Conceptual tactical framework for optimizing whole-life cost of sustainable buildings in Jordan

Sustainability is one of the most critical challenges the world is currently facing. In the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, limited energy, water and finance resources, plus growing concerns over pollution, call for immediate sustainability actions. From an environmental and social perspective, these actions should aim to reduce the resource depletion and environmental damage thus making the world more viable for future generations to survive, meet their own needs and function in a balanced healthy society. There is also a need to strike an economic balance to satisfy the client and project stakeholders, however, not at undue expense of the environmental and social measures. Such sustainability concepts apply to construction and are often referred to as Sustainable Construction (SC) which also aim to increase the long-term value by reducing maintenance and running costs. However, one of the main barriers to adopting sustainable construction in Jordan and globally, is the all too frequent focus on capital costs rather than the project's whole-life value. The aim of the research stated in this thesis is to discover the scientific knowledge and develop a conceptual cost reduction tactical framework for ensuring sustainable buildings' whole-life costs are acceptable to clients in Jordan. Such costs would have to be within clients' acceptable level of increase over traditional building costs. A critical review of essential literature on SC, Value Management (VM), Total Quality Management (TQM) and project management was thus undertaken to provide a foundation for the development of sustainable tactical whole-life cost reduction framework for sustainable buildings in Jordan. Data collection used a triangulation approach, across four phases. The first phase comprised qualitative semi-structured interviews with clients, designer's, contractors and project supervisors (eight participants) in the Jordanian construction industry as a preliminary study to grasp sustainability problems. In the second part of the first phase, current practice was studied with respect to VM and competitive factors in the industry. The first phase revealed that the main barriers to improving sustainability in Jordan are cost and lack of awareness, with cost being the main market competitive factor. The second phase comprised three focus group sessions (23 participants) in Jordan to ascertain current practices relating to SC, VM, TQM and buildings whole-life cost, to collect qualitative data for framework/process diagrams formulation. The third phase was a qualitative modified Delphi study interviews with eight participants that includes academics and colleagues in Loughborough University and construction practitioners in Jordan to edit the framework/process diagrams. The final phase of data collection was quantitative comprehensive validation questionnaire of (20) respondents in Jordan - aimed at refining and validating the developed framework/process diagrams. The research revealed that the cost of a LEED silver certified building in Jordan is around 20-25% over the traditional building cost, as that depends on the buildings' size and sustainable methods adopted. The margin of accepted increase of capital cost for sustainable buildings to clients in Jordan is within 5-10% - irrespective of the savings in operational costs. Furthermore, the similarities between SC, VM and TQM are in project efficiency as well as project effectiveness – executing the best building in the best possible way. The research also introduces a novel approach to whole-life cost reduction based on three process diagrams – one strategic (SVTQM) and two operational (SVM, STQM). The three process diagrams are combined into a single sustainable tactical whole-life cost approach (STWLC) framework. Overall, this research delivers sustainable tactical framework to increase the consideration of sustainable LEED certified buildings - by lowering the whole-life cost invested by the client in the Jordanian construction industry. This should lead to increased awareness and consideration of sustainability locally and optimism globally by reducing its capital cost to make sustainability within clients' acceptable level. Subsequent reductions in running cost by adopting SC practices and systems, should also encourage more clients to adopt sustainable construction practices for buildings in Jordan.