Project sustainability strategies: A systematic literature review

Abstract Because research focusing on sustainability in a project context is still nascent and fragmented, we carried out a systematic literature review covering all research published in five leading journals in the fields of project management and sustainable production prior to 2016. Our analysis revealed two distinct perspectives in the project sustainability research; one assumes the perspective of the project organisation delivering the asset while the second assumes the perspective of the host organisation. We identify and describe eight distinct strategies used by either the project organisation, its host, or both in collaboration to support sustainability goals. We complement the findings of our literature review with an illustrative empirical case focusing on the delivery of an innovative seawater-based heating solution in Norway.

[1]  Sara Marcelino-Sádaba,et al.  Using project management as a way to sustainability. From a comprehensive review to a framework definition , 2015 .

[2]  J. Goldemberg,et al.  The Sustainability of Ethanol Production from Sugarcane , 2008, Renewable Energy.

[3]  Asbjørn Rolstadås,et al.  Key factors for management of global projects: a case study , 2011 .

[4]  Christine Pasquire,et al.  Revolutionize value management: A mode towards sustainability , 2007 .

[5]  Bart Bossink,et al.  A Dutch public-private strategy for innovation in sustainable construction , 2002 .

[6]  K. Artto,et al.  What is project governance and what are its origins , 2014 .

[7]  Cassidy Johnson,et al.  A systems view of temporary housing projects in post‐disaster reconstruction , 2006 .

[8]  E. Ostrom.  A General Framework for Analyzing Sustainability of Social-Ecological Systems , 2009, Science.

[9]  A. C. Kennedy,et al.  Soil microbial diversity and the sustainability of agricultural soils , 1995, Plant and Soil.

[10]  Julie Beauséjour,et al.  Managing delivery of sanitation infrastructures for poor communities , 2009 .

[11]  Cheryl Burke Jarvis,et al.  A Critical Review of Construct Indicators and Measurement Model Misspecification in Marketing and Consumer Research , 2003 .

[12]  Peng Wu,et al.  Economic sustainability, environmental sustainability and constructability indicators related to concrete- and steel-projects , 2015 .

[13]  Marcello M. Veiga,et al.  Application of sustainable development concepts to an alluvial mineral extraction project in Lower Caroni River, Venezuela , 2006 .

[14]  M. Porter.  What is strategy , 2000 .

[15]  Bon-Gang Hwang,et al.  Project management knowledge and skills for green construction: Overcoming challenges , 2013 .

[16]  Inma Rodríguez Cantalapiedra,et al.  Involvement of final architecture diploma projects in the analysis of the UPC buildings energy performance as a way of teaching practical sustainability , 2006 .

[17]  Ruochen Zeng,et al.  Social responsibility of major infrastructure projects in China , 2015 .

[18]  Stefan Olander,et al.  Managing short-term efficiency and long-term development through industrialized construction , 2014 .

[19]  Carlo Vezzoli,et al.  A new generation of designers: perspectives for education and training in the field of sustainable design. Experiences and projects at the Politecnico di Milano University , 2003 .

[20]  Changhao Liu,et al.  Sustainable utilization of regional water resources: experiences from the Hai Hua ecological industry pilot zone (HHEIPZ) project in China , 2010 .

[21]  P. Shrivastava.  The Role of Corporations in Achieving Ecological Sustainability , 1995 .

[22]  Julio J. Ochoa,et al.  Reducing plan variations in delivering sustainable building projects , 2014 .

[23]  Audley Genus,et al.  Roles for university researchers in urban sustainability initiatives: the UK Newcastle Low Carbon Neighbourhoods project , 2015 .

[24]  Paul Bowen,et al.  Sustainable construction: principles and a framework for attainment , 1997 .

[25]  M. V. Marrewijk.  Concepts and definitions of CSR and corporate sustainability: Between agency and communion , 2013 .

[26]  Amin Akhavan Tabassi,et al.  Leadership competences of sustainable construction project managers , 2016 .

