Investigating the Environmental Impacts of Construction Projects in Time-Cost Trade-Off Project Scheduling Problems with CoCoSo Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method

Abstract

Currently, construction projects have a significant share in environmental pollution. Usually, the employers and managers of construction projects pay attention to the project implementation with the shortest duration and the lowest cost, whereas less attention is paid to the environmental effects of the implementation of projects. Sustainable development requires the planning and implementation of construction projects, taking environmental impacts, along with other factors, into account. Few studies have investigated the balancing time, cost, and environmental effects. Although the selection of an execution method for the project activity requires the use of decision-making methods, these methods have not been used in the project scheduling problems. This study seeks to simultaneously minimize the project time, cost, and environmental impacts. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the environmental impact of project activities in three physical, biological, and social aspects throughout the construction projects, and to attempt to minimize them as measurable values. In this paper, the environmental effects of an urban water supply construction project as a real case study are assessed in different activity execution modes by the Leopold matrix and the best execution mode of each project activity is selected using the CoCoSo (combined compromise solution) multi-criteria decision-making method, considering the time–cost-environmental impact trade-off. The CoCoSo method is employed because of its high flexibility compared to other multi-criteria decision-making methods. The results of this study will direct managers and stakeholders of construction projects to pay more attention to the environmental effects of construction project activities, together with the other conventional project goals and objectives, such as the time and cost.

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Performance Prediction of Construction Projects Based on the Causes of Claims: A System Dynamics Approach

“…Recent research works have indicated that the conventional project iron triangle cannot meet all the prerequisites of project performance, because in today's complex projects, it is necessary to consider other performance criteria such as stakeholders' satisfaction, health, safety, and the environment [35]. Banihashemi et al (2021) considered environmental impacts in developing project schedules [36]. Additionally, Naghizadeh Vardin et al (2021) addressed the sustainability indicators for contractor selection in the construction industry [37].…”

Application of Three Metaheuristic Algorithms to Time-Cost-Quality Trade-Off Project Scheduling Problem for Construction Projects Considering Time Value of Money

“…Huynh et al (2021) compared the performance of four metaheuristic algorithms in solving the TCQ trade-off problem considering carbon dioxide emission [29]. attempted to simultaneously minimize the project cost, time, and environmental effects [30]. Liu et al (2021) developed a model to deal with RCPSP taking consumable resources into account, and solved the proposed model by using the constraint programming (CP) method [31].…”