Presentation

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

We call our vision “Lean Construction”. Our goal is to better meet customer demands and
dramatically improve the AEC process as well as product. To achieve this, we are developing new principles and methods for product development and production management specifically tailored to the AEC industry, but akin to those defining lean production that proved to be so successful in manufacturing.

In contrast to other industry organizations, the distinguishing trait of the IGLC is its emphasis on
theory. We view that the lack of an explicit theory has been a major bottleneck for the progress in the AEC field. Conversely, we assume that the clarification of the theoretical foundation, along with principles and methods emanating from the new foundation, would be the most effective means for the renewal of the AEC industry.

The IGLC lay the foundation for the establishment of the Lean Construction Institute (US) in 1997, subsequent LCI affiliate organisations around the globe and other related organisations such as the Project Production System Laboratory (P2SL) UC Berkeley, Centre for Lean Projects, Nottingham Trent University; Project Production Institute to name but a few.

New principles, methods and practices for project delivery and production management specifically tailored to the AEC industry are constantly being designed, developed, and tested by the IGLC community. The output is showcased and reported in conference proceedings every year. The IGLC repository (iglc.net) is free to access and is the recognised body of knowledge on lean design and construction with over 1500 conference papers searchable by keyword and authors. Much of the lean principles, methods and practices used by today’s AEC industry stem from original IGLC research.

Annual conferences are the main activity of the IGLC, and their locations rotate amongst the
continents. Due to the current global situation and the positive feedback received from the 28th IGLC Annual Conference organised by UC Berkeley, the 29th IGLC Annual Conference will be held 100% online and organised by the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru.