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Construction projects generate serious environmental adverse impacts on the adjacent residents. All those harmful consequences and damages that third parties or the community sustain due to the implementation of construction processes are called social costs. Although, the presence of social costs is widely mentioned in the literature, in the projects' initial cost estimation practices, the social costs are not estimated and included. Whereas since these costs are not compensated, problems can be emerged by the community. It is a truism that the majority of the models proposed to quantify the social costs have been concentrated on construction, repair, and maintenance of the infrastructure projects namely; utilities, roads, and highways. On the other hand, up to the present, a limited number of attempts has been made to quantify residential housing construction associated social costs. Thus, this research aims to expand and/or contribute to the existing body of knowledge via estimating how much social cost society surrounding residential housing construction sites are subjected to. For this purpose, a social cost estimation model is developed to assist industry professionals on how to estimate social costs in residential construction projects. The social cost estimation model is developed to provide guidance for phase by phase monetization of the residential construction associated social costs. In this paper, the model proposed for social cost estimation is validated via a case study in Turkey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive production system is needed to enhance the flow operations during the works. In this context, the Last Planner System® (LPS) is one of the Lean tools used more often in project management for construction, and in doing so, tries to offset the limitations of the Critical Path Method (CPM). Many tools and techniques have been correctly integrated into the LPS area, some of them required to analyze the task continuity. Over the last years, in the case of housing projects of highly repetitive processes, finding the optimal activity train, hand-offs and milestones using Location-Based Management System (LBMS) was a solution. On the other hand, research about Point-to-point Precedence Relation (PTPPR) exhibited that the main finding is that newly developed point-to-point relations are better from a theoretical and practical point of view than the solutions based on traditional precedence relationships, but they still cannot provide a theoretical perfect solution. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the use of LBMS and PTPPR in housing projects of highly repetitive processes. The research strategy is the case study. Information of a building built in Peru was studied. The first phase is a data collection through direct observation and analysis of documents to describe the work structuring, planning and control. The second phase is the application, analysis and comparison of LBMS and PTPPR. The research method has certain limitations. The results might be biased for the regional behaviour of planners. The main outcome of the paper is that it provides pros and cons of both methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The growth of human populations in urban areas has introduced an increasing demand for housing solutions. The housing demand in the Philippines is further increased by the severity and number of natural disasters afflicting the country every year. Organizations that focus on social housing programs tend to use conventional construction materials. These materials are known for high levels of emissions related to their production. Bio-based construction materials, such as bamboo or wood, can capture CO 2 during their growth phase and can store it in their durable products. This storage phase becomes important when it spans decades, as occurs with buildings. The present research aims to evaluate the sustainability of industrialized bamboo solutions in housing projects. Three categories were used for the sustainability assessment: environmental impact considering CO 2 emissions, economic considering potential revenue from CO 2 credits and social considering the job creation potential. The results show that the most important variables are the life span of the bamboo-based buildings and their end-of-life scenarios. The results show that the transition toward a more sustainable built environment will be much faster with the implementation of industrialized bamboo production than with the use of industrial wood production. However, bamboo-based buildings require careful management regarding their end-of-life circumstances to efficiently store CO 2 . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights: [•] Exploring thermal performance of conventional and vacuum insulation panels (VIPs). [•] Conducting life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) for the panels as well. [•] Comparing economic benefit by LCCA wherein the panels were installed to the house. [•] Analyzing LCC items including installation costs and operation costs for 40 years. [•] VIP 30T and VIP 20T can provide 136.923% and 88.28% more economic benefit compared to conventional panel, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports on an in-depth multiple case study into the adoption of green modular innovations in the housebuilding sector. This adoption of green modular innovations is important because it enables a substantial improvement in terms of sustainable building. For this study, three modular innovations were selected – a modular renewable energy system, a modular bathroom pod and a modular photovoltaic roof. The multiple case study helped to identify ten variables that influence the adoption of these modular innovations. A closer analysis also revealed interrelations between several of the identified variables. Based on this analysis, four paths leading to the potential adoption of green modular innovations were identified. For each path, propositions were developed. These paths enable one to explain how and why green modular housing innovations are adopted. From these findings we derived clear managerial and policy implications while future research directions are also addressed. • Ten interrelated variables determine the adoption of green modular innovations; • Modular innovation adoption requires coherence between three modularity dimensions; • Modularity is essential for realizing a circular building stock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• This paper focuses on extensive green roofs and their effect on indoor thermal comfort in a housing project. • Coupled simulations were performed linking outdoor microclimate and indoor thermal comfort calculations. • A ceramic tile and a green roof were compared in an original site and a green site (with trees and grass). • The microclimate around the house affects the effect of the green roofs on indoor thermal comfort. A comprehensive understanding of the effect of green roofs on the indoor thermal comfort, under different microclimates, will help to identify key design aspects. In this study, which is the first of its kind in Brazil, the indoor thermal comfort for two different types of roofs, under different microclimates in Porto Alegre in Southern Brazil, have been compared. Coupled simulations using ENVI-met and EnergyPlus linked calculations of outdoor microclimate and indoor thermal comfort. The site was approximately 100 m by 100 m with 24 one-story, naturally ventilated semi-detached houses with an area of 39 m2. One of the houses, located approximately in the middle of the site, represented the building scale. In the original site (with no tree shadings), the substitution of the ceramic by the green roof led to an increase of 9.1% of the time within the thermal comfort zone. This study helps to bridge the current gap between thermal simulations in different scales. Moreover, this investigation concluded that green roofs performed better when in a green environment: for the summer season, with trees partially shading the roof, the green roof resulted in a reduction of the maximum operative temperature by 4.3 °C, whereas for the site without trees, the reduction was 2.8 °C. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]