Green construction practices and economic performance: The mediating role of social performance and environmental performance

Currently, there is a surge in the adoption of green construction practices (GCP) to address and attempt to alleviate the adverse effects of construction activities on the natural environment. The current research surrounding sustainability in the industry has witnessed a notable surge in efforts, primarily driven by a growing consciousness of environmental concerns. In this context, it is worth noting that the focus of assessment schemes in developed countries has predominantly gravitated toward economic and environmental factors, with relatively less emphasis placed on social performance (SP). Many researchers have underscored this disparity, highlighting the need for a more comprehensive approach encompassing all three sustainability dimensions. Hence, the present research examines the effects of green construction practices on economic performance (ECP) while considering the mediating role of environmental performance (EP) and SP. The results showed no direct impact of GCP on ECP. However, the mediating role of SP and EP in the association between GCP and ECP was found to be statistically significant. The present study provides several implications. This study presents empirical evidence that implementing GCP yields several benefits for contractors, including cost reduction in waste management, legal expenses, and energy consumption. These cost savings effectively offset the initial investment required to implement GCP, enabling construction projects to attain ECP thresholds. This study provides a significant contribution to the expanding corpus of knowledge concerning green building site practices and construction management. It offers novel insights into the influence of a project's EP and SP on its economic feasibility. Furthermore, this research study has effectively showcased the positive impact of GCP on construction projects' environmental construction performance, particularly concerning environmental and social considerations. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1396-1406. © 2024 SETAC.

Intelligentization helps the green and energy-saving transformation of power industry-evidence from substation engineering in China

The coordinated development of intelligence and greening is an intrinsic demand for high-quality economic and social development. Intelligentization and greening are the leading directions of sustainable development of the power industry. This paper directs of sustainable development of the power industry. This paper empirically analyzes the effect and mechanism of intelligence on the green environmental friendliness of electric power substations by using a panel fixed-effects model and instrumental variable regression, using substation engineering data from China southern power grid during 2013-2022. It is found that the level of intelligence significantly promotes the green performance of substation projects, and this conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. Intelligence can reduce material waste and pollutant emissions by improving the engineering environmental monitoring capability and the refinement of engineering resource control, thus improving the environmental friendliness of the project. The research in this paper helps to promote the integrated development of intelligent and green power engineering, to better achieve economic and green goals.

Green Building Contractors 2025: Analyzing and Forecasting Green Building Contractors’ Market Trends in the US

With population growth, the demand for building construction is continuously increasing. This comes at the price of the built environment where the building sector is contributing to large energy consumption and carbon footprint releases. To encourage sustainable construction, contractors need to see the market benefit of “going green”. Previous studies of green building contractors (GBCs) mainly relied on qualitative discussions and lacked studying the market performance which drives contractors’ decisions the most. This paper collects GBC revenue data from the Engineering News-Record magazine for the top 100 GBCs over a 13-year period and performs trend analysis to assess the market performance of GBCs and time series analysis to forecast future revenues. In addition, k-means clustering technique was used to divide the firms into subsets of similar behavior to understand growth trends for different firm sizes. The results show a continuous increase in green building revenues (GBRs), where commercial office buildings contribute the most to it. Furthermore, the firm ranks responsible for most of the growth are identified; mainly the top 9. Predictions show the expected steady increase in GBR in the upcoming years which is anticipated to reach 83 billion USD in 2025. The findings inform contractors considering executing green buildings by understanding the market trends and forecasted revenues. Moreover, contractors who are already in the green building business can use this information to increase their revenues in their respective market subset.

Constituents Affecting Brand Loyalty of Sustainable Beauty and Personal Care Products

The growing air, water, and plastic pollution, wastage of food, deforestation, and chemical manufactured products have given rise to the concept of green marketing. Nowadays, consumers are more aware of their environment and health, and they look for eco-friendly products that are free of toxic materials. Many brands have looked into these issues. Keeping in mind the consumer’s desire, they have started manufacturing eco-friendly, free of toxic and recyclable products. This study aims to determine the antecedents that will affect the purchase decisions of Generations Y and Z consumers purchasing green products from the beauty and personal care industry, which can finally lead them to become brand loyal. An explanatory research design was carried out to develop an empirical result for the study. A self-administered questionnaire was elaborated. The responses were measured through a 5-point Likert scale. The questionnaires were distributed through online mode to the respondents. The sample for the study was selected through self-selection sampling. A total of 250 responses were analyzed. The data was analyzed through structural equation modeling with the help of the statistical tool Smart-PLS version 3.3.9. The study’s findings showed that green marketing mix, brand knowledge, and culture positively affect green purchase intention and finally lead to brand loyalty. The results also depicted that the reference group moderates between green purchase intention and brand loyalty. The overall understanding of green marketing and its impacts on the consumer’s purchase decisions, which leads to brand loyalty, would help the brands establish different marketing strategies for attracting and engaging the consumer with higher consumer retention. It would help the brands to create brand image, consumer satisfaction, and trust among the consumer towards the brand.

Sustainable Construction through Industry Self-Regulation: The Development and Role of Building Environmental Assessment Methods in Achieving Green Building

The role of industry self-regulation in facilitating sustainable development has gained increasing recognition over the past two decades. As a result, voluntary certification standards have become ever more common and have been portrayed as effective means of enforcing more environmentally beneficial practices across a range of industries. In this paper, we consider the role of one such type of standard, building environmental assessment methods (BEAMs), and the role they have played in the transition towards green building in the construction industry. Drawing on the theory of strategic action fields, and using the case of HK BEAM in Hong Kong, we investigate the origins, development and impact of BEAMs in what is a highly de-centralised and fragmented industry. The paper concludes with reflections on the need to extend focus from the contents of the BEAMs in terms of categories, criteria and weightings, to instead more actively consider the “taken-for-granted” assumptions around sustainability and the dominant institutionalised practices in construction.

The Drivers and Performance of Environmental Practices in the Chinese Construction Industry

With the global concern of environmental protection and sustainability, construction firms are required to develop and implement environmental practices (EP) to mitigate the negative impacts of project activities on the environment. This paper attempts to explore two potential drivers (i.e., government regulations and project team’s knowledge and skills) and performance outcomes (i.e., environmental performance and organizational performance) when the firm implementing EP in construction projects. A survey-based research design was developed to measure the drivers, EP implementation, and performance and to collect data in the Chinese construction industry. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. The results indicate that a project team’s knowledge and skills, rather than government regulations, are the key driving factors for the implementation of EP in construction projects. EP implementation is proved to have a positive impact on both environmental and organizational performance. This study provides empirical evidence for project environmental management research and offers managerial insights on how to promote EP in the construction industry.