Sector sustainability strategies can provide industry sectors with a way of managing risksand opportunities, and contributing to sustainable development. The UK Government hasencouraged their development in the construction industry. British Precast, as the tradeassociation for the precast concrete industry in the UK, had undertaken to develop asector sustainability strategy for that industry. However, the development of suchstrategies is a departure from the traditional role of the trade association and presentedBritish Precast with a number of challenges. This EngD research programme wastherefore established in order to address those challenges and facilitate progress towards amore sustainable precast industry.The research programme has followed a mixed method strategy of inquiry based onaction research methodology, that is, a series of research cycles have been undertakenwith the findings from each cycle being used to inform and guide subsequent cycles;archival analysis, survey and case study were the main research methods used. Therequirement of the EngD programme to publish elements of the work in refereed journaland conference papers as the research progresses has allowed the research to be validatedas scientifically satisfactory.The strategy development process combined best practice, current and emerging theory,original research, stakeholder engagement, and experience from other sectors andindustries. The strategy was produced in the form of an action plan for British Precast.This plan differs from the sustainability strategies produced for other sectors of theconstruction products industry in that rather than simply promoting action on specificobjectives, it provides British Precast with a means of engaging with the industry and itsstakeholders, and facilitating progress towards a more sustainable precast industry. Theaction plan has been well received by the industry and its stakeholders, and there is clearevidence that it is helping to guide the business decisions of companies in the industry,and that progress towards a more sustainable precast industry is being achieved as aresult.The research supporting the strategy development process has added to currentknowledge and guidance on the development of sector sustainability strategies, but shownthat there are limits to the influence trade associations can have over their members’actions. It has also been shown that the development of management systems, particularlyenvironmental management systems to ISO 14001, and continuous performanceimprovement cultures can assist companies in managing for sustainability, supporting thefindings of other studies. However, further work is needed to build support for the actionplan within the precast industry, particularly amongst SMEs, to support the downstreamsupply chain in using precast products to deliver more sustainable construction, and toassist companies in achieving progress towards corporate sustainability.Recommendations are made for this work.
