Intra- and Interorganizational Knowledge Services to Promote Informed Sustainability Practices

To promote sustainable construction, the construction industry needs to intensify its efforts to move to a knowledge intensive mode. Sustainability goals can only be achieved if new resources of knowledge and expertise inform construction activities. Some of this comes in the form of good practice and standards, but much will have to come from situated and contextual appreciations of sustainability goals and local practices developed across organizational, professional, and multicultural boundaries. The paper describes a knowledge management environment based on the web-services model aimed at promoting informed sustainability practices. This validation of the knowledge environment provided the basis for formulating recommendations for promoting knowledge-based sustainable construction.