34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) - Singapore, Singapore - 2026

https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0128

Towards a Circu-Lean Construction economy through standardisation

Nathan G. O. Johns1, Saeed Talebi2 & Mike Kagioglou3

1Lecturer/Dr, Engineering and the Built Environment, Sheffield Hallam University, Sheffield, United Kingdom, [email protected], orcid.org/0009-0004-2377-3089
2Associate Professor, Engineering and the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0001-6711-0931
3Professor, Built Environment, De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom, [email protected], orcid.org/0000-0003-3521-1484

Abstract

As the perpetual advancement of the built environment engulfs the natural environment, sustainable development has been brought to the forefront of innovation within the construction industry. Strategies such as the Circular Economy (CE) and Lean Construction (LC) have been proven to support sustainable goals. However, their application within the construction industry has been hampered by the complexities of the industry’s dynamics. Within both the CE and LC, standardisation has been incorporated to reduce complexity within the industry’s pathology. Using a questionnaire to sample two case studies through an interpretivist perspective, this study seeks to define the foci of standardisation within the CE and LC and investigate the practice’s presence, level of development, and driving force within building construction within the United Kingdom (UK). The findings of this study highlight the increased incorporation of standardisation within building construction in the UK, as well as its sheer driving force and the impact of a lack of standardisation. This study provides a novel contextualisation and conceptual framework for LC and CE standardisation in construction, and an empirical comparison of standardisation between UK house building and residential high-rise projects.

Keywords

Lean Construction, standardisation, circular economy, construction industry.

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Reference in APA 7th edition format:

Johns, N. G. O., Talebi, S. & Kagioglou, M.. (2026). Towards a Circu-Lean Construction economy through standardisation. In Hamzeh, F., Poshdar, M., & Garcia-Lopez,, N. P. (Eds.), Proceedings of the 34th Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction (IGLC 34) (pp. 426–437). https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0128

Shortened reference for use in IGLC papers:

Johns, N. G. O., Talebi, S. & Kagioglou, M.. (2026). Towards a Circu-Lean Construction economy through standardisation. IGLC34. https://doi.org/10.24928/2026/0128

 

Founded in 1993, the IGLC is an international network of researchers from practice and academia in architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) who feel that the practice, education, and research of the AEC industry have to be radically renewed in order to respond to the global challenges ahead.

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