CEM research for the next 50 years: Maximizing economic, environmental, and societal value of the built environment

Construction engineering and management (CEM) research over the past 50 years has focused on extending and applying management and computer science approaches to minimize cost during the implementation phase of construction projects. Three emerging trends suggest the need to broaden the frame of future CEM research in several ways: (1) more integrated delivery of design, planning, construction, and operation of buildings and infrastructure requires us to broaden the focus of construction engineering and management research across the entire facility lifecycle; (2) rapid globalization of the construction industry requires new governance structures for projects that can bridge across the gaps in values, beliefs, norms, work practices, and laws between participants from different countries; and (3) heightened global awareness of, and demands for, enhanced sustainability requires new approaches, methods, and tools to incorporate sustainability issues in the early phases of the facility development process. Building on ASCE's 2006 Vision for the Future of Civil Engineering. This paper elaborates each of these three trends and draws implications for refocusing and redirecting construction engineering and management research, education, and civic leadership in the next 50 years.