Developing An Environmental Monitoring Dashboard to Identify Construction Activities That Affect On-Site Air Quality and Noise

Abstract

Construction sites are well known for being significant sources of air and noise pollution, impacting both individuals who work on those sites and surrounding communities. Construction projects on the Grounds of the University of Virginia are no exception. On-Grounds projects are located within one mile of UVA Health, meaning any pollutants, construction waste or noise from the project may impact a large number of people and individuals in educational, workplace, residential, and healthcare settings. While the presence of dust and other sources of pollution has been observed across jobsites, existing site management techniques do not provide opportunities to understand the causes or extent of various pollution events. The purpose of this project is to develop a prototype environmental monitoring dashboard which incorporates real-time data from air and noise quality sensors installed on-site, and link the data to specific construction activities on a detailed as-built schedule. The development of this type of monitoring system has become much more feasible in recent years due to the increased availability of affordable and reliable sensors and this project shows this type of technology can be utilized in a construction context. Sensors are installed in high traffic locations on-site including on the first two floors the building under construction and in the jobsite trailer to specifically track noise, CO2, VOC, PM2.5, temperature and humidity levels at 5 minute frequency. Information related to on-site activities is collected through an analysis of construction documents, like a detailed schedule and plan sheets. Spatial trends found included the first floor of the site having higher PM2.5 levels, PM2.5 levels decreasing from the roadside to trailer side, and the second floor having higher noise levels. Time trends include lower noise and PM2.5 levels at noon and higher levels between 8AM-11AM and 1PM-3PM. Lastly, there the middle first floor sensor PM2.5 levels was found to be significantly correlated with a masonry subcontractor’s daily hour with an R squared value of .6125.