MIT-World Peace University (MIT-WPU) is a top educational institute located in Pune, India. It is recognized within&nbsp;UGC under Government of Maharashtra Act No. XXXV 2017.&nbsp;

It is part of the MIT group of institutions (established in 1983) which covers 10+ campuses across India and has more than 50,000+ students enrolled across various disciplines at a given point of time. The institute houses 15 schools ranging from Engineering &amp; Technology, Design, Pharmacy, Commerce, Governance among others. It offers undergraduate, postgraduate and PhD programs among different disciplines.&nbsp;

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MIT World Peace University

There has been a pressing need to consider lifelong building costs and spread awareness about the life cycle cost of a building in the construction sector. Before 1970s, most of the clients', contractors' and developers' decisions were solely based on the initial capital cost with no consideration of the entire life cycle cost of the building. If the cost of a building is estimated considering its entire life, approximately 70% portion is required for operational aspects. This approach of focusing only on the initial cost has failed to give the best value for money to the client in the long term. In this research, questionnaire-survey method is utilized to understand the awareness level and importance of different tangible and intangible costs of the construction over its useful life amongst the construction community. List of critical factors affecting life cycle cost of a building was extracted through an extensive literature survey. The questionnaire survey was prepared by incorporating the most significant parameters and circulated amongst the stakeholders consisting of respondents working at various hierarchical positions in the construction industry. The factors were ranked based on weightages obtained through Relative Importance Index (RII) methodology. The data analysis showed that the top 5 costs which should definitely be considered in life cycle costing are construction cost, Land Acquisition and associated cost, Design team fees and associated cost, Operation & Maintenance Cost and Taxes. Respondents also agreed that the life cycle costing methodology would provide a better and comprehensive estimate of the building cost as a whole and would be crucial in decision making. Incorporating life cycle costing in the design and planning phase would significantly help engineers as well as contractors to focus on the most important cost parameters. Furthermore, the analysis indicated that a lower emphasis is still given to cost factors related to environment. It needs to be emphasized that a comprehensive cost estimate for a project can only be obtained by incorporating sustainability aspects. Thus, a LCC framework considering all important cost parameters would further improve the process of selection of the most cost-effective alternative, as well as significantly increase sustainability in construction projects. © Published under licence by IOP Publishing Ltd.

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School of Civil Engineering

Engineering and Technology

IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science

Life Cycle Costing Methodology for Sustainable Construction

There is a significant increase in tunneling operations in most of the metropolitan cities of India for developing rapid transit systems. Provision of tunnels proves to be beneficial in densely crowded areas where availability of space is a major concern. Tunneling is a costly affair owing to the high number of uncertainties involved as compared to other infrastructure projects. The delay and cost escalations during construction of tunnel can be mitigated by identifying the uncertainties in the planning stage and taking appropriate steps during execution. This requires a robust model incorporating the most significant risk factors affecting the projects. In the present work, an exhaustive list of risk factors affecting tunnel projects is extracted from comprehensive literature review on tunnel construction. The list is augmented through interaction with stakeholders and collection of field data. This exercise provided an extensive pool of factors, which can't be completely incorporated while formulating the model to reduce delays. This work attempts to identify most critical risk factors from the pool. Prioritization of risk factors from the pool is done with a framework using RII [Relative Importance Index]. The pool is classified in a 3-level hierarchical structure. Expert opinion regarding relative importance of each factor is captured through a questionnaire survey and relative weights are assigned. This work is an attempt to compile and prioritize predictable risk factor database by merging a comprehensive literature review of scientific papers on tunnel construction projects and opinion of experts working in tunnel construction. The identification of critical factors in planning phase, may reduce complexity during execution. The proposed framework is expected to help researchers and decision makers to rank the risk factors and focus only on the most critical ones for minimizing the risks and reducing delays in project completion. © 2022

Materials Today: Proceedings

An integrated approach for identification and prioritization of risk factors in tunnel construction

The rapid expansion of cities has tremendously increased the storm water volume, which frequently causes local flooding. Conventional drainage systems are often unable to sustain these run-off volumes. This has caused an appreciable rise in the implementation of water-sensitive urban design techniques to manage the storm water. Incorporation of sustainable strategies becomes even more critical for developing countries, where there is continued demand for expanding urban water infrastructure. This study presents innovative alternate scenarios for managing storm water sustainably for urban areas in developing countries. The scenarios consist of combinations of multiple alternate measures provided in a decentralised manner. The study also seeks to evaluate the hydrologic performance of these scenarios. A simple methodology, based on the Natural Resources Conservation Service curve number method and Arc-CN Runoff tool, is developed for analysing hydrologic benefits and is applied to a sub-catchment in Pune City, India, to demonstrate its utility for urban areas. The results clearly indicate the effectiveness of implementing these scenarios in improving urban hydrological response. The current study is intended to appraise urban local bodies and stakeholders regarding sustainable, decentralised ways of managing storm water and their potential hydrological impacts at the watershed scale.

