Integrating Lean into Stormwater Runoff Management: A Theoretical Exploration

Sheila Belayutham1 & Vicente González2

1PhD Student, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, 20 Symonds Street, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. Phone +64022 163 1362 [email protected]
2PhD, Lecturer, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, The University of Auckland, 20 Symonds Street, Private Bag 92019, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand. Phone +64 9 373 7599 ext 84106 [email protected]

Abstract

The integration of lean production and environmental initiatives are gaining the attention from construction researches looking into areas to improve by assimilating the best of both concepts. Current construction research has proven the effectiveness of lean in reducing both production and environmental waste. However, environmental waste produced by polluted water from construction sites has not received much attention as there is a lack of management tools to deal with this issue. Conventional runoff management focuses more on mitigating the already existing runoff than preventing it from occurring. This research aims to explore the means for preventing and reducing the quantity of site runoff by utilising lean management principles and tools. This research will first identify the links between lean and site runoff by demonstrating the theoretical relationship between both elements. Then, lean management and Low Impact Development (LID) concepts will be explored to cope with both production and environmental waste. Finally, an integrated framework to better manage runoff using lean management principles will be presented. In practice, this framework provides a clearer picture to contractors and government agencies on the preventive measures that could be applied for runoff management.

Keywords

Production Waste, Site runoff, Environmental Waste, Low Impact Development, Flow, Lean Production, Construction Management.

Files

Reference

Belayutham, S. & González, V. 2013. Integrating Lean into Stormwater Runoff Management: A Theoretical Exploration, 21th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction , 875-884. doi.org/

Download: BibTeX | RIS Format