Shiers, D; Rapson, D; Roberts, C and Keeping, M (2006) Sustainable construction: The development and evaluation of an environmental profiling system for construction products. Construction Management and Economics, 24(11), pp. 1177-1184. ISSN 1466433X
Abstract
There has been a rapid increase in the number of low environmental impact or 'green' buildings constructed in recent years, due to factors such as the UK government's Sustainable Development Strategy, new environmental legislation and perceived operational and business advantages. Consequently, the demand for up to date information, guidance and design 'tools' to help property professionals procure greener buildings also continues to grow. The development of a new edition of one such tool: The Green Guide to Specification, was based on research designed to evaluate user needs and current design and specification practices and expectations. Many property professionals do not use environmental tools on all projects because of time considerations and the disruption caused by having to take an 'extra step' in the design and specification process. Specifiers would only use such tools either when instructed to do so by clients or because of the specifier's own organisational green agenda. For environmental tools to be more widely used, information should also be embedded within commonly used specification programmes such as the National Building Specification (NBS) as well as in stand-alone versions.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | design process; green buildings; materials; specification; sustainability |
| Index terms: | building specification, programme, sustainable development, strategy, design process, sustainable construction, specification, legislation, construction product, user need, green building, environmental impact |
| Subjects: | project controls, design practice, management, health safety and environment, contractual condition, sustainable construction, legal systems, professional practice, economic analysis, user-centered design, environmental impact, design methods |
| Topics: | Contract Administration, Time Control, Design Practice, Legal Issues, Sustainability, Business Strategy, Health and Safety |
| Descriptive scope: | 2 PC |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here