Lean thinking for green building: barriers for lean integrated sustainable construction

Abstract

Green building has become a central focus in modern construction discourse, representing a practical and measurable approach to achieving sustainable construction in response to the thriving need for the construction industry to adopt sustainable construction practices, particularly in response to the persistent challenges that characterise the sector, such as excessive material waste, high energy consumption, environmental degradation, inefficient resource utilisation, and the generation of significant carbon emissions. Despite the well-known benefits of sustainable construction, most countries are still widely familiar with the traditional construction, due to the bottlenecks that hindered the widespread adoption of sustainable construction. Subsequently, lean thinking has been identified as a foremost solution for the effective implementation of sustainable construction, owing to the close conceptual alignment between the two approaches, as well as the extensive benefits offered by lean principles in reducing waste, enhancing efficiency, and promoting value-driven processes. However, the implementation of lean integrated sustainable construction is obstructed by numerous barriers. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the barriers to lean integrated sustainable construction. The study employed a quantitative research approach using a questionnaire survey, through which a total of 120 responses were gathered via snowball sampling. Findings revealed a total of 32 highly significant barriers to lean integrated sustainable construction, from a total of 94 barriers identified through the literature review and data collection. Out of these, the most significant barriers include employees' resistance to lean, resistance to change, lack of incentives and motivation, shortage of manpower, and an unfriendly organisational culture, which collectively highlight a deep-rooted human-centricity in lean thinking. The study provides empirical insights for practitioners, including the identification of relevant barriers and the highlighting of their significance, enabling enhanced practices and informed decision-making, thereby contributing to address a gap in the literature.