HNC/HND Construction and Built Environment Project Report

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Higher National Certificate/Diploma in
Construction and the Built Environment
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Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................4
LO1 Formulate a project that will provide a solution to an identified problem..............................5
P1 Select an appropriate construction-based project, giving reasons for your choice................5
P2 Identify the main components of a project specification........................................................6
M1 Explain why the project specification is of fundamental importance to a successful project
outcome........................................................................................................................................7
LO2 Manage a project within agreed timescales and specification, documenting the process
throughout........................................................................................................................................8
P3 Identify potential resources, costs, and timescales.................................................................8
P4 Describe a range of appropriate techniques for generating realistic potential solutions........8
M2 Prepare and update a project management plan, using standard systems of time and
resource tracking..........................................................................................................................9
LO3 Evaluate potential project management solutions.................................................................16
P5 Explore project management strategies to determine suitability for a given project...........16
P6 Justify the selection of your preferred solution, making reference to your initial project
specification...............................................................................................................................17
M3 Compare the outcomes of your initial planned resources, timescales, and costs against
actual outcomes.........................................................................................................................18
LO4 Produce a project report and deliver a presentation of the final project outcomes...............19
P7 Produce a written report identifying each stage of the project.............................................19
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................22
References:....................................................................................................................................23

Table of figures:
Figure 1 One Angle Square, UK......................................................................................................6
Figure 2 Project Management sPhases............................................................................................9
Figure 3 Work break down the structure.......................................................................................11
Figure 4 Gantt chart table view.....................................................................................................13
Figure 5 Gantt chart.......................................................................................................................14

Introduction:
The aim of the assignment is to prepare a report along with the presentation that can provide a
solution for a civil engineering problem given in the scenario. Based on the problem the project
topic for this report is “how to decrease the environmental impact of construction”. The
project topic for this report is based on green building concept. One Angel Square,
Manchester, UK is the best example of this concept. Green building is constructed by using
environment-friendly process and materials. This building is the Co-operative Group
headquarters. It has a system to recycle rainwater and waste.
This report has four major sections which cover identification of project components, techniques,
strategies for project management, comparison of the outcomes. This report will help to
understand the ways to reduce the impact of construction on the environment.

LO1 Formulate a project that will provide a solution to an identified problem
P1 Select an appropriate construction-based project, giving reasons for your choice.
Project identification:
The given scenario and theme are on the construction-based problem. So, by keeping this
scenario in mind, the project report topic is “how to decrease the environmental impact of
construction”. Construction projects have a major impact on the environment of the world.
Because every construction project has some sort of mining work and it also produces a lot of
waste that can harm water, air, and ground directly or indirectly. On the basis of the topic, the
project is “One angle Square, UK”. This building uses water recycling and rainwater harvesting
system along with the solar building design.
Reasons for the choice:
This will help to identify the components that need protection as construction causes harm to
environmental components. This help to understand the problem on an international and national
scale. This aid to find out the ways to reduce the potential impact of construction on the
environment. Because materials and methods used to build and construct the building impact the
environment. For example, an HVAC system used in a building can have a major impact, also
materials used in construction produced in a non-sustainable way and can cause emission of Co2.
The renovation and deconstruction also cause the production of a large amount of waste. This
pollutes the air, land, and water (Khaliq and Mansoor, 2014). Green building is an
environmentally sustainable building that is constructed, designed and operated to reduce the
total construction impact on the environment. This also helps to achieve energy efficiency,
material efficiency, and water efficiency to reduce the impact. One Angle Square is one of the
most sustainable buildings in Europe. This building uses rapeseed oil to provide heat and
electricity. The building makes use of resources that are natural. It also uses natural ventilation,
adiabatic cooling, greywater recycling, rainwater harvesting, solar system for heat and waste heat
recycling.

Figure 1 One Angle Square, UK
This building is also an energy-plus building producing zero carbon emissions. This building has
a double skinned façade that minimizes the heat and maintains cooling. Also, it has underground
earth tubes of concrete that provide heating and cooling of fresh air. The building uses exposed
concrete which acts as a thermal sponge that reduces the required amount of energy to cool the
building (Phillip, 2013). It uses a special design ventilation system that extracts the waste air
over the edge of the balcony. It is the only commercial building in the UK to achieve the highest
ratings in sustainability and energy.
P2 Identify the main components of a project specification.
The main components of the project specifications are as follows:
 Scope statement: This helps to determine the boundaries of the project. The statement of
scope should be SMART which refers to specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and
Time-bounded.
 Deliverables: These are the services, products or results that project is started to produce.
These deliverables delivered to the stakeholders of the project.

