32nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 32) - Auckland, New Zealand - 2024

https://doi.org/10.24928/2024/0224

Insights on Sustainability in Industrialized Construction in Europe and the United States

Giulia Scagliotti1, Jerker Lessing2 & Martin Fischer3

1PhD Candidate, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0006-8318-3982.
2Adjunct Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, [email protected].
3Professor, Civil and Environmental Engineering Department, Stanford University, Stanford, USA, [email protected].

Abstract

Embracing lean philosophy, which emphasizes waste reduction and resource efficiency, is a pre-condition to improving the environmental impact of a building but is not sufficient to produce a sustainable building. To increase the environmental sustainability of their products, industrialized construction (IC) companies need to understand the constraints of the location where they operate, and best practices applied by leading IC companies. To delve into constraints and best practices, we interviewed sustainability leaders of six IC companies at the forefront of sustainability practices in Europe and the United States. The purpose of each interview was to highlight the challenges and opportunities caused by external factors that companies are experiencing, and the advancements that other companies could replicate. Based on comparative analysis, our results show stricter sustainability regulations and a collaborative stakeholders’ network with similar sustainability goals in Europe compared to the US. These factors seem to favor 1) a careful evaluation of tradeoffs when considering technical solutions; 2) the adoption of disassembly, adaptability, and circularity principles; 3) the development of new business models; and 4) companies developing new rating systems to capture their advanced product sustainability. Our results can inform lagging IC companies to adopt the most advanced sustainability practices.

Keywords

Lean Construction, Lean and Green, Sustainability, Industrialized Construction, Off-site Construction

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Reference

Scagliotti, G. , Lessing, J. & Fischer, M. 2024. Insights on Sustainability in Industrialized Construction in Europe and the United States, Proceedings of the 32nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 32) , 1051-1062. doi.org/10.24928/2024/0224

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Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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