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Project Sustainability: Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

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Project Sustainability: An Overview of Sustainability in Project

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Introduction

This essay is a simple overview that describes the subject of sustainability under a social,

environmental and economic context within the practice of project management. It will begin

by spelling out the meaning and value of sustainability. Although the subject of sustainability

is still on a rising slope, given the scope of this essay existing literatures will be gathered,

examined and used as a background understanding for later discussions (Hope, 2012). After

these, the importance of sustainable development within the projects managements setting

would be explained. It will also consider a few technics and methods that are normally

employed when implementing sustainable development within the project management

setting. This essay seeks to establish a relationship between Project management and

sustainability practice, focusing more on areas such as; the environment, the society and the

economy. Therefore, at different sections within this essay, samples would be sighted from

these three various points of view. In addition to these the essay would look into the existing

schools of thoughts that are contrary to practise of sustainable development. Thereafter the

essay would conclude based on a simple but general analysis drawn from the whole

discussion.

Sustainability

As a result of numerous changes in the socioeconomic climates of nations of the world, there

has been massive increase in the rate at which national policies are adopting the system of

sustainability. Given this situation, there is the need to clearly understand the subject of

sustainable development. Sustainable development is the singular balance that exists between

the environment, society and the economy (Clift, 2007). It is an act of developing projects in

such a way that the unborn generation will not have to suffer any lack or want as a result of

the impacts of past projects. This practice practically ensures that the society suffers less

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

damage that could affect the coming generation. Furthermore, it ensures a balanced and

stable economy that will enhance productivity in future project. Alternatively, it is a way of

investing safety and security for the future of the nation and world as whole (Stone, 2003).

According to study sustainability is the conscious act of reducing waste in any on-going

project or even in a project that has already been achieved. Sustainability has come into being

in project management as a result of the impact of such projects on the environment, society

and the economy. Sustainability is the science of regeneration that fills up the present spaces

and also attends to the future concerns. In other words, it is a subject that systematically

forecasts that in as much as a project continues to receive from its environment; a time would

come in the near future where the source of materials will become irresponsive. Therefore, in

other to avert the period of irresponsiveness, the practice teaches the importance of

regeneration in project management (Klopffer, 2003).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Figure 1: Pillars of Sustainability. Source: Klöpffer, Walter (2003, p.157)

SUSTAINABILITY

ENVIRONMENT ECONOMY SOCIETY

The subject of sustainability has three main areas of focus; these areas are all individually

interrelated. They are the supporting building blocks to sustainability. Undeveloped nations

of the world tend to focus more on the environmental and social aspect when handing

projects. However, the projects that are developed in technically advanced nations tend to

direct their focus more at the Economy. Alternatively, stable nations often seek for the aspect

of sustainable development that enhances the economy of such nations. However, there is the

risk of environmental and social dormancy, when nations are more concerned with the issue

of economic sustainability. In other to ensure a reasonable balance within a Project; it is

suggested that all the three areas should be treated with equality (Klopffer, 2003).

It is a practice in project management that considers the immediate environment where the

project would be attainable. Sustainability is the element in a project that eliminates the

possible hazards and rather makes it reliable. It is the analysis and removal of different forms

of redundancy in a given project. In other words, sustainability is to be able to setup a

successful project with little or no opportunity cost; that is though there are uncertainties, the

projects outcome would be able to minimise the level of uncertainties’ such that they are

lease visible (Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2011).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Sustainability is a way of saving cost that extends to different dimensions such as the

environment, the society and the economy. When the committee handling a project in an

environment takes the element of environmental pollution into consideration; it is a clear

practise of environmental sustainability. In other words, the project team will not only

prioritise project accomplishment; but also ensure that they accomplish the project function

devoid of pollution which is harmful to the project environment. However, where the project

team makes safety a part of their priority; it is clear that the project is operating from the

social sustainability point of view. For instance, building structures that are put in place

should be able to conform to safety rules. In other words, the structural engineers must have

built it bearing in mind that the lives of the users will be at stake if safety is not considered.

Sustainability is a refurbished kind of management system where the value derived from the

outcome remains unchanged or even gains better credits than the former (Brown, 2011).

