Assessment and management of air emissions and environmental impacts from the construction industry

Abstract

The construction industry involves heavy machine usage which contributes a large amount of air pollutant emissions, including greenhouse gases (GHG), particulate matter, and diesel exhaust. These emissions cause serious environmental issues and climate change. This paper provides a systematic review of the existing research efforts and challenges on measuring air pollutant emissions and assessing the environmental impact from the construction industry. The advantages and disadvantages of various methodologies used in measuring emissions and assessing the environmental impacts of construction are compared. The existing air dispersion models used in the construction field are also reviewed. The results from the review help to identify cost-effective environmental planning and management processes. Consequently, future trends towards improving existing emission assessments and management processes are put forward, and a new framework is proposed for the effective assessment and management of air emissions and environmental impacts from the construction industry.

Keywords:

• construction
• air pollutant
• emission
• environmental impact assessment

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.