Enhancing Sustainability in the Supporting Activities of an Engineering Consultant Organization

Organizations in the construction industry are focusing more and more on sustainability. There exist various drivers and barriers (D&B) that can enhance or hinder sustainability in organizations. Research has so far mainly been focused on the primary activities within an organization. Hence, this study focused on the supporting activities ...

Upscaling circularity in urban area development: A qualitative study in ‘Circular Buiksloterham’

The city of Amsterdam is following the ambitions of the National Government to operate a fully circular economy in 2050. To do so, circular urban area development (UAD) must become standard. As a start, Buiksloterham is declared as a circular urban area development project by over twenty participating parties including the municipality of...

Assessing the Market Potential of Second-hand Building Products

By increasing the life-span of building products, the Reuse strategy has potential to reduce CO2 emission in the construction industry but it is observed that not many building products are reused because it is not economical. The government aims to overcome this issue by encouraging the development of reuse markets but it is not yet clear for...

Ecosystem Service Hubs Under the Microscope: An explorative study on the added value of urban open spaces

The undeniable benefits of urban open spaces, such as parks and urban forests, has triggered a steady increase in “natural capital” demands. Nevertheless, the uncertainties surrounding open spaces and ecosystem services jeopardize their consideration in public decision making. Certain of their aspects are not fully translatable in economic terms...

Learning Lessons within Risk Management in Construction Projects

The construction sector has rather poorly developed organisational learning capabilities (Styhre, Josephson, & Knauseder, 2004) and this results in lessons not being learned and applied in future projects. Lessons learned form the intellectual assets of an organisation and can help to reduce project risks (Carrillo, Ruikar, & Fuller,...

Identifying opportunities in large infrastructure projects for enhancing project value

This study explores towards the positive side of project uncertainties i.e., opportunity. Opportunities occuring in such projects has the potential to enhance the project’s initial objective and could add more value to the project. However, due to lack of an effective approach for opportunity identification and several constraints prevailing in...

(Mis)alignment between tender and practice: A study on Dutch infrastructure projects publicly procured according to the Best Price Quality Ratio tender procedure

Since the introduction of Best Price Quality Ratio (BPQR) tendering, specific (non-financial) tender elements in the bid can also be decisive for winning the tender. These so-called qualitative aspects are therefore important means in the tender to distinguish a bid from competing bids. Although competition is believed to enhance a fair quality...

A study into contract strategies based on existing moveable bridge projects: The influence of project parameters and client characteristics on construction contracting.

Currently there are a lot of contract types available for building projects. It is not always clear beforehand what type of contract a client should choose for his project. The goal of this study is to solve this problem by advising clients which type of contract to use for moveable bridge projects. Therefore, the following research question...

Impact of high-end sea level rise scenarios on storm surge barriers in the Netherlands: Risk analysis of the Maeslant Barrier and the Eastern Scheldt Barrier while incorporating climate change and accelerated sea level rise.

The Netherlands is a low-lying delta and therefore prone to flooding. After the flood in 1953, the Delta Committee was established which commenced the Delta Works to enhance water safety for the society and economy. The Maeslant Barrier and Eastern Scheldt Barrier are the largest and most technologically advanced flood defences which are part of...

Change towards a Circular Economy: eliminating inertia in supply chains: A concrete case of stony materials supply chain in the Netherlands

Current linear economic model entails coupling of economic growth with resource constraints and degradation of the Earth. In order to combat these negative aspects and to ensure prosperous and sustainable future, a new economic approach is emerging - Circular Economy. Besides neutralizing threats of the linear model, it also promises additional...

Understanding unintended responses to performance-based maintenance contracts: A qualitative research into managing highway maintenance in the Netherlands

Performance-based maintenance contracts (PBMCs) have been experimented with worldwide by government agencies, and have increasingly been adopted to outsource highway maintenance to the private market (NCHRP, 2009, p. 8; Porter, 2005, p. 3). This includes the Netherlands (Rijkswaterstaat, 2014). The use of performance contracts for maintenance is...