Project Delivery Metrics for Sustainable, High-Performance Buildings

Due to the mounting complexity of sustainable, high-performance building projects, there is a consequent increase in the requirements for optimized solutions and multidisciplinary teams. Research suggests that project delivery attributes have an important influence on project outcomes of such buildings, especially on cost growth and the level of sustainability achieved. However, the extent of the influence of project delivery attributes and critical patterns of project delivery features that affect project outcomes has yet to be determined through rigorous research. Recognizing this need, this study adopts the defined evaluation metrics from recently completed research to descriptively show the extent to which the relationships and influence of project delivery attributes, such as owner commitment, team integration, and contractual relationships, affect project sustainability goals. The study collected data from 12 green office buildings in the United States. To maintain the quality, validity, and reliability of data, two to three participants (including the owner, constructor, and designer) were interviewed from each project. The findings suggest that the strong owner commitment toward sustainability, the integration in the delivery process by an early involvement of the constructor, and the early inclusion of green strategies are attributes crucial for the delivery process and can have altering effects on project outcomes, especially on sustainability goals.