Innovation in Construction A Project Life Cycle Approach

SCRI Research Report4Innovation in constructionA Project Life Cycle Approach6.3 The Results of InnovationIt is important to understand the widespread natureof the outcomes of innovation illustrated by the casestudies in this report. The case studies provide ampleillustration that successful innovation can and doesproduce significant financial benefits, producing morecost effective solutions in less time. But this is not thefull story. Much of the focus of the innovation revealedby the case studies and confirmed by the survey isenvironmental or alternatively to do with wider issuessuch as well being or health and safety. If these factorsare drivers of much of the innovation in the industrytoday then the capacity of the industry to innovateshould be measured against metrics relevant to thesedrivers just as much as they should be measured againststandard economic performance criteria. Against anymeasure, performance improvements such as a 10%reduction in gas consumption, 74% increase in wasterecycling, a 70% reduction in energy use or a zeroreportable accident record ought to be significantmeasures of innovation just as much as reductions incost per square metre or production time.Much of this performance improvement is drivenby clients and regulation. The case studies illustratethat although the response to this drive is strong,it is not without difficulty. Although the outputs ofinnovation encompass economic, environmental and socialsustainability businesses have to respond to anoverwhelmingly finance driven market. Some innovations have incurred significant up front costsbefore any long term benefits can be achieved. Thestable long term relationships present in the casestudies have made it possible to overcome this barrierbut this is not always the case. More research is neededto better understand the complex relationship betweenregulation, innovation and business need in order toensure that future regulations are drafted with this inmind.6.4 Clients Driving InnovationThe preceding discussion has focussed on the widerange of innovation that is taking place in thereport’s case studies. The case studies are, however,acknowledged examples of best practice within theindustry. As such the factors that have created theconditions for successful innovation are worthy ofinvestigation. The survey revealed the importance ofclients as a key driver of innovation and clientsatisfaction as a key result. In each case study, the clientshave played an exemplary role in both creating the rightproject conditions in which innovation can flourish andin understanding and communicating end user needsto the wider project team. The project conditions werecreated largely due to the long term procurementrelationships that existed that enabled collaborativeworking and made investment worthwhile due topotential paybacks on future projects. In addition, theclients were very clear about performance requirementsthat were required in return for the long term relationship.The case studies also illustrated how the clients andthe wider project team developed deep understandingof end user requirements and how this is affected bythe built environment. So, although the importance ofthe client in delivering successful projects is well known(eg., Egan 1998, Brandon and Lu, 2008), it is alsoimportant to realise that this can occur only inparticular circumstances with particular types of client (eg.,Sexton et al., 2008; Tzortzopoulos et al., 2008). Onecase study provides a particular example of a clientresponse where these conditions are not present. InCase Study 3 (Student Accommodation) the universitysub-contracts the client role to a company thatspecialises in delivering and managing studentaccommodation in an innovative financial arrangement.In summary, the case study clients have played a keyrole in producing collaborative project teams throughprocurement mechanisms that have ensured anintegrated approach in meeting end user needs.Without professional clients with a deep knowledge ofthe user this situation is unlikely to occur.42