A Service-Oriented Framework for Sustainability Appraisal and Knowledge Management

This paper proposes a service-oriented framework and architecture for integrated sustainability knowledge management in construction. The proposed architecture is based on a survey conducted amongst industry professionals in Hong Kong SAR. The objective was to identify problem areas in infrastructure design and construction management practice as they currently militate against sustainability appraisal for innovative infrastructure delivery. The identified stress-points were then used to formalise user requirements for (ICT-based) decision support to achieve sustainable design and construction in the AEC sector. A clear understanding of the end-user requirements would facilitate translation into system functional specifications and enhance systems development efforts. The survey indicates that robust frameworks and architectures are required to address the multidimensional user requirements. These include frameworks that provide services and processes for integrated data exchange, information access, intelligent document and knowledge management. The paper discusses the findings from this survey, the framework and evolving architecture to address the identified user requirements. Recommendations are given to address these pedagogical dimensions of sustainability in construction.