Abstract:
The recent trend of sustainable development in the Hong Kong construction industry has drawn
construction organisations’ attention to sustainability issues. However, the fragmented nature of
construction industry has led to divergence in stakeholders’ understanding of sustainable
construction, in addition to the traditionally debatable concepts of sustainable development. This
paper explores and examines how different stakeholders perceive and treat sustainable construction.
Twenty two interviews were carried out with stakeholders from various backgrounds including
architects, engineers, surveyors, contractors, developers, facilities managers, environmentalists,
suppliers, and sustainability consultants. The results show that there is still a disagreement on
embracing the economic and social pillars in sustainable construction, whilst the environmental pillar
is acknowledged by the majority. In addition to the triple bottom line, sustainable construction is also
linked to culture and health and safety. Interestingly, this study found that construction stakeholders
perceive sustainable construction as an ideal situation in which it is very hard to attain zero carbon
and complete sustainability in real life development. In view of the absence of a clear definition and
direction in applying sustainable construction, a gap can form in sustainable practices when
incompatible goals are set by various parties due to their different interests. As a result, more effort
should be made by providing a platform for the diverse interest groups of construction stakeholders to
share ideas, communicate and distribute sustainability information.
