Creating a sustainable construction industry
PhD student Zahra Balador is researching how decision makers in the construction industry can make more environmentally-savvy choices when it comes to the use of building materials.
Zahra says that the construction industry is one of the biggest contributors to pollution in New Zealand and worldwide, with approximately half our country’s waste coming from construction and demolition. But it’s also a vital industry to New Zealand— so how can we keep this industry flourishing while reducing its immense impact on the environment?
According to Zahra’s research, there are plenty of opportunities to reduce waste and pollution already available to the building and construction industry. The problem, she says, is that many of those methods are not being used.
“A lot of this waste can easily be reduced, reused and recycled. For example, we can reuse what exists already on a building site, or use reclaimed materials from other industries and building projects. Building materials can be made from recycled products like plastics, or repurposed materials – like tires to make a retaining wall, or converting a shipping container into a house or a shop.
“Everyone knows this approach is better in terms of environmental impact and CO2 emissions—so why aren’t people making as much use of these opportunities as we would expect?”
Zahra’s research aims to identify the reasons why recycled and repurposed building materials are underused, focusing on the perceptions and needs of architects and other stakeholders in the construction of buildings.
“I will identify the most influential stakeholders in the market and their views on environmental issues and alternative building practices. This information will allow me to pinpoint the challenges preventing more widespread use of these kinds of building materials, and help come up with solutions.
“Some of the problems we can anticipate—like cost, availability, durability, aesthetics, and transparency of information about the products and manufacturers. But there are other issues, especially around the relationships between different stakeholder and their perceptions of building materials.”
In the first stages of her research, Zahra has been gathering quantitative data from surveys with a broad pool of stakeholders invested in the building process. This includes architects, builders, environmental activists and NGOs, manufacturers and suppliers of materials, regulators and consumers.
So far this has shown that many challenges centre on the way different stakeholders work together and perceive each other.
“For example, most of the respondents—including architects—think that consumers are the most influential in enhancing reuse and recycling. But consumers, the people who are commissioning and occupying these buildings, think that manufacturers of building materials are the most influential.”
By better understanding the level of influence different stakeholders will have, Zahra says, decision-makers can have a better perspective on ways issues can be addressed in practice and how this can be reflected in future policies and guidelines.
The next stage of her research is workshopping her findings with stakeholder groups to further explore the issues raised in the surveys. Ultimately, Zahra plans to produce a series of recommendations for the industry to help them overcome challenges in producing, selecting, and implementing sustainable construction materials.
“The recommendations will address the challenges in choosing more sustainable building materials. They will help stakeholders understand how to improve their professional practices in terms with a more effective cooperation and better choices when it comes to building materials and reducing waste.”
Zahra is an international student and her research topic stems from her experiences as a practicing architect in Iran.
“I worked in an architectural firm back home and had an idea to make acoustic insulation from agricultural waste. After that, I became interested in building materials which are recycled.
“Eventually I would like to continue doing research and address challenging problems in the area of sustainable buildings, alongside my architectural practicing career. But the first step before creating a new building or developing new materials is to see how stakeholders will perceive the materials.”