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Framework for sustainable construction practices in Sri Lanka

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DOI: 10.1108/BEPAM-11-2016-0060

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 Built Environment Project and Asset Management
Framework for sustainable construction practices in Sri Lanka
Kushani Ishara Athapaththu, Gayani Karunasena,
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Sustainable
Framework for sustainable construction
construction practices in practices in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Kushani Ishara Athapaththu 51
Currie & Brown (CI) Ltd, Dubai, United Arab Emirates and
Received 12 November 2016
Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, Moratuwa, Revised 20 February 2017
Sri Lanka, and
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30 April 2017
6 August 2017
Gayani Karunasena 9 November 2017
Accepted 26 November 2017
School of Architecture and Built Environment,
Deakin University, Geelong, Australia

Abstract
Purpose – Sustainability in construction is a challenging task for contractors due to diminishing natural
resources and increasing energy costs. The purpose of this paper is to identify key issues that affect the
adaptation of sustainable construction practices by Sri Lankan contracting organisations and propose a
framework for successful adaptation.
Design/methodology/approach – Eight semi-structured interviews are conducted from three selected
case studies to gather data on sustainable construction practices and related issues in contracting
organisations in Sri Lanka. The proposed framework is validated and enhanced by interviews conducted
with seven industry experts in Sri Lanka and the Persian Gulf region. A cross-case with code-based content
analysis is used to analyse the data.
Findings – Gaps in the legal framework and weak enforcement of prevailing rules, less institutional
intervention, less commitment of people especially key stakeholders, wrong perceptions on capital costs,
and low levels of education and experience on sustainable construction are identified as key issues, similar to
the Persian Gulf region. The proposed framework presents suggestions for successful adaptation of
sustainable construction practices in the following eight key areas: legal framework, standards, guidelines or
policies, design, procurement, technology, processes and innovations, people and organisational structure,
education and training, and measurements and reporting.
Research limitations/implications – The scope of this research is limited to the data gathered from
C1 category construction contractors in Sri Lanka and similar category in the United Arab Emirates of the
Persian Gulf region.
Originality/value – The framework for the enhancement of sustainable construction practices via contracting
organisations is proposed as an inaugural step to establishing a country-based and industry-specific model to
achieve sustainability in the Sri Lankan construction industry.
Keywords Sustainability, Framework, Construction industry, Sri Lanka, Contracting organizations,
Sustainable construction practices
Paper type Research paper

Introduction
Global demand for sustainable development places tremendous pressure on the
construction industry to promote sustainable practices in construction (Opoku and
Fortune, 2013). Sustainable construction can bring environmental responsibility, social
awareness and economic profitability objectives to the fore in the built environment and
facilities for the wider community to achieve ultimate sustainable goals (Ali and Nsairat,
2009). Shafii et al. (2006) stated that sustainable construction has distinctive approaches and
Built Environment Project and
dissimilar priorities in various countries due to market economies. Baumgartner Asset Management
and Ebner (2010) further stated that sustainable construction practices may also depend Vol. 8 No. 1, 2018
pp. 51-63
on the industry, size of the company or other basic conditions. Krigsvoll et al. (2010) stated © Emerald Publishing Limited
2044-124X
that these practices reflect the context, preconditions and priorities and needs not only in the DOI 10.1108/BEPAM-11-2016-0060
 BEPAM built environment but also in social infrastructure, as well as safe and healthy environments.
8,1 Research studies conducted by Emmanuel (2004) and Mora (2007) on sustainable materials
and Ugwu and Haupt’s (2007) study on sustainable indicators further confirmed the
importance of a national, industry-specific approach to deliver sustainable construction.
Sri Lankan Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MENR) also introduced
guidelines for sustainable development in 2007, titled National Sustainable Development
52 Strategies as a country-based and country-owned system (MENR, 2007). However, a
recent report by Lamudi Real Estate Market on Lanka Business News (2016) stated that
although there is an increasing demand for sustainable buildings in Sri Lanka, the
construction industry is not sufficiently equipped with sustainable construction practices
to fulfil such demand. In this context, a country-specific, industry-owned system to bridge
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the identified gaps in sustainable construction is vital for future resilience. According to
Tan et al. (2011), contractor as a vigorous player in the construction industry has a
significant role to promote sustainable construction by minimising negative impacts on
environment and society while maximising economic contributions via sustainable
construction. However, it is a challenge to contractors to promote sustainable construction
due to scarcity of resources, shortage in technical skills, drawbacks in achieving
quality and attaining profitability, poor understating of sustainable aspects, lack of
suitable building regulations, expensive capital costs, etc. (Pitt et al., 2009; Opoku and
Fortune, 2013; Vijayaragunathan, 2016).
Thus, this paper focuses on the identification of key issues that affect the adaptation of
sustainable construction practices by Sri Lankan contracting organisations and proposes a
framework for the successful adaptation of the same. The scope of the paper covers
sustainable construction practices in general, research method, findings and discussion with
the proposed framework to deliver sustainability in the Sri Lankan construction industry.

