Managing Sustainability Within Construction Projects

This paper presents a 'Sustainability Management Activity Zone' (SMAZ) to support the implementation of sustainable construction practices integrated within a generic design and construction process map, the Process Protocol (1998). This is being investigated within the C-SanD Project (Creating, Sustaining, and Disseminating Knowledge for Sustainable Construction: Tools, Methods and Architectures). A brief overview of sustainable development and sustainable construction is presented, followed by an introduction to the C-SanD project and its initial findings related to current practice and the perception of sustainability within the construction industry based on the first round of interviews. The paper also discusses some of the sustainability issues identified during the field work, and highlights the need for a structured framework to consider and incorporate sustainability issues during the whole design and construction process of a project. The latter part of the paper discusses the incorporation of these issues within the Process Protocol, as SMAZ. The paper argues that the key for successful use of SMAZ within the industry is the awareness about the sustainable development among design and construction staff and operatives, knowing the importance of different activities and sub-activities within the SMAZ tool, and motivation to bring changes for betterment within the current day-to-day construction and design processes. The paper towards the end also highlights the areas which need further research and development.