Thuy Binh Pham, Quan Nguyen, Desalegn Yayeh Ayal, Ulisses M. Azeiteiro, Henri-Count Evans, Inga Grinfelde, José Baltazar Salgueirinho Osório de Andrade Guerra, Jasenka Gajdoš Kljusurić, João Carlos Correia Leitão, Chunlan Li, Newton R. Matandirotya, Bethwel Mutai, Gustavo J. Nagy, Thierry Razanakoto, Jame Schaefer, Haile A. Shishaye, Goran Trbic, Roberto Ariel Abeldaño Zuñiga, Sane Pashane Zuka, Charles Galdies, Adriana Consorte-McCrea, Francisco Platas, Mittul Vahanvati, Pedi Obani, Safwatun Nida, Lucas Gabriel Zanon, Mayara Régia Sousa de Melo, Renato da Costa dos Santos, Alison Glover
Students majored in construction management in Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Vietnam, must complete an integrated project for graduation. The two popular types of projects, including developing construction bids and delivering construction packages, involve making decisions to select the best construction methods to deliver construction processes on sites. Construction method selection is to make a complex decision that takes into account a variety of factors, including technical feasibility, cost, time, quality, the environment, the risk of each alternative, and the resources that are available, among others. Students are instructed to conduct the selection in two stages: (i) prerequisite assessment and (ii) alternative comparison. Only the alternatives passing the prerequisite assessment with all criteria related to technical requirements, quality, environmental aspects, and resources mobilization can be continued considering. The final stage uses a cost-equivalent measure to compare different alternatives with dissimilar costs and construction durations. In order to make an integrated sustainability-led decision on construction methods, potential carbon emission generated from each alternative must be considered. The amount of carbon will be converted to cost equivalent using carbon credit price and integrated to the cost and time factors of each alternative accordingly for final comparison. The proposed method was substantiated through a case study on piling works, where the optimal choice involved utilizing two sets of equipment. This option not only resulted in a lower equivalent cost but also achieved a reduction in CO2 emissions by 349 kg. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2026.
Center for Sustainable Development (Greens), Universidade do Sul de Santa Catarina (Unisul), Santa Catarina, Florianópolis, Brazil; School of Urban and Regional Sciences, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China; Kgotso Development Trust, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Centre, Beitbridge, Zimbabwe; Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de la República Uruguay, Montevideo, Uruguay; CERED, University of Antananarivo, Antananarivo, Madagascar; Marquette University, Milwaukee, United States; University of Sierra Sur, Oaxaca, Mexico; University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Department of Land Economy, University of Malawi, The Polytechnic, Blantyre 3, Malawi; Institute of Earth Systems, University of Malta, Msida, Malta; Academy for Sustainable Futures, Canterbury Christ Church University, Kent, Canterbury, United Kingdom; Casa de Cultura de la UAEMéx en Tlalpan, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de México, Ciudad de México, Mexico; School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, Melbourne, VIC, Australia; University of Bradford, Bradford, United Kingdom; Science Education Department of Universitas Negeri Malang, Malang, Indonesia; University of São Paulo, São Carlos, Brazil; State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Campinas, Brazil; Universidade do Contestado-UNC, Mafra, Brazil; The Open University, Cardiff, United Kingdom; Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, Hanoi, Viet Nam; Center for Food Security Studies, College of Development Studies, Addis Ababa Univesity, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; The Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies (CESAM) and Department of Biology, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal; Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Eswatini, Manzini, Kwaluseni Campus, Matsapha, South Africa