Sustainable construction practices in the construction industry

According to Yunus and Yang (2011), sustainable construction offers first-rate response to
present environmental and socio-economic problems, as it is an application of principles of
sustainable development to comprehensive construction cycles from the extraction of raw
materials through planning, design and construction of buildings and infrastructure until
the final deconstruction and management of resultant waste. The main challenge is to play
an integral role in reducing impacts of its activities on environment and local communities.
Hence, owners/developers, who play an important role in developing and financing
construction projects (Gan et al., 2015), architects/engineers involved in designing of
buildings and infrastructure and contractors as builders of construction projects have to
take leadership in such transformation.
Tan et al. (2011) recognised the significant role of contractors in promoting sustainable
development within the construction industry by assuming responsibility to mitigate
negative impacts on environment and society while maximising economic benefits through
sustainable construction practices. Sustainable construction makes good business sense as
it increases efficiency, effectiveness and responsibility in the business operations and
sustainable business practices in organisations, giving them competitive advantage
(Ebner and Baumgartner, 2006). Thus, implementation of sustainable construction practices
of contractor organisations, where contractors play an active role, is very important to
bring sustainability into the construction industry and to achieve sustainable development.
Table I summarises sustainable construction practices which can be implemented to achieve
goals of sustainable construction.
Although there are a few projects distinguished as sustainable projects in Sri Lanka,
there exist gaps in sustainable construction practices to attain sustainability goals. De Silva
et al. (2015) stated that major projects such as Colombo Port City in Sri Lanka is not
 Sustainable construction practices Principles
Sustainable
construction
Sustainable legal framework Organisation requires to comply with the legal framework of the country practices in
and enforcement which leads to sustainable construction, including environmental and
social responsibility, to improve economic advancement (Pitt et al., 2009; Sri Lanka
Tan et al., 2011)
Sustainable construction Organisation shall has its own sustainable standards, guidelines or
standards, guidelines or policies policies to minimise environmental, economic and social risks associated 53
with construction practices (Krigsvoll et al., 2010)
Sustainable designs Organisation needs improve a project’s whole life value through green
design and ensure buildability with efficient use of resources, sustainable
materials, minimum wastage, resilient, adaptable and attractive
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(Tan et al., 2011; Gharzeldeena and Beheiry, 2015)

Sustainable procurement Organisation shall promote green supply chain throughout a project’s life
cycle to ensure sustainability (Tan et al., 2011; Shaharudin and Ismail, 2015)
Sustainable technologies, Organisation shall increase sustainability of both construction
processes and innovations processes and its resultant assets via sustainable technologies,
processes and innovations which includes lean principles (Tan et al., 2011;
Booth et al., 2012; Liang et al., 2014)
People and organisational structure Organisation shall arrange its and project structure to facilitate
implementation of sustainable policy and strategy while an increase in
organisations’ awareness and commitment to sustainable construction
(Tan et al., 2011; Liang et al., 2014)
Sustainable education and training Organisation upturns its commitment to sustainable construction
through better education and training of every staff in the organisation or
project (Tan et al., 2011; Liang et al., 2014) Table I.
Sustainable measurements Organisation shall have a measurement and reporting system or use Sustainable
and reporting existing benchmarks to evaluate environmental, economic and social construction practices
performances and identify areas to be improved ( Pitt et al., 2009; of contractor
Tan et al., 2011; Liang et al., 2014) organisations

sustainable as it tries to achieve economic development only. Equally, Gharzeldeena and

Beheiry (2015) revealed that, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), energy consumption of
contemporary buildings was six times more than traditional buildings in year 2001.
Robert (2015) stated that sustainability knowledge “capacity” for new constructions in the
Persian Gulf States is still about 10 years behind countries such as the UK and Germany.
Specifically, designing of sustainable buildings should be considered as a standard practice
rather than as a special measure in construction. Therefore, it is critical for the region to
be sustainable in its development, especially in construction by adopting sustainable
construction practices.

