The Influence of Sustainability and Green Approaches on Project Management - Coursework Example

The influence of sustainability and green approaches on project management. Name Institution: Course: Tutor: Location: Date: The influence of sustainability and green approaches on project management Introduction Recently, the issue of sustainable project management has sparked a lot of debate and interest. This may be attributed to the fact that the society has not been paying enough attention to practices and habits that have been harming our planet. More precisely, the society has been reluctant in acknowledging sustainability (the integration of the social, economic and environmental interests for the purpose of advancing the best practices that uphold better living standards). 1. Sustainability Sustainability involves the integration of the social, economic and environmental interests for the purpose of advancing the best practices that uphold better living standards. In our case, sustainability is concerned with the need to put into consideration the different co-relating elements of the building’s design and how they will work interactively to meet the needs of the occupants, the owner, and the environment in the most effective manner. The general expectation of the building design is that it will lead to buildings that will embrace efficient use of resources, consider affordable material cost and will meet all terms of consumption (Bainbridge, D, A., and Haggard, K, L. 2011, 158). The project may also consider focusing on certain objectives directed towards addressing the socio-economic impacts of the building design’s deliverables and the building process at large. The objectives may consider addressing issues such as water, climate change, the community, carbon, the environment and even the operations. There might also be the need to measure the project against the most absolute ideal in the categories. For carbon, the most absolute ideal for the project would be to maintain a state of being carbon neutral in its operations (Metz, B. 2005, 75). I.Sustainable related project management Some of the related sustainable project management to this project may include: Waste carbon management and water/sewer management. The building design is centered towards a known deliverable called a building. In the due process, the building is bound to pollute the environment due to various carbon components emission. A related project to the current project at hand may focus on the neutralization of the carbon components for sustainability purposes.Water management may also be another related project. This project may focus on the availability of clean water and the continued/constant water supply years on after completion of the project. ii. Building design The building’s specification and schedules (design) are meant to be produced in line with the client’s requirements and in accordance with the available/agreed budget for the project. This is meant to rely on the most appropriate and approved building regulation drawings and standards. It is also centered towards guiding the contractor on the best cost estimation method for the project and also, determining the best materials for the project’s sustainability. 2. Requirements In our case, requirements may involve some properties/necessities that are necessary towards the deliverable of the building design. Some of the requirements may incorporate possible technological integration like mild floor heating and cooling mechanism, requirements proposed by the owner and those from the local authorities (Ballast, D, K. 2013, 30). Requirements by the owner (employer) may include: Specifications for the building, scope of services from the contractor and a list of unknown risks. On the other hand, requirements from the local authority may enlist aspects that entail the safety standards; as spelt out in the local building codes. 3. Software design Software design comprises a process that transforms user specifications into forms that are suitable for coding and implementation (Baer, P, A. 2008, 54). Usually, the output can be used in implementation, depending on the programing languages. While designing Software, its design is usually the first in Software Design Life Cycle (SDLC). SDLC is a methodology that focuses on problem solving techniques. In software design, there are a number of design levels (Zhu, H. 2005). These levels comprise of the High level design, Architectural design, and the detailed design. The architectural design is the utmost abstract version of the structure. It describes the software as a system with numerous components, cooperating with each other (Peters, D. 2008 p 3). At this stage, the designers begin to get the clue of the proposed deliverable. The high-level design disintegrates the single entity-multiple component idea of architectural plan into less-theoretical outlook of the sub-systems, segments, and presents their relations with each other. High-level design emphasizes on how the system, including its entire component could be executed in forms of modules. The system acknowledges modular assembly of every other sub-system, their interaction and relation among each other. The last level, which is the detailed design, deals with the implementation bit of what is perceived as a system and its sub-systems in the two previous plans. The detailed design is more comprehensive towards