Mapping knowledge during sustainability assessment within a PPP school project

Increasingly, sustainability assessment is applied as a valuable tool for assessing and monitoring the performance of construction projects in delivering sustainable buildings. Sustainability assessment has been traditionally regarded as a technical process to determine the performance of projects against environmental, social and economic criteria. Calls are emerging for assessment to evolve as a tool better integrated with the subjectively based decisions taken across the project lifecycle, supporting stakeholder engagement and promoting a culture of learning about sustainability in practice. In order for assessment to fully realise this wider role; it is necessary to recognise the significance played by knowledge and its flow between stakeholders in the promotion of a common understanding of the actions required to deliver a sustainable urban environment. This paper presents the findings of a knowledge mapping exercise focused on understanding the nature of this flow during sustainability assessment across the lifecycle of 6 new schools funded under a public private partnership (PPP) contract. The analysis identified the key sources of knowledge drawn upon by decision-makers during four identified phases of sustainability assessment. Knowledge exists in a variety of types and forms, and the key sources were classified around an emerging set of categories relevant to the context in question. Variations were observed in the types of knowledge held by the different stakeholders and considered the nature of its transfer between the stakeholders and the key-decision maker. Identified was the need to support those managing the assessment with a range of knowledge sources, with particular focus on experts who can guide and support inexperienced project teams.