Sustainable Practices for Building Construction in New Zealand
Date
Authors
Bader, Mahmoud
Roy, Krishanu
Berry, Terri-Ann
de Graaf, Kim
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
MDPI AG
Abstract
Globally, sustainability indicators have become increasingly important in the building construction sector. While contractors play a critical role in advancing sustainability during the construction phase, there is limited guidance on the specific practices they should adopt. This study aims to address that gap by identifying sustainable practices relevant to building construction and developing an initial set of practical guidelines to support contractors in enhancing their sustainability performance. Based on a literature review and the author’s experiences in New Zealand, a list of 49 sustainable practices for building construction has been developed, addressing the three pillars of sustainability: environmental, economic, and social. The research focuses on the building construction phase and emphasises contractor-level key implementation challenges, such as regulatory barriers and the need for enhanced waste management during construction. The proposed list of practices can serve as a valuable tool to guide contractors’ commitment to sustainability and may inform contractor selection for future tender projects.Description
Keywords
1205 Urban and Regional Planning, 3304 Urban and regional planning, 4406 Human geography, 4407 Policy and administration, sustainable practices, building construction, contractor practices, sustainable construction practices, contractor performance, New Zealand
Source
Urban Science, ISSN: 2413-8851 (Online), MDPI AG, 10(4), 203-203. doi: 10.3390/urbansci10040203
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Rights statement
© 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license.