Because there was such a large demand for residential homes in the 1980s, the construction sector grew quickly. Town projects are produced by the new strategy. One of the primary causes of pollution in the natural environment is construction. Environmental effects from building development and operations are substantial, both directly and indirectly [1]. Consequently, there needs to be a greater understanding of the environmental impact of building in residential projects, as well as the right use of resources. Therefore, many management strategies are considered with the environment, referred to as environmental supervision. It is a component of the comprehensive management system, which includes the organizational framework, scheduling, responsibilities, roles, procedures, and tools needed for developing, carrying out, and maintaining environmental policies. The Environmental Management Plan for development (CEMP) is a strategy for environmental management that aims to minimize unneeded or reasonably preventable negative effects during the development, operation, and closure of a project while maximizing its benefits. It is an essential instrument to guarantee that during the project life cycle, positive benefits are increased and negative effects are appropriately managed. 

 [2]. This attempts to employ this in an attitude of ongoing progress and improvement to support the most appropriate, efficient, and economical environmental management techniques.

The intricacy and sometimes dangerous nature of construction projects for the environment and labourers pose a threat to sustainable development [3]. It's one of the riskiest workplaces due to the high accident rate. Thus, it is acknowledged that one of the most significant issues facing the construction industry is building safety, especially when large-scale projects are being undertaken. This is due to the high number of participants, the various massive, heavy factories, the sophisticated construction procedures, the multiple facades, the workforce's diverse variety of specialised backgrounds, and the large amount of materials and equipment employed.

In the end, these techniques result in a high accident rate when building projects are underway. The most frequent incidents involving construction are those involving falls from heights, collisions, collapses, and electric shocks. [4]Construction is one of the riskiest and most accident-prone industrial sectors in the world [5]. HSE issues and risk factors have long been issues for the construction sector. Because of the ongoing increase in accidents and injuries, the construction industry is among the riskiest in the world [8]. Actually, in developed countries, the construction sector is responsible for 25–50% of catastrophic and deadly accidents.[6].

Historically, there have been significant rates of occupational injuries in the US, Korea, and China construction industries; "falling from a higher level" and "body beating" were the most common accident categories. The countries with the highest average death rates were South Korea (17.9), China (9.4), and the United States (881). The average number of fatal occupational injuries on construction sites was highest in China (2328), followed by South Korea (533), and the United States (881).Serious professional incidents like slips and falls, object throws, scrapes, and collisions are frequent in construction jobs. These incidents can have a variety of effects, including legal action, harm to the organization's reputation, declines in project quality, etc. Therefore, paying attention to these factors might be crucial to increasing an organization's productivity. [7].

"Land-disturbing activities, such as land clearance, reconciliation, and drilling, and other construction-related activities (e.g., storage of backfill materials; on-site placement of raw materials (which may generate pollutants)" is how the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines construction activities. Rainwater can carry chemicals, sand, and other waste from the construction site to adjacent water, where it can have a variety of physical, chemical, and biological effects.

In addition to the aforementioned pollutants, construction sites may also contain other pollutants (such as minerals, organic compounds, and nutrients) that rainwater flow may collect or adsorb on mineral or organic molecules present in micro-deposits. These contaminants might be carried off-site and dumped into adjacent bodies of water, which would degrade aquatic ecosystems and their aesthetic value and raise the cost of treating drinking water.Construction operations involve the usage of heavy machinery in addition to the effects of rainwater runoff. They also raise the possibility of producing, storing, transporting, and disposing of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. Hydraulic oil may leak onto the surface since heavy machinery uses it and needs to be refueled often. Numerous project stakeholders may be impacted by pollution incidents and may file lawsuits against project officials. In order to reduce potential environmental concerns, public contractors and entrepreneurs must address the dangers posed by projects completed by untrained or inadequately insured contractors.Due to a variety of activities, including those that alter environmental integrity off-site, on-site, and during construction, the construction industry has a substantial negative influence on the environment. One of the main causes of environmental deterioration is buildings. It is obvious that actions must be done to improve the sustainability of the built environment and the building processes. Therefore, professionals researching how construction activities affect the environment might need to use a "cradle to grave" strategy.

One of the biggest consumers of both non-renewable and renewable natural resources is the construction industry. It is highly dependent on the natural world for the provision of basic resources including wood, sand, and building materials. The World Monitoring Institute (2003) states that 25% of raw wood and 40% of the world's raw stones, gravel, and sand are used annually in the construction of buildings. Additionally, it uses 16% of water and 40% of energy per year. In Europe, the construction industry in Austria uses almost 50% of society's total material turnover each year, whereas Sweden uses 44% of it. [10]. From an environmental or spectacular perspective, the extraction of natural resources alters the natural environment permanently in rural and coastal locations. As these places are subsequently moved to more widely distributed locations, the amount of particles in the atmosphere rises along with energy consumption.

