study was to protect the
environment. By going through Value Management stages; some decisions were taken to
achieve this aim such as maximise value, segregate waste in the construction site to
facilitate its reuse or recycle. In addition, changing the frameworks from wooden
frameworks to adjustable steel frameworks helped eliminating the waste of wood. Moreover,
using precast concrete system enabled eliminating the concrete waste and wood framework
waste. As a result of the case study, the following lessons are learned:
using environmental friendly construction materials to avoid toxics substances and
minimise the usage of nature resources;
designing in an innovative way to excavate for the piles for minimising the waste
produced;
designing draining pits for the site to drain water and save it for another use;
using concrete precast systems to minimise the waste of concrete;
using a steel adjustable formwork panel system to minimise the waste of wood;
making insulation from wasted materials on the site; and
using leftover concrete as car stopper.
6.2 Pharmaceutical plant, Karnataka, India
The project is a pharmaceutical plant in Karnataka, India. The aim of the study was to
eliminate or minimise the construction waste by using Value Management and going
through reducing, reusing and recycling processes. The company handles the
construction waste by preparing a waste management plan accompanied with
successful implementation. A Value Management study was conducted by the
Figure 1.
Fast diagram
Protect environment
Maximise value
Segregate waste
Use steel
framework
Use precast
concrete
Source: Firmawan
et al., 2012
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companythenacomparisonbetweenpre-studyandpoststudywasestablishedtoshow
how the Value Management approach has succeeded to reduce the construction waste.
The company’s Value Management approach depends on data collection, waste
identification and elimination as well as comparing and analysing results (Gudigar
et al., 2014). Results of the case study showed that foundation pits were designed
according to the site characteristics and bearing capacity of the soil. This helped
reducing the foundation and pit excavation by 1109 m
3
. In addition, the plain cement
concrete (PCC) was eliminated from some footings which helped decreasing PCC by
84.7 m
3
. Moreover, shattering for soil was eliminated in most of the excavation sites,
which decreased by 1,542.56 m
2
. Furthermore, it was decided to use partition walls for
the interior walls instead of using concrete blocks. This resulted in reducing the square
area by 12.7 m
2
. Finally, eliminating plastering from columns saved 190.24 m
2
of
plaster and revisiting the structural design resulted in changing the type of the steel
from FE 415 to TMT 500 which saved 409 tons of steel. By comparing between pre and
post Value Management study; it was obvious that a proper Value Management study
can result in massive waste reduction.
7. Data analysis
A survey questionnaire was developed by the authors and distributed to a representative
sample of Egyptian ADFs to evaluate their perception and application of Value
Management as an approach for reducing construction waste during the design process.
The survey consisted of open-ended questions (e.g. thoughts and opinions) and close ended
questions (e.g. Yes/No questions, rating questions based on 1-4 Likert Scale). Collected date
was analysed quantitatively and qualitatively.
The quantitative analysis was simply based on measuring the central tendency and
dispersion of the questionnaire responses. The measure of central tendency was used to get
an overview of the typical value for each variable by calculating the mean, median and
mode. The measure of dispersion was used to assess the homogenous or heterogeneous
nature of the collected data by calculating the variance and the standard deviation (Bernard,
2000). The data were analysed with the aid of Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. Analysis of the
collected data showed close values of means, medians and modes, indicated typical central
values and showed also low values of variance and standard deviation. This confirmed the
quality and the homogeneity of the collected data as well as a low degree of dispersion
resulting in reliable findings. As there is no quantification without qualification and no
statistical analysis without interpretation (Bauer and Gaskell, 2000), during this paper
qualitative data analysis was employed to support andinterpret quantitativedata analysis.
7.1 Sampling and response rate
To select a representative and non-biased sample to answer the survey questionnaire, the
list of all ADFs registered in the Egyptian Engineers Syndicate (EES, 2018) was obtained
resulting in a population of 44 firms. To calculate the sample size, the next two equations
were applied (FluidSurveys Team, 2014). In this research, the confidence level chosen is 95
per cent and the margin of error is 5 per cent. The confidence level score corresponding to
the confidence level of 95 per cent is 1.96:
Sample Size Calculation ¼Distrubution of 50%
Margin of error%=Confidence Level Score
2
Value
management
perspective
True Sample ¼Sample Size Population
Sample Size þPopulation 1
Sample Size ¼0:510:5
ðÞ
0:05=1:96
2¼384:16
True Sample ¼384:16 44
384:16 þ44 1¼39:57 40
However, since the true sample size of 40 ADFs is only different from the population
size in this case by 4; the whole population was considered the sample size for the
survey questionnaire. A pilot study of the survey was tested with colleagues to
determine its effectiveness and problems. They were asked to answer the questions as
if they were received from someone unknown and go through the questionnaire again to
point out any problem they noted with questions. After going over the responses of the
preliminary test and making changes, the questionnaire was ready for formal testing
(Baker, 1994;Czaja and Blair, 1996). A copy of the survey questionnaire was sent
electronically to all 44 ADFs by contacting them at first through their formal e-mail
addresses or directly by calling them depending on the available contact information.
