Lean Construction: Reducing Waste and Enhancing Value

Afshan Barshan, executive vice president and partner at Skender Construction and a widely recognized expert in Lean Project Delivery.

CHICAGO—The costs of construction have been on the upswing, especially in core regions like Chicago, and that inflation shows little sign of moderating. As a result, developers across the nation have started experimenting with ways to cut costs. Many designers, architects, engineers and contractors have discovered methods, collectively known as “Lean Construction,” to improve the overall process of creating a new project, along with cutting construction costs. And this system aims to do a lot more than make individual actions more efficient. Users help everyone involved in a project get out of their respective silos, and share knowledge. To learn more about this new way of doing things, GlobeSt.com sat down with Afshan Barshan, executive vice president and partner at Skender Construction and a widely recognized expert in Lean Project Delivery. Barshan was a founding member of the Lean Construction Institute Chicago Community of Practice.

What is Lean Construction?