Evaluation and Choice Criteria of Sustainable Suppliers in the Construction Industry: A Comparative Study in Brazilian Companies

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The first review of a manuscript number of ID: sustainability-2013324 and entitled "Evaluation and choice criteria of sustainable suppliers in the construction industry: a comparative study in Brazilian companies"

Article Type: Full Length Article

This paper seeks to develop criteria for evaluating sustainable suppliers in civil construction and to contribute to improving the understanding of the factors that influence the selection of 13 sustainable suppliers. Organizations should develop strategies that motivate suppliers to participate in green supply chain initiatives, as supplier selection can directly interfere with sustainability performance at work. However, there is a gap in the research that addresses the selection of sustainable suppliers in the Brazilian context of civil construction related to certifications for sustainable construction. To fill this gap, the present article used the methodologies of literature review, content analysis, data triangulation, and field research through survey, identifying the certifiable standards for sustainable construction most cited in the literature, LEED, AQUA, BREEAM, and CASBEE. The parameters of each certification were analyzed to define those related to the selection of suppliers, identifying those that qualify it as environmentally sustainable. The result of the research contributes to the construction companies being able to use the ranking of importance of the criteria when choosing the supplier, in addition to having access to the mapping of essential criteria, allowing the search for greater interaction between the links of the supply chain green, making the buildings and more sustainable supplies. During the first review of the paper, my general and main comments are as follows:

1.    There are more and more errors in the standard of English (and other typo errors/mistakes), and then the authors should be proofread the paper carefully.

2.    Very important note, remove all pronouns from the paper.

3.    The abstract section should contain more and more results.

4.    I noticed that the authors do not cite the journal, I recommend making a citation of the journal at least one-third of the total references.

5.    Due to the repetitive abbreviations I recommend adding a table called acronyms after the introduction section.

6.    At what criteria why do the authors select these regions for this study?

7.    Where are the technical specifications of the equipment used?

8.    The discussion section is very short compared to the obtained results. Please go through it and add more comments and interpretations.

9.    Please clearly mention the novelty of this work in the main parts of the article (introduction, method, results, and conclusion section).

10. I recommend adding the following papers to the literature review and introduction section: -

Aykut Fatih Guven, and M. M. Samy, "Performance Analysis of Autonomous Green Energy System Based on Multi and Hybrid Metaheuristic Optimization Approaches" Energy Conversion and Management Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 269, 1 October 2022, 116058, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116058.

M. M. Samy, Rabia Emhamed Almamlook, Heba I. Elkhouly and S. Barakat, "Design Decision-Making and Optimal Design of Green Energy System Based on Statistical Methods and Artificial Neural Network Approaches" Sustainable Cites and Society Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 84, September 2022, 104015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104015.

 

11. I recommend adding more graphs and plots to clear the idea of the paper.

12. The references must be updated to the year of 2022.

13. The whole paper must rewrite again.

 

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 1,

We take the opportunity to thank you for your willingness, your Comments were very constructive for our article; 

Most of the suggestions were answered, native speakers reviewed language errors, pronouns were removed, and acronyms were revised and identified the first time they appeared in the text.

We checked the journal editions, included three articles in the references and citations, and expanded the discussion of the results.

As far as possible, we revised the entire article as requested.

The revised points and further clarifications are detailed below.

 

COVER LETTER

Response to Reviewer 1 Comments

Manuscript ID: sustainability-2013324

 

Point 1: There are more and more errors in the standard of English (and other typo errors/mistakes), and then the authors should be proofread the paper carefully.

Response 1: The article was reviewed by a native

 

Point 2: Very important note, remove all pronouns from the paper.

Response 2: Pronouns have been removed in the lines identified below

Line 97 they excluded

Line 118 they are dealing replaced by to deal

Line 139 they indicate replaced by indicates

Line 227 they excluded

Line 297 they were replaced by it was

Line 329 was us replaced by makes

Line 343 they are was replaced by it is being

 

Point 3: The abstract section should contain more and more results.

