Fair wage potential as a tool for social assessment in building projects

PurposeThe fair wage potential (FWP) is a social assessment method that can serve as an important measure to estimate the related social impacts along a product's life cycle; however, it does not admit a direct relation to the functional unit. This research presents the weighted fair wage poten...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Engineering, construction, and architectural management construction, and architectural management, 2021-04, Vol.28 (4), p.1295-1318
Main Authors: Vitorio Junior, Paulo Cezar, Kripka, Moacir
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Building construction
Building materials
Case studies
Concrete
Construction industry
Construction materials
Consumption
Design
GDP
GNP
Gross Domestic Product
Gross National Product
Housing
Impact analysis
Infrastructure
Labor unions
Life cycle assessment
Literature reviews
Project design
Raw materials
Real variables
Sex discrimination
Social network analysis
Social networks
Social security
Social sustainability
Stakeholders
Supply chains
Sustainability
Sustainable development
Urban planning
Wages & salaries
Workers
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Summary:PurposeThe fair wage potential (FWP) is a social assessment method that can serve as an important measure to estimate the related social impacts along a product's life cycle; however, it does not admit a direct relation to the functional unit. This research presents the weighted fair wage potential (WFWP) method that relates the functional unit to the FWP. It is a simplified method to connect the material inventory to social data. This study aims to develop an approach to assess and choose the best construction typology for buildings based on the social sustainability of workers involved in the sectors.Design/methodology/approachThe study is presented in phases. Phase 1 selected and identified two Brazilian house projects, which were considered for the following processes: extraction of raw materials, manufacture of building materials and housing construction. Phase 2 assembled the social life cycle inventories and executed them using the social life cycle assessment (SLCA). The inventory of materials followed the functional unit: “1.0 m² of the built housing”, and the social inventory observed data extracted from the National Household Sample Survey (PNAD). The study considered the stakeholder category “worker” and analysed the impact subcategory “fair salary”. The study also divided the social data into categories: worker gender, worker race/colour, worker union and worker formality to analyse the impact of subcategories: “equal opportunities/discrimination”, “freedom of association and collective bargaining” and “social benefits/social security”. Phase 3 compared the projects according to the results from the SLCA. The FWP considers the wage paid at supply chain sectors, and the WFWP relates the functional unit to the social data.FindingsThe results proved that the wages paid by the construction supply chain are fair. However, there are differences between the FWP of male and female workers, white and non-white workers, unionised and non-unionised workers and formal and informal workers. The study of the actual Brazilian minimum wage indicated that the FWP is sensitive to the reference wage to which the analysed wages paid are related. Considering the WFWP, the constructive typology employed in Project B can generate increased positive social impacts than Project A. The proposed study provides excellent results, and it can be adapted to different data to assess the social conditions of other countries and sectors.Research limitations/implicationsThere i
ISSN:0969-9988
1365-232X
DOI:10.1108/ECAM-01-2020-0024