The activities involved in building and mining raw materials add to the buildup of pollutants in the atmosphere. Levin [11] states that building accounts for 13% of varied discharges, 20% of wastewater, and 40% of air emissions in the US. Certain dangerous substances, such sulfur and nitrogen oxides, are present in dust and other pollutants. They represent a serious risk to the environment and are emitted during the production and transportation of materials as well as during on-site operations. The ozone layer has been significantly damaged by other harmful substances, such as CFCs, which are utilized for firefighting systems, air conditioning, insulation, and refrigeration facilities.[10]

Additionally, pollutants were discharged into the biosphere, leading to considerable contamination of the land and water. Occasionally, on-site carelessness resulted in large spills that eventually ran into subterranean reservoirs and aquatic systems. Nearly one-third of the world's land is in decline, and pollutants lower environmental quality, making it more difficult for the environment to establish a naturally balanced ecosystem (Langford, 9).

Trash is produced in large quantities as a result of resource use, transportation, and manufacturing. About two-thirds of the rubbish in the US, over half in the UK, and between 20 and 30 percent in Australia comes from construction activities. In the US, building is responsible for 25% of the solid waste generated, according to Levin [9]. Between 40 and 50 percent of the garbage produced annually in the European Union comes from the construction sector. Building waste is largely wasteful. He said that there is a lot of opportunity for recycling and reusing materials used in construction and destruction. However, the time-consuming procedures of screening and processing construction trash for recycling can pose significant obstacles to the utility of recycling, particularly when building professionals lack environmental awareness.  [11]. 

Because the bulk of recyclable garbage from construction sites ends up in landfills, the depletion of natural resources by the building industry is a contentious issue. According to [8], waste on-site can be reduced by 15% by implementing a waste management plan during the planning and design phases. It offers garbage management cost savings of up to 50%. In addition to producing waste, building operations permanently convert arable land into infrastructure, including roads, dams, buildings, and other civil engineering projects. As stated by Langford [9], Global farmland loss occurred between 1980 and 1990 at a rate of about 7%. Additionally, arable land is lost as a result of mining and quarrying for building materials' raw materials. Because lumber is used in construction and to generate energy for the production of building materials, construction also plays a role in the devastation of forests. The usage of fossil fuels and deforestation both contribute to air pollution and global warming. Moreover, the building sector is recognized as a significant energy consumer, and as a result, it has significantly increased carbon dioxide emissions through the use of limited fossil fuel resources. Construction is responsible for more than 40% of all energy generated in Europe.

Identifying the environmental impacts of construction activities.

According to [12], pollution sources and risks from building activities are divided into seven categories: dust, hazardous gases, noise, solid and liquid waste, falling objects, and ground movement. [13] divided construction-related consequences into eight categories: soil and land contamination, groundwater contamination, construction and demolition waste, noise, vibration, dust, emissions, noxious odours, wildlife impacts, and natural features and impacts. According to [14], the environmental effects of the construction process include resource consumption, environmental stress, and human health concerns. [15] evaluated the effects of the construction sector on the environment, landscape, traffic, water, energy, amount of wood consumed, noise, dust, cleanliness, and health and safety. The effects of building on the environment, according to Chen and Tam [16], include the extraction of natural resources like minerals and fossil fuels, the extensive use of public resources like land, water, air, and energy, and the creation of rubbish that requires the use of land. use in order to get rid of. Pollution of the environment is caused by a variety of factors, including solid and household waste, noise, odour, dust, vibration, and chemical and particle emissions. Cardoso [17] lists waste, silt, dust, contaminated soil and water, harm to public water systems, devastation of industrial sites, aesthetic effects, noise, increased traffic, restricted parking, and increased traffic damage to public spaces as typical negative effects of construction activities.

Impacts on Biodiversity

All three sets of respondents ranked impacts on biodiversity as the second most significant environmental effect of construction operations. Among the top ten environmental repercussions of construction operations were soil loss, disruption of ecosystems, and vegetation, all of which are classified as environmental consequences connected to biodiversity. The consultants and contractors that were questioned agreed with this..[19]

Resource Consumption

When all respondents were aggregated, the environmental effect group's resource usage received the highest rating. The primary environmental consequence of construction activities in Ghana, according to all respondents, is the consumption of raw materials. Interestingly, all of the contractors and consultants who were interviewed felt that the utilisation of raw materials had the biggest environmental impact. The Worldwatch Institute [18] estimates that the construction industry uses 25% of virgin timber and 40% of the world's raw materials, including stone, gravel, and sand, annually. The Worldwatch Institute [18] estimates that the construction industry uses 25% of virgin timber and 40% of the world's raw materials, including stone, gravel, and sand, annually.

