Building Sustainably: A Pilot Study on the Project Manager’s Contribution in Delivering Sustainable Construction Projects—A Maltese and International Perspective

Despite ample technological advancements, the building industry is still seen as an unsustainable activity. To counteract this, building development is now being requested to be more sustainable. Due to the increasing complexity of sustainable projects’ criteria, the project manager’s role, tasked with the overall management of a building’s different development phases, is changing, becoming increasingly crucial for the attainment of pre-established sustainability goals. Based on this premise, the research presented in this paper is a pilot study set to preliminarily establish and identify a set of project management processes and supporting practices from existing literature, and gauge their significance and possible added value provided. This was done via a purposely designed questionnaire distributed locally, in Malta, and globally amongst established project managers. Notwithstanding the preliminary nature of the study some interesting results were obtained. Among the main outcomes of the study, it is observed how all respondents are very aware about sustainability issues and that their decision-making role places them in an optimum position to bring forward a sustainability agenda for a particular project. In terms of intervention, pre-construction (43%) and construction (28%) were considered to be the main stages were a project manager usually gives the highest input. However, various challenges were also highlighted by the respondents, including clients’ refusal to commit increased capital (34%), the requirement for further training (33%), and the lack of incentives aimed towards increasing the sustainability of projects (22%).

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Awareness of Ecological Economics as a Model for Promoting Sustainable Construction

Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies ◽

10.22610/jebs.v9i1(j).1566 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (1(J)) ◽

pp. 152-156

Author(s):

Ayodeji Oke ◽

Clinton Aigbavboa ◽

Mpho Ndou

Keyword(s):

Economic Development ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Ecological Economics ◽

Project Managers ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Development Data ◽

New Ideas ◽

The Media ◽

Short Courses ◽

Sustainable Projects

Construction industry is a major consumer of natural resources and this has a significant impact on the environment and socio-economic development of society. The result of this impact includes deforestation; climate change, air, water and land pollution; and the like. Ecological economics (EE) models are tools for assessing and understanding these issues with a view to enhancing green buildings and sustainable construction in general. As part of a continuous study, this research therefore examines the level of awareness of the concept of EE by construction professionals in a quest to adopting the principle of sustainable development. Data were collected through questionnaires administered on relevant and experienced construction professionals such as construction project managers, architects, engineers, quantity surveyors and construction managers. EE as an aid would help in mitigating construction impacts on the environment, thereby enhancing sustainability but it is barely practised in the construction industry. This is as a result of the fact that construction professionals have little or no knowledge of its existence in the local industry. Most professionals with knowledge of the concept in the study area obtained the information on sustainability through the media and short courses .. The basic influencing factors are related to professionals' levels of education, the economic development of the country and knowledge of the environment. Introducing EE through communicating new ideas to stakeholders (through environmental campaigns, conferences, and the like) as well as incentivising ideas for change relating to greener construction will assist in overcoming the barriers to the adoption of EE in the construction industry. Professionals also need to keep abreast of current sustainable practices, their benefits, challenges, barriers as well as the methods of overcoming these barriers in their quest for delivering sustainable projects.

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The Improvement Factors of Leadership Skills among Project Managers in Pre-Construction Phase of Sustainable Construction Projects

International Journal of Real Estate Studies ◽

10.11113/intrest.v15ns1.114 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (S1) ◽

pp. 27-38

Author(s):

Aryani Ahmad Latiffi ◽

Noorul Adharina Zulkiffli

Keyword(s):

Factor Analysis ◽

Construction Industry ◽

Questionnaire Survey ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Leadership Skills ◽

Project Managers ◽

Project Manager ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Normality Test ◽

Manager Performance

Leadership skills are required in any area, including the construction industry. Compared to conventional construction projects, the obstacles of practising leadership skills are more significant in sustainable construction projects. In the context of managing a project, a project manager is accountable for overseeing the project from the pre-construction phase to the post-construction phase. Nevertheless, project managers often encountered utmost difficulties in sustainable construction projects during the pre-construction phase. Despite that, improving leadership skills would emerge to boost project manager performance in managing sustainable construction projects. Thus, this paper aims to determine the improvement factors of leadership skills among project managers in the pre-construction phase of sustainable construction projects. A questionnaire survey was developed with 44 improvement factors of leadership skills among project managers in the pre-construction phase of sustainable construction projects, in which 153 experienced project managers in sustainable construction projects in Malaysia responded. Data were analysed using normality test, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and reliability analysis via IBM SPSS version 24 software. The finding reveals that all improvement factors were significant to improve leadership skills among project managers in the pre-construction phase of sustainable construction projects. Hence, this paper's findings would assist project managers in grasping the improvement factors that can improve their leadership skills, particularly in sustainable construction projects.