Out of 44 ADFs participated in the survey questionnaire, only 18 firms responded
representing 41 per cent that supports the research findings and recommendations.
Results of the survey questionnaire revealed that:
7.2 Construction waste perception and practices
71 per cent of respondents have a very good to excellent understanding of the issue
of construction waste and its consequences in the construction industry with an
average of (3.11/4) to (4/4).
82 per cent of respondents agreed that human errors, design errors and incomplete
details are the main reasons behind construction waste generation with an average
of (3.22/4) and (3.06/4) respectively.
76 per cent of respondents mentioned that the most wasted materials in construction
sites are “bricks”where, 59 per cent respondents stated that the second highest
wasted materials are “concrete”,“sand”and “gravel”.
64 per cent of respondents stated that the highest impact of wasted construction
materials is “financial loss”where 57 per cent respondents mentioned that the
second highest impact is “pollution &harmful gases releasing.
82.4 per cent of ADFs do not have a waste management specialist. This highlight
the issue that construction waste is not considered as a major problem.
42 per cent respondents stated that construction waste is usually thrown in landfills
or reused.
7.3 Sustainability and construction waste
All respondents stated that they perceive the concept of sustainability and its pillars
of environment, economy and society.
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82.4 per cent respondents agreed that reducing construction waste will enhance
sustainability of the built environment. This is because reducing waste will reduce
its impact on the environmental, reduce financial loss in replacing and treating
wasted materials and will uplift the quality of life of society.
ADFs mentioned that they use different approaches to achieve sustainability
including lean construction, reusing and recycling construction waste, applying
total quality management, Value Management and planning and follow up process.
7.4 Value management and construction waste
92 per cent of respondents stated their understanding of Value Management concept
and its application in constriction.
76.5 per cent of respondents apply Value Management as an approach for reducing
construction waste. However, 50 per cent of them do not appoint Value Management
facilitator.
71 per cent of respondents stated that ADFs increase the project value through
reducing cost while keeping quality or enhancing quality with the same cost. In
addition, 59 per cent of respondents considered eliminating waste is as important as
cost reduction.
83 per cent of respondents agreed that Value Management application is difficult
because it needs training and the lack of information.
8. Value management framework for construction waste reduction
8.1 Definition and importance
A framework is defined as an arrangement of series of concepts, tools and approaches needed
to be integrated into a designed structure to complete a specific process and objective (Othman
and Mia, 2008). The Value Management Framework for Construction Waste Reduction
(hereinafter referred as VMFCWR or the Framework) is a proposed framework that describes
the steps and procedures needed to facilitate the integration of Value Management concept
during the design process as an approach for reducing construction waste. The need for the
framework emerges from the necessity of achieve sustainability objectives through reducing
construction waste during the design process. This is because decisions made during the early
design phases have a crucial impact on the sustainability of the developed project. In addition,
Value Management plays a significant role in developing creative solution that enable ADFs to
reduce construction waste and achieve sustainability objectives.
8.2 Aim of the framework
The VMFCWR is a business improvement framework aims to facilitate the integration of
Value Management into the design process as an approach for reducing construction waste.
This will help enhancing the value delivered to the client and achieve sustainability of the
built environment.
8.3 The conceptual description of the framework
Within this paper the framework has been viewed as project consists of five phases, namely:
(1) the initiating phase;
(2) the planning Phase;
Value
management
perspective
(3) the executing phase;
(4) the monitoring and controlling phase; and
(5) the closing phase (Figure 2).
8.3.1 The initiating phase. “The Initiating phase”is an essential phase of this framework
because it enables ADFs to identify the core causes that obstruct the integration of Value
Management into the design process. It is of importance to build an effective team (including
a competent team leader and Value specialist) to carry out the integration study. Achieving
a balance between the need for participants who represent various areas of expertise and
possess diverse background is fundamental for accomplishing the study objectives. The
study team should contain between six and twelve full time participants to maintain
optimum productivity (Norton and MCelligot, 1995). Performing an early orientation
meeting will help in establishing strategic issues like study objectives, duration, resources
required and assigning responsibilities to team members. Senior management has to be
convinced with the benefits of Value Management towards reducing construction waste.
This will facilitate the provision of needed resources and the adoption of study decisions and
recommendations. Data collection methods (i.e. literature review, survey questionnaire,
interviews and case studies) and data analysis techniques (i.e. quantitative and qualitative)
must be defined and utilised. Brainstorming technique, team consensus and evaluation
matrix must be used for identifying the root causes and rank them according to their
importance.
