Lean construction and sustainability - complementary paradigms - a case study

Proceedings IGLC-19, July 2011, Lima, PerúIn times when Sustainability is a major concern in public opinions all around the planet, it has become a constant issue for most Industries. The Construction Sector is not an exception to this trend, and efforts have been reported on seeking to adopt metrics that can measure Sustainability on site. On the other hand, the concept of Lean Construction (LC) is becoming a reality more and more present in this sector. Its effectiveness in controlling and eliminating wastes are becoming more and more acknowledged. Both concepts appear to have significant principles in common, hence this paper intends to examine and establish a relationship between LC and Sustainability, and assess their complementarity. This paper portrays a case study where LC tools and techniques where applied on a construction site, in order to observe and assess the relationship and complementarity between those and the Sustainability Construction Index (SCI) developed by a major Portuguese Construction Company, Soares da Costa Construções, S.A.(SDC)