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Bagging a Bargain Begets Amnesia: Insights of Integrating Responsible Sourcing into Building Information Modelling

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Climate Emergency – Managing, Building , and Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is a driver for business procurement strategies across the architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) sectors. Responsible and ethical sourcing throughout their procurement supply chains creates an expectation for construction product manufacturers to deliver materials achieving certified standards (such as BES 6001). Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a recent process allowing AEC industries to efficiently plan, design, construct and manage buildings and infrastructure. However, to date, the integration of a purchasing mechanism for acquiring certified materials within BIM operations remains an oversight. Therefore, this is the first known study to examine stakeholder perceptions of the benefits and barriers of implementing and integrating responsible sourcing within BIM systems. Opinions were sought through questionnaire surveys completed by industry professionals from SME companies across the AEC sectors. Participants work for companies who already have sustainability policies (67%) or are in the process of creating them (33%). Furthermore, almost all the companies (92%) claim to have a policy for responsible sourcing in their supply chains. Results reveal competitive advantage and stakeholder value are considered the most important organisational benefits of responsible sourcing whilst cost and availability of information are perceived as the greatest barriers of responsible sourcing. In terms of integrating with BIM, time management and collective collaboration are professed as the main organisational advantages whilst training and client requirements are considered the utmost challenges. It is concluded that there needs to be a stepwise change, so clients are not a primary driver for the implementation of responsible sourcing and integration in BIM systems. Therefore, rather than relying on the morals of clients, it is recommended that responsible sourcing is made mandatory on all construction projects requiring the use of BIM.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Kier Construction, The Old Mill, Chapel Lane, Warmley, Bristol, UK

    Sophie Ball

  2. Centre for Architecture and Built Environment Research (CABER), Faculty of Environment and Technology, University of the West of England (UWE), Bristol, UK

    Colin A. Booth

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  1. Sophie Ball
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  2. Colin A. Booth
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Correspondence to Sophie Ball .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Engineering, Leeds Sustainability Institute, Leeds Beckett University, Leeds, UK

    Christopher Gorse

  2. Technological University Dublin, Dunboyne, Ireland

    Lloyd Scott

  3. Architecture and the Built Environment, University of the West of England, Bristol, UK

    Colin Booth

  4. Architecture and the Built Environment, University of Suffolk, Ipswich, Suffolk, UK

    Mohammad Dastbaz

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Ball, S., Booth, C.A. (2022). Bagging a Bargain Begets Amnesia: Insights of Integrating Responsible Sourcing into Building Information Modelling. In: Gorse, C., Scott, L., Booth, C., Dastbaz, M. (eds) Climate Emergency – Managing, Building , and Delivering the Sustainable Development Goals. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79450-7_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-79450-7_20

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-030-79449-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-79450-7

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