Date: June 18, 2015

Time: 1:00 p.m.

Location: Caddell Building, Room 212

Committee:

Daniel Castro-Lacouture, Professor (Advisor)

School of Building Construction, Georgia Institute of Technology

Xinyi Song, Assistant Professor

School of Building Construction, Georgia Institute of Technology

Sonit Bafna, Associate Professor

School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology

Charles Rudolph, Associate Professor

School of Architecture, Georgia Institute of Technology

Andres L. Medaglia, Professor

Industrial Engineering, Universidad de Los Andes

Maria Viteri, AIA, LEED BC+D

Director of Sustainability and Program Development, International Masonry Institute

Title: Decision support system for masonry labor planning and allocation considering productivity and social sustainability

Abstract

This dissertation proposes a decision support system (DSS) for sustainable labor management in masonry construction that takes into consideration information on workers and job characteristics with the intention of assisting decision makers in allocating crews. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with masonry practitioners to gather perspectives on labor requirements, rules for crew design, and drivers for crew makeup. A model that incorporates jobsite realities was implemented, supporting masonry contractors and superintendents in the challenging process of managing crews, that is, to determine the composition of each crew and the allocation of crews to maximize productivity while considering social sustainability aspects. With the DSS, project managers and superintendents are not only able to identify working patterns for each of the workers, but also optimal crew formation, and investment and labor costs. Data from several mason contractors is used to illustrate the decision model and showcase its capability. It is expected that the DSS will help contractors improve productivity and quality while efficiently managing masonry workers in a more and sustainable way.