Strategies for the minimization of failures in sustainable project management practices of government green building construction projects

Abstract

Green Buildings (GB) assist achieving the sustainability of buildings and to measure whether the construction reduces the overall environmental impact on human well-being as well as the biosphere. The Sustainable Project Management Practices (SPMP) directly facilitate to fulfilment of the requirements of a Green Building Rating System (GBRS). Yet, current literature showcase failures in SPMP, and it negatively affects the outcome of the GB Project. Due to the implementation of GB concept for Government GB has been occurred in Sri Lanka since 2017, it is necessary to investigate challenges, opportunities, and potential areas for improvement Government GB. Therefore, assessing failures in SPMP, and proposing strategies to minimize them in Government GB would contribute to the policy implementation and compliance, capacity building and training programs, financial and economic implications, innovation and technology integration and long-term impact assessment. This study is therefore aimed on proposing strategies to minimise failures in SPMP. Secondary sources have been primarily reviewed to collect data about the concept of GB and SPMP. Qualitative approach was used in this study to achieve the aim of the study, and two (02) cases, which were rejected in the first attempt at the preliminary GB approval under the Blue–Green Rating System, were selected. Both case studies are multi-storied buildings; a government quarters building and an office building. The data was collected from 18 respondents who were involved in the construction of the aforementioned projects using semi-structured interviews. Additionally, document review was performed for the data triangulation relevant to the case studies. The collected data was analysed using content analysis method to systematically identify the sequence of research findings. The research findings showcase the level of SPMP that were used or neglected, the failures occur in SPMP, and the way they affected the project outcome. Key failures include absence of organizational culture management, lack of technical applications, resistance to allocate costs for certification process, absence of proper monitoring and feedback process, and motivation only to maintain “Green” image. Altogether, 43 strategies were proposed as the end result of the study for the minimization of failures in SPMP in Government GB Projects. The proposed few strategies includes notifying sustainability goals in organization level, defining each member’s responsibilities, formulation communication plan at the initiation stage, understanding the rating mechanism and other to minimize failures of absence of business ethics, lack of communication network likewise. Keywords: Sustainability, Green Buildings, Sustainable Project Management Practices, Project Life Cycle, Blue – Green Rating System