Digital Technologies for Sustainable Construction Project Management: A Systematic Review of Benefits and Challenges
Abstract
1. Introduction
- RQ1. What key digital technologies are leveraged to improve construction project management productivity, safety, and sustainability?
- RQ2. What are the benefits of integrating digital technologies into project productivity, worker safety, and environmental sustainability in construction projects?
- RQ3. What challenges hinder digital technology adoption and effective implementation in construction project management?
1.1. Digital Technologies and Enhanced Productivity
1.2. Digital Technologies and Workers’ Safety
1.3. Digital Technologies and Environmental Sustainability
1.4. Theoretical Framework: Diffusion of Innovation
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Search and Strategy
2.2. Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria
2.3. Data Collection and Process
3. Results
3.1. Key Digital Technologies Being Leveraged to Improve Productivity, Safety, and Sustainability in Construction Project Management
- Productivity
- Safety
- Sustainability
Methodological Limitations and Regional Variations of Studies
3.2. Benefit of Integrating Digital Technologies on Project Productivity, Workers’ Safety, and Environmental Sustainability in Construction Projects
3.3. Challenges Hindering Digital Technology Adoption and Effective Implementation in Construction Project Management
- High implementation cost
- Data privacy and security issues
- Inadequate training and skills expertise
- Resistance to change by professionals, workers, and stakeholders
- Absence of standardized practices
- Data quality issues
- Complexity of integrating different systems
- Change management hurdles
- Signal interference
- Lack of an innovation culture
- Differences between the as-built and the initial design
- Poor data interoperability
- Unstable prediction algorithms
- Complex multipath interference
- Lack of engagement from senior-level management
- Challenges in synchronizing large datasets
4. Discussion
4.1. Implications for Productivity
4.2. Implications for Safety
4.3. Implications for Sustainability
4.4. Barriers to Adoption
4.5. Proposed PSS Digital Integration Framework
4.6. Contributions to Knowledge
4.7. Implications for Practice and Policy
5. Conclusions
Key Gaps Recommended for Future Studies
- Sustainability-driven digital solutions are still underrepresented and require more empirical evaluation.
- Regional imbalances persist, with limited research from Africa, North America, and Oceania.
- Underutilized technologies such as AR, IoT, and 3D printing should be studied more extensively across various project phases.
- A primary challenge to progress is resistance to change, which necessitates further investigation into its specific barriers and the development of a comprehensive framework for change management. This framework should focus on cultivating a digital and innovative culture within the construction firm to overcome adoption hurdles.
- The lack of standardization across data formats and systems calls for international harmonization efforts.
- Research should explore cost-effective and inclusive digital tools that make innovation accessible to smaller firms.
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Abbreviations
| PSS | Productivity, Safety, Sustainability |
| BIM | Building Information Modeling |
| DT | Digital Twins |
| AR | Augmented reality |
| VR | Virtual Reality |
| IoT | Internet of Things |
| GIS | Geographic Information System |
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| Productivity | Safety | Sustainability |
|---|---|---|
| Increase productivity | Safety and risk management | Improve sustainability |
| Enhanced collaboration | Real-time safety monitoring | Resource optimization |
| Automation of data collection | High precision risk assessment | Waste reduction |
| Streamlined flow of information | Improve data exchange | Enhance design efficiency |
| Reduced reworks and errors | Improve the communication of hazards | Better planning and resource management |
| Real-time monitoring | Safety planning | |
| Reduction in construction time | Accurate risk assessment |
| Authors | Digital Technologies | Benefits | Challenges |
|---|---|---|---|
| [1] | Agent-based modeling | Enhance productivity, foster collaboration, automate on-site data collection, and gain insight into interactions among workers, tools, and materials. | Privacy and data security concerns, cost and change management hurdles, and integration challenges with other digital technologies. |
| [38,39] | Augmented reality | Increase productivity, Enhanced Communication and Visualization, Improved Efficiency and Accuracy. | High costs, limited research on AR in construction, a shortage of qualified specialists, and resistance from workers. |
| [1] | Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) | Accurate, low-energy construction resources tracking, accuracy in real-time tracking, automating attendance recording, and providing real-time visibility and insights. | Signal interference and scalability challenges in larger or more complex construction environments. |
| [1,25,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45] | BIM | Safety and risk management reduce rework and errors, increase productivity, decrease construction time, enhance sustainability, improve collaboration and information flow, facilitate informed decision-making, and strengthen quality control, ultimately leading to improved project outcomes. | High training costs, compliance with standards and regulations, poor data interoperability between software, data security concerns, a shortage of skilled labor, inadequate training, resistance to change, a lack of innovation culture, and discrepancies between the as-built and the initial design, data sharing, collaborative workflows, environments, and risks from inconsistent data formats and quality. |
| [46] | Machine Learning Algorithms | Provides early warning of future risks, minimizes operating risks, optimizes decision-making, and enhances safety and experience. | Data collection and processing issues, unstable prediction algorithms, and complex multipath interference. |
| [46,47,48,49] | Digital Twin | Modeling complex real-world systems, improving project efficiency, enabling real-time monitoring, predictive maintenance, reducing construction time, minimizing waste, supporting just-in-time delivery, increasing productivity and sustainability, and providing early risk warnings. | The lack of standardization in digital twins, complex AI algorithms, high implementation costs, a shortage of skilled workers, resistance to change, data privacy concerns, and difficulties in synchronizing large datasets from BIM, IoT, and GIS all create significant challenges. |
| [25] | Geographic Information System (GIS) | Real-time safety monitoring, high-precision risk assessment, and visual displays. | Data security and privacy risks, usability barriers. |
| [50] | Integrating immersive technologies (ImTS) | Better communication of hazards, safety planning, engagement during training, and more accurate risk assessment. | Lack of senior-level engagement, inadequate leadership, limited financial investment, a shortage of digital expertise, fear of complacency, and the team’s reluctance to embrace ImTs. |
| [25,49] | IoT | Real-time monitoring, data exchange, enhanced safety, improved asset and resource management, data-driven decision making, increased efficiency, and productivity. | High implementation costs, lack of standardization and integration, poor connectivity, data and privacy concerns, inadequate training, and a lack of skills expertise. |
| [43] | Virtual Design and Construction | Improve productivity, enhance data Management, promote collaborative integration, and support organizational learning. | Complexity of integrating different systems, resistance to new changes, and low data quality. |
| [45,51] | 3D printing | Increase in productivity and Greater accuracy. | Absence of standardized practices, high costs, and an unreinforced and brittle nature of the printed elements, and an operational monitoring gap. |
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Adejola, F.O.; Nwobodo-Anyadiegwu, E.N. Digital Technologies for Sustainable Construction Project Management: A Systematic Review of Benefits and Challenges. Sustainability 2025, 17, 11247. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411247
Adejola FO, Nwobodo-Anyadiegwu EN. Digital Technologies for Sustainable Construction Project Management: A Systematic Review of Benefits and Challenges. Sustainability. 2025; 17(24):11247. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411247
Chicago/Turabian StyleAdejola, Folasade Olabisi, and Eveth Nkeiruka Nwobodo-Anyadiegwu. 2025. "Digital Technologies for Sustainable Construction Project Management: A Systematic Review of Benefits and Challenges" Sustainability 17, no. 24: 11247. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411247
APA StyleAdejola, F. O., & Nwobodo-Anyadiegwu, E. N. (2025). Digital Technologies for Sustainable Construction Project Management: A Systematic Review of Benefits and Challenges. Sustainability, 17(24), 11247. https://doi.org/10.3390/su172411247

