Abstracts – Browse Results
Click on the titles below to expand the information about each abstract.
Viewing 35 results ...
Adams, F K (2004) The management of risks in international infrastructural projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Business Studies, University of Edinburgh.
Ahiaga-Dagbui, D D (2014) Rethinking construction cost overruns: an artificial neural network approach to construction cost estimation, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Al-Remal, A M (2013) Risk-based design of structures for fire, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Alsedairy, F S (2019) Dynamics of mega infrastructure decision-making in Saudi Arabia, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Baker, A J (2019) ‘Suitable and sufficient’? UK regulation of post-construction fire safety, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Social & Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
Baker, H (2021) A multimethod approach to learning from text-based construction failure data, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Bartlett, A I (2018) Auto-extinction of engineered timber, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Campbell, J M (2008) Safety hazard and risk identification and management in infrastructure management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Dunlop, P G (2005) Investigation, modelling and planning of stochastic concrete placing operations, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Eid, M E M (2004) Rethinking relationships in the construction industry: integrating sustainable development into project management processes, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
French, T R (2012) Evolutionary optimisation of network flow plans for emergency movement in the built environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Furber, A (2013) The social and cultural context of rural water and sanitation projects: case studies from Ghana, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Glendinning, M (1991) 'Give the people homes!': Britain's multi-storey housing drive, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Graham, D (2005) Stochastic modelling and analysis of construction processes, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Hashim, R (2018) Green innovation adoption in the construction sector : the role of absorptive capacity and the effect of environmental requirements, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Edinburgh.
Hellowell, M S (2012) Fair return for risk? An examination of structure, competition and profitability in the market for private finance in the National Health Service, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh.
Hsiao, C C (2000) Constructing a sustainable impact assessment methodology : an evaluation of Taiwanese EIA of high-rise building, Unpublished PhD Thesis, College of Art, University of Edinburgh.
Jackson, D J (2020) Addressing the challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the construction industry: a multi-perspective approach, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Business School, University of Edinburgh.
- Type: Thesis
- Keywords: climate; collaboration; government; infrastructure project; life cycle; materials; policy; supply chain management; transport; United Kingdom; weather
- ISBN/ISSN:
- URL: https://doi.org/10.7488/era/269
- Abstract:
With average global temperatures rising and more extreme weather events recorded year on year, several counties have now declared a climate emergency. To address this emergency, 195 nations came together to sign the Paris Agreement, setting an ambitious target to keep the increase in global average temperature to well-below 2 oC, whist actively pursuing efforts to minimise the increase to 1.5 oC. Each nation was to determine its contributions to this target, stating how they would reduce carbon emissions within their control. Governments have in turn called for industry to significantly reduce their carbon emissions. Although the direct footprint of the construction industry is relatively small (for example, approximately 2.5% of the United Kingdom’s (UK) annual emissions), these numbers rise drastically when the carbon embodied in the materials, the operation and use of the assets are also included. As an example, just over half the UK’s emissions are directly or indirectly related to the construction and use of infrastructure assets. Given these figures, it is imperative that the construction industry takes steps to make deep cuts in its carbon emissions. To help the industry along the carbon management journey, the CITT (Carbon Infrastructure Transformation Tool) Project has developed an embodied carbon calculation tool to aid decision makers in developing low-carbon solutions to reduce emissions on large infrastructure projects. The tool accounts for emissions from materials, transportation and construction of an asset. This scope was selected as it is what the contractor would have direct control over and is easier to gather accurate data for embodied emissions as opposed to the operation and use phases. However, the uptake of tools such as the CIT tool has been relatively slow in the industry. This thesis takes a multi-perspective approach to understand the technological and social implications of developing and adopting an embodied carbon calculator within the construction industry. This is done first by assessing the risk of burden shifting where the use of an embodied carbon calculator may suggest emission reductions during the construction of an asset at the expense of increasing emissions elsewhere in the life cycle. Second, the thesis explores the barriers to the tool’s adoption within the industry and provides recommendations for how to enable change within organisations to increase the use of carbon calculation tools. Finally, the thesis shows how collaboration can be improved to successfully reduce carbon emissions through the infrastructure supply chain. Using a portfolio of papers, this thesis makes several important contributions. Although the risk of burden shifting has been discussed in the literature, there is little empirical evidence to support this. Paper 1 provides this evidence by studying four decision cases from a rail project. Paper 2 contributes to practice by developing a framework highlighting the steps required to overcome the barriers to the adoption of carbon calculators in the construction industry. Finally, Paper 3 brings together the literature on low-carbon supply chain management and collaboration success factors to understand how the industry can collaborate to reduce emissions through the infrastructure supply chain. Taken together, this thesis provides novel insights into the challenges of using carbon calculation tools, and advises policy and decision makers in how to improve carbon management practices within the construction industry.
Jiménez-Moreno, P (2020) Mass customisation for zero energy housing: the potential of Japanese manufacturing practices in the context of sustainable housebuilding in the United Kingdom, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Kanellopoulos, G (2022) External fire spread from timber lined compartments, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Kim, S (1998) Sustainable building practices: minimising the life-cycle environmental impact of high-rise apartments in Korea, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
Knebel, V (2006) Preserve and rebuild: the built environment, status transformations and identity construction in eastern Germany after reunification, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Sociology, University of Edinburgh.
Koutsomarkos, V (2023) Developing a fire robustness index for the built environment, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Marquardt, G (2017) Economic analysis of contract choice, feelings of entitlement and contract enforcement in relationships governed by incomplete contracts, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Economics, University of Edinburgh.
McArthur, J (2023) Enrolment, technical mediation, and the obligatory passage point: a socio-technical examination of the Canada Green Building Council, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
McMeel, D (2009) The artistry of construction: an investigation into construction as a creative process and the influence of mobile phones within domestic scale construction projects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Architecture, University of Edinburgh.
Oliver, A K (2020) Perceptions of sustainability and their influence in the design and delivery of Scottish housing, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Oswald, D (2016) Investigating unsafe acts on a large multinational construction project, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Raman, P G (1977) Information and architectural design: A study of certain theoretical aspects, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Rodger, R G (1976) Scottish urban housebuilding, 1870-1914, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Ronzani, M (2019) Designing for complexity: Data visualizations in megaproject management, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.
Saoud, E A B (1996) Expert systems for management training in the construction industry, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Sidwell, N C (1957) A critical examination of new constructional techniques and their influence on productivity in the building industry with special reference to housing in south-east Scotland, Unpublished PhD Thesis, School of Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Smith, S D (1994) Production estimation of earthmoving operations using a discrete-event simulation model, Unpublished PhD Thesis, Civil Engineering, University of Edinburgh.
Yang, S-A (1995) Kics: Representation of regulatory information and the use of case-based reasoning to support the relaxation process, Unpublished PhD Thesis, , University of Edinburgh.