8.3.2 The planning phase. “The Planning Phase”phase aims to set the procedures and
actions necessary to integrate Value Management into the design process towards reducing
construction cost. It will include a work breakdown structure and a responsibility matrix,
where the first downsizes the work into manageable work packages and the later links the
activity to be done and the responsible person. In addition, the plans should include
expected risks and corrective actions to be taken in case of the plan did not go as intended.
Furthermore, the communication plan between the study team has to be developed to
portray the reporting structure during the integration process.
8.3.3 The executing phase. “The Executing Phase”integrates people and other resources
to undertake the tasks developed in planning phase. The execution plans may require that
employees involved in the integration process to be trained and equipped with all tools and
techniques required to guarantee the successful execution of plans. This phase will include
Figure 2.
The framework
The Initiating
Phase
(1)
The
Planning
Phase
(2)
P
l
an
P
h
(
The
Executing
Phase
(3)
T
E
x
e
c
P
h
The
Monitoring
and
Controlling
Phase
(4)
T
he
M
on
i
to
r
i
ng
The Closing
Phase
(5)
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the implementation stages of Value Management including information, creativity,
evaluation, development and presentation. In addition, senior management support and
offering the required facilities will help achieving the integration objectives. The execution
function should use the work authorisation system, which verifies the predecessor activities
and permits the successor activities to proceed. This ensures the quality of work performed.
8.3.4 Monitoring and controlling phase. The aim of this phase is to ensure that the
integration of Value Management into the design process goes according to plans.
Comments and feedback from the execution team will enable taking corrective actions if
plans were not implemented as planned. Furthermore, this will help improving the
performance of ADFs in future improvement projects.
8.3.5 The closing phase. “The Closing Phase”ensures that the project is completed as
planned and evaluates the outcomes to avoid mistakes in the future projects. It aims to get a
formal acceptance of the project and conclude it. The framework should ensure that the
project succeeded to facilitate the integration of Value Management into the design process
to reduce construction cost. A lesson learned document should be created to evaluate and
measure what was achieved in the integration exercise and identify any issues that were
raised. This will help ADFs to overcome these issues and improve their performance in
future developments.
8.4 Benefits and limitations of the framework
The benefits of the framework will impact positively on ADFs and the community within
which they operate. The benefits lie in reducing construction waste through integrating Value
Management into the design process. The VMFCWR will help enhancing the value delivered to
the client and achieving sustainability objectives through waste reduction. Implementing the
framework will enhance the performance of ADFs, living conditions of communities and the
environmental and economic sustainability of the built environment. However, the framework
is hindered by the poor awareness of ADFs about the application of Value Management in real
life projects. Moreover, the framework’s success depends on the encouragement of ADFs and
the government to facilitate the integration process. The application of the framework is a time-
consuming process, which requires full dedication from the participants. Due to the nature of
the construction industry and time constraints of projects, this framework may not be
welcomed and ADFs may be reluctant to conduct this integration.
9. Conclusions and recommendations
The construction industry is one of the biggest industries worldwide. It plays a major role
towards achieving the economic and social development objective of countries worldwide.
At the economic level, the construction industry provides job opportunities, increases
countries’GDP and supports other depending industries to excel. At the social level, it
provides societies with buildings and infrastructure facilities that fulfil their needs and
improve their quality of life. On the other hand, the construction industry is a non-
sustainable business, which has a negative impact on the environment through producing
massive amount of wastes such as bought and unused materials as well as construction and
demolition waste generated during the construction process. These wastes remain as a main
obstacle towards achieving sustainability objectives, delivering better value to the client and
consequently influencing the national economy. This issue is maximised due to the
dominated traditional approaches used to deal with generated waste. Literature review
highlighted that about one third of the construction waste produced can be avoided by
taking the right decisions during the design process. Hence, different and innovative
approach is needed to prevent waste at source. This paper investigated the role of Value
Value
management
perspective
Management in achieving sustainability through reducing construction waste during the
design process. Hence, this paper aims to investigate the role of Value Management in
achieving sustainability through reducing construction waste during the design process.
This aim was achieved through conducting through literature review, presenting and
analysing case studies and results of a survey questionnaire conducted with a
representative sample of ADFs in Egypt. The research proposed a framework to facilitate
the adoption of Value Management to reduce the construction waste during the design
process. Based on the above, the research may recommend:
escalating the awareness of ADFs towards the negative consequences of
construction waste, which prohibit the achievement of sustainability objectives and
the value delivered to the client;
integrating the concept of Value Management during the design process will enable
the design team to adopt value-based decisions that could help reducing waste
generation in the different phases of the project life cycle;
ADFs are required to include sustainability and waste elimination in their strategic
vision, mission and objectives;
providing architects with needed trainings to ensure the successful implementation
of the developed framework and application of Value Management during the
design phase as well as appointing waste management specialist; and
adopting the proposed framework will help saving natural resources, reducing
construction waste, achieving society needs and prosper the national economy.
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Corresponding author
Ayman Ahmed Ezzat Othman can be contacted at: aaeothman@gmail.com
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