There is an increasing need to reduce energy consumption to tackle the adverse effects of climate change. The UK government has established numerous directives and policies to encourage carbon dioxide (CO2) emission and energy reduction within the non-domestic sector. However these measures are primarily focused towards reducing operational energy (i.e. energy used during building occupier activity), largely overlooking initial embodied energy. The trend towards reduced operational energy consumption due to energy efficient design is leading initial embodied energy to become a more significant part of project life cycle energy. Initial embodied energy relates to the energy use during the material, transportation and construction phases up to project practical completion, which is of keen interest to contractors due to their significant role in project procurement and delivery. Opportunities to address project life cycle energy are typically identified through a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). However at present there is little validated data, no coherent method for data capture and limited incentive for project stakeholders to address initial embodied energy consumption. In response, this research project presents a contractor s practical approach towards assessing initial embodied energy consumption within UK non-domestic construction projects. An action research methodological approach enabled the assessment and potential reduction of initial embodied energy to be explored within a large principal contractor through five research cycles which included diagnosing and action planning, action taking, evaluating and specified learning. A comprehensive framework is designed to highlight the significance of initial embodied energy consumption relative to specific construction packages, activities and sub-contractors. This framework is then explored within three UK non-domestic construction projects (i.e. two industrial warehouses and one commercial office). Capturing information from live projects enables practical challenges and opportunities inherent when addressing initial embodied energy consumption to be identified. A series of contractor current practices are reviewed, and subsequently improved, to enhance their compliance with the framework requirements. The findings emphasise the importance of material phase impacts, especially construction packages which primarily contain steel and concrete-based materials (i.e. ground and upper floor, external slab and frame). The importance of project type, site area, building lifespan and waste consumption are also recognised to reduce initial embodied energy consumption. The framework provides a practical approach for initial embodied energy assessment which can readily be adopted to help highlight further opportunities to reduce energy consumption. The research project concludes by presenting a number of recommendations for consideration by the construction industry and associated stakeholders, along with requirements for future research.

This study is made because of the increased global competition where companies have to look in to their own business to find opportunities for improvements. The purpose of the study is to gain a deeper knowledge of the waste that occurs in internal material flow and how to improve processes like transports and material handling as part of the internal material flow.  Internal material flows in itself a waste of resources since it does not add value to the product, but the flow is necessary to make a business work. Therefore, companies should review their flows and try to find improvement to become more efficient. Unused transportation, waiting and poor material handling are just three examples of waste that was discovered during the case study. Based on the theories and data from the case study proposals for improvement have been developed.  By solving the defined questions of the study, the purpose has also been attained. More knowledge about the factors that affect the internal material flow negative and the methods you can use to enhance the flow is obtained by the study. Since only one company has studied the study can be considered limited, from a scientific perspective. / Bakgrunden till studien ligger i den ökade globala konkurrenssituationen för medelstora företag som leder till att företag måste ser om sin verksamhet för att hitta förbättringsmöjligheter. Syftet med studien är att få en fördjupad kunskap i vilka slöseri som förekommer i interna materialflöden samt hur man kan effektivisera processerna materialtransporter och materialhanteringen som ingår i det interna materialflödet.  För att kunna bemöta studiens syfte genomfördes en litteraturstudie parallellt med en fallstudie ute på ett producerande företag. Litteraturstudien startade väldigt brett med generella teorier, för att sedan gå över till att bli mer fokuserad på de delar som studien omfattar. Under fallstudien samlades kvantitativ data in genom observationer för att få fram ett resultat av nuläget hos fallföretaget. Därefter analyserades resultatet med den genomförda litteraturstudien för att på så sätt kunna besvara studiens frågeställningar och därmed syfte.  Interna materialflöden är i sig ett slöseri av resurser då det inte höjder värdet för slutprodukterna, dock är flödet nödvändiga för att få en verksamhet att fungera. Därför bör man se över sina sitt flöde och hitta ständiga förbättringar för att bli mer effektiva. Outnyttjade transporter, väntan och långa materialhanteringar var några av de slöseri som upptäcktes under fallstudien. Utifrån teorier och data från fallstudien har förbättringsförslag tagits fram, där bland annat förslag på mer strukturerade och planerade transporter kan lösa problem med outnyttjade transporter.  Genom att svara på frågeställningarna har studiens syfte uppnåtts. Då fördjupad kunskap om vilka faktorer som påverkar det interna materialflödet negativt och vilka metoder man kan använda för att förbättra flödet är erhållits genom studien. Då endast ett företag har studerats kan studien anses som begränsad ur ett vetenskapligt synsätt.  Därför kan det vara intressant att studera liknande företag i framtida studier för att se om resultaten är generaliserbara. Det skulle även vara intressant att se hur en implementering av förbättringsförslagen påverkar fallföretagets interna materialflöde.

