Awareness of the global sand crisis and sand substitutes in the construction industry in the United States and Canada: a stakeholder analysis

Unearthing the Construction Industry’s Awareness of and Reactions to the Global Sand Crisis

“…Although information about the global sand crisis is available from various sources, including the United Nations [1,17], little is known about the extent to which professionals in the construction industry have been exposed to that information [18]. A recent survey by our research team [20] explored this issue in the United States and Canada and found a low level of awareness among 378 professionals across various roles in the construction industry. The present study seeks to explore in greater depth the level of awareness of a subset of these survey respondents, and to understand their reactions to learning about the need to reduce the use of sand in construction applications.…”

“…This study is part of a larger project by our research team that designed and administered a lengthy questionnaire to professionals engaged in various roles in the construction industry in the United States and Canada [20,30]. The questionnaire investigated a variety of topics on the global sand crisis and sustainable substitutes for sand.…”

Sustainability in a Sand-Depleted World: Identifying Barriers to Adoption of Sand Substitutes

“…Insufficient education and training and a lack of information have been cited as one of the main obstacles to implementing sustainability initiatives in the construction industry (Ikediashi et al, 2012). According to previous research, the sand crisis issue has received little attention among practitioners (Puffer et al, 2022) and stakeholders had little knowledge about the crisis or of available alternatives to address the problem . The lack of adequate stakeholder awareness of sustainable building materials and their costs and benefits can create a lack of enthusiasm and commitment to the promotion of these substitutes (Marker et al, 2014;Karji et al, 2020).…”

“…The fact that these attributes were selected as the top three by multiple groups, including architects, academics, and engineers, suggests that they are widely recognized as important in the industry. It is not surprising that architects selected "environmental friendliness" as one of their top attributes, as they are often responsible for designing and constructing buildings that are sustainable and energy efficient (Puffer et al, 2022;Zadeh et al, 2022). Architects are also likely to be conscious of the environmental impact of the materials they use and, as a result, would prioritize environmentally friendly materials (De Gaulmyn & Dupre, 2019).…”

“…As discussed in the previous section and based on their role in construction, it is not surprising that both architects and engineers have similar concerns regarding sustainable sand substitutes. Both groups are responsible for the design and construction of buildings and infrastructure, and therefore, they have a vested interest in the materials used in these projects (Puffer et al, 2022). Performance, availability/ease of use, and price are all critical factors in the selection of building materials, as they directly impact the functionality, feasibility, and cost of a project (Balasubramanian & Shukla, 2017).…”