Procuring sustainable projects: A grounded approach

The concept of sustainability has widened from its original environmental bias to encompass social and economic factors that need to be taken into account in the delivery of building projects. Understanding what is meant by sustainability at all levels of project delivery is key to its successful implementation. The procurement of sustainable projects must fulfil criteria that will depend not only on the immediate needs of the stakeholders to a project during its design and construction, but for its full life cycle. General consensus on the meanings associated with sustainability is an essential ingredient for project success. There is a need to establish the commonality between the perception of sustainability for all those involved in the development of sustainable projects. The grounded theory approach is being used to inductively derive a better understanding of the phenomenon of sustainability in the context of building projects. As part of a grounded theory approach participants in the procurement process in the Scottish social housing sector are being interviewed. Data generated from these conversations is being analysed following an evaluation of existing models for sustainable development. The results have been used to create an emergent propositional model of sustainable development in practice. This will be used to further ground the common understanding of sustainability amongst stakeholders involved in the procurement of sustainable social housing projects in Scotland.