Stakeholder-associated risks and their interactions in complex green building projects: A social network model

• Research paradigms shift from linear impact analysis to network perspective.
• We develop a social network method for analysing stakeholder-associated risks.
• Internal stakeholders, media and assessor/certifier play more important roles in green building.
• Ethical/reputational risks are considered more significant in green building development.

Previous research on risks in complex green building projects has been mainly focused on what the risks are and how they may impact on project objectives. Such studies have tended toward an inward looking perspective that treats risks in isolation from one another. In reality, most risks are interrelated and associated with internal or external project stakeholders. To address this research gap, this current research developed a Social Network Analysis (SNA) based stakeholder-associated risk analysis method to assess and analyse the risks and their interactions in complex green building projects. A case study was conducted to highlight the green-specific risks and their profiles, together with the proposed mitigation actions. The research results presented in this paper may broaden researchers and construction professionals' awareness of influential risks in green building projects and enhance their ability to perceive, understand, assess, and mitigate the risks in an effective and efficient way; thereby achieving higher performance in strategic risk management and stakeholder communication in green building project management.