Additionally, it uses 16% of water and 40% of energy per year. Among the top 10 environmental effects of building activities are resource consumption, which includes the usage of fuel, water, and electricity.

Local Issuer

designers. Together, surveyors and civil engineers determined that, with relative relevance indices of 0.932, 0.933, and 0.800, respectively, local issues were the third most significant environmental impact from building operations. The architects in this group determined that vibration and noise were the main environmental effects of construction activity. The most significant factors, according to surveyors and civil engineers, were vibration and noise. The respondents' personal experiences in their day-to-day activities help to explain this outcome. Additionally, there is enough data to back up the claim that noise, vibration, and dust are produced during construction. [19].

Transport Issues

Traffic concerns were regarded as the fourth most significant environmental consequence of building operations by all three groups of respondents. Architects and surveyors in this group concurred that the biggest environmental impact from construction activities was traffic disruptions. In the meantime, traffic was the most significant factor, according to civil experts. It's also crucial to remember that the experts and contractors we spoke with admitted that there were traffic problems, but they claimed that construction was the primary cause.[19]

Waste Generation

With corresponding relative relevance indices of 0.896, 0.883, and 0.850, surveyors, civil engineers, and architects ranked trash creation as the fifth most significant environmental consequence from construction operations. Within this group, conventional trash was considered by architects and civil engineers to be the most significant environmental impact resulting from construction activities. The surveyors, meantime, identified mercury waste as the most significant. O'Fohn claims that the manufacturing, transportation, and usage of materials provide the majority of the waste produced during construction. According to Teo's research, the garbage generated by construction accounts for approximately 29% of the total landfill volume in the United States, over 50% in the United Kingdom, and 20–30% in Australia. Sterner [8] asserts, however, that waste management solutions put into place at the planning and design stage can cut trash on-site by 15 percent, garbage that is dumped in landfills as a result of recycling by 43 percent, and waste management-related expenses by as much as 50 percent.

Air Emissions

All respondents selected air pollution as the sixth most serious environmental impact. Buildings primarily impact the environment by emitting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and according to surveyors, civil engineers, and architects. Levin [9] claims that forty percent of air pollution in the US come from construction. Hazardous substances including sulphur and nitrogen oxides are among the emissions. These represent serious threats to the environment and are released during material manufacturing and transportation, as well as during on-site activities. In Rohracher [20]. Significant ozone depletion is caused by other harmful substances like chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are utilised in fire suppression systems, air conditioning, insulation, and refrigeration. [10].

 Accidents and incidents

Together, these three groups placed incidents and accidents as the sixth-largest environmental harm resulting from building. In this category, damage to utility pipes was cited by civil engineers as the most significant factor, while planners and evaluators agreed fires constitute the greatest significant ecological consequence from building operations. Building collapses during construction have been identified by a few contractors and consultants as a contributing factor to incidents and accidents.[19]

Water emissions

Out of the three response groups, the water discharge set was rated the lowermost. All three sets regarded the water level caused by excavation as high based on all group criteria. The responses indicate that the environmental impact of water leakage caused by construction operations is minimal.[19]

Soil change

Soil enhancement was graded as the eighth greatest significant ecological consequence of construction procedures by all three groups of plaintiffs. Changes in the soil were thought to have little effect on the environment. Every group concurred that the most crucial element in this category was land occupation...[19]

By understanding the fundamentals of Construction Environmental Management Plans (CEMP), the construction industry's management approach may be established so that good planning maximises the positive impact while minimising the negative impact on the environment. This can be accomplished by undertaking an environmental risk assessment. Environmental risk assessment is an important component of an Environmental Management Plan (EMP). Environmental protection must be prioritised throughout the project. To do this, a number of environmental criteria are proposed. These suggestions seek to guarantee that the contractor retains effective control over the project, so reducing the scope of impact during construction, assuring proper repair of construction-damaged regions, and limiting long-term environmental deterioration. Environmental risk assessment is based on risk calculations that consider the numerous environmental aspects or dangers associated with construction. Then each environmental aspect is assigned an importance value in order to determine a risk rating on a similar scale. Environmental risk assessment assesses a variety of effect elements. These elements are accountable for affecting the construction project.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest

No funding sources

The study was approved by the University of Thi-Qar, Civil Engineering Department, Thi-Qar, Iraq.

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