Research methodology
As stipulated by Yin (2009), case study approach is more appropriate to understand complex
issues or objects that can extend experience or add strength to what is already known through
previous research. Thus, a case study approach was adopted and an organisation with
C1 grading was selected as the case (C1 is highest grade of contractors in Sri Lanka as per the
Construction Industry Development Authority) and all selected cases had engaged in
projects where principles of sustainability were implemented at the request of clients.
Eight semi-structured interviews were conducted within three cases selecting individuals with
experience in sustainable construction (refer Table II). The interviews were conducted using
interview guidelines and were tape-recorded (with permission of interviewees) to secure an
accurate account of conversations and avoid loss of data. Semi-structured interviews enabled
sufficient flexibility to approach different respondents, covering same areas of data collection,
 BEPAM adapting questions as necessary and clarifying doubts. Interview transcripts were prepared to
8,1 generate a sensible adaptation of data gathered.
A cross-case analysis was used as it is the most preferable method of analysing multiple
cases (Yin, 2009). A code-based content analysis was used to analyse large sets of gathered
data in the simplest way as it produces a uniform scheme of categories (Flick, 2006) which
facilitate comparison of different cases. Each individual case was analysed based on main
54 themes, namely, sustainable construction practices, issues and actions which can be taken into
consideration to enhance sustainable construction practices of contracting organisations in
Sri Lanka. Questions on sustainable construction practices were related to compliance with
legal framework and enforcement, adoption of sustainable construction standards, guidelines
or policies, sustainable design, sustainable procurement, sustainable technologies, processes
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and innovations, people and organisational structure, sustainable education and training and
sustainable measurement and reporting. Accordingly, a framework was developed to deliver
sustainable construction practices based on the case study outcomes.
In addition, seven interviews were conducted with experts experienced in sustainable
construction in Sri Lanka and the UAE to validate and further enhance the proposed framework
as illustrated in Table III. UAE is selected as it is a leading country in the Persian Gulf region
which welcomes all possible opportunities around the world for sustainable construction.
According to the Sustainability Academy (2017), UAE is the leading nation in the Persian Gulf
region that follows sustainable construction. Interviewees included an environmentalist,
sustainability consultant, contractor/builder, designer, engineer and project manager, each with
more than five years of experience in a variety of sustainable construction projects.

Research findings
Sustainable construction practices of contracting organisations in Sri Lanka
The findings revealed that contracting organisations in Sri Lanka are at a primary stage in
adopting sustainable construction practices. Most visible practices at present are legal
framework and enforcement; sustainable construction standards, guidelines or policies;
sustainable design; sustainable procurement; sustainable technologies, processes and

Cases Type of construction Code Designation

Case A Buildings, roads infrastructure EA1 Head of HR/team leader of sustainability committee
Batching plants and quarries EA2 Engineer progress monitoring
EA3
Case B Buildings, Roads EB1 Director engineering
infrastructures EB2 Project coordinator
Table II. Batching plants and quarries EB3 Director/sustainability reporter
Profile of case study Case C Buildings and roads EC1 Project manager
interviews conducted EC2 Engineer design