modules and their executions. It defines the coherent structure of every other module and their interfaces to interact with other modules. The outputs of software design progression are usually one of the following: Detailed logic diagrams, pseudo codes or a detailed description of all functional or non-functional requirements design documentation process diagrams (Jalote, P. 2005, 78). The next phase, which is execution of the software, relies on all outputs cited above. It is then that it becomes essential to verify the output prior to proceeding to the subsequent phase. The faster a mistake is identified, the better it is otherwise, it might not be noticed until testing. With the use of the structured verification approach, critics can detect flaws that might be caused by neglecting some conditions (Myers, G, J., Sandler, C & Badgett, T., 2012). A decent design review is vital for quality, accuracy and a good software design. a. Different meanings of “functional” and “prototype” in different fields A prototype is a simulation or a model of a real thing (Forsberg, K., Mooz, H., & Cotterman, H. 2005, 430).  In a system breakdown (analysis) a prototype is a replica of the actual system (also called a sub-system). A system might be anything like an air traffic control of a major airport or even a system meant to order food in a cafeteria. Functional prototype helps one learn performance issues and rectify them prior to investing in product manufacturing, tooling and documentation. These prototypes help one evaluate an assembly’s function (Borrione, D. 2010, 62). The final system is most of the time remodeled in other languages for machine efficiency or regularity. However, prototyping has assisted in providing requirements for an actual, working scheme rather than a theoretical system. There are four prototyping approaches in use currently which complements the traditional SDLC (Le clair, C. 2005, 156). Among these approaches is the Illustrative approach. It produces only models of different accounts and screens. Simulated approach activates some system tasks but does not include an actual model, a data base or data. The Functional approach executes some real system functions and utilizes an actual data and/or a database. The model is usually not implemented. Evolutionary approach is the last approach. It creates model(s) that become the operational system. b. waterfall Waterfall development has discrete goals for each stage of development (Meinel, C., & Leifer, L. 2011). Here, is an example, picture a waterfall on a cliff of a mountain slope. Once the river water has flown down the mountain, it can never turn back. This is the case with waterfall development. Once a phase is concluded, the development continues to the subsequent stage (s) and there is no turning back. Every software development is unique and requires an appropriate SDLC methodology to be followed on the basis of both the external and internal factors (Kendrick, T. 2009, 271). One of the pros of this methodology is that it normally consents for departmentalization. Its drawback is that it does not consent for much revision. Once an application is in the testing phase, it is very difficult to go back and modify something that was not well documented in the previous phases. The stages in the waterfall design include: Definition Study/Analysis, basic Design, Technical Design/Detailed Design, Construction, testing, Integration, Management and Maintenance, respectively from top to bottom. C .software design related to project management (similar way to the waterfall model of software development) The model related to the waterfall model of software development is called the Agile approach. Agile approach is a looping, team-based methodology to software development (Abrahamsson, P., & Marchesi, M. 2006, 213). This approach stresses on the rapid conveyance of an application in comprehensive functional components. It performs this, rather than forming schedules and tasks that are all “time-boxed” into stages referred to as “sprints.” Each sprint has a well-defined duration (usually in weeks) with a functional list of deliverables and premeditated sprint in advance. Deliverables are ordered by their value as dictated by the customer. If all planned task for the sprint cannot be concluded, work is reprioritized and the information is preserved for future sprint planning. 4. Project planning The key to a fruitful project rests in the planning stage (Cormen, T, H. 2001, 770). Generating a project plan is the most paramount thing to do when working on any type of project. Often, project planning is ignored with a burning urge to get on with the work. However, most people fail to understand the worth of a project plan in terms of saving, time and avoiding problems. A project is fruitful when the requirements of the shareholders are taken care of (Armendariz, B., & Murdoch, J. 2010). Using the goals/objectives defined in the initial step, there is a need to create a list of requirements that the project needs to deliver in order to achieve the set goals. There is also a need to state how and when each constituent ought to be delivered. The next step should be directed towards enlisting tasks that need to be carried out for each deliverable identified in each and every step for a sustainable project. References Abrahamsson, P & Marchesi, M. 2006. 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