Factors Affecting Sustainability Performance during the Construction Stage in Building Projects-Consultants’ Perspective

Abstract

Background: The construction industry significantly contributes towards enriching human inhabitation within the built environment. However, the industry generates one-third of the world’s carbon emissions per annum (a major contributor to climate change). In response, a sustainable construction development agenda has been propagated by governments worldwide. Objective: This research investigates the factors affecting sustainability performance during the construction stage of building projects in the Gaza Strip from consultants’ viewpoint. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed to 35 consultants, and 31 completed questionnaires were returned, representing a response rate of 88.57%. A total of 55 variables were considered in this study and listed within three thematic factor groups, namely, economic, social and environmental factors. Data collected were analysed using factor analysis and relative important index within the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (v22). Results: Results indicated that the most influential factors are i) Economic: professional fees of engineers and consultants, energy cost and use of full equipment capacity; ii) Social: availability of knowledge and skills in the labour force, increased burden on infrastructure as a result of the use and depletion of natural resources and public awareness; and iii) Environmental: environmental regulations, pollution generation and waste generation. Conclusion: Lack of awareness about economic and social sustainability was found due to the traditional definition of environmental sustainability and the upper and indirect super-vision of consultants to the construction stage.

Evaluation of Factors Influencing Environmental Sustainability Performance of Construction Projects in South Africa

“…Rather, the implementation of these strategies was shown to be largely dependent on drivers like client requirements and an increasing need to comply with existing policies and legislation re-lated to ES improvement. This study indicated the importance of the role of clients, and to some extent, legislation, in enabling the implementation of sustainable and innovative practices in the construction industry, which has been confirmed in various other studies (Roufechael et al, 2015;Tayeh et al, 2020;Yin et al, 2018).…”

“…The ability of construction industry practitioners to adopt and implement strategies for improving ES performance on construction projects is related to their level of awareness and knowledge of ES (Chang et al, 2018;Pham & Kim, 2019;Tayeh et al, 2020). The questionnaire sought to establish their level of awareness/knowledge.…”

Effect of Project Control Practices on the Performance of Building Construction Companies in Uganda: A Case Study of the City of Kampala

“…[51] projected that the data agreed that achieving a KMO index of 0.50 and Bartlett's test of sphericity with p < 0.05 is fit for factor analysis. The table below indicates a KMO index of 0.778 (surpassing 0.5) and Bartlett's test of sphericity with chi-square = 1135.181 at a significance level of p-value = 0.00 (should be <0.05), which was acceptable and implying that the questionnaire is valid as asserted [52,53]. These discoveries ensure that the collected data on control practices, company operations, and performances were suitable for factor analysis.…”

Sustainability-Based Value Engineering Management as an Integrated Approach to Construction Projects

“…The paper by [4] focused on the energy-saving impact of the sustainable development of a green campus and provided a referenced experience and new development proposals for global campus sustainability. The paper by [5] investigated the factors affecting sustainability performances during the construction stage of building projects in the Gaza Strip from consultants' viewpoints and pointed out that one of the most influential factors is economic and energy costs. The paper by [6] discussed various environmental problems rising in the construction industry, leading to the consumption of more energy, resources, and raw materials, which are responsible for the rise in carbon content in the air, which is harmful to the environment and human health.…”

“…A green campus-built area supports students' lives inside the campus, enhances their environmental protection awareness, and guides them toward the direction conducive to sustainable development behavior in daily life [4]. Sustainability performance across various stages of the construction project's lifecycle is affected by different factors [5]. The goals of sustainable construction methods and building service systems, including using renewable and recyclable resources, are to support the reduction in the industry's impact on the environment, reduce energy consumption and waste, create a healthy and friendly environment, protect the natural environment, decrease carbon dioxide emissions, and preserve natural resources [6][7][8].…”