Logo: to the web site of Uppsala University

uu.sePublications from Uppsala University
Change search
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf
Understanding building sustainability: The case of Sweden
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-6487-5522
Uppsala University, Disciplinary Domain of Science and Technology, Technology, Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, Civil Engineering and Built Environment.ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8008-7913
2020 (English)In: Total Quality Management and Business Excellence, ISSN 1478-3363, E-ISSN 1478-3371, p. 1-15Article in journal (Refereed) Epub ahead of print
Abstract [en]

Sustainability reports constitute a good source to check how companies have understood sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to interpret how building sustainability has been understood, defined and measured, using sustainability reports from the building value chain in Sweden. Sweden has been chosen since it is rated as a sustainability leader and could therefore be expected to be a benchmark. The analyses are based on how sustainability has been defined and what the level of reporting maturity has been. A maturity grid that assesses if the most important impacts have been considered in the entire value chain has been used. Also, it has been checked if there are indicators measuring sustainability with externally set goals. Results indicate that there seems to be no common agreement on what building sustainability is. Most studied companies have not presented a clear definition of how they have interpreted sustainable development and there is no clear focus on key issues such as climate and affordability. Sustainable building could, based on the deduced main sustainability impacts, be seen as affordable with zero carbon footprint. Fundamental Key Performance Indicators for residential building sustainability could be such as m2 living per carbon footprint and per price.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Routledge, 2020. p. 1-15
Keywords [en]
building sustainability, sustainable development, definition, performance indicators, maturity grid, value chain
National Category
Construction Management
Research subject
Engineering Science with specialization in Civil Engineering and Built Environment
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-442034DOI: 10.1080/14783363.2020.1853520ISI: 000600747600001OAI: oai:DiVA.org:uu-442034DiVA, id: diva2:1553266
Available from: 2021-05-07 Created: 2021-05-07 Last updated: 2024-09-18Bibliographically approved
In thesis
1. Understanding and Leading Sustainable Development: Shifting to Stakeholder Focus in Sustainable Housing
Open this publication in new window or tab >>Understanding and Leading Sustainable Development: Shifting to Stakeholder Focus in Sustainable Housing
2024 (English)Doctoral thesis, comprehensive summary (Other academic)
Abstract [en]

The systematic degradation of social and ecological systems’ ability to support human well-being is causing existential threats, this demands society to undergo a radical transition. Examples of these demands include biodiversity loss, climate change, inequality, and a decline in trust, highlighting the urgent need to adopt practices for sustainable development. This thesis explores the organisational process of Leading sustainable development.

The work starts with a linear logic where the Leading process is related to a chain starting with Understanding, Defining, Measuring, Communicating and ending with Leading sustainable development. The logic is used to conduct maturity assessments in the value chain for building in Sweden and globally where the results are used to indicate that there is a lack of understanding sustainability and sustainable development. With these empirical results research results, insights and theories are combined in a conceptual development using both abductive and retroductive inferences to describe the relation between the processes Understanding, Defining, Measuring, Communicating and Leading.

The conceptual development results in a new model – the LUnDeMeCo model which underlying mechanisms are described from a critical realist perspective. The conceptual development is positioned in the sub-theme of Quality Management research which suggests further integration between quality thinking and system thinking. The proposed goal of this theme in Quality Management is contributing to sustainable development through a shift from customer focus to stakeholder focus. Further results are derived through relating the shift from customer focus to stakeholder focus to the underlying system contexts and is informed by second-order critique guided by Critical Systems Thinking.

Main result is the proposed LUnDeMeCo model and the related system methodologies, in the form of principles, practices, and tools, which are context dependent. Where the context is related to a typology of sustainability challenges developed in one of the appended papers, and the System of System Methodologies grid used in Critical Systems Thinking.

The results contribute to the field of Quality Management where there is ambitions to support sustainable development, but confusion about the implications from the shift from customer focus to stakeholder focus. Results also contribute to organisations looking to engage in Leading sustainable development in understanding how different principles, practices and tools can support their organisational capabilities for Leading, Understanding, Defining, Measuring and Communicating.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Uppsala: Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis, 2024. p. 126
Series
Digital Comprehensive Summaries of Uppsala Dissertations from the Faculty of Science and Technology, ISSN 1651-6214 ; 2452
Keywords
Sustainable Housing, Quality Management, Systems Thinking, Strategic Visions, Sustainable Development
National Category
Other Engineering and Technologies
Research subject
Engineering Science with specialization in Civil Engineering and Built Environment
Identifiers
urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-538600 (URN)978-91-513-2236-0 (ISBN)
Public defence
2024-11-06, B51, Uppsala universitet - Campus Gotland, Cramérgatan 3, Visby, 10:00 (English)
Opponent
Supervisors
Available from: 2024-10-16 Created: 2024-09-18 Last updated: 2024-10-16

Open Access in DiVA

fulltext(660 kB)147 downloads
File information
File name FULLTEXT01.pdfFile size 660 kBChecksum SHA-512
ba43f24d12d2574ee933dd74f58b04f95f4bfc9a64bc997e2a1093c826e45d3d84f202c9014f5419b9254f01f74cdd8f0b4c0a65ec52b789455e38ae08766776
Type fulltextMimetype application/pdf

Other links

Publisher's full text

Authority records

Isaksson, RaineRosvall, Max

Search in DiVA

By author/editor
Isaksson, RaineRosvall, Max
By organisation
Department of Civil and Industrial EngineeringCivil Engineering and Built Environment
In the same journal
Total Quality Management and Business Excellence
Construction Management

Search outside of DiVA

GoogleGoogle Scholar
Total: 147 downloads
The number of downloads is the sum of all downloads of full texts. It may include eg previous versions that are now no longer available

doi
urn-nbn

Altmetric score

doi
urn-nbn
Total: 157 hits
CiteExportLink to record
Permanent link

Direct link
Cite
Citation style
  • apa
  • ieee
  • modern-language-association
  • vancouver
  • Other style
More styles
Language
  • de-DE
  • en-GB
  • en-US
  • fi-FI
  • nn-NO
  • nn-NB
  • sv-SE
  • Other locale
More languages
Output format
  • html
  • text
  • asciidoc
  • rtf