Methodology for Quantification and Identification of Environmental Aspect in Urban Infrastructure Projects in the Planning Phase

The accelerated development of construction has positively boosted the economy but caused environmental pollution. The objective of this article was to propose a model to quantify and identify the causes of environmental aspects in urban infrastructure projects during the pre-construction phase. The methodology included ten environmental aspects and six construction activities, distributed in three phases: quantification, preparation of an inventory and identification of the main causes of environmental aspects. The results of projects A, B and C confirmed five environmental aspects with quantifications of the maximum normalized unitary ratios, namely greenhouse gas emissions with 1.00, 1.00 and 1.00; energy use with 0.99, 0.99 and 1.00; noise pollution with 0.84, 0.89 and 1.00; water use with 0.95, 1.00 and 0.96 and use of resources and raw materials with 1.00, 1.00 and 1.00, caused by the construction methods, machines, materials and environmental conditions of the urban infrastructure project. This proposal was the first initiative to analytically and previously investigate the environmental performance of future infrastructure works, assisting in the strategies of the pre-construction phase and improving the decision-making process regarding environmental issues in constructions. Finally, this initial effort may evolve to create opportunities to avoid, mitigate, reduce or accept the environmental effects in the infrastructure projects in developing countries.