Sustainable practices in construction project management: impacts on triple bottom line

Abstract

There are many possibilities to improve sustainable management in the construction industry. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the influence of construction practices, organised by factor in sustainability dimensions. For this, a survey with 80 project managers from the construction industry was performed. The participants answered about the sustainable management practices used in their projects, as well as their performance in relation to indicators in the social, economic and environmental dimensions. The data were analysed through confirmatory factor analysis and logistic regression. It was possible to verify that not all of the analysed factors (as well as the practices that compose them) could be considered significant to explain all dimensions of sustainability. Another interesting finding is that the influence levels of the factors vary widely, indicating that some factors are more important than others in the pursuit of (one or more) sustainability dimensions. In addition, contrary to expectations, not all factors (and therefore not all practices) have a positive impact on the sustainability of construction projects. The resource management and pollution factor negatively influences economic sustainability. This study sought to broaden the understanding of sustainable practices in construction project management and guide future analysis and research.