Dear Colleagues,

Recent circumstances caused by climate change, resource reduction, and environmental depletion remind us of the scarcity of the natural resources upon which we are relying. For example, due to the boom in the construction industry, the global sand demand has tripled since 2000 (Beiser, 2019) and challenges efforts in supplying enough sand for the construction industry. As a result, there is an increasing call for changing the way that humans and businesses use natural resources. The construction industry has received much attention, due to its high-level consumption of energy and resources (Nasir, Genovese, Acquaye, Koh, and Yamoah, 2017). Construction and demolition wastes are damaging the environment due to their large weight and volume. Globally, the construction industry is responsible for one-third of the world’s resource consumption, one-third of global carbon emissions, 40% of global energy consumption, and 40% of global waste (Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, 2018). In 2050, 68% of the world’s population is expected to live in urban areas (United Nations, 2018); thus, the carbon emission reduction target will be difficult to achieve. Therefore, it is urgent to take actions to make the construction industry sustainable (United Nations, 2018).

The negative environmental effects of the construction industry have been documented, and governments have introduced strict environmental regulations to control the damage. For example, international standards such as ISO 14001, LEED, and BREEAM have been adopted widely around the world for more sustainable construction operations. In addition, innovative products, such as natural insulation materials and laminated timber products, have been used in today’s construction projects. Design principles have been changing to ensure that projects meet all stakeholder expectations and produce more acceptable and sustainable outcomes (Wood, Wang, Abdul-Rahman, and Jamal Abdul-Nasir, 2016).

Motivated by these requirements, construction companies have acknowledged the importance of supply chain management in their operations (Fulford and Standing, 2014). Construction supply chain management involves all processes from bringing materials to the delivery of built assets to end customers. Supply chain management in construction aims to develop tools and techniques to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of construction companies (Badi and Murtagh, 2019; Irizarry, Karan, and Jalaei, 2013). Meanwhile, there are increasingly new tools, techniques, and technologies (e.g., big data and analytics) that can be adopted to enhance firms’ environmental and sustainable outcomes (Bag, Wood, Xu, Dhamija, and Kayikci, 2020).

To achieve the climate targets agreed upon in Paris at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (UNFCCC, 2018), the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has highlighted the need to enhance collaboration in the construction supply chain (IPCC, 2018). Thus, the concept of sustainability or green supply chain management has been introduced into the construction industry. This concept stresses the importance of environmental, economic, and social dimensions in the supply chain (Carter and Easton, 2011; Carter and Washispack, 2018).

Given the increasing importance of sustainability for the construction supply chain management (Balasubramanian and Shukla, 2017; Dadhich, Genovese, Kumar, and Acquaye, 2015; Wu and Barnes, 2016), this Special Issue calls for more research in this field.

Relevant topics should clearly demonstrate connections to sustainability in the construction industry. Topics may include (but are not limited to) the following:

• Building and built environment design principles;
• Technologies, such as big data, Internet 4.0, and blockchain;
• Reverse logistics;
• Circular economy;
• Waste;
• Municipal services relating to construction;
• Novel construction materials;
• Supply chain collaboration and coordination;
• Construction contracts and sub-contracting.

Relevant research questions include (but are not limited to) the following:

• How do increasing sustainability practices affect construction companies and their supply chains?
• How can we enhance sustainable supply chain management practices in the construction industry?
• What are the challenges in pursuing sustainability practices in the construction industry and how can we overcome these challenges?
• How to enhance collaboration in the construction industry to achieve sustainable goals?
• How can we create a more circular economy in the construction industry?
• How do sustainable design principles in the built environment influence the supply chains and operations of construction companies?
• How might construction contracts be “re-imagined” in a sustainable future so that there is improved risk sharing and awareness of sustainable outcomes?
• How do sustainability and environmental failures change firm behaviors?
• How does sustainable materials selection influence project sustainability?
• How can the construction industry improve its use of technologies (such as internet 4.0 technologies) to enhance its sustainability outcomes?

Reference

Badi, S., & Murtagh, N. (2019). Green supply chain management in construction: A systematic literature review and future research agenda. Journal of Cleaner Production, 223, 312–322. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.03.132

Bag, S., Wood, L. C., Xu, L., Dhamija, P., & Kayikci, Y. (2020). Big data analytics as an operational excellence approach to enhance sustainable supply chain performance. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 153, 104559. doi: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.104559

Balasubramanian, S., & Shukla, V. (2017). Green supply chain management: An empirical investigation on the construction sector. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal, 22(1), 58–81. doi: 10.1108/SCM-07-2016-0227

Beiser, V. (2019, November 18). Why the world is running out of sand. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from BBC website: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20191108-why-the-world-is-running-out-of-sand

Carter, C. R., & Easton, P. L. (2011). Sustainable supply chain management: Evolution and future directions. International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, 41(1), 46–62. doi: 10.1108/09600031111101420

Carter, C. R., & Washispack, S. (2018). Mapping the path forward for sustainable supply chain management: A review of reviews. Journal of Business Logistics, 39(4), 242–247. doi: 10.1111/jbl.12196

Dadhich, P., Genovese, A., Kumar, N., & Acquaye, A. (2015). Developing sustainable supply chains in the UK construction industry: A case study. International Journal of Production Economics, 164, 271–284. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2014.12.012

Fulford, R., & Standing, C. (2014). Construction industry productivity and the potential for collaborative practice. International Journal of Project Management, 32(2), 315–326. doi: 10.1016/j.ijproman.2013.05.007

Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction. (2018). 2018 global status report—Towards a zero-emission, efficient and resilient buildings and construction sector. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from World Green Building Council website: https://www.worldgbc.org/

IPCC. (2018). Summary for policymakers of IPCC special report on global warming of 1.5°C approved by governments. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from https://www.ipcc.ch/2018/10/08/summary-for-policymakers-of-ipcc-special-report-on-global-warming-of-1-5c-approved-by-governments/

Irizarry, J., Karan, E. P., & Jalaei, F. (2013). Integrating BIM and GIS to improve the visual monitoring of construction supply chain management. Automation in Construction, 31, 241–254. doi: 10.1016/j.autcon.2012.12.005

Nasir, M. H. A., Genovese, A., Acquaye, A. A., Koh, S. C. L., & Yamoah, F. (2017). Comparing linear and circular supply chains: A case study from the construction industry. International Journal of Production Economics, 183(Part B), 443–457. doi: 10.1016/j.ijpe.2016.06.008

UNFCCC. (2018). The Paris agreement. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from https://unfccc.int/process-and-meetings/the-paris-agreement/the-paris-agreement

United Nations. (2018, May 16). 68% of the world population projected to live in urban areas by 2050, says UN. Retrieved December 5, 2019, from United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs website: https://www.un.org/development/desa/en/news/population/2018-revision-of-world-urbanization-prospects.html

Wood, L. C., Wang, C., Abdul-Rahman, H., & Jamal Abdul-Nasir, N. S. (2016). Green hospital design: Integrating quality function deployment and end-user demands. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 903–913. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.08.101

Wu, C., & Barnes, D. (2016). An integrated model for green partner selection and supply chain construction. Journal of Cleaner Production, 112, 2114–2132. doi: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2015.02.023

Dr. Lincoln C. Wood
Dr. Linh N. K. Duong
Prof. Dr. Chen Wang
Guest Editors

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• supply chain
• construction
• buildings
• green
• sustainable