Anil Sawhney

Visiting Professor of the Practice, Administrative Sciences

An accomplished construction and infrastructure leader with a background in research, education, thought leadership, advising, and consulting, Dr. Sawhney has more than twenty-five years of experience in the global construction and infrastructure sector. He is currently global head of sustainability for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), chair of the Standards Setting Committee for International Cost Management Standards (ICMS), and a member of the Standards Setting Committee for the Construction Specifications Institute. Sawhney has authored thought leadership papers on the future of work in construction, sustainability and decarbonization, digital twins, digitalization in construction, construction productivity, the future of building information modeling (BIM), benchmarking in the infrastructure sector, and social value in infrastructure. To date, Sawhney has been published in more than 150 refereed technical journals and conferences. He is a coeditor of the Journal of Construction Innovation: Information, Process, Management and serves on the international editorial boards of the ICE Infrastructure Asset Management Journal and the International Journal of Information Technology in Construction. He has also coauthored the Handbook of Construction Safety, Health, and Well-being in the Industry 4.0 Era (Routledge, 2023) and Construction 4.0: An Innovation Platform for the Built Environment (Routledge, 2020). Sawhney has faculty positions at Columbia University’s School of Professional Studies, the University of Southern California’s Bovard College, and Liverpool John Moores University in the United Kingdom. In February 2024, Sawhney was appointed as a member of the Executive Advisory Committee, FAST-Infra Label. He is the recipient of the 7th CIDC Vishwakarma Achievement Award for Academician from the Construction Industry Development Council, New Delhi, and the 2014 Distinguished Scholar Award from Project Management Institute, India.

Research Interests

Courses

Scholarly Works

Books and Book Chapters

Patrick Manu, Gao Shang, Paulo Bartolo, Valerie Francis, and Anil Sawhney. Handbook of Construction Safety, Health, and Well-being in the Industry 4.0 Era (Taylor & Francis Group, May 2023). ISBN: 9781032079929

Sawhney, A., Riley, M., and Irrizary, J. Construction 4.0—Innovation Platform for the Built Environment (Taylor & Francis Group, 2020). ISBN: 9780429398100

Pothier, D., and Sawhney, A. “Future of Work in Construction.” Autodesk and RICS (2020). https://damassets.autodesk.net/content/dam/autodesk/www/industries/education/construction/docs/autodesk-white-paper-construction.pdf

Bhatnagar, A., Nanda, T. P., Singh, S., Upadhyay, K., Sawhney, A., and Swamy, D. T. V. R. R. “Analysing the Role of India’s Smart Cities Mission in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 and the New Urban Agenda.” In Sustainable Development Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, edited by Leal Filho, W., Rogers, J., and Iyer-Raniga, U. (World Sustainability Series, Springer Cham, 2018): 275–292. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73293-0

Singh, S., Rakshit, S., Nanda, T. P., Bhatnagar, A., and Sawhney. A. “Sustainability in Construction Management Education: An Indian Perspective.” In Sustainable Development Research in the Asia-Pacific Region, edited by Leal Filho, W., Rogers, J., and Iyer-Raniga, U. (World Sustainability Series, Springer Cham, 2018): 149–164. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73293-0

Sawhney, A., Khanzode, A., and Tiwari, S. “Building Information Modelling for Project Managers” (RICS, 2017). https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/research/BIM%20for%20Project%20Managers.pdf

Sawhney, A., Singh, M. M., and Ahuja, R. “Worldwide BIM Overview.” In Integrated Building Information Modelling, edited by Haijiang Li, Xiangyu Wang, and Peng Wu (Bentham Science Publishers, 2016): 1–45. ISBN: 978-1-68108-458-9

Sawhney, A. “International BIM implementation guide (1st edition)” (RICS, 2014). ISBN: 978 1 78321 077 0 https://www.rics.org/content/dam/ricsglobal/documents/standards/international_bim_implementation_guide_1st_edition_rics.pdf

AbouRizk, S. M., Halpin, D. W., and Sawhney, A. “Modeling Uncertainty in Construction Simulation.” In Uncertainty Modeling and Analysis: Theory and Applications, Vol. 17, edited by B. M. Ayyub and M. M. Gupta (North-Holland-Elsevier Scientific Publishers, 1994) ISBN-10: 0-444-81954-1

AbouRizk, S. M., and Sawhney, A. Automated House Inspection Advisor (Province of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, 1993). ISBN: 0-88654-412-2

Peer-Reviewed Journals

Ballesty, S., and Sawhney, A. “Decarbonization of the Built Environment: using integrated life cycle and carbon emissions reporting.” IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science 1176, no. 1 (2023): 012046. https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1176/1/012046