Code Sector – country Designation of expert

ES1 Government sector – Sri Lanka Advisor

ES2 Government sector – Sri Lanka Senior lecturer
ES3 Private sector – Sri Lanka Managing director
ES4 Private sector – Sri Lanka Managing director
Table III. EG1 Private sector – UAE Senior lecturer
Profiles of expert EG2 Government sector – UAE Vice president in legacy
interviews conducted EG3 Private sector – UAE Manager in sustainability
 innovations; people and organisational structure; sustainable education and training; Sustainable
sustainable measurements and reporting and discussed as follows. construction
Sustainable legal framework and enforcement. All organisations comply with legislation practices in
and regulations that lead to sustainable construction. Almost all have obtained approvals and
protection licenses, and complied with environment, economic and social sustainability
Sri Lanka
centred legislation as enforced. As noted by Interviewee EA1 “We comply with legislation and
regulations. We conduct EIA (Environment Impact Assessment) for large projects and IEA 55
(Initial Environment Assessment) for small scale projects from CEA (Central Environment
Authority, Sri Lanka). In executing construction where the client conducts EIA or IEA with
the CEA, we comply with given conditions. Each plant of our organisation is operated with an
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EPL (Environmental Protection License)”.

Sustainable construction standards, guidelines or policies. Organisations have distinctive
approaches to sustainable construction standards, guidelines and policies. Case A adopted
a separate policy in sustainable construction in line with its vision and mission. The view
of interviewee EB2 was that “it followed quality policy, human rights policy, work place
policy, social policy, health safety and environment policy, financial policy, equal
employment opportunity and affirmative action policy and open communication
policy which directly or indirectly address sustainable aspects”. Regrettably, no such
standards, guidelines or policies were noted in Case C. In spite of these, almost all
organisations had obtained ISO 14000 for Environment Management System and are
looking forward to other ISO standards for Social Responsibility, Energy Management
and Occupational Health and Safety.
Sustainable design. Client plays a crucial role to reinforce sustainable approaches of
contracting organisation to provide sustainable designs. As noted by interviewee EB1, his
organisation “uses minimum amount of materials, use recycled material, waste reduction
designs, eco-friendly materials, select Brown fields for construction, increase efficiency of
lighting systems, water conservation, energy conservation, design to minimum cost, adhere
to value engineering, design to have minimum harms to works as well as people and design
to fulfil client’s requirements, quality and satisfaction”.
Sustainable procurement. Sustainable procurement depends on the sustainability of the
supply chain. In Case A, it was used to conduct a supplier assessment annually to select
green material suppliers. Interviewee EA3 stated “we select suppliers who are more likely to
be green suppliers from annual supplier assessments, by selecting those we trust that their
supplies come with minimum impact on the environment”. Further, organisations reported
that they are struggling to use regional green-labelled material for construction due to
shortages. Government encouragement through grants and concessions to green material
manufacturers and importers is essential to maintain a sustainable supply chain.
Sustainable technologies, processes and innovations. Organisations are substantially
aware of sustainable construction technologies and have already implemented such initial
steps as adopting technologies that reduce waste, recycle materials, conserve water and
energy, protect bio diversity, maintain cost effectiveness and adopt procedures that are less
disturbing. As noted by EA1, “horizontal directional drilling technology (HDD),
prefabricated steel bridges and flyovers and use of de-sander in pilling” are adopted to
minimise impacts on environment, minimise wastage of steel and allow and reuse of
materials, respectively. However, contracting organisations rarely adopt sustainable
technologies, processes and innovations unless clients insist on them.
People and organisational structure. Organisations prefer to have separate teams to lead
towards sustainable construction with adequate support from top management. However,
as said in Case C by interviewee EC1, “top management is not well aware of sustainable
concepts and its importance. If they know they will actively contribute”.
 BEPAM Sustainable education and training. Most organisations do not want to train and
8,1 educate their employees on sustainable construction. As noted by interviewee EC1,
“currently, no education or training is provided to workforce on sustainable construction”.
However, interviewee EA1 said that “they expect to start training programmes for
subcontractors (below C5) on sustainable construction”.
Sustainable measurement and reporting. Though Sri Lanka has a green rating
56 system introduced by the Green Building Council, organisations conduct sustainable
assessments at clients’ request as it is not mandatory. Sustainable construction
project benchmarking at initial stages of projects is rarely conducted. According to
interviewee EA1 “sustainable reporting was started recently and it is done only if a client
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asks for it”.

