From Systems Thinking to Project Decisions: Bridging the Gap in Building Practice · Best Practices in Building Systems

Title: From Systems Thinking to Project Decisions: Bridging the Gap in Building Practice
Abstract: Housing systems are increasingly understood as complex, interconnected systems shaped by economic, social, technical, and regulatory forces. Despite growing awareness of this complexity, outcomes across the housing sector remain inconsistent. Some housing builders develop innovative best practices and thrive despite increasing regulatory burdens, while others seem to be disconnected from these advances and cannot adapt their businesses accordingly. We suggest that the core challenge is not a lack of knowledge, but the difficulty of translating knowledge into consistent decisions across the lifecycle of a building project. Drawing on prior work in system dynamics, recent research on data supply chains, and advances in construction informatics, we explore the gap between understanding housing systems and operationalizing that understanding in practice. We propose that a building systems-first, decision-centered perspective is required to bridge this gap and improve outcomes in building delivery.
Contributor: Azam Khan; Simon Breslav
Date Submitted: 2026/03/26
Format: PDF
Type: Text
Extent: 2 pages
Language: en-CA
License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-SA 4.0) License
Description: text; references
Identifier: 42
Date Available: 3/23/2026 12:00 AM

Media: From Systems Thinking to Project Decisions: Bridging the Gap in Building Practice