Developing a Double Materiality Assessment Tool for EPCM Projects – Finnish Pulp and Paper Industry Perspective
Yasmin, Fariha (2026)
2026
Tuotantotalouden DI-ohjelma - Master's Programme in Industrial Engineering and Management
Johtamisen ja talouden tiedekunta - Faculty of Management and Business
Hyväksymispäivämäärä
2026-04-21
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202604204076
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:tuni-202604204076
Tiivistelmä
The growing regulatory focus on sustainability reporting in the European Union (EU) has had a great impact on the practices related to corporate accountability. The introduction of the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) necessitates organizations to perform a process of double materiality assessment (DMA) to assess the impact on the company's finances, as well as the environmental and societal impact of the corporate activity. Although DMA has been defined at the corporate reporting level, its implementation at the project level, especially in the Engineering, Procurement, and Construction Management (EPCM) projects, has not been developed.
This thesis addresses this gap by developing and prototyping a structured double materiality assessment tool tailored for EPCM projects in the Finnish pulp and paper industry. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach conducted in collaboration with an engineering and consulting company. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and analyzed using Gioa methodology.
The findings indicate that environmental topics such as emissions, energy efficiency, resource use, biodiversity impacts, and waste management are highly important in EPCM contexts, particularly during early engineering phases. Key challenges include data availability constraints, stakeholder heterogeneity, regulatory complexity, methodological ambiguity, and integration difficulties within existing project governance frameworks.
As a primary contribution, the study develops a structured DMA tool framework for EPCM projects aligned with early engineering phases and designs a practical prototype of the tool in a structured Excel-based format. The prototype integrates sustainability topic shortlisting, impact and financial risk evaluation, scoring mechanisms, and materiality visualization outputs to support project-level decision-making. The prototype was iteratively refined through meetings and internal validation within the case organization to ensure usability and contextual relevance.
The research contributes theoretically by bridging sustainability reporting literature and project management research, and practically by providing EPCM organizations with a structured and testable mechanism to operationalize double materiality at the project level. The findings highlight the importance of embedding sustainability assessment into early design phases to influence long-term environmental performance, risk exposure, and life-cycle value realization.
This thesis addresses this gap by developing and prototyping a structured double materiality assessment tool tailored for EPCM projects in the Finnish pulp and paper industry. The study adopts a qualitative case study approach conducted in collaboration with an engineering and consulting company. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and document analysis, and analyzed using Gioa methodology.
The findings indicate that environmental topics such as emissions, energy efficiency, resource use, biodiversity impacts, and waste management are highly important in EPCM contexts, particularly during early engineering phases. Key challenges include data availability constraints, stakeholder heterogeneity, regulatory complexity, methodological ambiguity, and integration difficulties within existing project governance frameworks.
As a primary contribution, the study develops a structured DMA tool framework for EPCM projects aligned with early engineering phases and designs a practical prototype of the tool in a structured Excel-based format. The prototype integrates sustainability topic shortlisting, impact and financial risk evaluation, scoring mechanisms, and materiality visualization outputs to support project-level decision-making. The prototype was iteratively refined through meetings and internal validation within the case organization to ensure usability and contextual relevance.
The research contributes theoretically by bridging sustainability reporting literature and project management research, and practically by providing EPCM organizations with a structured and testable mechanism to operationalize double materiality at the project level. The findings highlight the importance of embedding sustainability assessment into early design phases to influence long-term environmental performance, risk exposure, and life-cycle value realization.