Issues in adaptation of sustainable construction practices by contracting organisations in

Sri Lanka
Five major issues were identified in Sri Lanka through case studies, namely, legal
framework and enforcement, institutional intervention and coordination, commitment of
people, cost factor, education and experience.
Legal framework and enforcement. Several issues related to the legal system emerge due
to outdated Acts and Ordinances that are still in force. As noted by interviewee EA1
“current Acts do not fulfil real goals of sustainable construction. Although there are some
provisions for environmental sustainability, there are insufficient provisions on social and
economic sustainable development in construction. Legislation is not reviewed time to time
to update with prevailing needs of sustainable construction”. Case A, interviewee EA2
stated “political or outside influences that prevent updating of such legislation and
regulations are the real barriers”.
Institutional intervention and coordination. As mentioned by interviewee EC2, “in
Sri Lanka there are no developed strategies for sustainable construction whereas others
countries have them headed by the government and/or sometimes by non-profit oriented
social organisations”. Though there are published national strategies on sustainable
development, they hardly focus on the construction industry. At the same time, there is
neither a national platform nor coordination among related organisations, government or
research and development entities in Sri Lanka. There are few socially responsible
organisations that promote sustainable construction such as the Green Building Council and
Sustainable Energy Authority. As noted by interviewee EA3 “it is only the recently started
Green Building Council and Sustainable Energy Authority that incorporate sustainability
aspects. The government is silent and other responsible authorities do not take leadership to
promote sustainable construction”.
Commitment of people. Lesser commitment of people due to lack of awareness on the
significance of sustainable construction is also a main issue. Interviewee EC1 stated
“one main problem of sustainable construction is trying to dilute responsibility through
others and pass it on”. Thus, passing the ball attitude is a major issue as many believe that
“promoting” and “encouraging” sustainable practices among people is the responsibility of
designers, consultants, contractors or government.
Cost factor. Cost of implementation of sustainable construction is another key issue.
Interviewee EB2 said that “sustainable technologies cost more than other conventional
technologies. In competitive bidding, a contractor is unable to survive with rates that
include costs for being sustainable”. Sustainable construction practices are believed to
increase project costs that need higher capital costs upfront. In absence of clients’ demands
for sustainable construction, contractors are not willing to deliver projects sustainably as
they would lose competitiveness in bidding.
 Education and experience. Implementation of sustainable construction practices can be Sustainable
improved if professionals in the construction industry including engineers, architects and construction
quantity surveyors play their due roles in advising contractors on merits of sustainable
construction. If consultants can come up with sustainable designs within the budget of the
practices in
projects that can sustain environment and provide good returns, then contractors are ready Sri Lanka
to execute them. At the same time, empirical data highlighted that many in the construction
industry are not professionally qualified. As noted by interviewee EA2 “there are many 57
employees who neither have education nor experience in sustainable construction and they
do not look at continuous development”. It was confirmed by interviewee EB3 stating that
“we need to educate and train almost all employees as they are not familiar with aspects of
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sustainable construction as it is new to Sri Lanka”.

The following section provides suggestions to overcome identified issues and enhance
sustainable construction practices based on opinions of experts of Sri Lanka and the
Persian Gulf.

Suggestions to enhance sustainable construction practices of contractor organisations in

