Perceptions Governing Sustainability in the UAE Construction Sector

Abstract

Sustainability has a solid understanding on a broad level; however, in construction, there is no consensus about what it encompasses. Different practitioners perceive sustainability in construction from different perspectives. There are existing debates concerning the definition and scope of sustainable construction. Therefore, the aim of this research is to set a benchmark for the perceptions governing the understanding of sustainability in construction amongst practitioners working in the UAE’s construction sector. To collect the perceptions, the reviewed literature was condensed to develop an online survey that was validated by an expert panel and collected data from 129 industry professionals in 2022. The reliability of the collected data was confirmed using Cronbach’s alpha. Upon confirming the validity and reliability of the collected data, the analysis of the perceptions was done using descriptive statistics and the relative importance index. The findings confirm that the economic and social pillars are not as recognized as the environmental pillar. Stakeholders are familiar with implementing sustainable practices in the design and construction phases whereas contract formation, procurement and demolition phases had the lowest RII ranking. Stakeholders are informed about the environmental benefits of sustainable construction, but efforts to familiarize them with the benefits of the economic and social pillars should be amplified. The main barriers were the necessity for additional research and the difficulty to implement sustainable construction due to the lack of understanding about what it is. Data collected aligns with the main problem statement which is the lack of understanding about what sustainable construction entails. The contribution that this research has added to the body of knowledge is that the exclusive collection and analysis of the perceptions governing sustainability in the UAE’s construction industry should draw the attention of policymakers that the true meaning of sustainability has not yet infiltrated the construction industry and immediate intervention is mandatory to increase the awareness levels of the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry about what sustainable construction is.

1. Introduction

Starting from 1968′s Club of Rome to the Sustainable Development Goals Summit held in 2019, the triple bottom line of sustainability (environmental, economic and social pillars) have emerged as a mandatory undertaking that should be implemented in all aspects of life [1,2,3,4,5,6]. According to [1] the environmental pillar of sustainability targets environmental and ecological protection, whereas the social pillar addresses social accountability and equity, and lastly the economic pillar targets economic viability, profitability and cost efficiency. The construction sector, being an integral force in all economies, has caught the wave of sustainability due to its profound and significant impact on the environmental, social and economic aspects of a society [4]. This is because it provides employment, housing, utilities and infrastructure whilst thriving to maintain the balance of existing ecological systems and efficiently consuming resources while attempting to yield high rates of return and cost efficiency [4,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13].

However, in the construction context, the implementation of sustainability has been impeded due to the division over what the term “sustainable construction” (SC) includes in terms of meaning and scope [4]. Due to the fluid meaning of the term several theories demarcating the definition and scope of SC have been emerging for the past 25 years amongst researchers in the construction industry [7,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21] with most of them focusing on the environmental pillar of sustainability and overlooking the economic and social pillar [13,22]. Despite being such a ubiquitous topic, SC is poorly comprehended and is a source of constant disagreements and debates amongst practitioners working in the construction industry [1,23] which has led to the conclusion that there is no consensus as to what the term SC truly means amongst practitioners in the construction sector and that there are still low knowledge levels on SC, due to which a majority of the stakeholders do not know how to initiate and implement SC measures [4,7]. Other than the definition of what SC is, there are further debates amongst the stakeholders about which phase in a project’s life cycle that they perceive sustainability can be most efficiently implemented in, as the current studies have proposed different approaches about which particular phase in construction, sustainability can be most efficiently be implemented in [2,21,22,23,24,25]. These varied perceptions, interpretations and understandings about what SC is, has eventually resulted into conceptual chaos amongst practitioners subsequently compromising this term’s implementation and utility [26]. Moreover, the slow progression of sustainability in the construction context is not only due to lack of consensus on what SC is, but another factor that is usually disregarded is the absence of knowledge amongst the stakeholders about the potential benefits associated with SC [5,6,7,13,23,24,26,27,28,29,30] and the misapprehensions about the existing barriers that these stakeholders may perceive inaccurately [23,24,29,30,31,32,33,34].

Several approaches have been undertaken in construction, to counteract the lack of consensus about the term SC [4]. Practitioners have resorted to several solutions such as enacting Green Building Systems [4,10,13,35,36,37], implementing sustainable project delivery systems such as Design-Build, Construction Manager at Risk and Integrated Project Delivery systems [13,21,23,27,29,38,39], utilizing automation and robotics to implement sustainable practices in construction projects [40,41,42], adopting sustainable design concepts such as vernacular architecture [9], designing nearly zero-energy buildings and passive buildings’ design [2,9], designing low- or zero-carbon buildings, intelligent façade layers, and smart homes [2,9] and Gaudi’s waste-based architectural designs and biomimicry in architecture and achieving optimum thermal comfort levels [43,44]. Despite all of these sustainable practices, it has been proven that there is lack of awareness about some of these concepts or the benefits associated with each methodology, leading to hesitation to implement them [2]. These multiple approaches to counteract the lack of consensus about what the term SC entails, highlights the divided efforts in implementing sustainability in construction projects. These divided efforts arise due to the various perceptions and understandings governing the term SC.

Henceforth, the research gap identified is that different practitioners perceive sustainability in construction from different perspectives. These inconsistent perceptions have led to divided efforts in promoting and applying sustainable principles to construction projects. As a result of which, there is no baseline from which sustainability can be measured, assessed and consequentially improved [1]. Therefore, the aim of this research is to set a benchmark for the perceptions governing the understanding of sustainability in the construction context amongst practitioners working in the UAE’s construction industry. The objective of this research is to collect and analyze the following existing perceptions governing sustainability amongst the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction: (i) The stakeholders’ overall level of awareness concerning sustainability, (ii) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the scope to which sustainability can be implemented in construction, in terms of the pillars (environmental, economic and social pillars), (iii) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the scope to which sustainability can be implemented in the multiple phases of a construction project. (iv) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the merits and the barriers associated with sustainability are collected. Hence, the objective of this paper will assist in achieving the aim of the research which is to set a benchmark for the perceptions governing sustainability amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry by collecting and analyzing the existing perceptions governing multiple aspects of sustainability in construction.

The current efforts made to implement sustainable approaches in the built environment of the UAE is divided due to the different approaches undertaken to pursue sustainability. These efforts can be amalgamated by achieving a unified understanding of Sustainable Construction (SC), where all the stakeholders shall thrive to achieve the same agenda which will lead to a substantial progress in achieving sustainability in the construction context. To achieve this target, understanding the existing perceptions and body of knowledge amongst stakeholders in the construction industry and connecting these multitude perceptions is central. This will assist in proposing strategies to increase the level of awareness and cooperation amongst the different stakeholders depending on their existing knowledge and perceptions governing sustainability in construction. Moreover, the analysis of the collected data will lead to the identification of the least common aspects that the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry relate sustainability to, which will generate ideas for future research to promote these factors. The collection and the analysis of these multiple perceptions governing sustainability in the UAE’s construction industry will assist in answering the following questions: (i) What is the overall level of awareness of the stakeholders regarding major sustainable topics and practices? (ii) Are the stakeholders informed about the three pillars of sustainability equally? (iii) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the scope that sustainability covers in terms of the different project phases? (iv) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the merits associated with SC? (v) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the barriers associated with SC? The contribution that this research has added to the existing body of knowledge is that the exclusive collection and analysis of the perceptions governing sustainability in the UAE’s construction industry should draw the attention of policymakers that the true meaning of sustainability has not yet infiltrated the construction industry and immediate intervention is mandatory to increase the awareness levels of the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry about what SC is.