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Certification for Green Project Managers (GPM) in the Malaysian Construction Industry: Analysis of Success Factors

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201926601005 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 266 ◽

pp. 01005

Author(s):

Nur Halimah Mohd Saiful Rahim ◽

Zulhabri Ismail ◽

Rumaizah Mohd Nordin

Keyword(s):

Construction Industry ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Success Factors ◽

Project Managers ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Success Factor ◽

Environmentally Sustainable ◽

General Managers ◽

Development Goals ◽

The 19Th Century

Since the 19th century, the sustainability concept has grown rapidly especially in terms of recognition and the issues of achieving it have been addressed by the construction players. The Construction Industry Transformation Plan (CITP) aims by the year 2020 to develop the Malaysian construction industry into an environmentally sustainable construction industry to a point that it can eventually be rolled out as a model to the emerging world. In order to achieve it, the Project Manager’s involvement is important when confronting sustainable issues. Therefore, Malaysia has launched its first National Green Project Managers (GPM) Awards in 2015. Although it has been two years, the promotion of certification of GPM is still lacking. Hence, the aim of this paper is to determine the success factors of promoting certified GPM in the Malaysian construction industry. Using a questionnaire survey of 30 respondents, comprising of Project Directors, General Managers and Project Managers, this research focuses on three (3) objectives which are to : (a) explore the need of certified GPM; (b) identify the limitations of promoting certified GPM; (c) establish the success factors of promoting certified GPM in Malaysian construction projects. From the analysis using SPSS, this research discovered the top reason GPMs are needed in the construction industry is because of the responsibilities of GPMs to ensure successful delivery of green development goals. However, there are a number of barriers to promoting certified GPM, which include limited training for Project Managers that touch on sustainability elements. To date, a private sector organization, known as Bridgit, is the sole provider of specific training in GPM in Malaysia. Therefore, training for Project Managers is important to provide them with the necessary skill and knowledge towards becoming certified GPM and turn to achieve as a true success factor. Finally, the outcome of this research will become a baseline to promote certification of GPM in the future.

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Review on Project Manager’s Leadership Skills in the Pre-Construction Phase of Sustainable Construction Projects

MATEC Web of Conferences ◽

10.1051/matecconf/201926601011 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 266 ◽

pp. 01011

Author(s):

Noorul Adharina Zulkiffli ◽

Aryani Ahmad Latiffi

Keyword(s):

Literature Review ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Significant Contribution ◽

Effective Leadership ◽

Leadership Skills ◽

Vital Role ◽

Project Managers ◽

Project Manager ◽

Sustainable Construction

Project managers have played a vital role in sustainable construction projects by integrating the concept of sustainability into their practices. The role of project manager is important in all phases of sustainable construction projects but especially in the pre-construction phase when the greatest challenges that require their involvement occur. This requires project managers to have effective leadership skills to think a project through and remain focused on the end goal. Thus, the aim of this paper is to identify the project manager’s leadership skills in the pre-construction phase of sustainable construction projects. A key significant contribution of this paper is the literature review of journals and books on project manager’s leadership skills when engaged in sustainable construction projects. The overall intent is to highlight and identify the leadership skills of project managers in the pre-construction phase of sustainable construction projects so that the values and benefits of these skills can be adapted in current practices to successfully deliver such projects.

