Since the Rio de Janiero Conference held in 1992, there has been greater pressure worldwide to vigorously pursue the conception of sustainable construction for the purpose of creating a healthy built environment using resource-efficient, ecologically-based principles. / This dissertation aims to examine the impact of environmental issues on a construction firm???s strategy and action and to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the construction industry to move towards sustainability. / After reviewing the literature on sustainable construction, corporate environmentalism, stakeholder theory and environmental management systems, a theoretical framework was proposed. Relationships among stakeholder pressures, a top management commitment, the pro-activeness of an environmental strategy, a perceived environmental performance and competitive advantages were hypothesised. / A two-stage methodology was employed. The first stage involved exploratory interviews with managers of six local contractors. These interviews have provided a list of items for measuring the domain of constructs. In the second stage, the hypothesised model was empirically tested based on the findings of the questionnaire survey. / Evidently, small contractors in Hong Kong are different from large contractors in their culture and some of their practices of sustainability. Most small contractors adopt the reactor approach inasmuch as they take action only when confronted by an internal or external crisis. However, the large contractors usually adopt ???beyond compliance??? environmental policies. Their more proactive strategies are associated with a deeper and broader coverage of their stakeholders. / The data from this research further suggests that top management commitment emerges as a key variable of pro-activeness of an environmental strategy. A proactive environmental strategy influenced environmental performance and competitive advantage / To encourage contractors to continuously improve their suitability performance, there must be close co-operation among the government, clients, educational and professional institutions, contractors, subcontractors, and industry practitioners at all levels. To give contractors the opportunity of implementing sustainability, clients should give consideration to sustainability performance in tender evaluation and a sustainable certification scheme should be implemented by the government to recognise the outstanding performance of organisations. The government should rely on direct regulatory controls only if the industry becomes hazardously environmentally inefficient. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006

Since the Rio de Janiero Conference held in 1992, there has been greater pressure worldwide to vigorously pursue the conception of sustainable construction for the purpose of creating a healthy built environment using resource-efficient, ecologically-based principles. / This dissertation aims to examine the impact of environmental issues on a construction firm???s strategy and action and to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the construction industry to move towards sustainability. / After reviewing the literature on sustainable construction, corporate environmentalism, stakeholder theory and environmental management systems, a theoretical framework was proposed. Relationships among stakeholder pressures, a top management commitment, the pro-activeness of an environmental strategy, a perceived environmental performance and competitive advantages were hypothesised. / A two-stage methodology was employed. The first stage involved exploratory interviews with managers of six local contractors. These interviews have provided a list of items for measuring the domain of constructs. In the second stage, the hypothesised model was empirically tested based on the findings of the questionnaire survey. / Evidently, small contractors in Hong Kong are different from large contractors in their culture and some of their practices of sustainability. Most small contractors adopt the reactor approach inasmuch as they take action only when confronted by an internal or external crisis. However, the large contractors usually adopt ???beyond compliance??? environmental policies. Their more proactive strategies are associated with a deeper and broader coverage of their stakeholders. / The data from this research further suggests that top management commitment emerges as a key variable of pro-activeness of an environmental strategy. A proactive environmental strategy influenced environmental performance and competitive advantage / To encourage contractors to continuously improve their suitability performance, there must be close co-operation among the government, clients, educational and professional institutions, contractors, subcontractors, and industry practitioners at all levels. To give contractors the opportunity of implementing sustainability, clients should give consideration to sustainability performance in tender evaluation and a sustainable certification scheme should be implemented by the government to recognise the outstanding performance of organisations. The government should rely on direct regulatory controls only if the industry becomes hazardously environmentally inefficient. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006