Bendi, D., Rana, M. Q., Arif, M., Lamb, S. M., Sawhney, A., and Kaushik, A. K. “Assessing off-site readiness in construction organisations: cases from India.” Construction Innovation 22, no. 2 (2021): 320–341. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-01-2021-0005

Rana, M. Q., Arif, M., Goulding, J., Sawhney, A., and Bendi, D. “An off-site construction readiness maturity model for the Indian construction sector.” Construction Innovation 21, no. 1 (2021): 123–142. https://doi.org/10.1108/CI-07-2020-0121

Tirumala, V., Tiwari, P., Sawhney, A., Krishnan, K. P. “Analysing Configurational Paths for Successful PPPs in Indian Urban Drinking Water Sector.” ASCE Journal of Infrastructure Systems 26, no. 3 (September 2020). https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)IS.1943-555X.0000557

Mittal, Y. K., Paul, V. K., Rostami, A., and Sawhney, A. “Delay factors in the construction of healthcare infrastructure projects: a comparison amongst developing countries.” Asian Journal of Civil Engineering vol. 21 (2020): 649–661. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42107-020-00227-1

Mukherjee, K. K., Iyer, K.C., and Sawhney, A. “Sector-level objectives and associated inhibiting and enabling factors for the Indian real estate sector from a process standardization perspective.” Journal of Property Management 37, no. 3 (2019): 367–389. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-03-2018-0019

Mittal, Y. K., Paul, V. K., and Sawhney, A. “Methodology for Estimating the Cost of Delay in Architectural Engineering Projects: Case of Metro Rails in India” Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India) Series A vol. 100 (2019): 311–318. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40030-019-00366-y

Swamy, D. T. V., Tiwari, P., and Sawhney, A. “Assessing Determinants of PPP Project Performance: Applying AHP to Urban Drinking Water Sector in India.” Journal of Property Management 36, no. 1, (2018): 67–85. https://doi.org/10.1108/PM-08-2016-0046

Ahuja, R., Sawhney, A., Jain, M., Arif, M., and Rakshit, S. “Factors influencing BIM adoption in emerging markets—the case of India.” International Journal of Construction Management 20, no. 1 (2018): 65–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2018.1462445

Ahuja, R., Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “Developing Organizational Capabilities to Deliver Lean and Green Project Outcomes using BIM.” Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management 25, no. 10 (2018): 1255–1276. https://doi.org/10.1108/ECAM-08-2017-0175

Singh, M. M., Sawhney, A., and Sharma, V. “Utilising Building Component Data from BIM for formwork planning.” Construction Economics and Building 17, no. 4 (2017): 20–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/AJCEB.v17i4.5546

Singh, M. M., Sawhney, A., and Borrmann, A. “Integrating Rules of Modular Coordination to Improve Model Authoring in BIM” International Journal of Construction Management 19, no. 1 (2017): 15–31.http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/15623599.2017.1358077

Ahuja, R., Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “Driving lean and green project outcomes using BIM: A qualitative comparative analysis.” International Journal of Sustainable Built Environment 6, no. 1 (2017): 69–80, ISSN 2212-6090, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijsbe.2016.10.006

Gupta, A., Sawhney, A., Bajaj, D., and Agarwal, S. “Significance of Real Estate Fund Management in India.” Journal of Real Estate Literature 25, no. 1 (2017): 141–168. https://doi.org/10.1080/10835547.2017.12090445

Ahuja, R., Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “Prioritizing BIM Capabilities of an Organization: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Analysis.” Procedia Engineering vol. 196 (2017): 2–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.166

Basu, R., Nanyam, V. P. S. N., and Sawhney, A. “A Multi-dimensional Subcontractor Evaluation Framework for Nonconventional Housing Systems.” Procedia Engineering vol. 196, (2017): 253–261. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.197

Nanyam, V. P. S. N., Basu, R., Sawhney, A., Vikram, H., and Lodha, G. “Implementation of Precast Technology in India–Opportunities and Challenges.” Procedia Engineering vol. 196 (2017): 144–151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.184

Nanyam, V. P. S. N., Sawhney, A., and Gupta, P. A. “Evaluating Offsite Technologies for Affordable Housing.” Procedia Engineering vol. 196 (2017): 135–143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2017.07.183

Ahuja, R., Jain, M., Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “Adoption of BIM by Architectural Firms in India: Technology-Organization-Environment Perspective.” Architectural Engineering and Design Management 12, no. 4 (2016): 311–330. https://doi.org/10.1080/17452007.2016.1186589

Manav Mahan, Sawhney, A., Borrmann, A. “Modular coordination and BIM: Development of rule-based smart building components.” Procedia Engineering vol. 123 (2015): 519–527. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.10.104

Recent Papers in Peer-Reviewed Conference Proceedings

Sawhney, A., Riley, M., Irizarry, J., and Pérez, C. “A Proposed Framework for Construction 4.0 Based on a Review of Literature.” EPiC Series in Built Environment, Associated Schools of Construction Proceedings of the 56th Annual International Conference vol. 1 (2020): 301–309. https://doi.org/10.29007/4nk3

Bhatnagar, A., Nanda, T. P., Singh, S., Upadhyay, K., Sawhney, A., and Swamy, D. “Analysing the Role of India’s Smart Cities Mission in Achieving Sustainable Development Goal 11 and the New Urban Agenda.” Symposium on Sustainable Development Research in Asia Pacific, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia (July 25–28, 2017).