Importance of Sustainability In Projects

Risk:

One of the certainties in managing a Project is risk. Projects are vulnerable to different kinds

of risk; especially when it is situated in a social or environmental setting. For instance; a

bridge that is built across a residential apartment is vulnerable to accident at any point in time.

The element of sustainability in this scenario suggests that rather than building the bridge

over residential apartments; it should rather be repositioned to a risk free position. However,

where the bridge has already been built the Project manager can still avoid risk by adjusting

to a much stronger structure and also putting down measures to avert the disaster if it occurs.

All these efforts outlined here are all measures placed down by sustainable development to

reduce the wasting of both human resources and capital resources. In another instance the

Project manager will take the economy into consideration when attempting to construct a

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

major underground tunnel. If for instance this tunnel happens to be a source of major income

to the government; and it is always inactive when there is a heavy rain fall. It means that

anytime there are climatic changes; the nation’s economy will experience a rapid loss. The

element and importance of sustainability here suggests that the Project manager should rather

input measures that will counteract the flood from disrupting the railing system. It also

suggests that rather than wasting monetary resources in solving the flooding problem,

possible assumptions should have been made at the infancy of the Project. Moreover, in

making these assumptions, possible solutions should also be embedded into the Project (Reed

& Wilkinson, 2005).

Depreciation:

Sustainable development has become very important in many ways especially as a result of

depreciation in projects. For instance, since most raw material used in building project have

the general tendencies to reduce in value with time; it is important to give due considerations

to the quality of the materials used in setting up this structures. With the changing climate

condition in the world at present; structures are becoming prone to early depreciation

compared to the earlier climate conditions. Sometimes this structures experience quick

rundown in value due to the quality of raw materials used in the construction. Sustainable

development has become an alert system to Project Managers to be mindful in their value

analysis and in the quality of materials they use to raise up structures. By so doing there will

be massive decrease in the rate of depression even in the midst of climate changes (Reed &

Wilkinson, 2005).

Competition:

Another importance of sustainable development to Project management is that it gives the

project a competitive advantage over other projects both within and without the project

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

setting. The measure of sustainability practice employed by a nation or society in its doings;

will determine the economic placement of such a nation in the worlds ranking system.

Therefore, it is important for Project managers to embed the key elements of sustainability in

their projects. When sustainability is put into practice, the element of wasteful spending will

be partially eliminated; and by so doing the Project will be a centre of competition. Study

reveals that modern investors will like to invest their resources doing it at the lowest possible

cost. Therefore, Projects that will implement sustainability as a practice will enjoy the

maximum competitive benefits (Reed & Wilkinson, 2005).

Value:

People see value from different points of view; however, the computation of all this views

amounts to the quality aspect of Projects. In other words, the value of a Project is deduced by

the quantity of sustainability elements that exists in such a Project. Sustainable development

has become important as a result of much interest that the society places on value. For

instance, the manufacturing industry needs to adapt to the system of sustainable development

so has to gain a good ground in the market. In a situation where the market sees no value in a

product; the sales of such products will fall. In another instance the cost of a building will be

judged by the quality of the building. The element of quality here still directly relates to how

effectively the Project has embedded sustainability in itself. In another instance, the

environment where a factory is situated needs to be of value to the surrounding. In other

words the question of whether the factory is a deficit or a solution to the environment needs

to be answered. In this instance sustainable development suggests that where the factory is

operating, it should device means of material regeneration for future benefits (Reed &

Wilkinson, 2005).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Preservation and Extinction:

As a result of recent changes in the organic community, the world’s system is migrating

towards sustainability practices. From the Project management point of view, there is the

need to flow with this system of sustainable development especially in the areas that has to do

with the society and the environment. In a scenario where Project managers continue building

mega structures and give less considerations to the conservation of plants; undoubtedly a time

will come where the health of the people who ought to be able to leave in this structures will

be at stake. And when this happens there will be no one to occupy these structures. Project

management sees the need to operate in a way that the organisms that around them will

remain preserved (Zamagni, 2012).

