Greening procurement: a research agenda for optimizing mass-haul during linear infrastructure construction

Infrastructure construction generates a significant amount of global economic activity. Much of infrastructure construction is government sponsored through a procurement process. Currently the ideals of sustainability are not embedded in these processes because methodologies to measure green house gas emissions produced during infrastructure construction are yet to be developed. Both government road and transport authorities and contractors require these tools. As a way forward, an agenda for preliminary research focusing on a special case is suggested. As mass-haul is known to produce high levels of greenhouse gas emission it would make an excellent construction activity to explore. If it is possible to optimize the amount of handling and movement of soil, aggregates, and rock around projects, then it is possible that green house gas emissions could also be measure and optimized. Therefore a three-pronged research agenda is proposed, centered on mass-haul activity, in order to develop prototype methodologies and tools for green procurement processes that contribute to sustainability of the built environment.