Low-Income Housing Project:

The focus on improving the sustainability of low-income building projects is increasing and its contribution towards adding more values is becoming visible. Government authorities responsible for the construction process need to deliver sustainable buildings in terms of being: on time, cost effective, high quality, good indoor environment, durable, cheaper maintenance, and user friendly. In the long run continuous improvement to achieve year-on-year reduction in project cost and time is expected to be accomplished. In order to improve sustainability for low-income building projects, it is necessary to assess the performance of these buildings to identify their deficiencies and faults to take corrective actions and enable government authorities to improve the performance of new projects.

Towards this aim, the paper attempts to accomplish three main objectives: First, to propose a set of Key Performance Indicators to Assess Building Performance (KPI_ABP). This objective is achieved through the review of literature related to assessing building performance and sustainable development in construction. Second, to test the proposed KPI_ABP set in assessing the performance of actual buildings. To achieve this objective, a field study is carried out on a sample of 36 low-income building projects constructed by the Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in the city of Musaffah, Abu Dhabi. Finally, it outlines learned lessons and recommendations useful to government authorities and construction professionals as to how to enhance the performance of new low-income projects.

Often, clients and end-users of low-income building projects complain that their accommodations or workplaces are not designed so as to suit their requirements and meet their expectations. Controversially, building designers assert that their designs have carefully considered the client’s needs and accommodated all of the specified requirements. Unfortunately, the problem is often one of misunderstanding on both sides. It is true that the designers have comprehensive knowledge of building design but usually receive little or no feedback after the building is completed.

Today building technologies are progressing rapidly and buildings have become more complex and sophisticated hence their impacts on the environment, society, and economy are greater. New constraints such as efficient resource usage and low environmental impact require innovative sustainable solutions. Sustainability has become a valuable issue in developing building projects, yet more vital in the case of low-income building projects. Sustainability is achieved when a building maintains qualities such as being: delivered on time, cost-effective in both short and long runs, high quality, good indoor environment, durable, cheaper to maintain, and user friendly.

This paper aims to propose an approach to assess the performance of already built low-income building projects so as to save designers and government authorities from repeating practices proven unsatisfactory.

This aim is achieved by accomplishing three objectives:

1 First, based on a review of literature related to assessing building performance and sustainable development in construction, the paper proposes a set of Key Performance Indicators to Assess Building Performance (KPI_ABP).
2 Second, based on a field survey carried out on a sample of 36 low-income buildings projects constructed by the Government of the UAE in the city of Musaffah, Abu Dhabi, the paper tests the proposed KPI_ABP set in assessing the performance of actual buildings.
3 Finally, based on the results derived from objectives one and two, the paper outlines some learned lessons and recommendations useful to government authorities and construction professionals as to how to enhance the performance of new low-income projects.

The aim and objectives outlined above called for a research strategy, which could gather data sufficiently rich to enable clients and construction professionals to assess building performance as an approach to improve the sustainability of low-income building projects. Two research methods were employed, namely literature review and case studies.