1.1. Undertaken Initatives Addressing Sustainability

A series of initiatives over the course of the past fifty years asserted that environmental protection is directly related to development as shown in Figure 1. These initiatives emphasized that environmental protection is not an option for the affluent anymore. Some of these initiatives include the 1968′s Club of Rome which published “The Limits to Growth” in 1972, that highlighted that resource depletion will eventually halt economic growth and the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment (UNCHE) in 1972 were the environment, for the first time ever, was deemed “as a critical dimension for successful development” [1]. Other initiatives include the 1981 World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) Brundtland Commission, where the term “sustainable development” was first introduced by the World Conservation Union [1]. This was followed by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) or the first Earth Summit known as the Rio Earth Summit in 1992, the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, the Millennium Summit in 2000, and the Johannesburg Meeting in 2002 that resulted in “Johannesburg’s Plan of Implementation” that concentrated on the environmental and the social aspects of sustainability [1,4].

Two decades after the first Earth Summit, thousands of worldwide principal figures gathered at the Rio + 20 Conference in 2012 to assess the progress, discuss present-day challenges and confirm their commitment to SD [1,4]. By combining these objectives, a document was produced named “The Future We Want”, that encompassed the following: (1) Developing Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) (2) Establishing an international high calibre governing committee for SD (3) Developing financing strategies for SD by initiating an intergovernmental process [1]. Despite being not legally binding, these SDGs were claimed in the Sustainable Development Summit conducted in 2015 in the UN Headquarters in New York City, as transformative steps that need to be implemented to put the world on a sustainable and resilient path. In this summit, the UN 2030 Agenda was produced that included 17 SDGs and 169 Targets covering environmental, social and economic issues including global warming, water and sanitation issues, energy and environmental affairs, world peace, social justice and equity, poverty and quality education [5]. In September 2019, an SDG Summit was held which further recapitulated the commitment of its member counties to fulfil the 2030 Agenda covering the 17 SDGs [6].

1.2. Sustainability in the Construction Context

The relationship between SD and construction has become intertwined due to the construction industry’s significant and profound economic impact on the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of national economies. A positive correlation was established between the GDP per capita and the construction output where it was concluded that construction output contributions vary from 4% to 12% to the GDP of several countries [7]. Subsequently, construction has a strong influence on the economic, environmental and social aspects of life, as it provides employment, housing, utilities and infrastructure whilst consuming natural resources and having an impact on the existing ecological systems, and attempting to yield high rates of return and cost efficiency to its clienteles [8].

1.2.1. Basic Definition of Sustainable Construction

Being such an integral force in the economic and social development of a country, the construction sector captured the objectives and goals of sustainability. Even though there is no standardized definition of the term Sustainable Construction (SC), in general, SC thrives to meet the SD objectives by the extensive usage of knowledge and technological advances to augment sustainability in the design, production, construction and operation of construction projects [4], elevating the eco-efficiency of the construction industry and thus contributing to SD. In a broader context, a sustainable project must incorporate superior economic, social and environmental aspects throughout the entire lifecycle of a building commencing from the planning phase up to the demolition phase, with the objective of providing a project that is affordable (economic), accessible (social) and environmentally conscious [8] by the conservation of resources, the protection of the environment and the reduction in pollution in each phase of the project lifecycle [6].

1.2.2. Construction Industry’s Negative Impacts on the Environment

The construction industry and subsequently its end product, which is a building construct has a profoundly negative impact on the environment: prior, during and post construction, due to excessive resource consumption, pollution, waste generation and harmful emissions [9,10] and due to the dynamic nature of buildings wherein they are capable of adversely impacting the environment even after the construction activities are completed, that is, during the operations and maintenance phases of a building [1]. The construction activities including the operations’ phase consume 40% of the world’s total primary energy [9,11] and account for around 30% of the carbon dioxide emissions [9,12], and 13% emission of other greenhouse gases [11] due to the energy utilized during the extraction of raw materials, transportation, construction, operations and maintenance, and demolition activities of construction projects [8] contributing largely to global warming. In addition, the construction sector’s consumption of raw materials is 3000 Mt/year [12], which is equivalent to 40% of the total energy consumption, according to the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). This surpasses all the other economic activities and exemplifies how unsustainable this sector is [13]. Additionally, the waste produced by the construction activities varies between 15% and 50% depending on the geographical location of the project [8]. The construction sector is responsible for the consumption of 40% of the natural resources, 12% of the potable water and 70% of the electrical power [5]. Furthermore, the construction industry discharges 20% of the water effluents released into water bodies and produces 25% of the solid waste generated annually [11]. These percentages are a global average and will vary from a geographical region to another due to the differences in the cultural backgrounds, behaviours and attitudes of different populations. The predictable rise in the world’s population will mandate the need to increase the extent of the construction sector, which will eventually lead to the increase in the carbon footprint left behind by construction and also to the increase in GHG emissions, the overconsumption of non-renewable raw materials and the rise in the waste production and pollution, as well as the induction of massive threats to the global ecology [7]. Despite these detrimental consequences, the processes of implementing sustainability in construction projects is alarmingly slow [4]. As a result of these adverse impacts, sustainability in the construction context needs to be dealt with in a more rigorous way than all the previous efforts made in promoting and implementing sustainability [9].

1.2.3. Absence of a Standardized Definition of Sustainable Construction

In spite of having a solid definition on a broader level, there is no standard definition for the term sustainability in the construction industry [4] which is highly problematic as it hinders the implementation of sustainable practices in the construction activities due to the absence of an established framework or a set of firm principles or even a defined scope as a reference point. For such a ubiquitous topic, SC is poorly comprehended and is a source of constant disagreements and debates amongst practitioners working in the construction industry [1]. The terms “sustainability” and “construction” are complex concepts individually, as a result of which there are several debates in the construction industry regarding their scope and meaning. Placing them together to form the term “sustainable construction” amplifies the interpretative conundrum [14].

1.3. Definitions and Interpretations Governing Sustainable Construction

Multiple theories demarcating the definition and scope of SC have been emerging for the past 25 years amongst researchers in the construction industry as explained below. The first definition of the term SC was introduced by Charles Kibert in 1994 during the First International Conference on Sustainable Construction carried out in Tampa, where it was defined as the creation and conscious management of healthy built environments established on ecological and resource efficient benchmarks or principles [15]. This definition shed light on the environmental attribute of SC. On the other hand, in 1997, Hill and Bowen defined the principles of SC to cover additional attributes which were the social, economic, biophysical and technical pillars, incorporating additional aspects to be considered under the umbrella of SC [16]. In the same year, Huovila and Richter defined SC as processes and products that reduce the harmful emissions affecting the health and the environment, minimize the overconsumption of energy, and provide adequate information to the users to assist them in the decision-making process, shifting the definition to give importance to the social features of sustainability [17]. Similarly, in 1998, Lanting defined it as a procedure of construction that targets the reduction in health and environmental impacts that arise due to the construction process itself or the by-product of construction activities covering both environmental and social aspects of sustainability [18].

