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Sustainability in the built environment is rapidly gaining attention worldwide, although many developing countries have not accomplished much on the ground as many sustainability aspects still remain untreated. Despite their low greenhouse gas contributions to the globe, the high rate of construction activities that do not embrace sustainable practices in these countries pose challenges to the environment. Using the case of Tanzania, this study assesses the level of sustainability awareness among key stakeholders in the built environment.

The study uses a mixed-method research approach where primary data was collected using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews with key informants comprising engineers, architects, property managers, property owners, property users and academicians from institutions of higher learning.

Results show that despite the potential for a sustainable built environment, there is a low level of awareness among key stakeholders. Whereas few architects, who were aware, admitted to have not incorporated sustainability aspects in their building design, other stakeholders did not have active roles in decision-making involving building construction projects. Compared to the rest, the awareness level of property users was the lowest. Lack of a specific policy or policy statement on sustainable building, high initial costs of sustainable building, few skilled professionals and lack of a broad choice of building materials are some of the factors accounting for the low level of sustainability adoption in the built environment.

The significance of this study lies within the objective of showing awareness levels of sustainability aspects among key built environment stakeholders and policymakers, which is important in devising strategies for promoting sustainable construction practices.

The paper is conceptual in nature and explores the role and function of project management in the achievement of sustainability in the built environment by developing a 4Es (Economic, Effectiveness, Efficiency and Ethics) and 4 Poles (Economic, Social, Environmental and Technology) model of sustainability. The study also identifies that the existing debates on sustainability seem to marginalise project management's positive contributions to sustainable construction, as well as the importance of technology in the sustainability agenda.

The paper consists of a literature review on the concept of sustainability, the contribution of the built environment to the sustainability problem, and an intellectual discussion of a proposed model for achieving sustainable development in the built environment. The body of this paper is divided into three sections: part one reviews “what is sustainability”, part two discusses the current state of sustainability including the importance of technology, and part three discusses the 4Es and 4 Poles model.

This research establishes the importance of technology in the sustainable development agenda. The paper proposes a 4Es (project management model) and 4 Poles (poles or factors of sustainability) model as a holistic approach to achieving sustainable construction. In addition, this paper proposes an extension to the definition of sustainable construction or development, as the existing definitions seem to be vague.

This research paper focuses only on sustainability in the built environment and sustainable development with reference to project management.

The proposed model uses a project management approach, which does not allow trade‐offs, but promotes integration of the 4 Poles. This will contribute to the achievement of sustainable construction at every level of a project or organisation.

The proposed model is new within project management and the built environment. It also promotes technology as a core factor in achieving sustainable development.

The purpose of this paper is to review extant literature and to provide perspectives on approaches to enhancing built environment sustainability in Africa. There is a mismatch between global societal resources and the increasing demand for natural resources. The consequences of this mismatch are prevalent in many African countries, causing the need to implement of built environment sustainability as a matter of cause.

Little research has been undertaken to date with a focus on the environmental sustainability of Africa. With this in mind the review was undertaken through a series of incremental steps. It began with an initial review, before developing through exploratory and development phases. The process culminated with the refined literature review presented.

The paper finds that a different approach is required to achieve built sustainable development for developed and developing countries, with a clear difference in terms of its application observed between the Northern and Southern hemispheres. Current energy and water crisis facing Africa is brought to the fore and an evaluation is provided of the systems being used to ameliorate its effects. The study explores a range of technological solutions that are appropriate for consideration in the African context. It also examines the barriers that need to be overcome to facilitate the widespread use of the suggested solutions in Africa.

This study examines built environment sustainability through the Africa lens. It highlights its importance and the contextual factors inhibiting the widespread uptake of built environment sustainability solutions. The study offers a number of recommendations for the future to encourage long-term built environment sustainability in Africa and more specifically the Sub-Saharan region.

This paper aims to evaluate how transformative learning is key to innovating sustainability education in the built environment in the region’s universities, in addition to reporting on the research project undertaken to integrate sustainability thinking and practice into engineering/built environment curricula in Asia-Pacific universities.