Journal of Environmental Engineering and Science

Alternative storm-water management scenarios for developing countries in urban contexts

The meaning of sustainability in today’s world varies from place to place, region to region and person to person. In such a scenario the absolute or standard parameters used by various sustainability rating systems cannot stand accurate in a geographically, climatically and socially diverse nation like India. In such cases some buildings which have considerably low impact on the environment are unable to get green rating certification due to the rigidity in existing rating systems. Also occupants in different regions have contrasting perceptions about the relative importance of various sustainability indicators. The opinion of local people with idea about sustainability can be the key in defining affective sustainability practices as and local people have the minutest knowledge about their surroundings and their needs. This article attempts to identify, blend and shortlist optimum sustainability indicators in Indian context by studying the existing popular rating systems (LEED, GRIHA and IGBC). It also aims towards ranking the relative importance of the 7 major domains of sustainability indicators with help of qualitative research methodology.

Fulltext

International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering (IJRTE)

Blending &amp; Shortlisting Indicators from Existing Sustainability Rating Systems in Indian Context

This paper addresses the problem of selecting the most sustainable stormwater management alternative in developing countries in a dense urban context. Firstly, suitable Low Impact Development (LID) stormwater management measures for dense urban areas in developing countries were identified based on critical review of literature. Alternatives have been formulated as varying percentages (degree of adoption) of these suitable measures to manage the stormwater sustainably. Further, a novel decision-making framework is developed which generates the hierarchy for selection of the most sustainable stormwater management alternative. Four main criteria (technical, economic, environmental and social) comprising three quantitative and eight qualitative indicators have been used for evaluating seven alternatives. The regional and local societal priorities are captured through criteria-weightings and are translated into a decision-making methodology. Experts' opinions have been included using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). One of the most widely used Multiple Attribute Decision-Making (MADM) method, TOPSIS, is used to rank the alternatives and to identify the most sustainable alternatives. Various scenarios to represent different stakeholders' perspectives have been articulated. Alternative with medium level of cost implication and satisfactory level of performance is chosen by the decision making method in most of the scenarios. The proposed decision making approach can be used for selecting sustainable stormwater management options in densely populated areas of developing countries.

Journal of Cleaner Production (Elsevier)

Assessment of stormwater management options in urban contexts using Multiple Attribute Decision-Making

During 1900s, the only imperative for stormwater management was removal. With increasing urbanisation and degradation of receiving water quality, however, it has become essential to manage stormwater in a holistic, sustainable way. Yet the various factors in developing countries make the management of stormwater a very difficult task. The purposes of this study are to identify the constraints and problems of stormwater in typical urbanised cities of India. This study also presents a preliminary attempt to define objectives for developing a decision-making system for sustainable stormwater management. Relevant literature for defining the objectives is studied and a case study of Pune city in India has been taken for further analysis. The quantity and quality of stormwater and other related data has been collected to identify the constraints of existing system. Lastly, objectives are defined which could be further used to develop assessment criteria and a decision support system.

International Journal of Environmental Engineering

Identifying objectives for sustainable stormwater management in urban Indian perspective: a case study

Anthropogenic alterations have affected urban hydrology in India and have generated a wide range of hydrological problems. Such alterations include increase in directly-connected impervious cover thus reducing natural groundwater recharge. In the past urban runoff was largely viewed as a nuisance, but within the new paradigm of sustainability, this water is recognized as a potential resource. This research paper discusses the importance of managing stormwater sustainably by recharging groundwater sources. It indicates the potential of stormwater harvesting, when properly managed, as a tool to counter depleting water sources and ever-increasing demand for water. The present study aims at developing a potential stormwater recharge zone map for a sub watershed in Pune city, India using GIS. Five classes of thematic maps have been integrated to prepare the final map. Each class is assigned a weightage depending on its influence on the recharge of stormwater. The resultant map (potential stormwater recharge zone map) thus prepared is classified into four classes: Very good, good, moderate and poor.