Road infrastructure in appropriate conditions is a requirement for the development of any country. The formulation of policies oriented to preserve road networks responds to political, socio-economic, and environmental interests. Through a hybrid methodology that integrates system dynamics (SD) and analytic hierarchical process (AHP) approaches, this paper compares some strategies employed in the development of sustainable road maintenance policies in Colombia. Using a hypothetical case study of a national road network, a set of maintenance policy alternatives are evaluated through the SD model in order to analyze the evolution of road conditions, and quantify costs and emissions. Then, a multi-criteria evaluation is performed applying the AHP methodology. Results show that in the Colombian context, decision-making processes regarding maintenance policies are highly influenced by economic factors, which lead to short-term strategies such as performing corrective maintenance over predictive maintenance. However, further analysis demonstrates that predictive maintenance allows the road network to remain in good conditions. Simultaneously, roadways in adequate conditions contribute to mitigate the environmental impact, because CO₂ emissions are directly related to the interventions performed to preserve these roads. The proposed methodology can be used as a support tool to formulate maintenance policies that consider the long-term effects at the technical, environmental, and economic levels.

The traditional techniques employed in the development of road infrastructure projects consume large amounts of energy and nonrenewable resources. This paper evaluates some consequences of roadway construction and maintenance processes by comparing the expenditures and emissions generated by both traditional techniques and more sustainable alternatives. Using a system dynamics (SD) approach, this study presents a model capable of reproducing the deterioration processes of the Chilean road network and calculating the carbon emissions and costs associated with pavement-related interventions. Results of a counterfactual analysis suggest that employing sustainable practices in maintenance and rehabilitation activities has a greater impact on costs and emissions than exclusively focusing on the use of green techniques in new construction projects. It also shows that road network conditions can be improved if higher priority is given to road maintenance rather than rehabilitation. The proposed model can be used as a tool to develop infrastructure policies and opens the door to further research focused on green interventions for existing road networks worldwide.

The residential building sector is one of the largest energy-consuming sectors. Because of this, several innovations and programs are being implemented to promote energy efficiency. This study evaluated carbon mitigation measures in the life cycle of social households considering three main sustainability dimensions: environmental, economic, and social. Through a system dynamics (SD) approach, policies strategies were evaluated to analyze the environmental and economic impact of implementing eco-materials, passive reduction measures (PRMs), and active reduction measures (ARMs) in different stages (design, construction, and operation) of social housing units. The analysis was based on data obtained from the Colombian social housing sector. Results showed the importance of employing mitigation measures in the operational stage (PRMs and ARMs) as well as the intervention of the existing housing stock to achieve carbon abatement targets. Conclusions highlight the relevance of formulating policies that integrate measures in all stages of the lifecycle of buildings. The proposed model can be used as a support tool to formulate sustainable policies that pursue energy-efficient buildings.

Public projects continually face multiple difficulties for their satisfactory completion. One of the most complex challenges is early contract termination (ECT), which delays social goods delivery and exhausts public resources. This study aimed to determine the root causes of the critical factors that lead to ECT in public building projects. We studied 20 kindergarten construction projects in Chile through a multi-case study. It addressed a pattern-matching analysis of symptoms associated with risks of design–build (DB) contracts and a five whys analysis to determine the root causes of the symptoms identified in the units of analysis. The results show that ECT projects’ most common symptoms are labor force shortage, materials shortage, and non-payment claims. In addition, the root-cause analysis exposed that the main causes of ECT’s symptoms were deficiencies in the bidding evaluation process, which led to an inadequate selection of the general contractor, lack of experience of the owner, and regulatory limitations of the legal framework for public projects. The construction projects faced ECT and cost and time overruns associated with poor risk management due to the owner’s and general contractor’s lack of experience in DB contracts.

Purpose: This study aims to analyze the technical, environmental, economic and thermal comfort impacts of implementing passive measures and heating systems in Ciudad Verde, a large-scale social housing project located at the periphery of Bogota, Colombia.Design/methodology/approach: A system dynamics (SD) model is proposed to evaluate scenarios through counterfactual experiments, including technical, environmental and economic components. Model inputs are obtained from building energy simulation models and data collected from official reports, public policy documents and construction records.Findings: Results suggest that the use of heating systems is the best choice to achieve thermal comfort conditions throughout the day. However, both the capital expenditures and CO₂ emissions associated with such system make their adoption very difficult. In line with that, the use of heating systems in combination with passive measures stands out as a viable solution since their costs are affordable and their use contributes to reducing CO₂ emissions.Originality/value: The proposed model recreates the dynamics underlying social housing construction processes, the adoption of heating systems and passive measures in low-income dwellings and their corresponding impact on CO₂ emissions and indoor thermal comfort conditions. The model can be employed as a support tool in the formulation of social housing policies associated with thermal comfort specifications. In this way, the model represents a first step toward incorporating thermal-related variables into the decision-making processes related to social housing planning and development.