A NEW APPROACH TO GREEN SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT FOR TURKISH CONSTRUCTION SECTOR

Sustainability is an emerging issue for construction which is regarded as the most pollutant industry globally by causing huge greenhouse gas emissions and the greatest consumption of raw materials. Since materials is regarded as the main component of the construction projects, it is significant to reduce environmental impacts of materials-related activities during both design and construction phases. Supply chain management (SCM) is a sophisticated concept which contains all materials-related activities of construction projects. In the last decade, construction supply chain management (CSCM) has become a new challenge for both researchers and construction managers in order to reduce environmental impacts as well as the total project costs. Life cycle assessment (LCA) is being commonly utilized in order to evaluate the environmental impacts of a building material throughout its life cycle. In this paper, ecological aspects of CSCM are discussed. First of all, brief information, general framework and scope of the LCA technique are given. Then LCA tools that assess the environmental impacts of building materials are introduced. A new LCA approach for environmental impact assessment of building materials is suggested. Finally advantages the ecological perspective will bring to the Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry are examined.