Mostafa Batouli

Assessment of network-level environmental sustainability in infrastructure systems using service and performance adjusted life cycle analysis

Managing environmental impacts of civil infrastructure systems is critical for fostering sustainable development. However, despite the growing body of literature, an integrated methodology that captures the specific traits of infrastructure systems for a network-level environmental impact assessment is still missing. The objective of this paper is to propose a novel methodology [called Service and Performance Adjusted Life Cycle Assessment (SPA-LCA)] for addressing the limitations of the traditional LCA in environmental assessment of infrastructure networks. The SPA-LCA methodology adopts a service-based accounting approach to enable aggregation of the impacts pertaining to assets with different functions and service life expectancies at the network level. In the proposed SPA-LCA methodology, first, through conducting traditional asset-level LCA, life cycle inventories for the assets are determined. Second, the life cycle inventories are disaggregated to performance-sensitive and nonesensitive impacts. Then, using a hybrid mathematical/agent-based simulation model, the levels of service and performance are simulated for different assets in the network across the analysis horizon. Finally, the environmental impacts are determined for each year based on the levels of service and performance. The application of the proposed SPA-LCA method is demonstrated in environmental assessment of a road network. The results highlight the capabilities of SPA-LCA in providing better insight regarding environmental performance of infrastructure networks.

A hybrid simulation framework for integrated management of infrastructure networks

The objective of this paper is to propose and test a framework for integrated assessment of infrastructure systems at the interface between the dynamic behaviors of assets, agencies, and users. For the purpose of this study a hybrid agent-based/mathematical simulation model is created and tested using a numerical example related to a roadway network. The simulation model is then used for investigating multiple performance scenarios pertaining to the road assets at the network level. The results include the simulation and visualization of the impacts of budget constraints on performance of the network over a forty-year policy horizon. Significantly the results highlight the importance of assessing the interactions between infrastructure assets, agencies, and users and demonstrate the capabilities of the proposed modeling framework in capturing the dynamic behaviors and uncertainties pertaining to civil infrastructure management.

Using Accrual Accounting Life Cycle Assessment as an Indicator of Urban Sustainability

Over the past few decades, a growing number of qualitative and quantitative methods such as echo-labels and urban metabolism have been developed for environmental assessment of urban areas. Each of these methods has its advantages; however none of them provides a solid framework which integrates life cycle thinking with multi-criteria and site-specific environmental assessment of an urban area. Recently, a few Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) practitioners have attempted to apply this robust methodology to urban areas to rectify the shortcomings of existing methods. However methodological issues such as definition of life cycle and functional unit of cities as well as selection of appropriate system boundary hinder the application of LCA-based methods. This paper proposes using a well-known financial tool called accrual accounting along with life cycle impact assessment to provide a new framework for monitoring and evaluating environmental implications of urban areas. While keeping remarkable capabilities of LCA, the proposed method overcomes methodological problems and improves functionality of LCA-based assessment of urban environment.

Service and performance adjusted life cycle assessment: a methodology for dynamic assessment of environmental impacts in infrastructure systems

Abstract Infrastructure systems are at the core of the sustainability challenge. Currently life cycle assessment (LCA) is widely used for assessing environmental sustainability of infrastructure systems. However, infrastructure systems have specific traits that are incompatible with the requirements of LCA. In particular, infrastructure systems do not have definite ‘life cycle’ as a basis of LCA. In addition, environmental performance of infrastructure systems depends on the dynamic changes in the level of service and performance of infrastructure normally not captured in existing LCA approaches. The objective of the research presented in this paper attempts to address the limitations of existing LCA approaches by creating a service and performance adjusted LCA (SPA-LCA) methodology, one which is specifically tailored for the requirements of environmental assessment of infrastructure systems. Among other improvements, the created methodology introduces a dynamic conception of life cycle inventory analysis and a service-based environmental accounting for the impact assessment phase of LCA. A simulation-based computational model is created to enable implementation of the SPA-LCA methodology. The SPA-LCA method and the created computational model are tested in a case study related to assessing the environmental impacts of a pavement network. Results include assessing impacts of different budget and demand scenarios on the environmental performance of the case study network. The results indicate capabilities of SPA-LCA methodology in addressing the limitations of existing LCA approaches for assessing environmental impacts of infrastructure systems.

A review of the current knowledge and practice related to project progress and performance assessment

Assessment of true project progress and performance is of critical importance in the successful delivery of construction projects. Major challenges related to measuring project progress and performance are the lack of consistent, reliable, and objective metrics and indicators and the lack of appropriate interpretation of these data for establishing suitable corrective action plans. The objective of this paper is to provide a review of existing applied knowledge and practices pertaining to methods, metrics and indicators for progress measurement, performance assessment and forecasting, as well as performance influencing factors, evaluating the shortcomings of the current approaches, and providing recommendations for improvement. The findings of this paper are primarily based on a comprehensive literature review and limited discussions with industry experts in the following areas: (1) methods and metrics used for progress measurement, (2) metrics and indicators used for performance assessment and forecasting, and (3) other metrics that can influence project progress and performance (e.g., risk, safety, and quality). Several industry and academic publications are reviewed including the reports from the Construction Industry Institute (CII), guidelines developed by professional organizations (e.g. Project Management Institute, Association for the Advancement of Cost Engineering International), and scholarly publications. Industry experts serving on the CII research team (RT-322) also provide their insights. Based on the extensive review of the relevant literature, this paper identifies limitations of various measures, metrics and indicators across different project control levels. A framework depicting the current project control process is provided along with a gap analysis related to the problems associated with this approach.