 Work breakdown structure: A work breakdown structure is a division of tasks to generate a
better understanding of the project process.
 Budget: A proper budget is necessary to reduce the total cost of ownership.
 Stakeholder list: Stakeholders are the persons who are directly or indirectly affected by the
project outcomes. Stakeholders also help to meet the objective of the project.
 Timing plans: Timing plan is a part of scheduling which divides the task into subtasks and
sets a timescale for the timely completion of the tasks.
 Communication plan: poor communication can affect the project outcome and create
misunderstandings. Thus, a communication plan helps to avoid these situations.
 Risk management plan: Risk management plan help to handle undefined situations. The risk
management plan includes risk identification and risk assessment.
In the case of a construction-based project, specification refers to workmanship and materials
that are required for the development.
M1 Explain why the project specification is of fundamental importance to a
successful project outcome.
Project specifications help to maintain the project managed. This gives clear instruction for
various aspects of the project. Project specifications help to avoid miscommunication and
misunderstanding. The specifications of the project help to minimize the risk in the project
development process. Project specification document helps in project planning, monitoring, and
execution. A proper project specification document is very imported for successful project
completion. In the case of a construction-based project, having a specification document also
gives certainty about the project outcomes to the client. This act as a guideline for contractor,
supplier and give detailed information to the client. The One Angle Square building is
constructed by keeping in mind all these project specifications to achieve the desired result.

LO2 Manage a project within agreed timescales and specification,
documenting the process throughout
P3 Identify potential resources, costs, and timescales.
For this construction-based research project, there are a smaller number of physical resources
required. Basic and most important resources for this project are journal, articles, surveys, and
interviews. These will help to understand the situation, problem, and solutions for the same.
Cost and funding are required to do research, conduct interviews, and surveys. Another area
where funding is required is communication plan, meetings, risk assessment plan, reporting,
payment of team members, etc.
The estimated time required for the project is 28-30 days. Time scale is divided into planning,
research, analysis, and reporting.
P4 Describe a range of appropriate techniques for generating realistic potential
solutions.
To find the real solution of the problem which is to decrease the impact of construction on the
environment, the suitable method is to use qualitative and quantitative research. These research
methods will help in gathering data about construction, environmental issues due to construction
and solutions to reduce the impact of the construction process on the environment. The
techniques included in this method are a questionnaire, interviews, surveys, etc. Along with these
methods news, research papers and blogs can be used to gather the solution and information
about the problem. These qualitative and quantitative research methods help in information
collection in a budget-friendly way as it is affordable in comparison to other methods. This also
ensures the validity and reliability of the results.
One Angle Square project helped to understand the potential solutions to reduce the impact of
construction on the environment. The key and major components of the natural cooling, heating,
and lighting are solar open atrium and double skinned facade. For example, such atrium can help
in buildings to flood the interior of building with natural light and a façade can help to minimize
the cooling and heating load (Phillip, 2013). Other solutions that can be concluded from this
project include:

 Low energy IT equipment and LED lighting
 Recycling system for greywater and rainwater
 Heat recovery
 High-efficiency service lifts
 Double skin façade helps to reduce the heat in summer and maintain the normal temperature
in winters.
 The louvers can be used to create an isolated blanket in winters and in summers it allows hot
air to be ejected through the top.
The sustainable features can help to reduce the amount of carbon emission and reduce the
consumption of energy inefficient manner (Rehman, Iatisam and Younas, 2017).
M2 Prepare and update a project management plan, using standard systems of time
and resource tracking.
A project management plan act as a roadmap of the project to achieve the goals and objectives. It
guides the team members through all the stages of the project.

Figure 2 Project Management Phases
Project management plans need approval from the stakeholders of the project. The project
management plan for this project is as follows:
Project Aim The aim of the project is to find a solution to
reduce the impact of construction.
Project objective The objective behind this project is to analyze
the situation and scenario, understand the
environmental issues caused by the
construction process, their impact and to find
out the possible solutions for the same. Also,
the objective is to understand the green
building design concept, understand the
impact of using eco-friendly construction
materials and processes.
Project cost Cost is required to conduct the research, data
gathering, analysis of the data and reporting
of the outcomes. Other expenses include
payment of the team members, meeting
expenses and other stuff.
Communication plan Communication plan help to avoid conflicts
and misunderstandings. Ways of

communication for this project will be timely
meetings, formal e-mails, document sharing
on the drive, video conferencing, and formal
or informal phone calls.
Risk and resources Resources Risks
Skilled people Lack of resources
facilities Cost risk
Tools and equipment Miscommunication
Funding Lack of knowledge
Stakeholders of the project Stakeholders are the persons who are directly
or indirectly affected by the outcomes of the
project. Some stakeholders are listed below:
Government
Society
Project team members
Contractors and subcontractors
The timescale for the project Estimated time required for the project
completion is 28-30 days. The time is divided
into mainly four major tasks which are project
initiation, project planning, research and
analysis of the data.
Risk management This helps to identify the risks at an early
stage. Thus, helps to handle the risks and
minimize the loss.
A Gantt chart is a map of the project which helps in task scheduling according to time and
resources. This also creates dependencies of tasks to complete everything in proper order.

Figure 3 Work break down the structure
The above Gantt chart shows the division of tasks in the project. the project is mainly divided
into four main tasks which are project initiation, project planning, project execution, Project
closure.
Project initiation: Project initiation phase is divided into 3 subtasks which are gathering and
analysis of information, development of project charter and initial phase approval. These
subtasks include activities such as to define the process of requirement gathering, analysis of