Orientador: Antonio Carlos Zuffo / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia Civil, Arquitetura e Urbanismo / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-11T10:00:57Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Krause_VivianSanches_M.pdf: 8010939 bytes, checksum: 38505fe79226b7a20690b366c3bddc37 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2007 / Resumo: O risco de acidentes rodoviários com produtos perigosos tem estimulado estudos que possam prever os locais mais críticos a essas ocorrências e seus efeitos em relação à contaminação do solo, da água e suas conseqüências à saúde humana. O mapeamento de risco é uma das formas de obter essas informações, tendo a vantagem de proporcionar uma leitura clara da informação. O presente trabalho tem como objetivo elaborar mapa que represente a potencialidade de risco de contaminação dos recursos hídricos, que poderá ser utilizado como ferramenta para os gestores de bacias nos planos de prevenção de acidentes e sistemas de alerta. Foi escolhida como área de estudo a bacia hidrográfica do rio Cotia em virtude da sua importância para o abastecimento de água da zona oeste da Grande São Paulo, além de ser uma área com grande desenvolvimento industrial no eixo da rodovia Raposo Tavares, que corta a bacia. O mapa foi obtido por meio da utilização da metodologia de Sistemas de Informações Geográficas (IDRISI 3.2), o qual foi produzido com uma visão genérica da problemática, dando maior importância às vias de maior tráfego em relação aos recursos hídricos, a declividade da área e a permeabilidade de solo. O mapa elaborado demonstrou ser capaz de representar a potencialidade ao risco de contaminação de determinada área, podendo ser usado como ferramenta no auxílio da prevenção e remediação de acidentes. Esta metodologia pode ser adaptada para outras bacias, subsidiando os gestores a alocar equipes e recursos para o atendimento emergencial, agilizando o processo de resgate e contenção de produto e também pode ser utilizado no planejamento de outras bacias / Abstract: The highway accidents risk with hazardous materials have been stimulating studies to forecast what are the critical locations that these accidents can occur and how they affect the soil and water contamination, as well as their consequences to human health. One way of getting a clear picture of this information is the risk mapping. This study aims to elaborate a risk map of potential water resources contamination, and can be used by watershed managers in the accident prevention and alert system. Due to its water supply importance to the west of the Metropolitan Region of São Paulo and because of its significant industrial development around the Raposo Tavares highway, the Rio Cotia watershed was chosen for this study. The methodology is based on the Geographic Information System (IDRISI 3.2), and the map was elaborated with a generic view of the problem, focusing on roads with heavy traffic near water resources, local slope and soil permeability. The map elaborated represents the contamination risk potential of the studied area, and can be used as a support tool in accident prevention and remediation. This methodology can be adapted to other basins, allowing managers to relocate teams and resources in case of emergency and accelerating the product rescue and restrain. It can also be used for other water basins planning / Mestrado / Recursos Hidricos, Energeticos e Ambientais / Mestre em Engenharia Civil