Greening Project Management Practices for Sustainable Construction

TLDR

Environmental sustainability in construction has grown over the past decade, driven by public awareness, higher energy prices, material costs, and regulatory incentives, yet cost constraints remain a barrier. The study aims to modify traditional project management processes to enable cost‑efficient delivery of sustainable construction projects. The authors review cost and trend research on green building and propose specific adjustments to conventional project management practices, including early cross‑disciplinary team involvement, to enhance financial success. Our research shows that greening project management practices add significant value while keeping projects within acceptable cost constraints.

Abstract

Environmentally sustainable building construction has experienced significant growth during the past 10 years. The public is becoming more aware of the benefits of green construction as prominent politicians, celebrities, documentarians, and journalists highlight the built environment’s impact on greenhouse gas emissions and natural resource consumption. Other factors, including higher energy prices, increased costs of building materials, and regulatory incentives, are also pushing the green building market to grow and expand. However, barriers to green building continue to exist, including the ability to deliver a green project within acceptable cost constraints. In order for project managers to deliver sustainable construction according to clients’ cost expectations, modifications must be made to traditional project management processes and practices. The objective of this paper is to suggest specific modifications to conventional building practices to optimize the delivery of cost-efficient green building projects. This paper presents an overview of research related to the costs and trends of green building and uses these research findings to make recommendations for greening project management practices for the construction industry. Our research results show that greening project management practices can add significant value to a sustainable construction project while delivering it within acceptable cost constraints. A detailed analysis using matrix present specific adjustments to traditional project management practices, with a premise that a green project improves its chances for financial success if a cross-discipline team is involved at the earliest stages and throughout the project.