Offsite Sustainability—Disentangling the Rhetoric through Informed Mindset Change

Abstract

The construction sector and concomitant supply chain has been acknowledged in the literature as a major contributor to environmental “stress”, from the design, sourcing and extraction of raw materials through to transportation, design, construction and demolition. Clear indicators/solutions have been showcased as vehicles for reducing this stress, ranging from lifecycle costing through to waste reduction strategies, carbon assessment and “green” environmental assessment tools to name but a few. However, this paper argues that whilst some of these (intervention strategies) may have had some positive effects, the main challenge rests with people—inter alia, the key decision-makers and leadership structures with the “position power” to effect change. Acknowledging this as a supposition, this paper uses three discreet construction organisations engaging in offsite construction as a micro-study (cf. cross-case study) to evaluate sustainability perceptions. In doing so, it focuses specifically on sustainability practices and business processes underpinning technology (adoption, absorption and diffusion), including the perceptions of different stakeholders involved in each of these three companies. In total, 30 respondents from three organisations (cases) participated in this study, representing three tiers of management (top, middle and first line). Priority areas are highlighted, along with the reasons supporting these perspectives. Findings from this work present a new technology diffusion sustainability model for offsite construction. This model identifies sustainability causal links, super catalysts, actuators, barriers, forces and facilitators. More importantly perhaps, this work presents a clear case for “conjoined thinking” in order to instill a collective mindset change and common purpose for those wishing to evidence offsite sustainability.