Sustainable construction: principles and a framework for attainment

The evolution of the concept of sustainable development is used as a basis for advancing understanding of sustainable construction. Principles of sustainable construction are developed and divided into four 'pillars' - social, economic, biophysical and technical - with a set of over-arching, process-oriented principles, to be used as a checklist in practice. A multi-stage framework is proposed which requires the application of Environmental Assessment and Environmental Management Systems for construction projects.