Embracing sustainability practices in UK construction organizations : challenges facing intra-organizational leadership

Purpose– Adopting sustainable construction practices minimizes the overall environmental impact of the built asset throughout its whole life. Currently, there is demand from key stakeholders in the construction industry for organization to deliver sustainable built environment, however, leaders/champions within construction organizations charged with the adoption of sustainable construction practices face many challenges. The purpose of this paper is to present the results of an investigation into the challenges facing intra-organizational leaders charged with the promotion of sustainable construction practices. Design/methodology/approach– Qualitative data were collected through semi-structured interview with 15 leaders, followed by an industry-wide survey of 200 intra-organizational leaders in contractor and consultant organizations in the UK construction industry. Findings– The results revealed that increased capital cost is the most significant challenge facing construction organizations in attempt to adopt sustainability practices in the delivery of construction projects. Originality/value– This study provides the empirical evidence linking leadership within construction organizations and sustainability; filling the gap in literature and serving as a source of reference material for higher education programmes in the built environment. Keywords: Challenges, UK, Sustainable construction, Sustainability practices, Construction organization