The impact of construction labour productivity on the renovation wave

TY - JOUR

T1 - The impact of construction labour productivity on the renovation wave

AU - Wandahl, Søren

AU - Pérez, Cristina T.

AU - Salling, Stephanie

AU - Neve, Hasse H.

AU - Lerche, Jon

AU - Petersen, Steffen

N1 - Funding Information: DECLARATION OF CONFLICTING INTEREST The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. FUNDING This research was part of the Reconcile project, funded by the EU Interreg (project grant # NYPS 20204782). Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the author(s).

PY - 2021/9/10

Y1 - 2021/9/10

N2 - The European Green Deal’s Renovation Wave aims to renovate 35 million energy-inefficient buildings to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Historically, efforts to reduce CO2 emissions focused on Operational Energy (OE) of the finished buildings. However, in recent years the Embodied Energy (EE) of the building’s construction process has gained attention because of its essential role in construction renovations projects. In this context, construction efficiency, and more precisely, workers’ efficiency, is a vital catalyst to achieve the European Union (EU) targets. To identify the impact of Construction Labour Productivity (CLP) on the renovation wave an exploratory case study was adopted as research strategy. Data from four domestic housing renovation projects were gathered. Three specific research goals are outlined. The first is to demonstrate the effect of the adoption of Lean tools and methods to increase CLP. The second is to quantify the correlation between improved productivity and the EE emissions saved during the construction phase. The third goal is to estimate the effect the higher productivity has on OE emissions. The results show that the adoption of several Lean tools and methods has a potential to improve CLP to 45%. This rate of improvement for the 35 million housing units to be renovated could save 6.9 million tonnes CO2 e from EE and 386 million tonnes CO2 e from OE. This novelty link between process improvements and reduced energy consumption and emissions can support politicians and infrastructural developers in decision-making for a more sustainable construction industry.

AB - The European Green Deal’s Renovation Wave aims to renovate 35 million energy-inefficient buildings to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Historically, efforts to reduce CO2 emissions focused on Operational Energy (OE) of the finished buildings. However, in recent years the Embodied Energy (EE) of the building’s construction process has gained attention because of its essential role in construction renovations projects. In this context, construction efficiency, and more precisely, workers’ efficiency, is a vital catalyst to achieve the European Union (EU) targets. To identify the impact of Construction Labour Productivity (CLP) on the renovation wave an exploratory case study was adopted as research strategy. Data from four domestic housing renovation projects were gathered. Three specific research goals are outlined. The first is to demonstrate the effect of the adoption of Lean tools and methods to increase CLP. The second is to quantify the correlation between improved productivity and the EE emissions saved during the construction phase. The third goal is to estimate the effect the higher productivity has on OE emissions. The results show that the adoption of several Lean tools and methods has a potential to improve CLP to 45%. This rate of improvement for the 35 million housing units to be renovated could save 6.9 million tonnes CO2 e from EE and 386 million tonnes CO2 e from OE. This novelty link between process improvements and reduced energy consumption and emissions can support politicians and infrastructural developers in decision-making for a more sustainable construction industry.

KW - Carbon Dioxide (CO) Emissions

KW - Construction Labour Productivity (CLP)

KW - Embodied Energy (EE)

KW - Lean Construction

KW - Renovation Wave

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85116572434&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I3.7688

DO - 10.5130/AJCEB.V21I3.7688

M3 - Review

AN - SCOPUS:85116572434

SN - 2204-9029

VL - 21

SP - 11

EP - 32

JO - Construction Economics and Building

JF - Construction Economics and Building

IS - 3

ER -