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Leadership Behavior of Project Managers in Sustainable Construction Projects

Procedia Computer Science ◽

10.1016/j.procs.2016.09.217 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 100 ◽

pp. 724-730 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Amin Akhavan Tabassi ◽

Maria Argyropoulou ◽

Kamand M. Roufechaei ◽

Rachel Argyropoulou

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Leadership Behavior ◽

Project Managers ◽

Sustainable Construction

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An Integrated Sustainable Construction Project’s Critical Success Factors (ISCSFs)

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13158629 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (15) ◽

pp. 8629

Author(s):

Ahmed S. El Touny ◽

Ahmed H. Ibrahim ◽

Hossam H. Mohamed

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Critical Success Factors ◽

Success Factors ◽

Project Managers ◽

Project Team ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Related Factors ◽

Critical Success ◽

Complex Process ◽

The Individual

A construction project is a dynamic and complex process that involves the identification and accurate fulfillment of the predetermined needs and requirements of the clients by the project team. There are many challenges and constraints that prevent the achievement of these predetermined and various requirements effectively and successfully, so the project team must face and overcome these challenges by identifying all the factors that help the project’s success. However, it is still unclear how to measure success for Egyptian construction projects. Despite the fact that several lists of literature-based factors have been compiled, the individual factors appear to be tabulated rather than grouped according to some criteria to aid in the analysis of their interactions and potential consequences. As such, the objective presented in this paper was to identify and prioritize integrated sustainable critical success factors (ISCSFs) that influence the performance of Egyptian construction projects to ensure successful construction projects. Critical success factors were identified and grouped into 2 major categories—(1) internal related factors and (2) external related factors—and 10 subcategories—(1) company-related factors; (2) project-related factors; (3) project management related factors; (4) resource/procurement-related factors (labors, materials, equipment and subcontractors); (5) human capital-related factors; (6) support-related factors (financial, human resources, security and legal and administration); (7) stakeholder-related factors (clients, consultants, project managers and end-users); (8) innovation, learning and growth-related factors; (9) country-related factors; and (10) industry-related factors in three distinct stages. In total, 140 factors were gathered from the literature review in the first stage. In the second stage, a brainstorming session was held in order to reduce the number of those factors and focus on the most important ones that influence project success; thus, 100 factors were identified, filtered and developed. In the third stage, a questionnaire was created based on the significant factors identified. As a result, the 40 most important factors influencing the success of performance of construction projects have been identified, which are integrated between all factors (internal and external) and take into account the three pillars of sustainability (economic, social and environmental) as a decision-making tool to evaluate and improve project performance.

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LEED–PDRI Framework for Pre-project Planning of Sustainable Building Projects

Journal of Green Building ◽

10.3992/jgb.2.3.123 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 123-143 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Gamini Weerasinghe ◽

Karthik Soundararajan ◽

Janaka Ruwanpura

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Green Building ◽

The United States ◽

Project Planning ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Rating Systems ◽

Building Projects ◽

Sustainable Building ◽

Environmentally Sustainable ◽

Sustainable Projects

Green buildings help in sustainability, in terms of achieving energy efficiency and minimizing the utilization of natural resources. Additional benefits include long-term sustainable building management and maintenance. There is, therefore, compelling motivation for the building of sustainable projects. This inspiration has led to the development of the leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) rating systems and projects by the United States Green Building Council and the Canadian Green Building Council. Proper building project management (BPM) of such projects is warranted. Pre-project planning is a crucial part of BPM that ensures delivery and performance of construction projects. Pre-project planning is defined as the process that encompasses all the tasks between project initiation and detailed design. There is a positive relationship between comprehensive pre-project planning and enhanced project performance. Given the motivation for environmentally sustainable projects and proper management of constructing such projects, diligent pre-project planning for such projects is required. This paper investigates the use of the LEED rating system in pre-project planning of sustainable construction projects by developing a matrix that combines the LEED and the Project Definition Rating Index (PDRI) developed by the Construction Industry Institute. The conceptual matrix and its application to a case study demonstrates that the value of linking pre-project planning with LEED to improve the decision making process during planning and designing of building projects to improve sustainability.