The Agenda 21 for Sustainable Construction in Developing Countries (A21 SCDC) interpreted sustainable construction from a different perspective by introducing the encouragement of economic equity to be a fundamental criterion alongside with restoring the harmony between the natural and the built environment, and the creation of settlements that enforces human dignity and adds to the quality of life of communities [19]. The latter definition takes SC a step further by giving a lot of emphasis on the social and economic aspects of sustainability, where long term economic growth is reinforced without impacting the social and environmental aspects of a society in a negative way. In 2013, Rowlinson and Goh provided their own set of principles that SC should adhere to [7]. Apart from the previously mentioned criteria such as resource, energy and water consumption efficiency, ecological and biodiversity protection, toxic waste and carbon elimination, they set forth state-of-the-art principles such as emphasizing on life cycle costing through cost efficiency, adequate financial return during an optimized payback period, durability of the design and the building itself, heritage and cultural preservation, and design principles such as thermal comfort of the users, natural ventilation and spaces adaptability and flexibility [7]. Studies that have focused on the social aspect of sustainability have defined it as the processes that improve the safety and comfort measures for the staff and end users [20]. It is important to note that the most neglected dimension of sustainability is the social dimension despite the importance of the human capital as a valuable asset in the construction industry [21]. Additionally, the vast majority of current studies and practices in the construction field focus on the environmental dimension of sustainability [13]. The economic and social dimensions of sustainability are not given the same prominence as compared to the environmental aspect [13,22], with social sustainability in particular being largely overlooked [13].

The topic of sustainability in construction has a fluid meaning resulting in multiple interpretations due to the broad and varied topics that fall under the term sustainable construction [23]. Additionally, there are several reasons for the diverse definitions of sustainable construction, such as confusion or uncertainty whilst using some terminology, the differences in some languages and, lastly but most importantly, the continual use of the term “sustainability” in irrelevant or in widely different contexts [23]. In general, there are still low knowledge levels on SC, due to which a majority of the stakeholders do not know how to initiate and implement SC measures [4,7].

1.4. Scope of Implementing Sustainability

There are even several notions amongst the stakeholders about which phase in a project’s life cycle that they perceive sustainability can be most efficiently implemented. Current studies have different approaches about the particular phases where sustainability should be given prominence. For instance, some research has focused on implementing sustainability in the planning and the design phase of construction projects to utilize its full potential [24], where initial cost estimations and resource allocation in the planning phase are key factors in achieving SC [25]. Whereas other studies have focused more on promoting sustainability in the construction and operations and maintenance phases as any improvements during these particular phases will directly enhance SC through waste and pollution reductions, reusing of resources, conservation of energy, minimizing GHG emissions and the regular maintenance of equipment to minimize breakdowns [24].

In 2004, SC was given a new interpretation by the International Council for Research and Innovation in Building and Construction, as its definition expanded to cover all the phases of a building’s lifecycle. This is a cradle-to-grave overview encompassing sustainable production, use, operations and maintenance, and even the sustainable demolition and reuse of the buildings or their components. Recent studies have taken a step further by proposing that sustainability can also be efficiently implemented in the procurement phase [22,24]. In this phase, the sustainable procurement procedure to be followed is the “best value” approach rather than the “lowest price” approach that is most commonly followed with the Design-Bid-Build (DBB) project delivery system [21,22]. Sustainability in the procurement phase can also be achieved through fairness and integrity whilst procuring the contractor and the support of small to medium-sized companies [24]. Some research further advocates the implementation of sustainability into clauses of construction contracts [24]. Furthermore, current studies are suggesting the implementation of sustainability in any refurbishment or restoration required in any construction project [2].

In spite of having a substantial body of knowledge established through innumerable published studies and numerous conferences, the interpretation of SC remains contentious amongst practitioners. These varied perceptions and interpretations of SC eventually resulted into conceptual chaos amongst practitioners subsequently compromising this term’s implementation and utility [26]. The slow progression of sustainability in the construction context is not only due to lack of consensus on what SC is, but another factor that is usually disregarded is the absence of knowledge amongst the stakeholders about the potential benefits associated with SC [23].

1.5. Merits and Barriers of Implementing Sustainability

The slow progress in the SC field results from misconceptions or the absence of adequate knowledge amongst the stakeholders working in the construction industry about the potential benefits or merits associated with SC [23]. This is also due to the misapprehensions amongst the practitioners about the existing barriers that they may perceive inaccurately [23]. In the following section, the merits and barriers associated with SC are presented, based on some of the existing published studies.

1.5.1. Merits Associated with Environmental, Economic and Social Pillars

There are several environmental, economic and social advantages associated with SC practices and measures. One of the environmental merits associated with practicing SC is the recycling and renewable applications through the reuse or recycling of the construction materials at the end of a building’s life [7,27]. By doing so, this also enhances the resource usage efficiency. The protection of the environment through the conservation of biodiversity by the sustainable use of land is another prominent advantage [5,7,13]. Additionally, SC also ensures the reduction in the waste generated during construction. For instance, the usage of fly ashes in the structural components, saves energy and reduces the waste disposed at landfill sites [13]. Furthermore, utilizing prefabricated or precast components significantly reduces the construction and demolition waste generated during both the construction and the demolition work activities [13]. SC also targets minimizing the emission of GHGs, toxicants and pollution.

Comprehending the economic merits of sustainability is as significant as understanding those of the environmental pillar. Despite mandating initial high investment costs, there are a great deal of cost savings in the long run of implementing sustainable practices in construction. Cost savings are derived from the improved overall life cycle performance of the building. This is achieved through the minimal energy consumption throughout all the phases of construction [27], sustainable construction practices such as the use of prefabricated construction components [13], the optimization or reduction in operational costs due to the installation of energy- and water-efficient systems, and from the fact that sustainable constructs have a higher market value as compared to conventional buildings [7,13,28]. These factors reduce the pay pack period to investors [7,13,28] and thus, currently, there is a steady increase in the revenues generated as a result of SC [29].

One of the positive factors associated with achieving the social pillar of sustainability is the increased occupational health and safety standards on construction sites through several practices such as providing adequate toolbox talks, personal protective equipment and safety training to the construction staff [13,24]. Other safety practices include the utilization of prefabricated or precast construction elements assembled on site. That increases the safety standards on construction sites since it reduces the risk of work injuries arising due to working at great heights [13,30]. Apart from elevated safety measures, SC also enhances the quality of construction projects to the end users inhabiting the construction project through optimum thermal comfort, increased indoor environmental quality, sufficient ventilation, adequate allowance of daylight and proper acoustical insulation [6,7,13]. Other than covering the building’s level only, SC extends its coverage to encompass the surrounding community [13] through measures such as achieving social justice by providing accessibility to disabled community members and by the existence of affordable housing for all community members [13,26,30].

1.5.2. Barriers Associated with Environmental, Economic and Social Pillars

There are several barriers that currently hinder the adoption of sustainable objectives and goals in the construction context. For instance, the reluctance to implement sustainable practices in construction projects emerges from the decreased levels of awareness and knowledge amongst the stakeholders about what SC actually is [31,32]. There are high levels of confusion brought about by the absence of a structured clear guidance to implement sustainability due to the various interpretations and multiple approaches created to counteract the lack of clarity of what SC is [31]. There is extreme vagueness in the definition of SC which results in diverse interpretations of this definition and conceptual confusion [31]. The ambiguity in the definition of SC is used as an excuse at times by the stakeholders to ignore this issue completely [31]. The language itself is a barrier as terminologies differ and are used interchangeably despite having different connotations [31].