[27]  Riduan Yunus,et al.  Improving ecological performance of industrialized building systems in Malaysia , 2014 .

[28]  Paul Bowen,et al.  Sustainable housing for low‐income communities: lessons for South Africa in local and other developing world cases , 2010 .

[29]  S. Lele.  Sustainable development: A critical review , 1991 .

[30]  J. Kujala,et al.  A project lifecycle perspective on stakeholder influence strategies in global projects , 2010 .

[31]  Bertrand Rose,et al.  Combining organizational performance with sustainable development issues: the Lean and Green project benchmarking repository , 2014 .

[32]  Fabrice Mathieux,et al.  Results of the First Adapted Design for Sustainability Project in a South Pacific Small Island Developing State: Fiji , 2010 .

[33]  Shahin Mokhlesian,et al.  Business model changes and green construction processes , 2012 .

[34]  Martina Huemann,et al.  Sustainable development and project stakeholder management: what standards say , 2013 .

[35]  Sander Lenferink,et al.  Towards sustainable infrastructure development through integrated contracts: Experiences with inclusiveness in Dutch infrastructure projects , 2013 .

[36]  David A. J. Rand,et al.  Energy storage — a key technology for global energy sustainability , 2001 .

[37]  Oscar Ortiz,et al.  Sustainability in the construction industry: A review of recent developments based on LCA , 2009 .

[38]  Martin Skitmore,et al.  Sustainable infrastructure projects in balancing urban-rural development: towards the goal of efficiency and equity , 2015 .

[39]  Peter W. G. Morris,et al.  Reconstructing Project Management , 2013 .

[40]  S. Wilkinson,et al.  A project management prospective in achieving a sustainable supply chain for timber procurement in Banda Aceh, Indonesia , 2009 .

[41]  Gonzalo Lizarralde,et al.  Sustainable Development in the Building Sector: A Canadian Case Study on the Alignment of Strategic and Tactical Management , 2012 .

[42]  Adisa Azapagic,et al.  Indicators of Sustainable Development for Industry: A General Framework , 2000 .

[43]  Jean Jinghan Chen,et al.  Sustainability and the impact of Chinese policy initiatives upon construction , 1999 .

[44]  S. Hart.  Beyond Greening: Strategies for a Sustainable World. , 1997 .

[45]  Yan Ki Fiona Cheung,et al.  Supply chain sustainability: a relationship management approach , 2011 .

[46]  Chi Sun Poon,et al.  Design issues of using prefabrication in Hong Kong building construction , 2010 .

[47]  Tuomas Ahola,et al.  Constructing the market position of a project-based firm , 2013 .

[48]  Marisa Analía Sánchez,et al.  Integrating sustainability issues into project management , 2015 .

[49]  Vasilis Fthenakis,et al.  Sustainability of photovoltaics: The case for thin-film solar cells , 2009 .

[50]  Bertrand Rose,et al.  Lean and Green strategy: the Lean and Green House and maturity deployment model , 2016 .

[51]  John W. Doran,et al.  Soil health and sustainability , 1996 .

[52]  Erik Paredis,et al.  Urban development projects catalyst for sustainable transformations: the need for entrepreneurial political leadership , 2013 .

[53]  George Zillante,et al.  Exploring the management of sustainable construction at the programme level: a Chinese case study , 2012 .

[54]  John A. Meech,et al.  Transformation of a derelict mine site into a sustainable community: the Britannia project , 2006 .

[55]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Environmental and sustainability aspects of hydrogen and fuel cell systems , 2007 .

[56]  S. Gössling,et al.  Ecological footprint analysis as a tool to assess tourism sustainability , 2002 .

[57]  A. T. Shiferaw,et al.  Governance of Public Investment Projects in Ethiopia , 2012 .

[58]  W. Duncan.  A GUIDE TO THE PROJECT MANAGEMENT BODY OF KNOWLEDGE , 1996 .

[59]  Colin Pilbeam,et al.  Coordinating temporary organizations in international development through social and temporal embeddedness , 2013 .