Response 3: Relevant results were inserted in the summary

Lines 19-21 - The result of the literature review identifies the certifiable standards for sustainable construction most cited in the literature, LEED, AQUA, BREEAM, and CASBEE. 

Lines 21-22 - The standards analysis allows for identifying seven similar supply criteria for sustainable construction certifications.

Lines 24-26 - Some results found 60.7% of respondents work in companies without certifications, 75% know sustainable procurement, 50% of companies established sustainable procurement policy, and 83% of companies had a strategy for selecting suppliers.

 

Point 4: I noticed that the authors do not cite the journal, I recommend making a citation of the journal at least one-third of the total references.

Response 4: Three more new articles were introduced, searched in all editions of Sustainability and no articles were found that could be used within our scope.

Lines 696-697 – 78. Caldera, S.; Mohamed, S.; Feng, Y. Evaluating the COVID-19 Impacts on Sustainable Procurement: Experiences from the Australian Built Environment Sector. Sustainability (2022), 14, 4163. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074163

Lines 701-702 – 80. Warren-Myers G, Heywood C. A New Demand-Supply Model to Enable Sustainability in New Australian Housing. Sustainability. (2018); 10 2-376. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020376

Lines 706-707 – 82. Hoseini, S.A; Fallahpour A; Wong K.Y; Mahdiyar A; Saberi, M; Durdyev, S. Sustainable Supplier Selection in Construction Industry through Hybrid Fuzzy-Based Approaches. Sustainability (2021) 13 3 1413. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031413

 

Point 5: Due to the repetitive abbreviations I recommend adding a table called acronyms after the introduction section.

Response 5: The acronyms that were in the text were carefully identified the first time they appear. Only the acronym ISO, on line 86, was not identified, and it was corrected. Here are all the acronyms that appear in the text and their descriptions.

Line 37 Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)

Line 42 Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)

Line 43 Supply Chain Management (SCM)

Line 83 International Organization for Standardization ISO

Line 106 Triple Bottom Line (TBL)

Line 116 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)

Line 125 AQUA Process (High Environmental Quality)

Line 126 Haute Qualité Environnemetale (HQE)

Line 130 Building Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM)

Line 132 Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE)

Line 134 Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB)

Line 267 Brazilian Program of Habitat Quality and Productivity (PBQP-H)

Line 278 Human Development Index (HDI)

 

Point 6: At what criteria why do the authors select these regions for this study?

Response 6: Lines 354-356 - The research was developed in the state of Paraná, the criterion used considered the population of 32,743 registered civil engineers, a sample of 112 respondents, a confidence level of 90%, and a sampling error of 7.74%.

 

Point 7: Where are the technical specifications of the equipment used?

Response 7: The question does not match the research, as equipment was not used.

 

Point 8: The discussion section is very short compared to the obtained results. Please go through it and add more comments and interpretations.

Response 8: Line 348 - Section 5 Discussion has been separated from section 4 Results for clarity.

 

Point 9: Please clearly mention the novelty of this work in the main parts of the article (introduction, method, results, and conclusion section).

Response 9:

Lines 93-98 - Selection criteria can be verified in the literature and applicable to different segments and countries. However, there is a gap in research on local contexts, including culture, practices, and institutions, and suggest using expert work as an input for others [21]. In this sense, the research is based on of Brazilian context of the construction industry, with its characteristics and particularities, such as, for example, the need to meet the specific certifiable standards of the sector.

Line 320 - Table 3. Similar parameters in the certifications

Line 332 - Table 4. Certification criteria applicable to supply

Lines 455-456 - Fig.1. Analyzed criteria in order of degree of relevance

Lines 503-505 - As a major contribution to the academic community and building construction companies, the study presents the ranking of importance of the selection criteria for green suppliers considered by construction engineers in Curitiba, Brazil.

 

Point 10: I recommend adding the following papers to the literature review and introduction section:

Response 10: We read the suggested articles, but it was not possible to use them as a reference because they address the specific topic of green energy, and we understand that they do not adhere to our research, which addresses the topic of sustainable suppliers in the construction industry more comprehensively, not specifically about energy.