Sri Lanka
There are several attributes highlighted through literature synthesis and expert interviews
that suggest improvements to current sustainable construction practices of contractor
organisations in Sri Lanka.
Legal framework and enforcement. It is essential to have an effective legal framework to
ensure sustainable construction in the country. As noted by expert ES1 “there shall be proper
provisions and their strict enforcement. It is necessary to amend legislation and regulations to
match with current needs of sustainable construction”. Expert EG3 in the Persian Gulf region
stated “the UAE government has amended the laws to make the construction industry be
more sustainable in construction”. A Vice President in the government sector (EG2) in UAE
said “according to strategic vision of the Ruler of Dubai, the Green Building Regulations and
Specifications were mandated to all buildings in the Emirate of Dubai as a step to protect
environment while maintaining social and economic balance”. Another expert of the
Persian Gulf region, EG1 said “all stakeholders shall participate and try to balance long term
benefits with short-term resources. All parties shall abide by laws and regulations and
establish best practices that serve current and future interests of all”. Majdalani et al. (2006)
stated that a legislative body has an important role to play in preparing necessary legal
infrastructure to protect interests of all parties and prompt a wider adaptation of sustainable
construction practices with government leadership.
Institutional intervention and coordination. Leadership of responsible institutions is
required to promote sustainable construction by introducing sustainable design criteria,
eco-labelled material, green supply chains, lean concepts, benchmarking, sustainable
assessments and consulting. As stated by expert ES2 “we need to enhance research and
development and proper coordination among academic and technical institutions to
promote sustainability. Both government and private sector contractors can be motivated
by introducing incentives, low taxes, low interest rates, discounts on materials, etc for
adhering to sustainability principles”. As suggested by expert EG2 “government institutes
shall take leadership to provide more intervention and coordination towards sustainable
construction”. Expert EG1 said “government’s direct intervention to drive towards
sustainable construction is common in many Persian Gulf countries”. For example,
authorities in the Emirate of Dubai such as Dubai Municipality and Department of
Electricity and Water guide customers to comply with sustainable standards.
Commitment of people. Increasing stakeholder awareness on sustainable construction
through media is useful. Expert ES1 said that “stakeholder awareness on sustainable
 BEPAM construction can be improved through media as it is in direct communication with
8,1 people while awareness among employees can be increased through awareness
programmes with practical scenarios”. Pitt et al. (2009) stated that this is crucial if
sustainable practices are to be adopted over and above requirements of building
regulations. Expert EG3 said “not only professionals in the industry but even general
public need to be aware of aspects of sustainable construction”. Ultimately, construction
58 professionals shall acquire knowledge, develop concepts and share such knowledge on
sustainable construction with relevant parties. Further, as stated by expert EG3
“sustainability vision led by leadership of the UAE makes industry professionals to
commit towards sustainable construction”.
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Cost factor. Though cost factor is far more highlighted as an issue, findings revealed that
it is necessary to change the mind-set of people to look at the whole lifecycle cost than low
costs upfront. Expert ES2 said that “giving high scores to contractors who adopt
sustainable construction practices during prequalification and/ or tendering processes is
important”. Thus, tender evaluation criteria with better weightage to sustainable
construction practices at selection of contractors is a move that can overcome negative
effects caused by the cost factor. “It drives contractors towards sustainable construction if
additional costs can be shared by both clients and contractors as it is currently happening in
the UAE”, stated expert EG1.
Education and experience. Expert ES2 highlighted the requirement of having
knowledge on sustainable construction practices since the time employees join the
company. Expert ES3 suggested to have proper methods to share knowledge on
sustainable construction at organisations, while expert ES2 opined that “experienced,
educated and inexperienced, uneducated employees all should work together to share
knowledge among themselves”. Expert EG3 stated that “workshops on sustainable
construction, project review meetings (lessons learnt and best practices) among employees
change the mind-set of professionals”. EG3 said that “contractors in the Persians Gulf
have several opportunities to develop their sustainable knowledge via numerous
exhibitions and conferences”. The Persian Gulf construction industry is open to the world
and benefitted by resource personnel arriving from the Europe and other parts of the
world, especially professionals in sustainable design and technologies that help
sustainable construction. As revealed by expert EG2 “Dubai as host city of Expo 2020
has sustainability as a main theme. They are engaging with many experienced designers
of the world to achieve sustainable design solutions”.
The next section presents the framework derived through suggestions of experts to deliver
sustainable construction in Sri Lanka along with critical discussion of research outcomes.

Discussion
Figure 1 presents the framework developed based on opinion of experts in Sri Lanka and the
Persian Gulf.

Sustainable legal framework and enforcement

Compliance with existing legal framework and preparing necessary legal infrastructure to
achieve sustainable development specifically in the construction industry are revealed as
major requirements. It is revealed by the study of De Silva et al. (2015) that though
Sri Lankan contractors are bound to comply with the existing legal framework, they are not
capable of achieving holistic sustainable goals. Contractor organisations should observe
and enforce the law of the country which drive towards environment, social and economic
sustainability (Tan et al., 2011). Comparatively, the UAE is integrating sustainable
construction into its national strategies. In comparison, Green Building Regulations of
 Legal Framework and enforcement Sustainable
• Compliance with existing legal framework construction
• Preparing necessary legal infrastructure for
sustainable development practices in
Sri Lanka
Technologies, processes and innovations Standards, guidelines and policies
• Awareness on sustainable technologies – e.g. • Organisational policies, vision and
BIM, Lean, 3Rs, etc.
• Harmonization of academic and technical
mission to cover principles in
sustainable construction
59
institutions and searching for cost effective ENVIRONMENT • National standards to comply
methods
• Sustainable construction evaluation criteria
during tendering Design
SUSTAINABLE
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CONSTRUCTION • Sustainable design (energy