[60]  A. J. Gilbert Silvius,et al.  Sustainability in project management: A literature review and impact analysis , 2014 .

[61]  David G. Victor,et al.  Recovering Sustainable Development , 2006 .

[62]  Jing Xiong,et al.  Efficiency and sustainability analysis of biogas and electricity production from a large-scale biogas project in China: an emergy evaluation based on LCA , 2014 .

[63]  Chi Sun Poon,et al.  Sustainable construction aspects of using prefabrication in dense urban environment: a Hong Kong case study , 2008 .

[64]  Nicolaj Siggelkow.  Persuasion with case studies , 2007 .

[65]  Ernest J. Yanarella,et al.  Beyond environmental moralism and policy incrementalism in the global sustainability debate: case studies and an alternative framework , 2000 .

[66]  Henry Mintzberg.  Musings on management. Ten ideas designed to rile everyone who cares about management. , 1996, Harvard business review.

[67]  Madjid Tavana,et al.  A Comprehensive Framework for Sustainable Project Portfolio Selection Based on Structural Equation Modeling , 2014 .

[68]  Gholamreza Heravi,et al.  Evaluation of sustainability indicators of industrial buildings focused on petrochemical projects , 2015 .

[69]  Maria Sillanpää.  A New Deal for Sustainable Development in Business , 2017 .

[70]  D. Cook,et al.  Systematic Reviews: Synthesis of Best Evidence for Clinical Decisions , 1997, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[71]  S. Polasky,et al.  Agricultural sustainability and intensive production practices , 2002, Nature.

[72]  Andrew D.F. Price,et al.  Conceptualizing stakeholder engagement in the context of sustainability and its assessment , 2008 .

[73]  Ronald C. Wimberley,et al.  Policy Perspectives on Social, Agricultural, and Rural Sustainability1 , 2010 .

[74]  W. Scott,et al.  Institutional exceptions on global projects: a process model , 2008 .

[75]  Vivian W. Y Tam,et al.  Project feasibility study: the key to successful implementation of sustainable and socially responsible construction management practice , 2010 .

[76]  Sofia Pemsel,et al.  Organizational enablers for governance and governmentality of projects: A literature review , 2014 .

[77]  Yasser Al-Saleh,et al.  The Integration of Sustainability within Value Management Practices: A Study of Experienced Value Managers in the GCC Countries , 2010 .

[78]  Irene Henriques,et al.  Stakeholder influences on sustainability practices in the Canadian forest products industry , 2005 .

[79]  Ibrahim Dincer,et al.  Role of exergy in increasing efficiency and sustainability and reducing environmental impact , 2008 .

[80]  Alexey Voinov,et al.  Understanding and communicating sustainability: global versus regional perspectives , 2008 .

[81]  Alan C. Brent,et al.  Sustainable Project Life Cycle Management : the need to integrate life cycles in the manufacturing sector , 2005 .

[82]  Karlos Artto,et al.  What is project strategy , 2007 .

[83]  Amy Javernick-Will,et al.  Who Needs to Know What? Institutional Knowledge and Global Projects , 2010 .

[84]  Wenjuan Gong,et al.  Education for regional sustainable development: experiences from the education framework of HHCEPZ project , 2006 .

[85]  Mauro Luiz Martens,et al.  The challenge of introducing sustainability into project management function: multiple-case studies , 2016 .

[86]  T. Pitcher,et al.  Towards sustainability in world fisheries , 2002, Nature.

[87]  Peerasit Patanakul,et al.  What Project Strategy Really Is: The Fundamental Building Block in Strategic Project Management , 2012 .

[88]  Stefan Olander,et al.  Evaluation of stakeholder influence in the implementation of construction projects , 2005 .

[89]  G. Brundtland,et al.  Our common future , 1987 .

[90]  Ole Jonny Klakegg,et al.  Linking Policies to Projects: The Key to Identifying the Right Public Investment Projects , 2012 .