Sustainable Construction through Industry Self-Regulation: The Development and Role of Building Environmental Assessment Methods in Achieving Green Building

Roine Leiringer

doi:10.3390/su12218853

Abstract

The role of industry self-regulation in facilitating sustainable development has gained increasing recognition over the past two decades. As a result, voluntary certification standards have become ever more common and have been portrayed as effective means of enforcing more environmentally beneficial practices across a range of industries. In this paper, we consider the role of one such type of standard, building environmental assessment methods (BEAMs), and the role they have played in the transition towards green building in the construction industry. Drawing on the theory of strategic action fields, and using the case of HK BEAM in Hong Kong, we investigate the origins, development and impact of BEAMs in what is a highly de-centralised and fragmented industry. The paper concludes with reflections on the need to extend focus from the contents of the BEAMs in terms of categories, criteria and weightings, to instead more actively consider the “taken-for-granted” assumptions around sustainability and the dominant institutionalised practices in construction.

Highlights

The importance of the built environment for sustainable development has progressively been emphasised over the past three decades
We present the adoption of a particular building environmental assessment methods (BEAMs), HK-BEAM, as an illustrative example and use findings from a longitudinal case study of its creation, development and adoption in Hong Kong to discuss the effect of BEAMs on institutional logics and practices; why they are yet to generate the kind of changes in construction practices that their proponents claim are possible
There is no denying that applying BEAMs lead to buildings that at least partially go beyond mere compliance with the building regulations

Summary

Introduction

The importance of the built environment for sustainable development has progressively been emphasised over the past three decades (cf. [1,2]). Various new or improved materials, technologies, processes and management tools have been introduced into organisational and project settings In broad terms, these attempts have had an impact in some areas, but have led to few, if any, advances in many others [3,4]. While there are numerous examples of successful measures taken on individual projects, construction firms struggle with incorporating the associated sustainable practices into their everyday practice, across projects. This makes sustainable development in construction as much an organisational issue as it is a technological one (cf [1,2])

Objectives

Findings

Discussion

Conclusion