Construction Engineering and Management Group

The Construction Engineering and Management Group advances the civil engineering profession by contributing to the body of knowledge and state of practice of sustainable, resilient, and agile construction through effective teaching, timely research, and relevant extension services. Currently, the group is preparing to offer the MS Construction Engineering and Management in response to the industry demand for technical advancement in construction and project management.

Research Agenda

Sustainability in Construction
Low-carbon construction materials
Green construction and building materials
Smart buildings, infrastructure, and cities
Circular economy in construction
Management and maintenance of buildings and structures


Resilient Construction
Building envelopes for tropical environments
Concrete in marine environments

Marine and offshore construction

Agile Construction
Construction 4.0 and Digital Transformation
Machine Learning and Decision Support Tools in Construction

Building Information Modeling

Featured Projects

Philippine Building Act Project

https://commsenseinc.com/upnec/philippine-building-act-of-2018/

ExPerlite Project

The Philippine Construction industry has been steadily expanding with an average annual growth rate of 10.9%. However, with the construction industry among the most energy- intensive, resource depleting, and emission releasing sectors in the world (UNEP SBCI, 2009), the need for more sustainable practices, and the use of alternative local materials persists.

Project ExPerlite (Determination of Appropriate Expansion of Perlite to Conform to Standards of Lightweight Aggregates for Use in Construction) aims to determine a suitable expansion process for Philippine perlite for use in construction. Perlite, once heated, has been found to expand up to 20x in size while maintaining a bulk density about 3x less than mixing sand. The use of expanded perlite (EPA) as a light-weight partial or full replacement to sand in construction can reduce the dead load of the structure, which could then lead to the reduction of the sizes of structural members and ultimately, the overall cost of the structure.

Project ExPerlite is conducted in partnership with Orophil Stonecraft, Inc., and funded by DOST PCIEERD. It is led by Asst. Prof. Rosabelle Louise Caram, faculty member of UP ICE Construction Engineering and Management Group.

Featured Research and Publication

DD Plamenco, FJ Germar, & PM Caparros. Application of Discrete Event Simulation in Estimating Productivity of Shotcrete Method in Divider Wall Construction. International Journal of Sustainable Construction Engineering and Technology, 12(3), 35–42. Oct 2021. (Journal Article)

Christian R. Orozco & Danielle Alexandrine D. Madriaga (2021) Assessment of green roofs in the Philippines using sustainability indicators and cost-benefit analysis, International Journal of Environmental Studies, DOI: 10.1080/00207233.2021.1957623

Facilities