Investigation of sustainability and lean approaches for efficient architecture design management

In the construction sector, ADP challenges are inevitable and adversely affect construction outcomes throughout the project life cycle. Consequently, effective mitigation actions are necessary. Lean and sustainability are two approaches with strong potential to address ADP challenges; however, further research is needed to assess their effectiveness in this context. This study examines the influence of sustainable practices and lean design tools on mitigating critical ADP challenges that lead to inefficiencies in building projects. The research consisted of four stages: identifying ADP challenges, designing and applying a questionnaire, conducting influence analysis, and performing factor analysis. A literature review informed the identification of key challenges, which 84 ADP specialists then evaluated. The analysis revealed inadequate maintenance plans (RII = 0.740), insufficient design time or delays (RII = 0.738), and disbelief in efficient design (RII = 0.724) as the most influential factors. Factor analysis grouped these ADP challenges into four principal components, with average RIIa values of 0.690 for production, 0.668 for knowledge and expertise, 0.659 for economic, and 0.635 for organisational and attitudinal challenges. This study contributes by identifying 30 critical ADP challenges, evaluating their influence, and proposing a framework of four components that collectively impact ADP performance. The findings offer practical insights for enhancing ADP management by integrating sustainability practices and lean design tools.