The purpose of the thesis is to develop a General Technique (GT) for use by investigators as a template to help devise investigation programs applying sustainable development ideas (SDIs) to presenting-issues, in order to create ideas for sustainable development actions (SDAs). SDIs are the ‘ideals’, of behaviour for relations amongst people (people-matters) and between people and the environment of the planet (planet-matters) having ancient origins yet being constantly reinterpreted. SDAs are actions that synergistically deliver SDIs in both people-matters and planet-matters concomitantly. The GT was devised in a learning cycle involving theory development and practical experience. The theory of the GT uses a systems-thinking approach to set out the blocks of information necessary to apply SDIs to a presenting issue. The mental model used in the GT is based on the concepts that people are dependent on the planet and that every individual and their actions count. The GT has a Preliminary Step and four Tasks. / The Preliminary Step establishes the relationships between the roles of stakeholders and the presenting-issue using a ‘4-group-stakeholder theory’;; group 1 are agents/individuals, groups 2 and 3 are organisations that operate in planet-matters and people-matters respectively, and group 4 are the general public/future generations. Everybody has group 1 and 4 roles and employed people play roles 2 and 3. Task 1 investigates the actions and agents that are fundamental in the presenting issue.Task 2 investigates the agents’; motivations to take up opportunities in both people and planet-matters. Motivations are based on the agents’; desire to satisfy the fundamental human needs (FHNs) of their family. Task 3 investigates: (a) the opportunities in people-matters and planet-matters, using a theory that posits that critical resources and critical arrangements are required for the delivery of FHNs in the very long-term. (b) The involvement stakeholders’; groups have in these opportunities.Task 4 reviews: (a) the success of groups 1 and 4 stakeholders in getting their FHNs met in the long-term and how successful stakeholder groups 3 and 4 are in helping them and why. (b) The maintenance of critical resources compared to the level needed to maintain all life forms and life system on the planet. (For complete abstract open document)

Since the Rio de Janiero Conference held in 1992, there has been greater pressure worldwide to vigorously pursue the conception of sustainable construction for the purpose of creating a healthy built environment using resource-efficient, ecologically-based principles. / This dissertation aims to examine the impact of environmental issues on a construction firm???s strategy and action and to provide a theoretical and practical framework for the construction industry to move towards sustainability. / After reviewing the literature on sustainable construction, corporate environmentalism, stakeholder theory and environmental management systems, a theoretical framework was proposed. Relationships among stakeholder pressures, a top management commitment, the pro-activeness of an environmental strategy, a perceived environmental performance and competitive advantages were hypothesised. / A two-stage methodology was employed. The first stage involved exploratory interviews with managers of six local contractors. These interviews have provided a list of items for measuring the domain of constructs. In the second stage, the hypothesised model was empirically tested based on the findings of the questionnaire survey. / Evidently, small contractors in Hong Kong are different from large contractors in their culture and some of their practices of sustainability. Most small contractors adopt the reactor approach inasmuch as they take action only when confronted by an internal or external crisis. However, the large contractors usually adopt ???beyond compliance??? environmental policies. Their more proactive strategies are associated with a deeper and broader coverage of their stakeholders. / The data from this research further suggests that top management commitment emerges as a key variable of pro-activeness of an environmental strategy. A proactive environmental strategy influenced environmental performance and competitive advantage / To encourage contractors to continuously improve their suitability performance, there must be close co-operation among the government, clients, educational and professional institutions, contractors, subcontractors, and industry practitioners at all levels. To give contractors the opportunity of implementing sustainability, clients should give consideration to sustainability performance in tender evaluation and a sustainable certification scheme should be implemented by the government to recognise the outstanding performance of organisations. The government should rely on direct regulatory controls only if the industry becomes hazardously environmentally inefficient. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2006

Thesis (Ph.D.)-- Lund University, International Institute for Industrial Environmental Economics, 2003. / Title from title screen (viewed 26 Nov. 2003). Available also in print.

Thesis (M. Sustainability and Technology Policy)--Murdoch University, 2004. / Thesis submitted to the Division of Arts. Bibliography: p. 109-116.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, School of Architecture, Landscape Architecture and Urban Design, 2004. / "April 2004" Bibliography: leaves 288-296.

Thesis (M.Arch.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 76-77). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at El Paso, 2009. / Title from title screen. Vita. CD-ROM. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Thesis (Ph. D.)(Architecture)--University of Pretoria, 2003. / Includes summary. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 165-168).