Aykut Fatih Guven, and M. M. Samy, "Performance Analysis of Autonomous Green Energy System Based on Multi and Hybrid Metaheuristic Optimization Approaches" Energy Conversion and Management Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 269, 1 October 2022, 116058, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2022.116058.

10. M. Samy, Rabia Emhamed Almamlook, Heba I. Elkhouly and S. Barakat, "Design Decision-Making and Optimal Design of Green Energy System Based on Statistical Methods and Artificial Neural Network Approaches" Sustainable Cites and Society Journal (Elsevier), Vol. 84, September 2022, 104015, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2022.104015.

 

Point 11: I recommend adding more graphs and plots to clear the idea of the paper.

Response 11: Line 455 - The possible graphics were already inserted

 

Point 12: The references must be updated to the year of 2022.

Response 12: Updated References

78 - Caldera, S.; Mohamed, S.; Feng, Y. Evaluating the COVID-19 Impacts on Sustainable Procurement: Experiences from the Australian Built Environment Sector. Sustainability (2022), 14, 4163. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074163

Lines 432-434 - Managers seeking to demonstrate corporate social responsibility in their supply chains have an increasing preoccupation with Sustainable procurement [78].

Lines 436-439- To better sustainable procurement, it is important to ensure that products or services purchased are environmentally sustainable and that the working conditions of its suppliers' employees are decent. Furthermore, that socio-economic issues are addressed [78].

 

79 - Wohlenberg, J; Hoeltz, M; Schaefer, J; Nara, E.O.B; Benitez, G; Schneider, R. Sustainability In Agriculture: Analysing The Environmental And Social Aspects Of The Family Farmers' Economy. Journal of Sustainability Science and Management. (2022).  17, 251-261. http://doi.org/10.46754/jssm.2022.08.015

Lines 466 - It is important to assess the applicability of sustainability indicators to local achievements [79].

 

80- Warren-Myers G, Heywood C. A New Demand-Supply Model to Enable Sustainability in New Australian Housing. Sustainability. (2018); 10 2-376. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10020376

Lines 470-473 - The challenge is providing a product that looks and feels the same as current conventional housing but is significantly more sustainable. It is possible development the capacity and ability to drive a more innovative, sustainable product into the marketplace with no need to increase costs [80].

 

82- Hoseini, S.A; Fallahpour A; Wong K.Y; Mahdiyar A; Saberi, M; Durdyev, S. Sustainable Supplier Selection in Construction Industry through Hybrid Fuzzy-Based Approaches. Sustainability (2021) 13 3 1413. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13031413

Lines 499-502 - The construction industry tends to follow sustainability policies and practices in supply chain management due to increased public and stakeholders' awareness of economic, environmental, and social issues [82].

Lines 510-511 - But the conflicting sustainability legislation, suppliers’ performance evaluation, and the selection and organizational goals are considered a complicated process [82].

 

Point 13: The whole paper must rewrite again.

Response 13: As far as possible it has been rewritten and revised.

 

Reviewer 2 Report

The article “Evaluation and choice criteria of sustainable suppliers in the construction industry: a comparative study in Brazilian companies” establishes evaluation criteria for suppliers in the field of civil engineering so as to obtain sustainable buildings.

The selection of suppliers in the field of construction is based on economic criteria of quality, execution and, more recently, sustainability by complying with GSCM norms. The analysis was carried out in two stages, the first stage is for documentation and the second is for consultation of specialists in the field. After consulting the specialists, 7 sustainability criteria were structured and their relevance analyzed.

The criterion "Is committed to quality" was considered the most important of the 7 presented. Based on this research, it was found that some of the companies in Brazil had no knowledge of sustainability practices. Among the main contributions of the authors I mention:

-establishing on the basis of importance the selection criteria for the ropers who respect the sustainability norms

-identifying the main types of certifications that should be imposed on suppliers.

Considering the above, I am applying for admission to publication of the article in its current form.

Best regards,

Author Response

Dear Reviewer 2,

We appreciate your contributions and good disposition, thank you for your willingness.

Best Regards,

The authors.

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

During the second review of the paper, the authors cover all comments and remarks raised by me and then the paper is improved. The paper is accepted