No or low emissions from construction logistics – Just a dream or future reality?

Introduction: Construction sites are among the major sources of greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) in the construction industry. Large quantities of construction materials and other resources need to be transported to, within, and from construction sites. Implementation of different construction logistics solutions can reduce the impact from construction. The objectives of this article are; to map the status and present the current practice of construction logistics in Norway, and; to discuss how different no or low emission construction logistics solutions can be promoted.
Methods: Methods applied are qualitative case study with interviews carried out in Norway, and a state-of-the art study mainly involving findings from Norway and Sweden
Results: The state-of-the-art findings indicate that lack of regulations, specific requirements and awareness, and use of traditional methods to avoid risks are some of the challenges for minimizing impact from construction logistics. However, opportunities are also present; mainly driven by political ambitions, improved environmental requirements in public procurement tenders and market demands and ambitions for reductions in emissions and costs. Preliminary results from interviews in Norway support these findings.
Conclusions: The study show that the goal of achieving no or low emission from construction site is possible through good planning and a close and open collaboration between involved stakeholders.
Grant support: This work is part of the JPI Urban Europe project MIMIC, supported by the national research councils of the participating countries (Sweden, Norway, Austria, Belgium).