Title |
An Analysis of Factors Affecting Environmental Load in Earthwokr Type of Road Project |
Authors |
Park, Jin-Young ; Im, Je-Gyu ; Kim, Byung-Soo |
DOI |
http://dx.doi.org/10.6106/KJCEM.2018.19.4.052 |
Keywords |
Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) ; Environmental Load ; Influence Factor ; Carbon Emission ; Environmental Cost |
Abstract |
In the construction industry, attempts to evaluate the environmental impact of products through life cycle assessment (LCA) approach has been on the rise. However, the domestic construction industry needs to make rapid decisions due to limited budget and schedule, so it is difficult to carry out a review of the environmental load on all resources. The decision-making process requires information on the major influence factors that should be focused on to reduce environmental load. And this information should be quantified so that it can be linked to environmental impact assessment. In this study, the LCA results of road construction cases were analyzed to provide such information. As a result, diesel, ready-mixed concrete, urethane-based paint, aggregate, and asphalt concrete were found to be the main factors that generated 93.17% of the environmental load in the earthwork type of road project. The total environmental cost caused by these affecting factors when constructing 1 km of earthwork type of road project is 242 million won. The analysis also shows that a 10% reduction in the amount of ready-mixed and asphalt concretes can reduce carbon emissions by 5.02% and 2.28% while reducing environmental costs by 11 million won per kilometer. In order to reduce carbon emissions of the earthwork type of road project, it is necessary to actively develop and introduce new methods and eco-friendly materials to reduce the overall use of ready-mixed concrete and asphalt concrete. |