Another disadvantage associated with SC is the challenge of delivering a sustainable project within reasonable cost constraints [33]. The additional costs incurred include initially high investment costs needed to achieve SC as compared to traditional construction [7,32,33,34], the construct having an inadequate market value, the risk of incurring unforeseen costs [24,32,34] and the underestimation of the cost savings [31,34]. Furthermore, the fear of higher capital costs results from the additional costs needed to achieve SC, due to procurement of highly specialized consultants, contractors or specialized contractors that have the knowledge and expertise to execute the construction in a sustainable manner [7,23,32]. This mandatory introduction of specialists challenges the conventional norms and practices, and, thus, it elevates the complexity of SC [23,29]. Furthermore, any errors in the estimation phase increase the financial losses [24]. Additionally, from the contractor’s perspective, it might not be cost effective to execute sustainable buildings and conventional buildings side by side as this practice can impact the contractor’s profits [32].

Another drawback that impedes the implementation of SC is that there still needs to be extensive research carried out in the SC field to yield reliable data concerning the monetary benefits associated with SC that the stakeholders can utilize to make a well-informed decision [32]. One of the reasons for the insufficient existing research and knowledge is attributed to the shortage of monetary resources [31,32]. The long lifespan of current construction practices also hinders the introduction of new sustainable measures and practices. This is because stakeholders are generally hesitant to deal with unfamiliar construction techniques that have particular requirements, materials, procedures and testing [31]. They feel comfortable dealing with the familiar conventional construction methodologies [33]. This passive culture and attitude widespread in the construction sector, which is the extreme hesitation to changes and constant fear to any new sustainable technologies due to the unforeseen risks and uncertainties impedes the utilization of the full potential of SC [31,34]. Another major drawback hindering the implementation of SC is the increase in the project’s duration as a result of the time-consuming nature of the procurement of the specialized staff and the delayed delivery dates of the specialized materials, regarded as long lead items, needed to execute SC processes [29,31]. Furthermore, the lengthy timeline needed to conduct value engineering or to uncover appropriate sustainable solutions further justifies the hesitance to implement sustainable construction.

1.6. Approaches to Counteract SC’s Uncertainties

Several approaches have been undertaken in construction, to counteract the lack of consensus of the term SC. Practitioners have resorted to several solutions such as enacting Green Building Systems which has been launched in several countries across the globe, implementing sustainable project delivery systems in construction projects such as Design-Build, Construction Manager at Risk and Integrated Project Delivery systems, and utilizing automated technologies and robotics to implement sustainable practices in construction projects. This highlights the fact that efforts are divided in implementing sustainability in construction projects. These divided efforts arise due to the various perceptions and understandings governing the term SC.

1.6.1. Existing Green Building Systems

Due to the lack of standardization and consensus of the principles in regard to SC, the construction industry moved on to established SC practices as a tool to address environmental and social sustainability challenges [4]. Green Building Systems (GBSs) implement SC practices to fulfil SC notions, while the World Green Building Council was formed in order to coordinate the contributions and efforts of all of the Green Building Systems launched globally that aim to achieve ecological and environmental protection, minimize the carbon footprint of construction activities, reduce water and energy consumption, conserve and enhance resource efficiency, eliminate the usage of environmentally detrimental materials and create a healthy outdoor-indoor environment for the society without compromising the economy of the nation.

The origin of most of the contemporary GBSs is the United Kingdom’s Building Research Establishment’s (BRE) Environment Assessment Method (BREEAM), which formed the basic framework for the United States Green Building Council’s (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), Japan’s Comprehensive Assessment System for Built Environment Efficiency (CASBEE), Canada’s Green Building Initiative (GBI), Australia’s Building Greenhouse Rating (ABGR), The Energy and Resource Institute’s Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment in India (TERI-GRIHA) and China’s Green Olympic Building Assessment System (GOBAS) [4,10]. Other initiatives utilizing green building assessment tools include Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council’s (UPC) Pearl Rating System for Estidama, Singapore’s Green Mark Scheme, China’s Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method (HKBEAM), Malaysia’s Green Building Index and Green Building Council of Australia (GBCA) [13].

GBSs have proven to be effective in their local vicinities from where they originally emerged. However, superimposing these tools that were initially tailored to a different geographic, economic and cultural vicinity on to a different context may result in inefficient methodologies that add costs to a construction project without any benefits [35]. Despite having similar overall structures, these green building assessment tools assess green buildings by giving prominence or importance to different criteria [13]. There are some significant differences found in the categories of the different green building assessment tools [36]. The weighting criteria given to water efficiency is largely different between GBCA and LEED; for instance, the efficiency of landscape water accounts for only 8.3% of the points available for the water category in the GBCA Green Star Office V3 tool; however, in LEED New Construction and Innovation tool it goes up to 40% [13]. Even within territories assessed by the same rating system, different weights are given to different categories. For instance, in Australia, the GBCA rating system provides a weight of only 10% to the water category in the Northern Territory and it goes up to 15% in South Australia [13]. On the other hand, the Saba green building rating system places more emphasis on social and economic sustainability, and due to the local climatic conditions, energy and water efficiency categories account for up to 50% of the total points available in this rating system which is comparatively higher than the other green building assessment systems [13]. Assessment methods such as the DGNB provides primary focus on the economic dimension of sustainability [36].

Although the GBSs may initially appear to be similar, it has been proven that they have substantial differences [37]. Therefore, these discrepancies highlight that GBSs cannot be standardized or unified on a global scale due to the varying climatic, economic and geographic conditions that differ widely from one region to the other [13]. It becomes challenging to decide the direction that GBSs should progress or head towards as there is no agreement or consensus on the specific definition of sustainability in construction [36].

1.6.2. Sustainable Project Delivery Systems and Stakeholders’ Involvement

Apart from implementing GBSs in construction projects, in order to cope with the lack of standardization of what the definition of SC is, practitioners are seeking different solutions to implement sustainable standards in their projects. For instance, some researchers in the construction industry proposed implementing sustainable project delivery systems in construction projects. For instance, the Design-Build (DB) and Construction Manager at Risk (CMR) delivery systems have been proposed by [29] as sustainable approaches in delivering sustainable projects, despite the absence of a defined “sustainable procedure” to be followed in construction projects.

The majority of the construction companies reported in the Engineering News-Record (ENR) Top 100 Green Contractors [38] are enforcing DB, CMR, and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) project delivery methods [29]. Gunhan explained in [29] the reason, being the early involvement of the project participants, team integration, diverse expertise, and technological integration such as Building Information Modelling systems (BIM) for formulating energy simulations and lighting analysis, which are crucial in delivering an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable project. In 2019, [39] added Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) as a collaborative project delivery method that can achieve nearly Zero Energy Buildings (nZEB). These collaborative approaches assure the inclusion of the affected stakeholders which enables the development of systems, structures and constructs that are socially, environmentally and economically sustainable [13,23]. These project delivery systems resolve the circle of blame issue that emerges amongst the stakeholders, where each stakeholder blames the other for the slow progress in the implementation of sustainability in the construction sector [23]. This is done by involving the right stakeholders at the right time during the several construction phases [13,23,27]. Some studies have suggested that some stakeholders have a more prominent role than others such as clients and contractors in addressing sustainability in their practices [27]. Moving away from the traditional DBB approach where team collaboration is scarce and communication is restricted amongst stakeholders, and moving towards integrated project delivery systems such as IPD, DB, CMR, PPPs that advocate the early engagement and collaboration of all of the stakeholders in a construction project is one way that practitioners follow in the current attempts to achieve sustainable construction [21].

