TY - JOUR
T1 - Perspectives on Sustainable Practice and Materials in the Japanese Concrete Industry
AU - Henry, Michael
AU - Kato, Yoshitaka
PY - 2012/3/27
Y1 - 2012/3/27
N2 - This research examined the perspectives held by members of the Japanese concrete industry on sustainable practice and materials through a two-part investigation consisting of interviews with industry experts and a broader survey of industry members. The investigation sought to evaluate the level of sustainable knowledge, develop a conceptual model for sustainable practice, establish evaluation criteria for sustainable concrete materials, and identify barriers for implementing said practices and materials while considering the differences in perspectives among different industry groups. The results show that the Japanese industry is focused on reducing environmental impact through extending infrastructure service life by enhancing durability and considering life-cycle cost and CO 2; this can be related to the Japanese socioeconomic conditions of an aging population with a decreasing workforce and a decreasing investment in construction. When examining the variation among industry stakeholder groups, little difference could be seen in their general concept for sustainable concrete practice and materials, but a larger difference could be identified in the barriers to each group for achieving those goals.
AB - This research examined the perspectives held by members of the Japanese concrete industry on sustainable practice and materials through a two-part investigation consisting of interviews with industry experts and a broader survey of industry members. The investigation sought to evaluate the level of sustainable knowledge, develop a conceptual model for sustainable practice, establish evaluation criteria for sustainable concrete materials, and identify barriers for implementing said practices and materials while considering the differences in perspectives among different industry groups. The results show that the Japanese industry is focused on reducing environmental impact through extending infrastructure service life by enhancing durability and considering life-cycle cost and CO 2; this can be related to the Japanese socioeconomic conditions of an aging population with a decreasing workforce and a decreasing investment in construction. When examining the variation among industry stakeholder groups, little difference could be seen in their general concept for sustainable concrete practice and materials, but a larger difference could be identified in the barriers to each group for achieving those goals.
KW - Concrete
KW - Concrete construction
KW - Environmental issues
KW - Japan
KW - Sustainable development
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84859079699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84859079699&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000388
DO - 10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000388
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84859079699
VL - 24
SP - 275
EP - 288
JO - Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
JF - Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
SN - 0899-1561
IS - 3
ER -