Search results

This study explores the relationships among sustainability implementation barriers (resource, managerial and regulatory barriers), sustainability practices (sustainable construction materials, sustainable construction design, modern construction methods and environmental provisions and reporting) and sustainability performance (environmental, economic and social) in hill road construction (HRC).

Primary data were collected from the 313 HRC practitioners with the help of a questionnaire, and research hypotheses were tested employing structural equation modeling.

The findings reveal a mixed effect of sustainability implementation barriers. Resource (managerial) barriers are negatively related to all practices except environmental provisions and reporting (sustainable construction materials), while regulatory barriers only negatively impact modern construction methods. On the other hand, all sustainability practices positively impact environmental performance, whereas economic (social) performance is positively influenced by all practices, except environmental provisions and reporting (modern construction methods), and positively affects economic performance.

In order to transform HRC toward sustainability, the barriers to sustainability implementation, sustainability practices and performance need to be understood by practitioners; however, the relationships have not previously been empirically assessed in extant literature. Besides, past research appears to be predominantly focused on the environmental aspect, thereby neglecting economic and social aspects. This study is a modest attempt to bridge these research gaps.

Although the adverse effects of construction activities on the environment and the need for sustainable construction practices are recognised in both research and practice, any significant shift in the selection and use of construction materials from the sustainability perspective has not taken place in many building projects. Still, conventional construction materials are widely used in building projects in both developed and developing countries. This study attempts to identify the main barriers to the use of sustainable materials in building projects in an advanced economy such as Australia.

This study adopted a questionnaire survey approach to examine the main reasons behind the low usage of sustainable materials in building projects. Based on the relative importance index, exploratory factor analysis and multinomial logistic regression analysis, the study examined the main barrier measures and barrier factors to the use of sustainable materials in building projects.

The findings reveal that critical barriers to the use of sustainable materials are related to cost and profit considerations, the unwillingness of the key stakeholders to incorporate these materials into building projects, lack of incentives and government policies. The factor analysis reduced the critical barrier measures into three factors: techno-economic considerations, cost and delay concerns and resistance to use. Furthermore, multinomial regression analysis based on the extracted factors identified techno-economic considerations as the main barrier factor to the use of sustainable materials in building projects.

The empirical results of this research can inform construction practitioners, organisations and policymakers on how to increase the use of sustainable building materials in the construction industry.

Identification of barriers to the use of sustainable building materials is a prerequisite to improve their uptake and use in the construction industry. The study fills a gap in the existing research on the use of sustainable materials in building projects in Australia.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the way to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Through the introduction and learning of a specific case, this paper summarizes the specific process of green campus’s development and construction and directly discusses how to achieve the goal of sustainable development. By analyzing the achievements and measures of its construction, on the one hand, the experience and shortcomings of its green campus construction are summarized; on the other hand, the impact of Stanford’s own green campus construction on the local community is discussed.

This paper takes Stanford, one of the best green campuses assessed by sustainability tracking, assessment and rating system (STARS), as a case study in three steps. First, it introduces the academics, energy supply and demand, water and land, waste, management, food and living, buildings and transportation of its campus construction in detail; second, it uses the STARS to make a comprehensive sustainable evaluation of Stanford; finally, it discusses the development relationship between Stanford and local community.

The four characteristics of its green campus development model are summarized, namely, based on its own scientific research; from the aspect of environmental friendliness; to achieve joint participation; and forming complementary development with the community. The construction of green campus has changed from a single triangle framework composed of SDGs, STARS and universities to a compound triangle framework composed of SDGs, universities and communities on the existing basis, greatly expanding the way to realize SDGs.

This development mode will have direct guiding significance for the sustainable construction of other campuses.

This paper also discusses the development concept from green campus to sustainable community to provide positive reference to achieve the global SDGs from the perspective of colleges and universities.

According to the historical track of its development, this paper combines the two (SDGs and green campus) to discuss by using campus construction as an effective way to achieve the SDGs. On the basis of literature research and case study, STARS sustainable assessment is introduced. This will lead to quantitative analysis of sustainable construction in the discussion of the specific case, judging the specific sustainable degree of all aspects of campus construction, to provide a scientific basis for summarizing its characteristics of development mode.

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 contribution of lean construction techniques in sustainable construction cannot be over emphasised, as sustainable development is now enshrined in government policy. In addition, lean construction is now faced with the challenges of sustainable development, continuous improvement, waste elimination, a stronger user focus, increased value for money along with high quality management of projects and supply chains, and improved communications. This paper presents an exploratory study from extant literature and the results of the use of questionnaire survey among construction participants to explore the contribution of implementing lean construction techniques in sustainable construction.

Surveys of UK-based construction professional were conducted. The data collected were analysed with SPSS 19.0 version software using the percentile method, Cronbach ' s α reliability test, Kruskal Wallis test, Kendall ' s coefficient of concordance and one sample t-test.

Results from this study indicate that there are several benefits associated with implementation of lean construction and sustainable construction. The overall perspective of professionals within the construction industry, according to questionnaire survey, shows that benefits such as improved corporate image and sustainable competitive advantage, improved process flow and productivity, improvement in environmental quality and increased compliance with customer ' s expectations are realised following integration of principles of lean construction and sustainable construction within construction industry. Just-in-time, visualisation tool, value analysis, daily huddle meetings and value stream mapping are the most common lean tools/techniques for enabling sustainability. This study also identified several areas of linkage between lean and sustainability such as waste reduction, environmental management, value maximisation, and health and safety improvement among others.

