Quality for Sustainability: System Models for Better Buildings

The UN defines 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Quality Management (QM) should logically be an asset for sustainability in supporting systematic changes to achieve these goals. Synergies between quality and sustainability have been discussed but it seems that considerable synergies are yet to be realised. Finding practical examples for synergies will be essential. Buildings play an important role in sustainability. Most new buildings are constructed in developing countries. Buildings provide the basic need for shelter but are also a major source of carbon emissions. Africa, with the youngest population, will need large-scale building activities to comply with the UN SDGs. Buildings, globally and in developing countries, could be an interesting research area for identifying potential synergies between quality and sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to exemplify quality theory’s contributions to sustainability. Possible synergies are highlighted based on the processes of global cement manufacturing and building block production in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. A brief review of suggested synergies between quality and sustainability was conducted. Chosen models used for describing synergies were reviewed. These models have then been applied to the global process of cement manufacturing and a regional process of block production. The resulting presentations are analysed and areas of synergies are identified. Our findings indicate that quality theory could provide strong support, generally for sustainability and specifically for better buildings. The work indicates several interesting areas of possible synergies between quality and sustainability. New insights are presented for how QM could support sustainable development.