1.6.3. Construction Automation and Robotics’ Role in Sustainability

Another approach taken by professionals to navigate the lack of consistency in SC’s definition, is approaching Construction Automation and Robotics (CAR) as a feasible and a practical solution to ameliorate the sustainable performance of a construct from the environmental, social and economic perspectives [40]. For instance, it aids in minimizing construction waste, reducing the consumption of natural resources and optimizing the energy efficiency of a project, scaling down the GHG emissions and air/water pollution before, during and after construction [40]. Additionally, it increases the health and safety standards of the work environment for the workers and the passers-by, enhances the quality of comfort in indoor spaces for users by optimally moderating the lighting, temperatures, ventilation and humidity levels.

Furthermore, the extensive use of automation and robotics enables the solution of providing communities with affordable housing [41], guarantees stakeholders’ satisfaction due to the high-quality end products, and promotes the culture of education and innovation where existing staff are retrained to operate automated processes thereby meeting some of the objectives of social sustainability. Moreover, automation in construction has proven to augment and sustain high levels of efficiency and productivity in construction projects [42]. It helps in reducing construction completion dates thus minimizing the payback periods to investors through off-site and on-site automated processes. It also enhances the cost performance of the projects as it minimizes any errors that may occur during construction that have to be rectified by rework due to its ability to detect clashes in the design phase and due to the labour and resource cost savings [40]. These factors assist in complying with the economic sustainability attributes of construction projects. The European Union (EU) initiated the funding of projects where the implementation of construction automation through the use of prefabrication, for instance, shall result in eco-friendly, economically optimum, and highly energy-efficient construction projects [40].

1.6.4. Design Concepts to Implement Sustainability

Another attempt undertaken to implement sustainability is through following sustainable design approaches during the design process of a construct. There are several existing design methodologies to tackle the issue of sustainability. The common ones being vernacular architecture (utilizing local materiality and design elements such as wind towers, courtyards and fountains) [9], the design of nearly zero-energy buildings and passive buildings’ design [2,9]. There are other examples wherein sustainability is implemented in the overall design of a building’s systems such as low- or zero-carbon buildings, intelligent façade layers, and smart homes [2,9]. Furthermore, there is Gaudi’s waste-based architectural designs and biomimicry in architecture where buildings evolve into “habitable ecosystems” rather than being “machines for living” as described by the architect Le Corbusier [43]. Other design approaches used are the identification and implementation of optimum thermal comfort, high levels of indoor environmental quality, adequate daylight and ventilation, and acoustical insulations [13,44]. As stated, there are numerous design approaches to pursue sustainability in construction. However, there is lack of awareness about some of these concepts or the benefits associated with each methodology, leading to hesitation to implement them [2].

1.6.5. Divided Efforts in the Implementation of Sustainability

The divided efforts to implement sustainable practices in construction emerge due to the various perceptions governing the term SC. These multiple perceptions lead to serious impediments in the progress of sustainability in construction as there is no defined and agreed upon yardstick upon which sustainability can be measured, implemented, studied and progressed on the global level. These various perceptions divide the existing body of knowledge and research undertaken in this field. By understanding the existing perceptions of sustainability in the construction context, the current global efforts can be amalgamated to achieve a unified well-established goal and definition of SC on a global scale, where all the stakeholders shall thrive to achieve the same agenda which will lead to a substantial progress in achieving sustainability in the construction context. To achieve this target, understanding the existing perceptions and body of knowledge amongst stakeholders in the construction industry and connecting these multitude perceptions is central. The huge number of approaches and tools to counteract the uncertainty associated with SC without a clarity on how they can be used and when they can be used creates additional confusion concerning what SC is and increases the burden on the stakeholders.

1.7. Sustainability in the UAE’s Construction Industry

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has achieved unprecedented property development in the built environment due to the country’s oil revenues, where high-rise constructs formulated a fascinating outline forming the UAE’s skyline [45]. In the following section, the initiatives and the sustainable construction practices undertaken by the UAE’s government are discussed in detail.

1.7.1. International Practices of Sustainable Construction in the UAE

Apart from undertaking local initiatives, which will be discussed below, to pursue sustainability, some construction projects in the UAE aspire to achieve the LEED certification. The USGBC reported the top 10 countries across the globe, excluding the USA, that are making profound progress in sustainability in the construction context in terms of sustainable design, construction and operations. As evident in the

Table 1. Top 10 Countries making profound progress in constructing sustainable buildings, according to the USGBC [46].

Rank	Country	Project Count	Square Meters
1	Mainland China	1077	14,151,480.95
2	Canada	205	3,208,030.63
3	India	146	2,818,436.08
4	Republic of Korea	42	1,557,824.68
5	Spain	100	1,496,400.05
6	United Arab Emirates	73	1,275,916.01
7	Brazil	89	1,241,815.33
8	Italy	106	1,165,352.56
9	Mexico	47	955,576.47
10	Taiwan, China	31	893,688.21

, the UAE is the only country from the GCC and MENA region that has made it to the list [46], which is a positive indicator of the social awareness in the UAE concerning the importance of implementing sustainability. However, despite the large number of LEED registered buildings in the UAE, the number of the actual LEED certified buildings is less due to the costly and time consuming nature of constructing green buildings [9]. This reduced proportion of sustainable buildings actually being built is a global issue, despite the prevalence of the topic of sustainability in the construction sector [23].

1.7.2. Local Theories and Practices of Sustainable Construction in the UAE

Sustainability is given prominence and several initiatives have been launched across the UAE to promote and implement sustainable practices in a broad context. For instance, 2012 witnessed the opening of a 100 MW concentrating solar planet, one of the largest prototypes in the world [35]. Moreover, the opening of Masdar City, the world’s first low-carbon settlement powered by geothermal and solar energy renewable energy sources marked a significant accomplishment of the sustainability efforts put into action by the UAE government. By shedding light on sustainability in the construction context, in this fast-paced economy-driven country, it has been entrenched that the construction development should be in line with sustainable principles, and this has further triggered a series of plans and frameworks where sustainability in construction has become a core principle. The Emirates Green Building Council (Emirates GBC) founded in 2006, is a member of the World Green Building Council and is the official Green Building Council of the UAE that covers several strategic objectives and encapsulates members and corporates from different stakeholders in the field such as contractors, consultants, developers, construction managers, facility managers and suppliers [47].