The originality of this paper lies in its consideration of lean construction principles to better understand its impact on sustainable construction. This research contributes to the awareness of the benefits that can be derived from the implementation of lean construction in sustainable construction within the construction industry.

The purpose of this paper is to understand what factors best promote or prevent sustainable construction practices and establish the consistency of how sustainability is measured.

A literature review considered the impact of the industry to sustainability and identified what action and initiatives are already in place. Through this, the main drivers, barriers, measures and benchmarks were identified. The opinions of building surveying professionals were sought and analysed.

The paper suggested that fiscal incentives/penalties and regulations help to drive sustainable construction. Such financial implications are consistent with “affordability” being the biggest barrier highlighted. The majority of respondents believed the industry is taking some account of sustainability issues, but identified that more needs to be done.

Sustainable development is an integral part of the lives and affects all aspects of business operations. This paper provides an in‐depth insight into the level of sustainable development within the construction industry, identifying implications for both the demand and supply side.

The purpose of this paper is first, to gain insight into how the European member states have addressed the concept of sustainability in their building regulatory frameworks; and second, to gain insight in the effects of harmonization attempts of these frameworks by the European Commission (EC).

Data on the member states' building regulatory regimes were gathered using a survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire addressed over 60 different aspects of sustainable construction that may, in various ways, be regulated by the member states.

The data obtained show mixed results. Some aspects of sustainable construction show far‐reaching homogeneity, whilst others do not. It appears that current EC directives have a positive effect on homogeneity of sustainable construction regulation throughout Europe. However, this does not provide a firm base to advise more directives, as these often appear a too resource‐intensive tool to achieve sustainable construction in a timely fashion. Additional and complementary approaches to such directives are proposed.

The paper presents an overview of how European member states have addressed various aspects of sustainable construction in their construction regulatory frameworks. This provides valuable insights for further studies on regulatory change, regulatory convergence and divergence, and policy outcomes related to sustainable construction in the European Union. Also, the study presents a number of approaches to achieve homogeneity that may complement earlier approaches taken by the EC.

The purpose of this paper is to study the benefits of construction of sustainable buildings and highlight the challenges of achieving sustainable buildings in Kosovo. The present paper not only focuses on social, economic and environmental benefits of the sustainable buildings viewed from the perspective of construction industry experts but also on the challenges that the construction industry in Kosovo faces in achieving sustainable buildings.

The present study uses a qualitative research method and semi-structured interviews as a research instrument. The present study interviews around 20 experts of real estate management, architecture, civil engineering and sustainability.

The present research finds that the citizens of Kosovo are not very well informed about the benefits of sustainable buildings due to lack of adequate promotion of such buildings. The present study finds that sustainable buildings from the view of construction professionals in Prishtina, Kosovo, have economic, social, and environmental benefits mainly in the form of energy savings, lower operational costs, reduction of pollution and CO₂ emissions and better health and satisfaction of occupants. The challenges are mainly of economic, structural and organizational and regulatory character.

The present study has great implications for the society and construction industry because it shows to the investors all the benefits of building and using sustainable buildings. The findings of the present study, to a certain extent, fill the gap of lack of information that the construction industry in Kosovo faces regarding the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings. The construction industry, buyers and authorities can benefit from the present study since they can understand the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings, which can encourage them to invest more in sustainable buildings.

The study is the first qualitative study about the perception of construction professionals in Prishtina, Kosovo, regarding the benefits and challenges of sustainable buildings.

Amidst all solutions posited to address sustainable construction practices in Nigeria, the implementation plans are repudiated by sustainable barriers. This study examines and confirms the strategy with the most significant impacts on the identified barrier to sustainable construction practice (SCP).

The study deployed a questionnaire survey to evaluate the perspective of 100 construction actors on the barriers and strategies of sustainable construction practice in Nigeria. Factor Analysis was employed to categorize key barriers and strategies into their underlying clusters for further analysis. Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to confirm the construct's significant relationship and magnitude, thereby establishing the strategies with the highest impacts on the barriers to sustainable construction practices.

The findings revealed three clusters of barriers and four groups of strategies to SCP, including technopolitic barrier, perception and awareness barrier and sociocultural barrier. For the significant strategies, education and training, stakeholder regulation, incentive support and government and legislative support strategies were established. Overall, education and training strategy was identified as the most dominant and effective strategy to mitigate the barriers of SCP in Nigeria.

The paper establishes education and training as the key strategy to achieving sustainable quest in the AEC industry. The practical implication is that policymakers, educators and professional bodies can harness sustainable knowledge transfer through education and training to improve sustainable construction practices in Nigeria.

The purpose of this paper is to examine knowledge transfer (KT) practices in five construction projects delivering sustainable office buildings in Germany and the UK by using social network analysis (SNA).

Case studies were adopted as research strategy, with one construction project representing one case study. A combination of quantitative data, social network data and some qualitative data on perceptions of the sustainable construction process and its KT were collected through questionnaires. The data were analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics, cross-tabulations, content analysis and SNA. This resulted in a KT map of each sustainable construction project.

The findings resulted in a better understanding of how knowledge on sustainable construction is transferred and adopted. They show that large amounts of tacit knowledge were transferred through strong ties in sparse networks.

The findings could offer a solution to secure a certain standard of sustainable building quality through improved KT. The findings indicate a need for further research and discussion on network density, tie strength and tacit KT.

This paper contributes to the literature on KT from a social network perspective. It provides a novel approach through combining concepts of network structure and relatedness in tie contents regarding specialised knowledge, i.e. sustainable construction knowledge. Thereby it provides a robust approach to mapping knowledge flows in office building projects that aim to achieve high levels of sustainability standards.