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Sustainable Construction Projects: The Level of Understanding on Leadership Skills among Project Managers

International Journal of Real Estate Studies ◽

10.11113/intrest.v15n1.7 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 15 (1) ◽

pp. 39-48

Author(s):

Aryani Ahmad Latiffi ◽

Noorul Adharina Zulkiffli

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Leadership Skills ◽

Project Managers ◽

Sustainable Construction ◽

Normality Test ◽

Spss Software ◽

Level Of Understanding ◽

High Level ◽

Spearman’S Correlation ◽

Very High

A project manager is a crucial factor of a project's success, especially in sustainable construction projects. Their role as a leader is also observable with regard to achieving sustainability objectives in sustainable construction projects. In contrast to conventional projects, sustainable construction projects face more nuanced issues. The influence of leadership skills of the project managers is therefore becoming essential for the success of sustainable construction projects. This study examines the level of understanding of leadership skills among project managers in sustainable construction projects and determines the correlation between their experience and understanding of leadership skills. A questionnaire survey was carried out among 153 project managers with experience in the management of sustainable construction projects in Malaysia. The IBM SPSS software version 24 was used to perform a descriptive statistic, a normality test, and a Spearman's correlation test on the data collected. The results indicate a very high level of understanding among project managers regarding leadership skills in sustainable construction projects. Apart from that, there is a positive correlation between years of experience in sustainable construction projects and the level of understanding of leadership skills among project managers in sustainable construction projects. The findings of this research will serve as an avenue for future researchers to identify the necessary leadership skills for project managers to manage sustainable construction projects effectively.

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Implementing Project Schedule Metrics to Identify the Impact of Delays Correlated with Contractors

Journal for the Advancement of Performance Information and Value ◽

10.37265/japiv.v5i1.85 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 5 (1) ◽

pp. 41

Author(s):

Anthony Perrenoud ◽

Kenneth Sullivan

Keyword(s):

Construction Projects ◽

Performance Metrics ◽

Project Managers ◽

Performance Measurement System ◽

Project Schedule ◽

Schedule Management ◽

Additional Information ◽

Management Processes ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

Schedule management reduces schedule delays while optimizing positive opportunities to the project timeline. The built industry continues to struggle to capture project metrics that will improve supply chain management. The lack of performance metrics on construction projects filters the actual project performance of the project stakeholders. Contractors can easily be blamed for schedule delays because of the nature of construction projects. A large university capital improvement organization recognizes their lack of performance information and begins implementing a performance measurement system in 2005. The university measurements focus on project impacts to cost, schedule, and quality in hopes that additional information will improve risk management processes. This article reviews the schedule impacts that contractors create within projects. Data was collected directly from both contractor and client project managers of 254 construction projects. Actual delays from contractors were found to be a small percentage of the overall project schedule delays. More than half of the delays that contractors produced were found to be correlated to the material suppliers.

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Characterization of maturity in civil construction works in Colombia

Respuestas ◽

10.22463/0122820x.2668 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Hugo Fernando Castro-Silva ◽

Gonzalo Andrés Rodríguez-Cañas ◽

Hollman Harley López-Márquez

Keyword(s):

Project Management ◽

Construction Projects ◽

Project Managers ◽

Construction Project Management ◽

Communication Management ◽

Strategic Positioning ◽

Improvement Project ◽

Construction Companies ◽

Iron Triangle ◽

Management Processes

Project management is one of the disciplines with the greatest academic interest in recent years, due to the importance of projects for the economy and strategic positioning of both an organization and a region or country. The maturity of project management in organizations is related to the search for a competitive advantage in the market through excellence in the projects and various models of maturity have been proposed in the organizations. The objective of this study is to characterize the maturity in the management of construction projects in Colombia, based on the perception of a representative sample of project managers in the sector. The results show that, at each of the maturity levels, such as standardization, measurement, control and continuous improvement, project managers, mostly the project management processes, have techniques and tools for project management implemented. However, the basic orientation of construction project management towards the processes of knowledge areas that make up the so-called iron triangle of projects, such as scope, schedule, budget and quality, is evident. The results of this research show the need to implement appropriate strategies by construction companies to improve the level of maturity in processes related to the management of resources (mainly human resources), project knowledge management, risk management and communication management among the different stakeholder groups of the project, in order to increase the success rate of projects in this sector. the construction.

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