Emirates GBC has the mission of serving as a catalyst for promoting sustainability in construction projects and the vision of pioneering sustainability on a global scale [47]. The Emirates GBC is monitoring some of the significant UAE federal and private initiatives to promote sustainability. For instance, the UAE Vision 2021 plan launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum identified sustainable environment and infrastructure as a national priority. The Green Economy for Sustainable Development strategy initiated by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum aims to maintain a sustainable environment whilst sustaining economic growth. The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 brought into action in 2015 by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum seeks to increase the percentage of clean energy in the total energy mix to 50% supporting eco-friendly economic growth. The Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 comprises of a set of agendas developed in the year of 2006 by the government of the Abu Dhabi as a road map to the Emirate’s economic, social and environmental progress. The most important agendas that fall under the Abu Dhabi Vision 2030 plan is the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Vision 2030 and the Abu Dhabi Economic Vision 2030, that were proposed by Abu Dhabi’s Urban Planning Council (UPC) [47]. The most important aims of these agendas is establishing an empowered economy that is sustainable, optimizing the resources of the Emirate, improving the efficiency, productivity and skill levels of the workforce, providing high quality healthcare and educational facilities to the residents and upholding the principles of the UAE) [47]. The development and implementation of this vision has been monitored by three organizations; the Department of Planning and Economy, the Abu Dhabi Council for Economic Development and the General Secretariat for the Executive Council.

In Abu Dhabi, the UPC also launched Estidama (the Arabic word for sustainability) in 2010, structured on the four pillars: environmental, social, economic and cultural, with the main target of preserving and maintaining the physical environment and the cultural identity of the UAE whilst simultaneously improving the quality of life for UAE habitants. It is based on the Pearl Building Rating System (PBRS) which implements Estidama Integrative Design Process (EIDP) where multiple analyses are conducted prior to commencing the design process. Those analyses being initial energy modelling, water consumption estimation, solar analysis, material strategies [35]. Estidama incorporates sustainable strategies in the design, construction, operations and maintenance phase of a building construct [48] and is based on categories with each category weighing a certain score. These categories include Integrated Development Process which is equivalent to 10 credit points, Natural Systems that weighs 14 credit points, 35 credit points can be earned in the Liveable Communities category, Precious Water category earns a company 37 credit points, Resourceful Energy equals 42 credit points and Stewarding Materials corresponds to 19 credit points [49]. The two categories that dominate are the Resourceful Energy and the Precious Water categories as a response to the UAE’s environment which is characterized by extreme weather conditions that necessitates a considerable amount of cooling, and the deficiencies in water availability. In the year 2010, Abu Dhabi Executive Council decreed that all new villas and buildings should achieve a minimum of 1 Pearl rating out of 5 Pearls and the governmental projects such as schools, mosques and hotels must accomplish a minimum of 2 Pearl Ratings out of 5 Pearls [49].

Other initiatives include, Dubai Plan 2021 focusing on social sustainability, Dubai Integrated Energy Strategy 2030 launched in 2011 with the main focus of diversifying energy sources and promoting clean energy to contribute 29% of the total energy mix of Dubai, Dubai Clean Energy Strategy 2050 established in 2015 with the target of advancing Dubai as a centre of green economy and providing 75% of Dubai’s energy by 2050 through clean sources [47]. Al Sa’fat Rating System, based on the enforced Dubai’s Green Building Regulations, was introduced by the Dubai Municipality in 2016 to promote and mandate sustainable practices to construction projects [47]. Similarly, Trakhees’s Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) Regulations and Standards serves as an advocate for sustainable practices in the free zones in Dubai, Ras Al Khaimah’s (RAK) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Strategy 2040 introduced in 2018 targets 20% water savings and generation of energy from renewable sources leading to 30% energy savings by the year 2040, this has led to the formation of Barjeel in 2019 where a set of sustainable standards including optimization of energy and water efficiency, usage of renewable energy, eco-friendly materials alongside the comfort of the users. These strategies were initially voluntary but became mandatory to be implemented in all new buildings from the year 2020 [47].

Despite being profoundly valuable initiatives taken by the UAE government and having ambitious objectives to be met by the year 2050, the structure of these sustainable frameworks, like Estidama in Abu Dhabi and Al Sa’fat in Dubai, do not overlap which makes comparisons between them a difficult task [50]. They establish higher weighing points and provide greater emphasis to different criteria [50]. This is the consequence of the different perceptions and definitions of sustainability in the construction sector of the UAE. As a result of which it becomes challenging to provide recommendations and ameliorations to existing sustainable practices as different stakeholders have different interpretations of what a sustainable construction project means [50]. As stated earlier, this leads to a division in the efforts formulated by the different organizations rather than unifying and building upon them to progressively advance sustainability in construction [1]. Comprehending and analysing the existing perceptions of what SC is, therefore becomes crucial.

2. Materials and Methods

This section aims to discuss the research methodology that assisted in the collection and the analysis of the current perceptions and understandings governing the term sustainability in the construction context, from the UAE’s construction industry stakeholders’ perspectives. Despite the prevailing emphasis given to sustainability and the existing vast body of knowledge and the literature in conceptually applying sustainability in broader applications, contextualizing sustainability to the construction sector has led to a series of divergent interpretations of the term SC, impeding the progress of this field. Divided efforts and hesitation to implement sustainable approaches in construction are the consequences of these diverse definitions and perceptions [4].

The research gap identified is the lack of consensus about what the term SC covers. To establish a benchmark, the existing perceptions amongst stakeholders in the construction industry need to be scrutinized. This research collected and analysed the existing perceptions and understandings of the term SC amongst the stakeholders in the construction sector in the UAE, including contractors, designers, clients, government authorities, specialized contractors, and suppliers/manufacturers. Exploratory research approach is embarked upon, as the research strategy adopted is a quantitative strategy and the research gap identified has not been scrutinized or analysed thoroughly in the past [51]. Exploratory research is conducted to assist in the comprehension of an existing problem [51], which in this case is the understanding of the existing perceptions governing SC in the UAE. The exploratory approach helped in answering the following questions: (i) What is the overall level of awareness of the stakeholders regarding major sustainable topics and practices? (ii) Are the stakeholders informed about the three pillars of sustainability equally? (iii) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the scope that sustainability covers in terms of the different project phases? (iv) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the merits associated with sustainable construction? (v) What are the stakeholders’ perceptions of the barriers associated with sustainable construction? This mono method research adopted deductive method as the deductive method entails formulating research questions based on the existing literature [52], which is the case with the presented literature review in this research, as it assisted in formulating the survey questions, making it a deductive approach.

Data collection was an integral and a key component of this research, as it assisted in drawing conclusions about the understanding of the UAE’s stakeholders, in particular, about the term SC. Quantitative data collection approach was selected in order to collect the perceptions of the stakeholders, using questionnaire surveys sent to the intended stakeholders. The key reason for selecting quantitative data collection approach is due to the fact that it results in the collection of standardized numerical measurements, where the data collected can be easily compared and analysed across the selected sample [53]. This is mainly because the respondents will all have the same selection choices to choose from. The collected numerical data can therefore explain the trends between the respondents [53]. The selected quantitative data collection method to gather the perceptions and understandings of the stakeholders was the distribution of a questionnaire to the practitioners actively working within the UAE’s construction sector. A questionnaire survey provides a detailed insight into the perceptions, opinions and attitudes of a population or a sample by providing a quantitative description of the gathered data [54], hence it was deemed as a suitable method for this research. Whilst developing the survey, the following factors were accounted for, as they were deemed critical to draft a successful survey [53]. These included utilizing clear language and wording to avoid any misinterpretations, avoiding lengthy questions that may cause the respondents to randomly select answers for the sake of completing the survey quickly, and eliminating any double questions or leading questions that can lead to a judgement bias, falsifying the findings [53].

