Offsite: Survey - New Zealand construction industry's perspective towards zero-carbon buildings

5 November 2021

Title of Project

New Zealand construction industry’s perspective towards zero-carbon buildings

Researcher Introduction

My name is Nidhin Bindhu Kumari Sreekandan Nair, and I am currently completing the Master’s in Construction (Construction Project Management) course at Massey University. My supervisor for this research is Dr Niluka Domingo, Senior Lecturer in Quantity Surveying, Doctoral Supervisor, School of Built Environment

Invitation and Research description

I would like to invite you to participate in this research to analyze the readiness of the construction industry in implementing zero-carbon buildings. This study will also examine the awareness of industry professionals about the zero-carbon policies and their familiarity and experience in the zero-carbon tools and resources. 

Climate change is affecting all life on this planet very badly. The reason behind these climate change issues is human activities which leads to the emission of greenhouse gases. United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) established international treaties o reduce the emission the greenhouse gases. New Zealand is also committed to some of the international agreements and the government sets a domestic target to become carbon neutral by 2050. The construction industry needs to play a huge role in supporting the government to fulfil the targets and commitments. As the construction industry accounts for 20 per cent of the country’s carbon footprint it requires a transition toward zero-carbon building practices. Now is the time to shift from the conventional practices and this research will analyze the readiness of industry in implementing zero-carbon buildings in New Zealand.

Participant Identification and Recruitment

The criteria for selecting the participants for this study is that the participants must be a professional working in the New Zealand constriction industry. The participant needs to be a member of any one of the construction professional organizations in New Zealand. The response from the professionals will be generalized to identify the objectives of this research.

Project Procedures

An online questionnaire will be distributed to the participants through their email id. The participants will be requested to sign the consent form if they wish to respond to the questionnaire. The questions included in the questionnaire will be close-ended questions and participants have the option to select their answer from the 5 options given. The questions will be divided into three sections. Once the participants respond to the three sections they can finish the survey by clicking the submit option. The response to the questions will be automatically saved to the researcher's cloud storage. The responses will be later analysed using data analysis software.

Data Management

The data collected will be stored in the researcher’s cloud storage which is encrypted and secured. The analysis of data will be performed on the researcher's laptop which is password protected. After one year from submitting the research report, the collected data will be erased from the cloud storage. In the report, the participant's name or any other personal information will not be published.

Participant’s Rights

You are under no obligation to accept this invitation. If you decide to participate, you have the right to:

• decline to answer any particular question;

• withdraw from the study (specify timeframe);

• ask any questions about the study at any time during participation;

• provide information on the understanding that your name will not be used unless you permit the researcher;

• be given access to a summary of the project findings when it is concluded.

• Completion and return of the questionnaire imply consent. You have the right to decline to answer any particular question.

Project Contacts

If you have any questions, concerns or complaints about the study at any stage, you can contact :

Research supervisor

Dr Niluka Domingo BSc(Hons), Ph.D. Constr. Mgt.

Senior Lecturer in Quantity Surveying

Doctoral Supervisor

School of Built Environment

Ph : +6492136574

Email: N.D.Domingo@massey.ac.nz

Researcher

Nidhin Bindhu Kumari Sreekandan Nair

Master of Construction Project Management student Massey University, Auckland

Ph : +64223364785

Email: 21010712@massey.ac.nz 

Compulsory statements

“This project has been evaluated by peer review and judged to be low risk.  Consequently, it has not been reviewed by one of the University’s Human Ethics Committees.  The researcher(s) named above are responsible for the ethical conduct of this research. 

If you have any concerns about the conduct of this research that you wish to raise with someone other than the researcher(s), please contact Prof Craig Johnson, Director, Research Ethics, telephone 06 356 9099 x 85271, email humanethics@massey.ac.nz”.