LEAN AND SUSTAINABILITY MECHANISM FOR INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS DELIVERY IN SOUTH AFRICA

Abstract

Achieving a resilient and sustainable building infrastructure is essential for continuous economic growth, international competitiveness, public health and overall quality of life, especially in developing countries such as South Africa. Calls for the use of innovative practices for changing the unsustainable, ‘Business As Usual’ (BAU) model of contemporary building delivery have been on the increase. In its contribution towards resolving this imbroglio, this study aimed at proposing a mechanism for operationalizing the integrated use of lean and sustainability ethos for sustainable infrastructure delivery in South Africa. In this study that was domiciled in a pragmatic paradigm, a case study research design was adopted. Five purposively selected cases within Gauteng province of South Africa were utilized. The perceptions and working experience of government agencies, developer/clients, consultants, project managers, facility managers, users, academia, general contractors and subcontractors in the selected cases were elicited. The quantitative data was statistically analyzed whilst the qualitative data was transcribed, coded and thematically analyzed. The emergent findings were discussed in line with other sources to give insight into the development of the mechanism – the lean-sustainability mechanism for infrastructure (LSMI) delivery. The results of the study suggested that attaining efficiency in energy, material and water resources forms the major features of sustainable construction in the industry. The major drivers for the lean-sustainability paradigm include: drive to gain an industry competitiveness edge, and the market environment that now requires higher efficiency and effectiveness for success, whereas the one significant barrier to the lean-sustainability paradigm remains the sustainability premium in South Africa. An expert survey was used to test the LSMI’s robustness. It was discovered that the mechanism possessed adequate robustness to engender transformation in the sector. The evaluation validates the LSMI ability to provide an adaptive form of governance needed for building infrastructure delivery systems, in response to the gradual deterioration of the global socio-ecological stability. The developed mechanism provides a transformational route for achieving building infrastructure sustainability. The mechanism also provides a new way of thinking about building infrastructure delivery from a sustainability perspective.