energies Article The Management of Environmental Resources in the Construction Sector: An Empirical Model Ionel-Sorinel Vasilca 1 , Madlena Nen 2 , Oana Chivu 3 , Valentin Radu 4 , Cezar-Petre Simion 1 and Nicolae Marinescu 5, *   Citation: Vasilca, I.-S.; Nen, M.; Chivu, O.; Radu, V.; Simion, C.-P.; Marinescu, N. The Management of Environmental Resources in the Construction Sector: An Empirical Model. Energies 2021, 14, 2489. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092489 Academic Editor: Sergio Ulgiati Received: 1 April 2021 Accepted: 26 April 2021 Published: 27 April 2021 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). 1 Department of Management, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010374 Bucharest, Romania; Vasilcaionel18@stud.ase.ro (I.-S.V.); cezar.simion@man.ase.ro (C.-P.S.) 2 DLSSMM, Military Technical Academy Ferdinand I, 050141 Bucharest, Romania; madlena.nen@mta.ro 3 Department of Materials, Polytechnic University of Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania; Oana.virlan@upb.ro 4 Department of Accounting and Finance, Valahia University of Targoviste, 130004 Targoviste, Romania; valentin.radu@valahia.ro 5 MTSAI Department, Transilvania University of Brasov, 500036 Brasov, Romania * Correspondence: marinescu@unitbv.ro; Tel.: +40-722-533912 Abstract: This research emphasizes the analysis and assessment of the environmental impact in the construction sector. It aims to propose a model for analyzing the management of environmental resources in the building process. This specific sector presents a significant potential risk of negatively affecting the environment, through pollution, energy consumption, and waste generation. Envi- ronmental responsibility involves analyzing the environmental impact and implementing effective solutions for an adequate governance of the environmental resources. Various life cycle assessment methods are employed to design a new model of management of environmental resources, starting from the factors impacting the environment. The resulting model takes these factors into account and carries several advantages from an organizational point of view. One novel result is that the model can be applied at a microeconomic level as well as at a macroeconomic level. By implementing this model, the preconditions for reconfiguring operational conditions and processes with significant impact on resource consumption within construction projects can be created at a company level. As such, the objective for the construction sector is to manage the use of resources efficiently and, at the same time, to restore the areas possibly affected by the specific operations. Keywords: construction; environment; environmental management; environmental resources; en- ergy consumption; life cycle assessment 1. Introduction The construction industry is deemed one of the major sources of environmental damage in the world [1]. The building process is not environmentally friendly by its sheer nature, starting from the supply of materials, continuing with the resources that are consumed, and ending with the overall effects on the surrounding environment. Its environmental impact has become highly relevant. At a worldwide level, construction is responsible for about 50% of carbon emissions, 20–50% of consumption of natural resources, and 50% of total solid waste. Most of this occurs during the operational stage, causing a significant environmental impact [2,3]. The construction sector has an enormous influence on the environment and on the resources available. Moreover, it causes environmental harm, specifically air, soil, and water pollution. As a consequence, the need to mitigate such impact is stringent. In recent times, more and more studies try to integrate sustainable practices into the construction process. As a general rule, opinions converge about the most impor- tant sources of environmental impact, such as the consumption of energy and resources, Energies 2021, 14, 2489. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14092489 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/energies