The project drew from the experiences of academics in built environment programmes and espoused a collaborative inquiry process wherein the role of the industry was vital. A literature review focusing on sustainability integration into curricula was followed by a workshop which brought together academic and industry participants.

The general direction of education for sustainability is moving increasingly towards integration and innovation. However, the slow progress of integration of sustainability in the built environment curricula may have been due in part to the outcome/practice-led approach of built environment education, which is the hallmark of the discipline and lends to a largely discipline-based curriculum framework.

The project focused only on the curricula of university programmes and courses taught in the participating Asia-Pacific universities and institutions.

This paper highlights how the framework for the proposed curriculum guide focusing primarily on built environment programmes and courses can provide guidance for potential application in other higher education institutions.

Much is written about embedding sustainability and education in built environment curricula. However, little analysis, application and collaborative work in Asia-Pacific universities have taken place. This paper considers the value of transformative learning in the innovation of the predominantly discipline-based engineering/built environment programmes for sustainability.

Starting with the notion that each building has an overall life cycle, the paper uses building-based and investment-based life cycles to identify likely decision points for renovations, including sustainability enhancements, and identifies patterns in sustainability decisions.

This real estate insights paper considers how commercial real estate and the built environment it creates, owns and manages impacts the sustainability of urban areas and the globe. By combining building-based and investment-based life cycles, it is possible to develop a unique “sustainability enhancement quotient” for individual buildings and the built environment for an urban area over a given time interval.

Using two life cycles allows the identification and likelihood of sustainability decision points. The same life cycles and decision points are used to consider the likely extent of such renovations. This is in addition to continuous consideration of renovations producing economic benefits in the form of lower operating costs and quick return of capital.

Useful for investment decision-making and policy design and implementation.

This is a useful tool for public and private decision making. It is suggested that the sustainability enhancement quotient may be used to design and implement policies and decisions maximising the likelihood of sustainability enhancement in an urban area's built environment.

Provides a framework for more effective sustainability decisions and public policy. The public-private interplay inherent in every building is emphasised throughout.

Original combination of existing tools.

This purpose of this paper is to introduce the new Smart and Sustainable Built Environment (SASBE) journal to readers by discussing the background and underlying principles of its establishment, the editorial visions, and the range of papers selected in this first issue. It will encourage readers and potential authors to consider the need for integrated approaches to sustainability problems, to take on emerging challenges in the built environment and to join the SASBE journal in finding and promoting optimum solutions.

This paper explores the evolving nature of sustainability, the recent trends of sustainability endeavours in built environment and the current knowledge gaps. The need to bridge these gaps is then discussed in the context of suggested remedies and justifications. This leads to the development of a smart and sustainable built environment as a R&D philosophy for world researchers as part of their interactions with professional bodies and agencies such as CIB, UNEP and iiSBE, and the establishment of the SASBE journal.

Sustainable development in the built environment requires holistic thinking and decision making and innovative solutions that enhance sustainability and result in mutually beneficial outcomes for all stakeholders. A dedicated forum, through the journal of SASBE, is much needed for the exploration, discussion, debate, and promotion of these integrated approaches.

Through presenting an overview of the current issues and identifying gaps in the understanding and pursuit of sustainability in the built environment, this paper suggests potential areas for future research and practice as well as possible topics for authors to make new contributions.

Sustainability, especially in terms of development and growth, has been in the agenda of the world community for several decades. However, apparently not all the aspects of sustainability are given equal importance. Ecologic and economic components of sustainability have been in the focal point of many theoretical and practical works, as the social aspect has been mostly left out of emphasis. The purpose of this paper is to examine the social aspects of sustainability and its relation to architecture, with respect to the strong connection between the society and the built environment.

The core of the paper consists of a case study conducted at a design studio course for third-year architecture students whereas the outcomes of the student works on the design problem are evaluated as examples for design approaches to reflect the effects of the built environment on social sustainability. The case study is supported with a literature review and examination of existing approaches to similar subjects regarding social sustainability.

The findings resulted in a better understanding of social sustainability in architectural education which is reflected on the built environment through several architectural strategies.

