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Facility owners and project teams often struggle to engage “green” or “sustainable” requirements on building projects and can incur additional project costs as a result. Although “investments” in high performance building features can be paid back through operational savings, the project delivery methods currently adopted by most teams are laden with process waste. Lean production principles have been proven to reduce waste and improve process performance in highly complex development and production environments. Adopting these lean principles, this paper reports a study that identified the presence of value and waste in a sustainable building project. Through an empirical investigation of the Real Estate and Facilities Division of Toyota Motor Sales, Toyota’s capital facility delivery process was mapped to identify both the steps in project delivery critical for success (value) and those that are waste. The investigation focused on the South Campus Facility, which received U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Gold certification at a project cost equivalent to a conventional facility. Through post hoc process-based analysis, insight about what added value and waste in sustainable project delivery at Toyota was obtained. The results also identify further improvement opportunities to Toyota’s delivery process. For corporate facility owners and the Architecture Engineering Construction industry, the results unearth insights about how to successfully and economically deliver sustainable facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Construction professionals have knowledge and competencies that can help improve the design and delivery of sustainable buildings. The introduction of construction knowledge during design using constructability practices has been shown to improve design and project performance. From a process perspective, this paper examines specific constructability techniques that can help manage sustainable building knowledge throughout the design process. Through scientific research, four constructability practices employed at the Pentagon renovation are assessed for their capability at managing sustainability input from contractors. The four practices are: (1) the use of an integrated organizational team to champion the effort; (2) physical and computer building models (mock-ups); (3) on-board reviews; and (4) lessons learned workshops. Twenty-one specific principles are then identified to provide further guidance to industry practitioners. These practices and principles pinpoint methods to help manage sustainable building knowledge, especially that made available by construction professionals during design and construction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The demand for high performance “green” or “sustainable” buildings is rapidly becoming the most significant trend in the building industry. As the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry develops the strategies and technologies for these projects, an increased emphasis must be placed on the processes and competencies required to deliver high performance buildings. This paper defines an emerging research and education program at Penn State called the Lean and Green Initiative. Focused on understanding all aspects of the delivery of high performance projects, this program is underpinned by established process-based theories and structured around a systematic methodology designed to minimize waste, maximize value, and reduce cost. Current research and educational activities are described in the paper including nine primary research thrusts and their respective goals. Initial results of each research thrust are also provided, providing an early look at the benefits of a process improvement approach to the delivery of high performance buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-performance green buildings, which maximize energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality, require increased collaboration among interdisciplinary professionals during project delivery. Recent theoretical and applied research illuminates the critical role of delivery attributes in performance outcomes. Despite such evidence, rigorous research is still needed to establish links between delivery attributes and performance outcomes in sustainable projects to further motivate owners and project teams to adopt and successfully implement sustainable practices and eventually improve actual energy performance and indoor environmental quality of buildings. This paper used quantitative methods to identify statistically correlated in-process indicators with project performance outcomes such as green level, cost, and schedule in sustainable building project delivery. The sample set used data from two previous studies totaling 51 green-certified building projects. Results yield statistically significant corresponding weightings for 7 to 15 in-process indicators for sustainable building project delivery including setting owner-initiated sustainable goals, having all major project parties attending design charrettes, running energy and lighting simulations no later than the schematics-design phase, adequacy in owner capabilities for scope definition and decision making, selecting contractors from a restrained pool, and enabling contractor involvement in the delivery process no later than the design-development phase. This paper contributes to the body of knowledge by offering statistical evidence underlining the importance of in-process indicators for sustainable building project performance outcomes and proving insights to elevate team integration through the delivery process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Prefabrication offers a substantial opportunity to improve projects'' sustainable performance. However, decisions to employ prefabrication are still largely based on familiarity and personal preferences rather than rigorous data. Methodical assessments of an appropriate construction method for a concrete project have been found deficient. This paper presents an objective and transparent tool, the Construction Method Selection Model (CMSM), which is designed to aid building team members during early project stages in evaluating the feasibility of prefabrication and exploring an optimal strategy to apply prefabrication in concrete buildings. The model is divided into two sequential levels: the strategic level and the tactical level, respectively. The Simple Multi-Attribute Rating Technique (SMART) is used in the first level for preliminary feasibility evaluation of prefabrication. The Multi-Attribute Utility Theory (MAUT), which considers uncertainty and risk attitude, is employed in the second level to assess to what degree of prefabrication is appropriate for the project at hand. A detailed case study through in-depth personal interviews with four decision makers is presented to illustrate the use of the model and to demonstrate the capability of the model. The results show that the proposed model is a useful and effective decision-making tool for prefabrication adoption and optimization in concrete buildings. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The use of prefabrication offers significant advantages, yet appropriate criteria for applicability assessments to a given building have been found to be deficient. Decisions to use prefabrication are still largely based on anecdotal evidence or simply cost-based evaluation when comparing various construction methods. Holistic criteria are needed to assist with the selection of an appropriate construction method in concrete buildings during early project stages. Following a thorough literature review and comprehensive comparisons between prefabrication and on-site construction method, a total of 33 sustainable performance criteria (SPC) based on the triple bottom line and the requirements of different project stakeholders were identified. A survey of U.S. experienced practitioners including clients/developers, engineers, contractors, and precast concrete manufacturers was conducted to capture their perceptions on the importance of the criteria. The ranking analysis of survey results shows that social awareness and environmental concerns were considered as increasingly important in construction method selections. Factor analysis reveals that these SPCs can be grouped into seven dimensions, namely, economic factors: “long-term cost,” “constructability,” “quality,” and “first cost”; social factors: “impact on health and community,” “architectural impact”; and environmental factor: “environmental impact.” The resultant list of SPCs provides team members a new way to select a construction method, thereby facilitating the sustainable development of built environment. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]