As recommended by several published studies, piloting of the survey was conducted in order to test the survey to ensure that it is viable and that the content is valid [53,55]. This was done by the nominal group technique, also referred to as the expert panel. In this technique, generally, a group of participants are requested to provide their insight or views about a topic individually [55]. In this research, as shown in

Table 2. The background details of the expert panel that validated the questionnaire survey.

Expert	Job Title	Years of Experience	Affiliation
1	CEO at a Real Estate Agency	>25	Developer
2	CEO at a Construction Company	>30	Contractor
3	CEO at a Construction Company	>25	Contractor
4	CEO at a Consultancy Company	>25	Consultant
5	Managing Director at an Architectural Firm	>20	Chef Architect
6	CEO at a Real Estate Agency	15	Developer
7	Project Manager at Green Consultancy Firm	15	Green Consultant
8	Regional Manager at a Holding Company	106	Developer
9	Principal Engineer	>15	Government
10	Senior Projects’ Manager at a Construction Company	>30	Contractor

, a group of 10 professionals working in the construction industry were requested to provide detailed feedback on the survey questions prior to sending it out to the actual sample. The 10 professionals had 10+ years of experience working as Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) at real estate agencies, client representatives, chef architects, green consultants, managing directors, project managers and regional managers at architectural consultancies and contracting companies in the UAE. The expert panel validated the existing questions of the survey and, additionally, they added some important insights that lead to formulation of a few additional questions to the survey. For instance, they noted that the respondents should be questioned about the application of sustainable practices in the procurement phase, the contract formulation phase and the refurbishments/renovations phase as they believe that there is not enough knowledge amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry about these phases being integral components of SC. Moreover, they suggested questioning the survey respondents about the stakeholder that has the greatest influence in determining the sustainability of a construction project where they highlighted that if a disagreement arises amongst the respondents, this shall emphasize that there is another issue which is lack of consensus about who is responsible for implementing SC. The expert panel also recommended questioning the respondents about current sustainable practices such as vernacular architecture, nearly zero-energy buildings and passive housing design to test their overall knowledge about such important sustainable design concepts.

For the final sampling, two types of samples were approached: convenience sampling and snowball sampling. The first approach was convenience sampling where the willing participants had to meet the criteria of the study. If they worked in the UAE’s construction sector, they were requested to fill out the survey. In addition, these respondents were requested to recommend other individuals willing to take part in the research, which is known as snowball sampling. The research setting was online where the surveys were sent and completed online via an online platform named Google Forms. This brought about several advantages to the researchers and the respondents. For instance, it allowed the respondents to complete the survey at their convenience, it minimized any errors that is likely to happen during the manual entry of data, it facilitated the process of circulating the survey to more respondents [53], and lastly, it and was economically feasible to the researchers [54].

The survey distributed to the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction in 2022 is shown in

Table 3. Survey sections.

Survey Sections	Questions	References
Section 2: Overall awareness levels	How important do you think is implementing sustainability in the construction field? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not important, 5 = Extremely important)	[4,5,35]
	Do you think current construction practices will negatively impact future generations? Dichotomous Question (Yes, No, Unsure)	[8,9,10,11,12,13]
	Does your company take any sustainable measures in any undertaken project? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Never Implement, 5 = Always Implement)	[4,9]
	How eager/willing are you with implementing sustainable practices and standards in construction projects? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not eager, 5 = Extremely eager)	[4,9]
	Are you familiar with the differences between sustainable buildings and green buildings? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]
	How informed are you about the UAE’s sustainable initiatives in construction like Estidama, Sa’fat, Barjeel, etc.? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Aware, 5 = Extremely Aware)	[35,47,48,49,50]
	Do you think sustainability can be implemented through the automation of construction projects? Dichotomous Question (Yes, No, Unsure)	[21,28,29,39]
	Do you think sustainability can be implemented through project delivery systems such as CMR, DB, and IPD? Dichotomous Question (Yes, No, Unsure)	[40,41,42]
	Which stakeholder do you believe has the greatest influence in determining how sustainable the construction project will be? Multiple Choice Question; all stakeholders were listed.	[21,23,27]
	How familiar are you with the Brundtland Report? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[1,2]
	How familiar are you with the 17 SDGs in the UN 2030 agenda? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[1,5,15]
	How familiar are you with vernacular architecture? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[2,9] + Expert Panel Suggestion
	How familiar are you with nearly zero-energy buildings? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[2,9] + Expert Panel Suggestion
	How familiar are you with passive housing design? Likert-Scale Question (1 = Not Familiar, 5 = Extremely Familiar)	[2,9] + Expert Panel Suggestion
Section 3: Perceptions governing SC scope	Sustainable Construction emphasizes on the environmental aspects of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[5,8,14,16]
	Sustainable Construction emphasizes on the social aspects of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[8,14,16,17,26]
	Sustainable Construction emphasizes on the economic aspects of construction projects Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[8,14,16,19]
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the design phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[2,4]
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the contract formulation phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[24] + Expert Panel Suggestion
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the construction phase of construction projects Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[2,4,27]
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the procurement phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[21,24] + Expert Panel Suggestion
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the Operations/Maintenance phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[4,56]
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the demolition phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[14,16,27,56]
	Sustainability is mainly implemented in the refurbishments/renovations phase of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[2] + Expert Panel Suggestion
Section 4: Perceptions governing SC merits	Sustainable Construction contributes to the protection of the ecology. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[7,8,12,13,14,22]
	Sustainable Construction enhances resource usage efficiency. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[8,12,13,14,24]
	Sustainable Construction enhances recycling and renewable application. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[8,13,14,24,27]
	Sustainable Construction stimulates economic achievements such as cost efficiency. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[24,29,30]
	Sustainable Construction stimulates economic achievements such as high rates of return Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[29,30]
	Sustainable Construction enhances life cycle performance of a building. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[24,27]
	Sustainable Construction increases the quality of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[9,27]
	Sustainable Construction contributes largely to the social well-beings of end users. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[7,26,27]
	Sustainable Construction dictates social justice Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[7,24,26]
	Sustainable Construction increases the safety of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[9,21,24]
	Sustainable Construction ensures the protection of labour rights and wages. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[24,26]
Section 5: Perceptions governing SC barriers	Difficult to deliver a sustainable project within acceptable cost constraints. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[22,23,31,32,33]
	Sustainable Construction increases the project duration, due to its complexity Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[23,29,56]
	Materials used in SC are not readily available in the market (long lead items) and can cause delay in construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[23] + Expert Panel Suggestion
	Sustainable Construction negatively impacts the contractor’s profits. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[32]
	New sustainable technologies increase the risks and uncertainties of construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[23,32,34]
	SC still requires extensive research to produce an output where benefits exceed the cost of implementing sustainable technologies in construction projects. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[22,23,34]
	The long lifespan of existing construction systems hinders the introduction of new sustainable practices. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[23]
	Difficult to implement sustainable practices in construction due to the lack of awareness, understanding and information about what sustainable construction is. Likert-Scale Question (1 = Strongly Disagree, 5 = Strongly Agree)	[2,22,23,31,32]