Singh, S., Bhatnagar, A., Sawhney, A., and Triveni Nanda. “Sustainability in Construction Management Education: An Indian Perspective.” Symposium on Sustainable Development Research in Asia Pacific, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia (July 25–28, 2017).

Sharma, S., Sawhney, A., Arif, M. “Parametric Modelling for Designing Offsite Construction.” In Procedia Engineering vol. 196, Creative Construction Conference, Primosten, Croatia (June 19–22, 2017): 1114–1121.

Nanyam, V. P. S., Basu, R., Sawhney, A., Vikram, H., and Lodha, G. “Implementation of Precast Technology in India—Opportunities and Challenges.” In Procedia Engineering vol. 196, Creative Construction Conference, Primosten, Croatia (June 19–22, 2017): 144–151.

Nanyam, VPS., Sawhney, A., and Gupta, P. “Evaluating Offsite Technologies for Affordable Housing.” In Procedia Engineering vol. 196, Creative Construction Conference, Primosten, Croatia (June 19–22, 2017): 135–143.

Ahuja, R., Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “Prioritizing BIM capability of an organisation: an interpretive structural modelling analysis.” In Procedia Engineering vol. 196, Creative Construction Conference, Primosten, Croatia (June 19–22, 2017): 2–10.

Basu, R., Nanyam, V. P. S., and Sawhney, A. “A multi-dimensional subcontractor evaluation framework for non-conventional housing systems.” In Procedia Engineering vol. 196, Creative Construction Conference, Primosten, Croatia (June 19–22, 2017): 253–261.

Singh, M., Sawhney, A., Sharma, V., and Kumari, S. “Exploring Potentials of BIM Data for Formwork Design through API Development.” In Proceedings of the ID@50 Integrated Design Conference, edited by Emmitt, S., and Adeyeye, K. University of Bath, Bath, UK (June 26–July 1, 2016).

Sawhney, A., Singh, M., and Sharma, V. “Building Information Modelling & International Property Measurement Standards: Promising Prospects.” In Proceedings of the ID@50 Integrated Design Conference, edited by Emmitt, S., and Adeyeye, K. University of Bath, Bath, UK (June 26–July 1, 2016).

Pateel, C., Nanyam, V. P. S., and Sawhney, A. “Framework for estimation of profitability for high-rise residential projects.” AUBEA 40th Australasian Universities Building Education Association Conference, Cairns, Australia (July 6–8, 2016): 122–134.

Charlesraj, V. P. C., Sawhney, A., and Maheswari, J. U. “Big Data Analytics and Cloud Computing–What is in it for Construction Project Managers?” Presented at International Conference on Sustainable Design, Engineering and Construction (ICSDEC 2016), Arizona State University, Tempe, Ariz. (May 18-20, 2016).

Charlesraj, V. P. C., Sawhney, A., Singh, M., and Sreekumar, A. “BIM Studio—An Immersive Curricular Tool for Construction Project Management Education.” 32nd International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining, Oulu, Finland (June 15–18, 2015).

Nanyam, V. P. S., Basu, R., Sawhney, A., and Prasad J. K. “Multi-attributes Evaluation Methodology for Emerging Housing Technologies.” In Proceedings, Creative Construction Conference 2015, Krakow, Poland (June 21–24, 2015).

Singh, M. M., Sawhney, A., and Borrmann, A. “Rule-Based Building Components for Modular Coordination.” In Proceedings, Creative Construction Conference 2015, Krakow, Poland (June 21–24, 2015).

Sawhney, A., Mukherjee, K. K., Pour Rahimian, F., and Goulding, J. S. “Enhanced use of ICT by SMEs in construction: a scenario thinking approach.” In Proceedings, Creative Construction Conference 2014, edited by M. Hajdu and M. J. Skibniewski, Prague, Czech Republic (June 21–24, 2014): 334–339.

Abrishami, S., Goulding, J. S., Pour Rahimian, F., Ganah, A., and Sawhney, A. “G-BIM Framework: A Feasibility Study for the Adoption of Generative BIM Workspace for Conceptual Design Automation.” In Proceedings, Creative Construction Conference 2014, edited by M. Hajdu and M. J. Skibniewski. Prague, Czech Republic (June 21–24, 2014): 539–543.

