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Qualitative Modeling of Sustainability Performance in Construction Projects Considering Productivity Approach

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Abstract

Construction contractors do not have a clear understanding of sustainability, especially in developing countries. However, they welcome higher productivity as a determinant parameter in scheduling and financial success of construction project. Therefore, construction productivity improvement can be employed as an incentive to persuade contractors for implementing sustainability mechanisms in construction project. On the other hand, sustainability is a comprehensive concept which requires system thinking for implementation. Therefore, this study developed a qualitative System Dynamics model to contribute to measuring sustainability performance of construction project, considering contractors’ tendency to productivity. Sustainability performance is examined in three aspects of economic, social and environmental by introducing different subsystems and feedback loops. These loops formed based on experts’ opinions about causal links among the factors affecting construction sustainability and productivity. The findings provide a proper basis for both practitioners and researchers through illustrating the cohesion between productivity and sustainability.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Construction Engineering and Management, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Shahin Dabirian

  2. Structural Engineering, Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran, Iran

    Mostafa Khanzadi

  3. Construction Engineering and Management, The University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia

    Reza Taheriattar

Authors
  1. Shahin Dabirian
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  2. Mostafa Khanzadi
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  3. Reza Taheriattar
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mostafa Khanzadi.

Appendix

Appendix

See Figs. 4, 5 and 6.

Fig. 4
figure 4

Economic Subsystem

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Fig. 5
figure 5

Social subsystem

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Fig. 6
figure 6

Environmental subsystem

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Dabirian, S., Khanzadi, M. & Taheriattar, R. Qualitative Modeling of Sustainability Performance in Construction Projects Considering Productivity Approach. Int J Civ Eng 15, 1143–1158 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-017-0241-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40999-017-0241-4

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