Civil Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
As we have emphasised throughout, the scope and meaning of both 'construction'
and 'sustainability' are wide ranging and complex. And, for the reasons we have
rehearsed in this topic, sustainable construction is a challenging goal. Some might
find it difficult to imagine sustainable construction as a future for the industry.
However, the following extracts encourage you to finish the study of this
new
approach
on a positive note. The first extract effectively picks up on the distinction
between the broad and narrow definitions of construction first introduced in
Chapter 1,
and addresses the current inability of statistical analyses to capture the
full scope and impact of construction on sustainable development. The second
extract identifies several barriers that explain why sustainable construction is not yet
standard industry practice (although other issues exist that the authors overlook).
The closing aim, therefore, is to encourage you to think broadly and rigorously
about the nature of the problems that need to be resolved before the journey
towards sustainable construction can progress.
Mariagrazia Squicciarini and Anna-Leena Asikainen (2011): 'A value chain
statistical definition of construction and the performance of the sector',
Construction Management and Economics
, 29:7, 671-93
Economic downturns, like the one that
started in 2008, emphasize the need to
address structural and sectoral problems,
and to identify ways to increase productivity
and competitiveness. They also under-line
the necessity to monitor the implementation
and to assess the effectiveness of the policies
put in place to meet these challenges. This
in turn calls for a precise and systemic
definition and measurement of the industries
to be targeted in order to determine the most
suitable policy tools to be chosen. Whether
employment, innovation or sustainability
related, to maximize impact policies often
need to be cross-cutting and to encompass
the entire value chain of the industry in
question. This is especially true for sectors
like construction, with its multiplicity of
heterogeneous actors, specialities and trades
(Kokkala, 2010).
Despite the strategic importance of
the construction sector for economies
worldwide, attempts to capture its true
scope have been relatively incomplete, and
have changed across countries and over
time (Francis, 1997). As Ruddock (2000,
2003, 2009) underlines, this has caused
dissatisfaction about the state and quality
of construction statistics among researchers
and practitioners (Briscoe, 2006; Runeson
and de Valence, 2009; Lewis, 2009), and has
raised concerns about the incompleteness
and narrowness of the statistical definition of
the sector. Such a shortcoming is addressed
by proposing a definition of the sector that
builds on Pearce (2003) and encompasses the
most important activities performed within
the construction value chain. To achieve
this, the codes defined within the Statistical
Classification of Economic Activities used
in the European Community (NACE1) are
analysed to identify those activities outside
the official definition of the construction
sector that are fundamentally linked to
construction. The 'wide' definition of
construction proposed is, to the best of our
knowledge, the first to explicitly formalize in
terms of NACE classes the extensive range
of activities traditionally considered as part
of the construction industry value chain.
As it is NACE-based, the implementation
of this approach does not require changes
in the way statistical data are gathered or
aggregated.
