Sustainability practices for competitive advantage in sri lankan construction industry

Abstract

Abstract: Currently, the modern world faces the most complex in the economic, environmental and social issues; those issues have to be resolved for the future generations. This concept is called sustainability. Every industry focuses on sustainable practices. On the other hand, the construction industry is playing a major role in this dynamic world. Moreover, nowadays construction industry faces a lot of challenges, like a shortage of technical skills; quality, management and profitability are playing major roles in construction projects. The sustainable practices are important for maintaining and improving the quality of our environment and also it is important for the quality of life in the construction industry. However, sustainable practices are connected with key drivers and challenges, such as climate change, air pollution, water quality, soil quality, population, economic growth, wildlife and land quality. Also client’s expectation is the biggest challenge which is entering to the sustainable practices; most improvements of challenges are applying information technology and improve the working environment issues. Sri Lanka is one of the most scenic places in the world. Thus it has different types of resources, such as landscape, water resources, and forests. Construction industries in Sri Lanka depend on different types of climate and environmental challenges and therefore the Sri Lankan Government consider the sustainable practices. The data analysis revealed four key drivers are mostly adapting sustainability practices. There are; clients' requirements and expectations, motivation from top management, government regulations and improving environmental performance. The paper concludes that key drivers are adapting sustainable practices.