Procurement of sustainable construction services in the United States: The contractor's role in green buildings

Successful sustainable building design and construction processes are characterized as collaborative and interdisciplinary. In many cases, however, procurement of construction services is not perceived as one of the necessary steps in the design and delivery of a sustainable building project. Contractors are often viewed merely as brokers of construction services, who simply follow drawings and specifications and are able to contribute to sustainable building projects only through job site recycling plans. Research on the role of construction management organizations in the successful delivery of high-performance sustainable buildings is being carried out at Penn State University and the Partnership for Achieving Construction Excellence (PACE). The objectives are to identify the value of construction services in the processes and decision-making that are critical to sustainable building projects, and to develop proactive techniques for engaging construction organizations in collaborative sustainable design and construction processes.