Scoring system for measuring contractor's environmental performance

The public are generally becoming more environmental conscious and are demanding strict enforcement of environmental regulations. Whilst such development drives construction companies to adopt environmentally more efficient construction methods, it is important that the level of their environmental performance can be measured objectively and be easily communicated to the public and clients. This paper investigates the feasibility of developing an 'Environmental Performance Scoring System (EPSS)' to measure a construction contractor's environmental performance through deployment of the proposed 'Environmental Performance Score (EPS)'. The system will also assist contractors in diagnosing the causes of poor environmental performance to develop preventive measures. It is proposed that contractor who obtains a certain level of EPS is certified with a 'Green-Construction Award (GCA)'. The EPSS will provide a mechanism for determining the suitability of a contractor to receive a GCA. The GCA will be a simple indicator of accomplishment in environmental performance and the proposed calculation procedures for GCA are presented in this paper. This paper also establishes the primary indicators for measuring the contractor's environmental performance and identifies the important factors in construction activities that affect the environmental performance.