World Journal of Civil Engineering and Construction Technology

Vol. 4(2), pp. 079-085, October, 2020. © www.premierpublishers.org. ISSN: 1936-868X

Research Article

IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT

INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of
PAKISTAN
1*Muhammad Ali Moriyani, 2Tauha Hussain Ali, 3Shabir Hussain Khahro
1,2Department of Civil Engineering, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro
3Department of Engineering Management, Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia

The socio-economic growth of a nation is significantly influenced by infrastructure projects. It

is crucial for developing countries like Pakistan, where new infrastructure still needs to be
developed, to create sustainable infrastructure. To achieve sustainability nationwide, a
sustainability evaluation at the project level is important. There are methods for measuring
sustainability worldwide, but the literature suggests that they are regionally focused. This
article therefore presents the sustainability indicators applicable to Pakistan's local
conditions. The study undertakes an exhaustive literature review, which identifies the global
sustainability appraisal metrics, and is then carries out a series of 12 unstructured interviews
with industrial experts including government officials, consultants, and contractors for the
development of 39 sustainability indicators for Pakistan's construction industry. The results
indicate that the incorporation of public health and safety and improvement in local amenities
to be the most relevant factor for sustainability of infrastructure projects. This research,
therefore, provides a basis to develop the framework for the appraisal of sustainability at the
project level in the construction industry of Pakistan.

Keywords: Sustainability Indicators, Infrastructure projects, Assessment of Sustainability, Local Conditions.

INTRODUCTION

The drastic rise in the population growth rate over the past
few years has made us more mindful of the need to protect
the depleting resources of the planet. This has prompted
our attention to step rapidly towards sustainable
development for our future generations to fulfill their
needs. However, the literature suggests that there is
sustainability assessment at the project level can only be
achieved when the sustainability assessment tool the
project level. (Diaz-Sarachaga et al., 2016; Wibowo &
Utomo, 2020). Originally, in 1987 Brundtland Commission
suggested the concept of sustainability, describing it as "to
fulfill today's needs without jeopardizing the capacity of
future generations to address their own needs." It was also
reinforced and strengthened on the regional and national
levels in many international agreements, conventions, and
commissions. (Silvestre & Ţîrcă, 2019). Sustainable
development is more critical for infrastructure projects.
These Project types have a significant effect on societies'
economic and social development. (Munyasya & Chileshe,
2018). In-fact, Thirty percent of World Bank investment
has been made in infrastructure projects. (Shen et al.,
2011). The true sense of investment will only be justified
when the benefits from it will be realized. However, it was
reported that investments are often wasteful, ineffective,
and even inadequate. According to the World Bank 1994,
40% of the power-producing projects’ capacity in general
is not utilized. The problems are more peculiar in
developing countries with limited resources such as
Pakistan (Shen et al., 2011). The State Bank of Pakistan
reported that Pakistan is losing some 4-6 percent of its
GDP (approximately $ 6 billion) because of inadequate
infrastructure.
*Corresponding Author: Muhammad Ali Moriyani,
Department of Civil Engineering, Mehran University of
Engineering and Technology, Jamshoro
2
*E-mail: mamoriyani@gmail.com. E-mail:
3
sacharvi2@gmail.com. E-mail: shkhahro@gmail.com

IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN

Muhammad et al. 80
It offers little choice except for developing countries such
as Pakistan to adopt sustainable approaches.(SBP,
2011)
Sustainability goals can only be achieved at the national
level if projects at their level achieve it (Ugwu & Haupt,
2007). Thus, although it is progressively important to
realize its need at the national level but the true challenge
is to achieve these goals at the micro-level of projects.
Project level sustainability will only be achieved once
sustainability at the project level can be assessed. The
sustainable assessment is described as an estimation and
anticipation process for the possible impacts of various
projects centered on three sustainability pillars, namely
economy, environment, and society. (Diaz-Sarachaga et
al., 2016). This is possible once a sustainability
assessment tool can be developed for evaluating the
projects, which could guide designers to sustainable
practices at different project levels. The literature has
highlighted that sustainability evaluation methods are
region-oriented and thus, given the global usage of metrics
to evaluate infrastructure projects for the sustainable
growth of infrastructure, those are not feasible to be locally
used in Pakistan's construction industry because of
particular differences in national priorities (Ugwu & Haupt,
2007).
This research paper, therefore, pursues to identify key
sustainability indicators that are important for the Pakistani
construction industry. Once these are identified, an
evaluation tool can be developed to guide practitioners in
Pakistan's construction industry in the direction of
sustainable development.
LITERATURE REVIEW
A variety of definitions have been established for
sustainability in particular across specialist fields as the
idea of "sustainable growth" is increasingly recognized
worldwide. There is also no consensus on how sustainable
development can be achieved in a particular area.
Knowing the aspects of sustainable growth is therefore of
special significance (Scarano, 2019). Three elements are
the central foundation of sustainability. These are
economic stability, social development, and security of the
environment. Figure 1 shows these three elements as
essential facets of sustainable growth.
Figure 1. Source: (von Keyserlingk et al., 2013)
IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN
All human activities on earth have consequences in all
these three elements. Mensah, 2019, argues that these
three elements are interrelated values that should form the
foundation of human actions in the pursuit of sustainability.
Therefore, if these three dimensions are met in any
construction would be considered "sustainable." Another
critical thing to note is that all three dimensions are related
together and if one of them is not adequately taken into
consideration, it will impact sustainability as a whole
(Mensah, 2019).
It is therefore necessary to have some tools to measure
sustainability (Hubbard & Hubbard, 2019). On this subject,
many methods of sustainability evaluation for different
projects have been established over the past two decades.
The main purpose of all those assessment methods is to
facilitate decision making regarding sustainable
development. (Fernández-Sánchez & Rodríguez-López,
2010). In the developed world, multiple ranking systems
for evaluating the sustainability ratings of each alternative
project provide a framework to assess the sustainability at
the project level (Diaz-Sarachaga et al., 2016). However,
the present analysis of the literature consensually found
that such assessment tools are meant to be used in the
country of origin and, due to various regional preferences,
these standards cannot be used in all regions of the world.
(Ali et al., 2016; Chen et al., 2019; Diaz-Sarachaga et al.,
2016; Hubbard & Hubbard, 2019; Işik & Aladağ, 2016; Karji
et al., 2019; Patil et al., 2016; Ugwu & Haupt, 2007;
Wibowo & Utomo, 2020).
The world-renowned assessment like ENVISION,
CEEQUAL, and IS are designed to resolve their particular
situations and particular environmental problems,
concentrating on the feasibility of development projects in
the countries of their origin like the USA, UK, Australia
respectively. (Wibowo & Utomo, 2020).
The current body of knowledge identifies a major gap in
the sustainability appraisal at the project level for the local
conditions of Pakistan. This paper therefore aims to fill this
gap by investigating the indicators of sustainability relevant
to the construction industry of Pakistan that could guide
the designers at project-specific levels to produce practical
actions necessary to achieve sustainable development.
METHODOLOGY
Related researchers use two main approaches in choosing
the sustainability appraisal indicators for different local
conditions around the world. One strategy is to directly pick
the indicators of sustainability by analyzing the state-of-
the-art literature in the world on sustainability. This
methodology has been adopted by many researchers to
build sustainable evaluation methods for their local
construction sector. Examples include Karji et al., (2019),
Diaz-Sarachaga et al., (2016), Mathew & Varghese,
(2016), Patil et al., (2016), Ali et al., (2016), Shen et al.,
(2011), Ugwu & Haupt, (2007). A second option is to pick

the candidate sustainable indicators from the literature
review before finalizing the list of indicators and then
holding a few interviews with the experts in the field to
alter/add or delete sustainable indicators. Many scholars
have also taken this methodology. Examples include Li et
al., (2019), Ameen & Mourshed, (2019), Chen et al.,
(2019), Sierra et al., (2017), (Işik & Aladağ, 2016),
(Fernández-Sánchez & Rodríguez-López, 2010). The
latest literature indicates that developing countries can use
the latter approach since the local validity of metrics with
expert recommendations is highly necessary to be
implemented (Ameen & Mourshed, 2019). For a
consultation from experts, Burgess, (2003) indicates that
unstructured interviews are the best choice, if the
interviewer is involved in uncovering hidden information,
opening up new perspectivesand vividly integrating the
participants' experiences. This study deals with the
finalization of the factors by the experts who have broad
experience in the field of infrastructure projects and that
who can share their input in open ended format therefore
this study chooses the unstructured interviews.
Furthermore, In dealing with those participants whose
expertise is important, Sandelowski, (1995) recommended
a minimum of 6 interviews. However, because
respondents have homogeneous expertise in similar
fields, 12 number of interviews are considered a sufficient
number to achieve saturation (Boddy, 2016; Guest et al.,
2006).
This research, thus, followed the later methodology of first
conducting a literature review to identify and classify the
candidate sustainability indicators and then conducted a
series of 12 unstructured interviews to integrate expert
consultation for their feedback on the relevance of
indicators for Pakistan's construction industry. The
literature review was conducted by content analysis of
scientific journals, authoritative reviews, conference
articles, on the most widely known international
sustainability assessment approaches. The widely
recognized indicators of sustainability were derived from
this. This was accompanied by 12 unstructured interviews
from the field experts having vast experience in the
infrastructure projects. The experts belong to government
organizations like Irrigation Engineering Department,
Works and Services Department, Sind Building Control
Authority as well as from private organizations like Osmani
Consultants, G3 Consultants etc. In unstructured
interviews, field experts tested the compatibility of these
indicators with Pakistan’s construction industry.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In the initial phase, the literature review gave the following
list of indicators that were considered to find out the
sustainability assessment indicators relevant to the
construction industry of Pakistan. The chart below
summarizes the results obtained by all the literature review
and their occurrence. The number in the chart indicate the
IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN
World J. Civ. Engin. Constr. Techn. 81
number of papers that contain this factor. For example,
“Preserve soil Health” has been cited in 7 different
international journals. From the figure it can be concluded
that “Use of quality” material has been cited as the least
while “Incorporation of Public Health and Safety has been
cited by most of the authors in the international journals.
Subsequently, the relevance of such candidate
sustainability appraisal indicators was analyzed Pakistan's
local construction industry, as illustrated in the
methodology Portion. Therefore, they have been sent to
12 experts with extensive experience in infrastructure
building via e-mails. Then, through unstructured
interviews, these experts were asked to give their views as
to whether these appraisal metrics were important to
Pakistan's construction industry. Each indicator that
comes from the above list was also asked to
add/delete/modify. Below is the summary of the experts'
profiles.
Figure 2: Chart Showing Profile of the Experts
PARTICIPANTS OF THE
UN-STRUCTURED INTERVIEWS
Consultants, 4
Clients, 4
Contractor
s, 4
Nearly all participants accepted that the appraisal metrics
listed above apply to Pakistan's construction industry.
However, one of the experts recommended to incorporate
“Balance the Earthwork” as in his view, road/highway
building or public health project soil is one of the most
costly resources for infrastructure projects, the project
would also make a significant contribution to the economic
development aspect if the earthwork is well-adjusted in
cutting and filling. So, this factor was added. In addition,
one of the experts asked to clarify the indicator “Improve
Environmental Policy”. It was recommended that this
measure be eliminated because the project cannot help to
change environmental policies. After all, at the government
levels, these policies are formulated, and the project is
deemed an insignificant contribution towards it.
Furthermore, one of the experts questioned that why "use therefore has also been excluded. The following table
of quality material" is used as a sustainability indicator? As outlines the final list of sustainability indicators after the
it suggested that all projects may instead follow the interview process. As the indicators are now final, they are
minimum appropriate levels of quality referred to in the coded as 'S' which indicates a sustainability indicator for
project specifications and codes, below which we do not the Pakistani construction industry.
accept with the contracting party's work. This aspect