This paper contributes to the literature by providing a holistic understanding of sustainability including its social aspects and creating an awareness for the importance of social sustainability in architectural education.

Applications of social network analysis (SNA) are evidently popular amongst scholars for mapping stakeholder and other relational networks in improving the sustainability of construction activities and the resulting built environment. Nevertheless, the literature reveals a lack of thorough understanding of optimal SNA applications in this field. Therefore, this paper aims to convey a comprehensive critical review of past applications of SNA in this field.

95 relevant journal papers were initially identified from the “Web of Science” database and a bibliometric analysis was carried out using the “VOS Viewer” software. The subsequent in-depth review of the SNA methods, focussed on 24 specifically relevant papers selected from these aforesaid 95 papers.

A significant growth of publications in this field was identified after 2014, especially related to topics on stakeholder management. “Journal of Cleaner Production”, “International Journal of Project Management” and “Sustainability” were identified as the most productive sources in this field, with the majority of publications from China. Interviews and questionnaires were the popular data collection methods while SNA “Centrality” measures were utilised in over 70% of the studies. Furthermore, potential areas were noted, to improve the mapping and thereby provide useful information to managers who could influence relevant networks and consequentially better sustainability outcomes, including those enhanced by collaborative networks.

Closer collaboration has been found to help enhance sustainability in construction and built environment, hence attracting research interest amongst scholars on how best to enable this. SNA is established as a significant methodological approach to analysing interrelationships and collaborative potential in general. In a pioneering application here, this paper initiates the drawing together of findings from relevant literature to provide useful insights for future researchers to comprehensively identify, compare and contrast the applications of SNA techniques in construction and built environment management from a sustainability viewpoint.

The purpose of this paper is to examine various uncertainties underlying the concept of sustainability in construction and built environment (SCBE) and determine if SCBE is a “wicked problem” (WP).

Qualitative text analysis and inductive reasoning are used as research methods in this paper. Text analysis of extant literature is performed to categorise the uncertainties underlying the concept of SCBE. Inductive reasoning, based on these categories of uncertainties and the characteristics of WPs provided in the seminal work of Rittel and Webber (1973), is used to assess SCBE as a probable WP.

Six distinct categories of uncertainties underlying the concept of SCBE are developed: temporal uncertainty, spatial uncertainty, stakeholder uncertainty, societal uncertainty, dimensional uncertainty and assessment uncertainty. The inductive reasoning provides a prima facie evidence that SCBE, underpinned by these uncertainties, is a WP.

To the best of author’s knowledge, this is first of its kind analysis that assesses SCBE from a WP perspective by a systematic categorisation of underlying uncertainties. The findings necessitate a new approach for the context-specific conception of sustainability to commensurate with local values. They also provide a sound academic base to challenge the positivist notions generally associated with SCBE, reflected in sustainability assessment and rating systems currently pursued globally as a means of promoting SCBE.

The increasing urbanization of the built environment has bolstered the need to promote green Building Information Modeling (BIM) initiative in new construction projects and the rehabilitation of old premises. This study aims to explore and examine the key benefits of the implementation of BIM and sustainability practices in the built environment.

The study gathered the worldwide perceptions of 220 survey participants from 21 countries which were analyzed using descriptive and inferential analytical methods. The identified individual benefits of green BIM were further categorized into their underlying clusters using factor analysis.

The key benefits are related to enhancing project efficiency and productivity, ensuring real-time sustainable design and multi-design alternatives, facilitating the selection of sustainable materials and components, together with reducing material wastage and project’s environmental impact, among others. The study analyzed and compared the perceptions of the diverse groups of the respondents as well.

Effective blueprints and insightful recommendations for enhancing the various stakeholders’ capacities to implement green BIM in their construction projects were put forward to achieve the aim of sustainable smart urbanization.

The study identified salient benefits of the adoption of BIM and sustainability practices. The proper integration of these concepts and the execution of the recommended useful strategies by construction stakeholders, policymakers and local authorities will enable the built environment to reap the gains of its implementation.