Green supply chain management: the case of the construction sector in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)

Restraining the negative environmental impacts of the construction sector constitutes one of the major challenges of the twenty-first century. However, efforts to address it have been largely fragmented. With environmental consequences of a construction project typically dispersed across its life cycle, i.e. from design through to end-of-life, greening this sector requires a supply chain wide focus inclusive of all key stages and stakeholders; also, all relevant aspects such as the nature of green practices implemented and associated drivers, barriers and performance implications need to be considered. This forms the focus of the present study where a comprehensive, green supply chain management oriented understanding of the construction sector is developed through the context of the UAE construction sector, and incorporating inputs from all key stakeholders, i.e. Developers, Architects/Consultants, Contractors and (material) Suppliers. The study contributes to improving the efficiency and effectiveness of greening of the construction sector.