Methods and Techniques of Sustainability in Project Management

Life Cycle Approach to Sustainable Development:

The life cycle approach is unique and is also a generally accepted technique used to attain

sustainable development in Project management. The Life cycle method has a point of origin

from which it begins operation and then finally head towards another point that may be

referred to as the ending point. Here a thorough background analysis of the project life cycle

is done (Klopffer, 2003).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Figure 2: Life Cycle Method of Sustainability. Source: Klöpffer (2003, p.158).

EXTRACTION
OF RAW
MATERIALS

RECYCLING LIFE CYCLE

USE

This method of sustainability takes down the amount of energy and resources that were put in

place before the extraction of raw materials. The extraction of raw materials is the point of

origin; in other words, the beginning of the Project life cycle to be analysed. It would also

consider the situation of regeneration at this stage. In other words, the question of how to

replace or reproduce the raw materials that have been extracted needs to be answered.

Thereafter it moves to another stage which is the production stage and also accounts for all

the activities that will be involved at this stage. It checks the amount of energy and the kind

of quality that is involved at this stage. Then the next stage to be analysed is the use stage. It

considers who will use the product that sprang out of production stage. It will also consider

the safety and wellbeing of the people or individual that will use the product. So many

assumptions are made as to how conveniently the product will render its service at this stage.

Finally, the question of how to minimise waste at all cost will be answered in the analysis

done at this stage (Klopffer, 2003; Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2011).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

The Life cycle approach to sustainability is a good method for implementing sustainability

since the issue of sustainability itself is a universal phenomenon (Zamagni, 2012). As

illustrated in figure one, the life cycle system can be classified into three different parts such

as:

- Environmental life cycle approach

- Economic life cycle approach and the

- Social life cycle approach (Klopffer, 2003).

Lean Approach to Sustainable Development:

The lean approach is a system that Project managers adapt in order to carefully alienate all

forms of prospective waste and develop a means of averting them all. This system is quite

similar to the life cycle approach, as it operates at every stage of project. Furthermore,

compared to the Lifecycle approach which is more pre-emptive; the lean approach is rather a

more pro-active approach. It also takes into account the element of distance, energy, time and

human resources that are involved in putting up a project (Gulshan and Singh, 2012).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Figure 3: Three basic Kinds of Wastes. Source: Gulshan and Singh (2012, p.58).

Excess
energy
Excess and time
materials

Excess
Inventary
system

Sustainable Development

The funnel above is a simple illustration of how the lean system eliminates all the excesses

that are present within a project setting. The Project manager carefully eliminates all of forms

of redundancy in the project environment; thereafter he also avoids channelling excess energy

to the process of extracting raw materials. In the process of construction, he also would

eliminate all forms of excesses in the time spent in the delivery of the raw materials and the

continuation of work. This process is repeated from the formation of the Project until the end

of the same Project. In another instance the Project manager should be able to carry out this

analysis on the human factors involved in the Project implementation. The Project would also

eliminate all forms of time wasting and also avoid overworking the engineers that are

involved in the implementation process. The lean process identifies the needs within a project

environment and in turn satisfies the needs. However, all measures that exists within the

process are directed at the improvement of Projects (Gulshan and Singh, 2012).

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

Figure 4: Steps to Effective implementation of Sustainable development. Source: Kreafle,

2011 p.13).

Standardization
Identify the waste
elements
Evaluate the
outcomes and
procedures

Apply the suitable Sustainable Classify this elements

alternatives Development
Target Setting
Develop alternative
way to prevent waste Analyse sources of
waste elements

The ultimate goal for the application of lean is to totally eliminate or reduce all elements of

waste that exist within a project. Therefore, the first step to take when applying lean to

sustainable development is to identify these elements within the Project environment. A

sustainable manager should be able to identify these elements at the present level of a project

and also be able to focus traces of waste on the aspired future of a given project. The Project

manager should be able to project a timeline between present situation and the future

situation. After this waste element have been clearly identified it is important to now classify

them according to the order of priority. The elements that would not really threaten the

sustainable future of the project would be classified as the lowest priority. While the elements

that appear to be harmful to the future sustainability of the project would be treated with

much priority. The next step to follow is to set targets that will inscope sustainable

development into the Project. After this, reasonable alternatives would be generated to

replace the eliminated waste factors. A sustainable Project implementer should be able to

generate thoughtful ideas by which the identified waste may be avoided. The Manager would

