Essa, R and Fortune, C (2008) Pre-construction evaluation practices of sustainable housing projects in the UK. Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management, 15(6), pp. 514-526. ISSN 0969-9988
Abstract
Purpose - Considering sustainability during the cost estimating process is vital for the successful integration of sustainable features within a construction project. The UK Government has adopted the principles of sustainable development, and social housing projects now have to achieve the EcoHomes "very good" rating as a prerequisite to Government grant funding. This policy has important implications for all those organisations involved in new social housing building projects and it will place sustainability and its assessments at the heart of housing procurement practice. The purpose of this paper is to examine the pre-construction evaluation practices of sustainable housing projects in the UK. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was undertaken to capture data regarding the importance and the cost significance of sustainable factors from a randomised sample of 600 quantity surveying, housing associations, and architectural organisations based in the UK. An initial and follow-up administration of the postal survey generated an overall response of 41.5 per cent. Relative rankings for EcoHomes factors according to their perceived importance and their cost impact on the price of housing projects are established, and the work identifies the factors that should be considered in order to develop a model that links the project price forecasting and the evaluation of sustainability together at the feasibility stage of social housing projects. Findings - EcoHomes factors were ranked in this survey according to their importance as follows: "energy", "materials", "pollution", "water", "health and well being", "ecology and land use", and finally "transport". These results revealed that the environmental aspects of sustainability continue to be the most common aspect of sustainability to be considered, as compared to the economic or social benefits of the potential project irrespective of organisational type responding to the survey. As a result the work identified a need to develop an aid for practitioners to use when involved in the early stage evaluation of sustainable social housing projects. Originality/value - This paper provides useful information on the pre-construction evaluation practices of sustainable housing projects in the UK.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | ecology; forecasting; housing; prices; sustainable development; United Kingdom |
| Index terms: | forecasting, pollution, pre-construction, cost significance, ecology, funding, social housing, heart, sustainable housing, cost estimating, social benefit, surveying, health and wellbeing, United Kingdom, sustainable development, land use, housing project, survey, construction project, methodology, integration, practitioner, housing, housing association |
| Subjects: | environmental science, economic analysis, prediction and forecasting, health monitoring assessment and metrics, financial and cost management, project delivery, institutional client, real estate economics, practitioner, construction type, data collection methods, mental health and wellbeing, environmental health, housing and residential development, organizational analysis, Geography, health safety and environment, production management, theoretical framing, medical science and clinical practice, research methods |
| Topics: | Health and Safety, Business Strategy, Cost Management, Project Management, Geographical Context, Research Practice, Roles and Professions, Sustainability, Construction Technology, Urban Studies, Organizational Design |
| Descriptive scope: | 5 PCTEA |
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