People and organizational structure
conservation, value engineering,
• Top management support reduce CO2 emission, etc.)
ECONOMIC SOCIAL
• Collaborative approach
Procurement
Measurements and reporting • Organisational or institutional
procedure for green supply chain
• Project benchmarking
management
• Sustainable construction assessment

Education and training

• Increase awareness on sustainable construction

Figure 1.
• Sustainable agenda to create awareness and
share knowledge
Developed framework

Dubai have been developed in line with best international efficiency standards with
customization to meet specific needs and conditions of Dubai (Issa and Al Abbar, 2015)
driving contractors towards sustainable construction.

Sustainable construction standards, guidelines and polices

The research findings revealed that it is necessary to have nationwise industry specific and/or
organisational policies, vision and mission to cover principles of sustainable construction.
Thalpage and Karunasena (2016) stated that Sri Lanka has such policies as National
Environment Policy, National Energy Policy, National Climate Change Policy, National Air
Quality Management Policy, Cleaner Production Policy and National Forestry Policy which
focus more on environment than construction. The research of Krigsvoll et al. (2010) revealed
that sustainability in construction has a short developing history in terms of guidelines,
standardisations and policy making in the world. This can be a reason why only few
organisations in Sri Lanka adopt sustainable policies in construction. By contrast, contractors
in the Persian Gulf have embraced sustainable practices into operations and management
systems as a part of corporate social responsibility initiatives (Sustainability Academy, 2017).

Sustainable design
It is revealed that project design which integrates sustainable aspects such as eco-friendly
material, waste minimisation, passive designs, water conservation, rain water harvesting,
energy conservation, value engineering, end user satisfaction and health and safety of
workers and neighbours is crucial to promote sustainable construction. Vice President of a
leading government organisation in the Persian Gulf, expert EG2 revealed “that their
organisation was inspired to adopt sustainable design while delivering the mega project,
Expo 2020 Dubai”. Ding (2008) said that it is best to have sustainable design at the earliest of
project stages considering not just what is being built but how it is built, with what, in which
method and what functions it will perform or facilitate. Jayasingha (2016) highlighted few
sustainable design best practices noted in Sri Lanka such as in Clearpoint Residencies,
which aims to be the world’s tallest vertical garden.
 BEPAM Sustainable procurement
8,1 Research also revealed that organisational or institutional procedures for sustainable
procurement is significant to achieve sustainable construction. However, Sri Lanka is facing
difficulties as contractors depend on suppliers and subcontractors. Green supply chain in
the construction industry shows the path to sustainable construction which reduces overall
costs of projects, improve economic efficiency of construction industry and ensure that
60 projects, when complete, are fit for purpose, thereby securing whole life value. Currently,
it is observed that the Green Building Council of Sri Lanka is driving the industry towards
green design and procurement (GBCSL, 2017).
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Sustainable technologies, processes and innovations

Research also revealed that adapting technologies, processes and innovations which improve
sustainable construction throughout design and construction, such as BIM, Lean, 3Rs, and
having high weightage for sustainable construction approaches during tender evaluation are
key factors to achieve sustainable goals. Expert EG2 said that “contractors in Dubai are ready
to build self-sustainable buildings where buildings generate their own energy and water
requirements from environment and zero carbon construction”. Kralj (2011) stated that
innovation is essential not only for those who want to increase or sustain economic growth in a
given area (region, state and the like) but also for those who benefit indirectly. Thus, contractor
organisations have a responsibility to increase organisational capacity in technologies,
processes and innovation to achieve sustainable construction. Thus, environment friendly
recycling or demolishing procedures and new technologies and innovative materials pave way
for new designs and methods of construction (Booth et al., 2012).

