Strategies to Benchmark Sustainability Performance within a Project-Based Organization in the Building Industry: A Case Study in Denmark

Abstract

The demands for sustainable designs in the building industry have increased dramatically and the industry needs to adapt to these demands. As sustainability has become a natural part of building projects, the need for methodologies and quantifiable measures has increased. This paper investigates possible strategies for benchmarking sustainability performance in project-based organizations (PBOs). A literature search combined with action-based research outlines five strategies that could be employed as general-level assessment methodologies. Each strategy is tested within an archetypical PBO in the Danish building industry. Six criteria are identified for performing a structured evaluation of each strategy, thereby enabling recommendations for further development. The results demonstrate that questionnaires and simple statistics on the number of sustainability certifications performed possess the most value compared to effort; however, SDG surveys also exhibit potential. The paper concludes that existing methods for assessing impact at an organizational level are in their infancy and must be matured dramatically to match future requirements for the documentation of organizational impact. This paper contributes to the development of efficient future assessment methodologies within PBOs.