Research on life circle environmental and social costs of construction projects based on emergy analysis: An example from Xiamen

Abstract

Whether a construction project is a success or not relates to environment, economy, society and other factors. Civil buildings should not only meet the living, but also weigh the impacts on ecological environment and social issues it brings. Environmental and social impacts should have deeply reflected in the construction cost, however, not calculated. The benefits of building energy conservation, new technologies for environmental protection, excellent project management and organizational capacity does not reflect in the construction cost. Therefore, current system of construction cost could not reflect the real price of building products, and we must find a new way which can scientifically reflect the life cycle energy consumption of building products according to the principle of environmental economics, ecology and social economics. On basis of the emergy analysis method, this article focused on identification and quantitative analysis on environmental and social costs of the single building, and taken an empirical analysis on an example from Xiamen. It has a far-reaching significance for reasonably priced of the construction environmental and social costs, for the sustainable development strategy, and to better reflect the people-oriented concept. © 2014 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.