Ahuja, R, Sawhney, A., and Arif, M. “BIM-Based Conceptual Framework for Lean and Green Integration.” In Proceedings, 22nd Annual Conference of the International Group for Lean Construction, edited by Bo Terje Kalsaas, Lauri Koskela, and Tarcisio Abreu Saurin. Oslo, Norway (2014).

Select Industry Reports

“Digitalisation in Construction” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2023).

“Role and importance of data and technology in quantity surveying and cost management practice” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2023).

“Digitalisation in Construction” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2022).

“Digital Twins from Design to Handover of Constructed Assets” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2022).

“The Future of BIM: Digital Transformation in the UK in Construction” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2020).

“Benchmarking in the Infrastructure Sector” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2020).

“Measuring Social Value in Infrastructure Projects: Insights from the Public Sector” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2020).

“Urban Makeover: Evolution or Revolution” (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, 2016).

Recent Invited Presentations

“Solutions and challenges for digital innovation to drive the reduction of whole life carbon emissions.” Buildings and Climate Global Forum, Paris, France, March 7, 2024.

“Global South and Life Cycle Assessments.” Whole Life Cycle Policy Coalition and Global Alliance for Buildings and Construction, Buildings and Climate Global Forum, Paris, France, March 6.

“Industrialized Construction: Megatrends shaping the future of construction.” Keynote presentation, 2nd International Conference on Civil Infrastructure and Construction, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar, February 5–8, 2023.

“Data, digitalization, and standards as allies for better project outcomes.” Project Controls Expo 2023, Washington, D.C., September 2023.

“Do you have a carbon strategy for your project?” Project Controls Expo 2023, Washington, D.C., September 2023.

“Whole Life Carbon Assessments: What does it mean for the US Construction industry and for you?” Greenbuild 2023, September 2023.

“The Future of BIM In the UK Construction and Infrastructure Sector.” Keynote address, BIM in Construction 2022, University of East London, October 2022.

“Build with speed—sticks and bricks versus Construction 4.0.” Keynote presentation, UltraTech Cement IndiaNext Challenge, December 2021.

“Vision Construction 4.0.” Keynote presentation, International Conference on Construction, Real Estate, Infrastructure, and Project Management, December 2021.

“Leverage data to design and construct assets with broader goals of sustainability.” Keynote presentation, Drastic Virtual Summit—BUILT WORLD POST COVID-19, October 2020.

“Construction 4.0 and the Future of Construction in the ‘New Normal.’” Keynote presentation, 2nd International Conference on Construction Futures, University of Wolverhampton, July 2020.

“Future Trends in Construction Education—Lessons Learned from the Current Crisis in Rapid Facility Delivery.” 2020 Construction Engineering and Management Global Leadership Forum, June 2020.

“Infrastructure Futures—the four infrastructure trends that will shape our future.” Panelist, World Economic Forum and Global Infrastructure Hub, July 2020.

“Innovation and road to recovery.” Panelist, 2020 InfraChallenge, Global Infrastructure Hub, September 2020.

“Construction 4.0: Concepts and Practices.” Department of Civil, Environmental & Ocean Engineering, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, November 2019.

“Just You, Me, and Tomorrow: An intimate session between NY’s largest owners, tech providers, educators, and our audience on what is needed to deliver the next generation of projects.” Panelist, 2019 Columbia University and RICS Construction Technology Symposium, New York City

“Data, Data Standards, and Analytics to Improve Cost Estimation—Role of ICMS.” Panel chair, CIQS 2019 Conference, Quebec City, July 2019.

Select Grants and Awards

Role of Data and Data Standards in Early Cost Advice (PI)
Funding Agency: Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors Research Trust
External Funding: $13,500; Project Start Date: July 2017

Transit-Oriented Development Framework for Indian Smart Cities (Co-PI)
Funding Agency: Foreign and Commonwealth Office, UK
External Funding: $16,500; Project Start Date: May 2016

Knowledge Portal for Sustainable Habitat (Co-PI)
Funding Agency: Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council
External Funding: $11,700; Project Start Date: March 2016

Testing of Multi-attribute Evaluation Methodology for Housing Technologies (PI)
Funding Agency: Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council
External Funding: $12,300; Project Start Date: August 2015

Multi-attribute Evaluation Methodology for Emerging Housing Technologies (PI)
Funding Agency: Building Materials and Technology Promotion Council
External Funding: $20,500; Project Start Date: October 2014

BIM Studio: Immersive Curricular Tool for Construction Project Management (PI)
Funding Agency: Autodesk
External Funding: $17,000; Project Start Date: May 2014

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