People and organisational structure

Tan et al. (2011) stated that awareness on sustainable construction among people at
contracting organisations is required for positive contribution from such organisations to
achieve sustainable construction. Fiksel et al. (1999) said that established systems or
procedures of organisations should be communicated clearly to employees and be available
to public. Further, research revealed that top management’s support and collaborative
approach makes a noteworthy difference in the journey towards sustainable construction.
For example, Omani government created The Research Council in 2005 to promote research
and innovation in environmental protection, green building and eco-design (BTI, 2012 cited
Abidin and Powmya, 2014). Issa and Al Abbar (2015) stated that strategies such as green
procurement, energy and water conservation and stakeholder and community engagement
drive sustainability within construction organisations in the Persian Gulf region.

Sustainable education and training

Providing education and training to increase awareness on sustainable construction and to
share such knowledge is essential for sustainable construction as without necessary skills,
contractors will not be able to meet challenges of sustainable construction goals. Therefore,
trades people, technicians, administrators and managers at all levels in contracting
organisations need to gain awareness, knowledge, competencies and behaviours apposite to
their functions to achieve sustainable construction goals. Tan et al. (2011) emphasised on the
importance of creating awareness on sustainable construction among top management of
organisations for their positive contribution to drive towards sustainable construction.

Sustainable measurement and reporting

The finding reveals that project benchmarking and measuring level of sustainability by an
assessment tool encourages contractors to drive towards sustainable construction.
 Expert EG1 stated that “UAE in Persians Gulf has improved a lot than previous year’s Sustainable
sustainable measurement and reporting”. One of the first green building rating systems is construction
the Qatar Sustainability Assessment System renamed as Global Sustainability Assessment practices in
System. In UAE, Abu Dhabi pioneered effective development and implementation of green
building codes, namely, Pearl Rating Systems for buildings, villas and communities Sri Lanka
(Issa and Al Abbar, 2015). It is said by Holton et al. (2010) that sustainable measurements
and reporting are imperative to the development of sustainable construction and there are a 61
number of tools available to help organisations to manage the drive towards sustainability.
Research reveals that the current trend among contractors in both Sri Lanka and the
Persian Gulf region is to grasp measurement and reporting of sustainable construction
methods at an acceptable rate.
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Accordingly, to deliver sustainable construction in Sri Lanka through contracting

organisations, structured long-term strategic visionary leadership that can be supported by
the proposed framework as illustrated in Figure 1, is needed.

Conclusion
This paper presented key issues affecting the adaptation of sustainable construction
practices by Sri Lankan contractors and proposed a framework to enhance practices of
contractor organisations to attain sustainability in construction in Sri Lanka.
This study revealed that Sri Lankan contracting organisations are at a primary stage in
adopting sustainable construction practices. Gaps in legal framework and enforcement of
prevailing rules, less institutional intervention, less commitment of people, wrong
perceptions on capital costs, inadequate education and experience in sustainable
construction were identified as key issues that affect adoption of sustainable construction
practices by Sri Lankan contracting organisations. A key reason identified is the lack of
enthusiasm and leadership of the government to implement sustainability at a national level
paving way for many contractors to comply with.
Figure 1 shows several steps that were identified and need to be adopted in Sri Lanka to
develop a country-based, country-owned industry-specific sustainable agenda. Accordingly,
preparation of necessary legal infrastructure for sustainable development specific to the
construction industry can be a major step. At an organisational level, all standards,
guidelines and polices need to comply with such national regulations. Organisations need to
adopt sustainable design solutions, sustainable procurement, sustainable technologies,
processes and innovations while creating opportunities for education and training within a
supportive organisational structure. This needs to be measured and reported while
benchmarking for continuous improvement.
This research provides an opening and broadening view on sustainable construction
practices of contracting organisations and suggestions to enhance as a contractor is a key
player in the construction industry. Further, in-depth studies can be conducted under each
sustainable construction practice to address them at micro level covering large contracting
organisations prior to real-time implementation of the proposed framework. The recommended
activities will provide for theory build up in the industry and create a rational implication on
the Sri Lankan construction industry.

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Corresponding author
Kushani Ishara Athapaththu can be contacted at: [email protected]

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