Paper short abstract:

Business intelligence can help define and measure sustainability in social housing in order to make effective and efficient decisions for complex data. This conceptual article recommends creating a framework for business intelligence in social housing.

Paper long abstract:

Sustainability has become a buzzword and still, after decades of research, lacks a coherent and unifying definition among researchers and practitioners. Yet, sustainability is seen as important in order to combat climate change. Buildings, particularly housing, have received much attention in that respect. The impact of housing on the sustainability of a city and how it ties with other actors within the urban environment is massive. Social housing makes up around 18% of the UK housing sector, with sustainability as a consideration from both regulators and international agreements. It is therefore important that the sector is able to accurately define and measure sustainability. This conceptual article argues that business intelligence can help to both quantify and define sustainability in social housing. Business intelligence is part of data-driven decision support systems and provides mechanisms for data management. Its ultimate goal is to lead to sustained effective and efficient decision making processes. This article provides a framework for using business intelligence in the decision making process on sustainability initiatives. It provides a framework that other organisations could use for their own sustainability initiatives, and to increase effectiveness and efficiency of decision making overall. For example, how could private and public organisations work together to increase social housing stock, since the UK's housing crisis largely affects poorer households? The data-driven framework hopefully allows social housing to integrate into city-wide initiatives to create sustainable cities.