Abstract
The environmental damage arising from the construction and engineering services was responsible for the appearance of several norms and resolutions regulating and directing the sector’s performance. In this article, we research how professionals with experience in public bids assess the difficulty degree of the implementation of those requirements and how they assess the environmental legislation regarding the protection and conservation of the environment, impact on costs, deadlines and the solution to environmental problems. The results show that industry professionals consider as “high” the level of difficulty to implement the addressed sustainability requirements, and that the Brazilian environmental legislation does not comply with its environmental protection role, increases the possibility of delays and costs of projects and services and hampers the emergence of solutions that could solve environmental problems.
Highlights
Products and construction services require productive activities that generate strong environmental impacts
The results show that industry professionals consider as “high” the level of difficulty to implement the addressed sustainability requirements, and that the Brazilian environmental legislation does not comply with its environmental protection role, increases the possibility of delays and costs of projects and services and hampers the emergence of solutions that could solve environmental problems
We carried out a field research in order to identify the perception of experts about the difficulty with which one can implement the main sustainability requirements foreseen in the Brazilian environmental legislation for sustainable procurement of engineering works and services: 1) Act with less impact on natural resources such as flora, fauna, air, soil and water; 2) Use materials, technologies and raw materials of local origin; 3) Use natural resources with environmentally regular origin; 4) Build projects with longer life and lower maintenance costs; 5) Use or produce innovations that reduce the pressure on natural resources; 6) Operate with greater efficiency in the use of natural resources such as water and energy
Summary
Products and construction services require productive activities that generate strong environmental impacts. International Council for Building (ICB) as the human activities sector that consumes more natural resources and uses energy in an intensive way, generating significant environmental impacts [1]. “Construction has been accused of causing environmental problems ranging from excessive consumption of global resources both in terms of construction and building operation to the pollution of the surrounding environment” [2]. The various phases of construction works interact extensively with the environment, and can result in vegetation removal, soil movement (in the Earthmoving stage), consumption of natural resources for the implementation of concrete elements and waste generation associated with various activities [3]. According to Brammer and Walker [4] “the environmental impact of the construction industry is probably larger in developing countries than it is in develop ones, because developing countries are virtually still under construction, and that they have a relatively low degree of industrialization, making the construction industry one of the biggest sectors impacting on the biophysical environment.”
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