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

however generate these ideas in accordance to the prioritised classifications. The sources of

this waste would also be evaluated so as to avoid adapting alternatives that will only lead to

wasting resources again. After analysing the sources generating the factors of wastes, the best

sorted alternatives will then be applied. The next step after the application is that the Project

manager would ensure to perform the analysis and evaluation of the outcome of applying

sustainability factors. This outcome analysis would be done at every stage of the Project so as

to avoid sustainability failure. The final step to carryout is to set standards that will engrave

sustainability in the Project and allow for continuous revision of principles of sustainable

development (Kreafle, 2011).

Figure 6: Framework for foundry lean and green implementation. Source : Torielli et al,

2011, p.80).

Another study revealed that the lean process to sustainable development involved a thought

process. For instance: A Project Manager in charge of a construction project situated in a

community will have to carefully pass through this process of advanced thinking. In other

words, the Project Manager has to analyse the economic, societal and environmental situation

to be able to apply the lean process. After he must have gone through the thought stage; he

will proceed into passing all other workers under the same project through the process. This

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

is to ensure that there is a balance, since the various workers are located in different parts of

the project. This process is done in other to familiarise the workers with procedures.

Thereafter every member of the construction team will be able to practically minimise the use

of energy such that at the end; there will be efficiency and less expenses. The Project

Manager is now left with the issue of deciding whether there is the need to still make use of

technology or to continue with the use of man power. Everyone else in the team is now

supposed to work hand in hand so that the project will attain an expected end. However, the

people that will be making use of the already made Project would be the ones to play the role

of partners in effective sustainability. Alternatively, they will play the role of maintenance

and safety. This can be effective by the following of laid down procedures (Torielli et al,

2011).

Contrary Schools of Thought to Sustainability

There are a number of other study’s that hold views that are ironical to sustainable

development. Just one of these schools of thought is analysed in this essay.

The School of Poverty and degradation:

This school is of the view that since sustainability seeks to actively involve the people in the

environment in order to attain sustainable development; in the existence of poverty and

environmental degradation sustainability would fail (Sheate, 2010). Sustainable development

works with all the tools and human capital that can be found within a project environment.

From early discussion it can be drawn that health of a project environment and the welfare of

the project society is very critical when it comes to the issue of sustainability. Undoubtedly in

the face of poverty the common partnership between the social stakeholders and the

sustainable project manager would fail. This is because in the face of poverty the social

stakeholders would rather engage in activities that would yield in unsustainability in order for

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Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

them to survive. Also where there is massive environmental degradation; sustainable practice

would fail because there is the need to employ regeneration of resources within this practise.

Therefore, where the resources have been used to a point of extinction, the project manager

would lack the capacity to employ sustainability practice. This school holds the argument

that based on the state of a project environment; Project managers should look for other

alternatives to attaining project success; rather than wasting resources on sustainability

practise (Attfield and Wilkins, 1994; Lélé, 1991; Hueting, 1990; Klopffer, 2003).

Conclusion

This essay has discovered that the practise of sustainable development has been in a silent

existence for a long time. It is now of increased importance for project manager to embrace

sustainable practice. The importance of sustainable development ranges between three

different elements, namely the environment, the society and the economy. This essay pointed

that the environment in which a project operates can have depreciating effects on it. It also

revealed that every project has the risk of internal devaluation and external contention. In the

absence of sustainability practise; a project would be rated low where other projects have

applied this practise.

There are numerous tools which can be used for the application of sustainable development

within projects; this study was only able to identify one two broad tools. However, the

discussion of these tools where limited so as to avoid penalties. Prior to conclusion the essay

again revealed the existence of one school of thought that took up an argument against the

practise of sustainability. As regards to the subject of sustainable development knowledge has

be drawn that unless there all other thing is equal in relation to the three pillars that were

identified; the practise may not be applicable. However, where the practise is carried out in a

balanced environment linking all other pillars; then would it be applicable.

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 Johnson O. Okeniyi (2013). An Overview of Sustainability in Project Management

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