Construction Industry and Sustainability - Flashcards

A comprehensive set of practice flashcards covering key concepts, standards, processes, and statistics from the lecture notes on the construction industry and sustainability.

What does LEED stand for, and what is its purpose?

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design; a green building rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

Name the four major categories of construction projects.

Residential, Building Construction, Heavy Construction, Industrial Construction.

Approximately how many people worked in the US construction industry in 2022?

Nearly 11.8 million.

What was the average annual salary for construction managers in 2022?

About $110,160 per year.

What percent of the construction industry workforce identifies as Latino or Hispanic?

34%.

What is the average hourly wage for construction employees as of January 2024?

$35.21 per hour.

What percentage of the construction workforce were women in 2023?

10.8%.

Which demographic percentage is 42–61 years old in the construction workforce (as reported)?

54.6%.

What percent of the industry held executive titles in 2021, and what percent were CFOs?

30.2% held executive titles; 7.3% were CFOs.

What percent of the construction workforce was Black or African American in 2023?

6.7%.

What percent of the construction workforce was Asian in 2023?

2.1%.

What percent of the construction workforce was White American in 2023?

87.3%.

Name two top challenges currently facing the construction industry.

Labor shortage; stagnant productivity due to lack of collaboration and communication; safety concerns; slow technology adoption.

Name three future outlook trends for the construction industry.

Diminishing skilled craftspeople; robots/high-tech equipment; environmental policies; tighter dispute resolution; more technical projects; construction in congested areas.

What are the four stages of the building life cycle as described in cradle-to-grave sustainability?

Origin/manufacturing/transport; Construction; Use and maintenance; Demolition and reuse or disposal.

What is the purpose of LEED-New Construction (LEED-NC) categories like Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, and Energy & Atmosphere?

They are core credit areas used to evaluate a building’s sustainability performance.

What is MasterFormat used for, and how many divisions does it have?

A structure for writing and organizing construction specifications; developed by CSI; about 50 major divisions.

Name three other green building assessment programs besides LEED.

Green Globes (Green Building Initiative); NAHB Green Home Building Guidelines; National Green Building Standard.

What is the cradle-to-grave concept meant to address in sustainable construction?

All phases of a building's life, from origin to demolition or reuse/disposal.

What are the main components of the USGBC LEED rating system sections in LEED-NC?

Sustainable Sites, Water Efficiency, Energy & Atmosphere, Materials & Resources, Indoor Environmental Quality, Innovation & Design Process, Regional Priority.

What is the difference between Design/Bid/Build and Design/Build delivery methods?

Design/Bid/Build uses separate design and construction entities; Design/Build combines design and construction under one entity for increased collaboration.

What is Construction Management (CM) delivery, and its main advantage?

Owner hires CM as an independent entity to oversee design and construction; provides ongoing independent construction expertise.

What is a CM at risk delivery method?

CM at risk combines the roles of CM and general contractor, with the CM assuming cost/schedule risk for construction.

What are fixed fee and cost-plus fee payment methods, and when are they appropriate?

Fixed fee: owner pays a fixed lump sum; best when scope is well defined. Cost-plus: owner pays costs plus a fee; better when scope is not fully defined.

What is the purpose of Gantt charts in construction scheduling?

To represent project tasks or phases on a horizontal timeline for an easy schedule view.

What is the Critical Path Method (CPM)?

Analyzes task dependencies; the critical path is the sequence of tasks that determines the project’s minimum duration.

Name the three major project players in construction.

Owner, Designer, and Constructor.

What is the role of Occupancy Groups in IBC, and name a few examples.

Define building activities and safety concerns; examples include A Assembly, B Business, E Educational, F Factory, H High Hazard, I Institutional, M Mercantile, R Residential, S Storage, U Utility.

How are IBC Construction Types organized in terms of fire resistance?

Type I is noncombustible and most fire resistant; Type V is fully combustible and least fire resistant.

What does Table 503 in the IBC cover?

Allowable height, number of stories, and floor area by occupancy and construction type.

How do fire sprinklers affect allowable building area?

Sprinklers can increase allowable area by about 400% for a single-story building and about 300% for buildings taller than one story.

What are the major divisions of MasterFormat that are most relevant to this text (example shown)?

Division 03 Concrete; Division 05 Metals; Division 11 Equipment; Division 16 Electrical, etc., illustrating how divisions and sections organize work.

Name two key standards-setting organizations and one example of their role.

ASTM International and ANSI; ICC (codes like IBC/IRC). They develop and certify standards for materials, systems, and building codes.

What is the purpose of Uniformat and OmniClass in construction classification?

Uniformat classifies building elements by function for early design/pricing; OmniClass is a flexible system used to organize building information by various schemes.

What is the main takeaway of Trends in the Delivery of Design and Construction Services?

Increased collaboration (design/build, integrated practice), lean construction for efficiency, and use of BIM for information management.