Figure 3: Showing the analysis of the literature to identify the key assessment indicators for the sustainability of
infrastructure projects

Early involvement of supplier 5

Incorporation Sustainable procurement practices 9
Involvement of Integrated Project management 12
Involvement of less paperwork 5
Inclusion of sustainability related clauses in project specification 5
Preserve Soil Health 7
Improve Functional Habitats 8
Waste management during life cycle of the project 11
Waste management during construction 11
Use of renewable energy in the project 10
Conserve Energy 12
Decrease release of air pollutant 11
Decrease release of Greenhouse Gases 10
KEY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS OF THE SUSTAINABILITY

use of quality material 2

Improve Environment Policy 3
use of innovative material 8
Use of recycled materials 8
Use available local material 10
Water reuse 8
Monitor systems to track the use in the project 5
Conserve water resources 10
Preserve existing water resources 12
Harmony with surroundings 7
Number of tree fallen 8
Community mobility 10
Reduction in noise, vibration and light pollution 11
Promotion occupational health and safety during construction 14
Incorporation of Public Health and Safety 15
Improvement in local amenities 15
Enhancement in aesthetics and local character 10
Cultural heritage Preservation 14
Provision of employment opportunities to the locals 12
Provision of resettlement(if required) 8
Promotion of integrity & Social Justice 7
Cost of resettlement and rehabilitation of ecosystem 4
Financial risk 9
Economic prosperity and development 13
Life-cycle cost 12
Internal Rate of Return (IRR) 8
Initial Cost of the Project 7
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16
FREQUENCY
Source: Li et al., (2020)Ameen (2019)El-Kholy & Akal, (2019)Chen et al., (2019)Karji et al., (2019)Sierra et al.,(2017)M. S. Ali et al., (2016)Patil et al., 2016)Mathew, (2016)Işik & Aladağ, (2016)Diaz-
Sarachaga et al.,(2016)Chang et al., (2013)L. Shen et al., (2011)Othman,(2010)Ugwu & Haupt, (2007)L. Y. Shen et al., (2007)Ugwu et al., (2006)

IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN

 World J. Civ. Engin. Constr. Techn. 83

Figure 4: Showing the Results of the Un-Structured interviews

IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN

Muhammad et al. 84
CONCLUSION
To achieve sustainability at the national level,
sustainability evaluation at the project level is required. In
particular, the sustainability evaluation is important for
infrastructure programs to be carried out keeping in view
the socio-economic impact of a region. However, it is
important to develop a sustainability appraisal process at
the project level because sustainability metrics are region-
oriented to achieve sustainability objectives nationwide.
The first step in designing the sustainability measurement
process is to establish sustainability indicators locally
relevant that can be used in assessing infrastructure
sustainability. Therefore, this paper establishes the
sustainability indicators for Pakistan's construction
industry. This paper conducts an extensive literature
review of the relevant studies along with unstructured
interviews which increases the adequacy of the indicators.
This research highlights that following factors like
“incorporation of public health and safety” and
“improvement in local amenities to be the most relevant
factor for sustainability of infrastructure projects” These
sustainability indicators can be used by the practitioner to
assess the sustainability rating of different alternatives of
the project and to make key decisions for improve its rating
on the sustainability rating.
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IDENTIFICATION of SUSTAINABILITY ASSESSMENT INDICATORS for the INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS of PAKISTAN