. The survey was designed to collect the existing knowledge and perceptions governing the term SC from the stakeholders working exclusively in the UAE’s construction industry. The survey incorporated questions utilizing the Likert scale, upon which a quantitative analysis was conducted. The first section aimed to collect the general information about the survey respondents including their name, position, years of experience, the core business of the organization that they are working for, and the nature of projects that their respective firms undertake. The second section was designed to collect information about the overall awareness of the stakeholders in regards to the prevailing sustainable approaches and practices. Section three intended to understand the perceptions of the stakeholders in regards to the scope of SC in terms of its application in the different phases of construction projects and the pillar that it should emphasize on, whether it is the environmental, social, or economic pillar. Section four proceeded to collect the perceptions of the stakeholders in regards to the environmental, social and economic merits associated with sustainable construction. Section five aimed to collect the perceptions of stakeholders in regard to the barriers that impede the implementation of sustainability in construction projects. The collection of these perceptions assisted in formulating an overall understanding of the level of sustainability awareness and the existing perceptions of the UAE’s construction sector stakeholders about the term sustainable construction, which upon analysis set a baseline for the perceptions governing sustainability amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry. The contribution that this research has added to the body of knowledge is that the exclusive collection and analysis of the perceptions governing sustainability in the UAE’s construction industry should draw the attention of policymakers that the true meaning of sustainability has not yet infiltrated the construction industry of the UAE.

Upon the collection of the data from the respondents, the first section of the survey that collected the general information of the respondents (name, position, years of experience, the core business of their organization, and the nature of projects that their respective firms undertake) and the second section which collected information about the overall awareness of stakeholders in regards to the prevailing sustainable approaches and practices, were analysed using descriptive statistics. Whereas the last three sections of the survey as shown in

Table 4. Confirming data reliability using Coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha.

No.	Factors	Coefficient of Cronbach’s α	Reliability Level
1	Pillars of sustainability that the stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to.	0.70	Reliable
2	Construction project phases that the stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to.	0.84	Very Reliable
3	Merits of SC that stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to	0.87	Very Reliable
4	Barriers of SC that stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to	0.85	Very Reliable

, which collected (1) The perceptions of the stakeholders about the scope to which sustainability can be implemented in construction, in terms of the pillars (environmental, economic and social pillars), (2) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the scope to which sustainability can be implemented in terms of the multiple phases of a construction project (3) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the merits associated with sustainability and (4) The stakeholders’ perceptions of the barriers associated with sustainability, were tested to assess their internal consistency, that is, checking how closely related a set of factors are under the same category using Cronbach’s alpha. Cronbach’s α is deemed as a powerful measure of the data’s reliability/internal consistency producing values that range from 0 to 1. High Cronbach’s α reflect the consistency/reliability of a set of items under a particular category. The Cronbach’s α values calculated for all the items under the four categories of the survey range between 0.7 and 0.87 indicating high levels of reliability.

After the confirmation of the reliability of the collected data, the data was analysed using the Relative Importance Index (RII), which is a method applied to determine and rank the importance of every criterion mentioned in the survey questions. It compares the maximum importance that each criterion is achieving based on the respondents’ answers [57]. The Relative Importance Index is deemed as a powerful analytic tool that helps the researcher in understanding the importance of one point in relation to the other points being studied [57]. The RII has a range of 0 to 1, with 0 being not inclusive [57]. The following is the RII formula to be utilized for the analysis of the responses:

$$\mathrm{Relative} \mathrm{Importance} \mathrm{Index} (\mathrm{RII})=\frac{\Sigma w}{A\ast N}=\frac{3\ast \left(n3\right)+2\ast \left(n2\right)+1\ast \left(n1\right)}{3\ast \left(n1+n2+n3\right)}, (0 \le \mathrm{RII} \le 1)$$

where depending on the question, whether it checks the awareness of the respondents or the agreement level of the respondents: n1 = Number of respondents who selected “Not Aware”/“Strongly Disagree, n2 = Number of respondents who selected “Moderately Aware”/“Moderately Agree”, n3 = Number of respondents who selected “Strongly Aware”/“Strongly Agree, A = Highest value in level of importance which in this research equals to 3 and N = Total number of respondents.

3. Results

This section will discuss the results acquired from the distributed surveys to the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry. The research data was obtained through the distribution of a survey subdivided into 5 sections, having a total of 46 questions. The questions cover the respondents’ overall awareness, perceptions and knowledge about some sustainability concepts, the pillar and the project phase that the stakeholders closely relate sustainability to and the most common merits and barriers that the respondents associate sustainability with. A total of 129 responses was gathered from stakeholders working in several fields within the construction realm in the UAE in the year of 2022.

3.1. Section One of the Survey: Demographic Information

The first section of the distributed survey intended to serve as an introductory section where the names and the emails of the respondents were collected for verification purposes and for ease of reach, in the event that the survey is redistributed to update the findings in the future. Furthermore, the first section collected data concerning the respondents’ organization core business; where they had to select the affiliation closely related to their organization: whether they are clients/developers, consultants (architects/engineers), contractors, subcontractors, suppliers/manufacturers, DB companies or are working for a governmental authority that supervises construction projects. The respondents were further requested to note their years of experience in the construction industry in the UAE and the nature of the projects undertaken by their organization, whether these projects are industrial, residential, commercial or infrastructure projects.

Table 5. Demographic Information.

No	Demographics	%
1	Organization Core Business
	Contractor	26.4
	Consultant (A/E)	41.9
	Subcontractor	10.9
	Supplier	8.5
	Government	3.1
	Client/Developer	5.4
	Design and Build	4
2	Number of years of experience in the construction industry
	Less than 5 years	16.3
	5–10 years	13.2
	10–15 years	13.2
	More than 15 years	57.4
3	Nature of undertaken projects
	Industrial	4.2
	Infrastructure	12.2
	Commercial	42
	Residential	41.6

illustrates the demographic information of all of the survey respondents. A total of 129 responses was collected from stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction sector in 2022. The respondents included 34 individuals working as main contractors representing 26.4% of the responses, 54 consultants working as architects and engineers in consultancy firms or architectural design firms, representing 41.9% of the total responses, 7 clients/developers currently developing their own construction projects across the UAE accounting for 5.4% of the received responses, 4 employees working in government entities that are directly involved in any construction project in the UAE such as the Dubai Municipality, Trakhees, Dubai Electricity and Water Authority and the Dubai Development Authority, representing 3.1% of the answers, 14 specialized contractors/subcontractors that subcontract construction related activities presenting 10.9% of the survey responses, 11 suppliers/manufacturers of construction materials and equipment accounting for 8.5% of the recorded answers and, finally, 5 employees working for Design and Build companies in the UAE.

The inclusion of the responses from practitioners coming from multiple backgrounds, playing different roles in construction projects and having their own objectives and interests, assisted in improving the deduced conclusions as the perspectives of the stakeholders working in various fields are taken into consideration and accounted for in the results produced.

As shown in Table 5 also, the respondents were asked to note down the number of years of experience that they have in the UAE’s construction sector. 57.4% of the respondents declared that they have more than 15 years of construction experience, 13.2% stated that they have 10–15 years of experience in the construction industry, 13.2% have 5–10 years of experience, while 16.3% have less than 5 years of experience in the UAE’s construction industry. This ensured that perceptions of people having a variety of experience are included in the survey. Furthermore, the survey respondents were requested to select the type of the projects undertaken by their organizations. The respondents were given the freedom to select multiple construction project types. Table 5 shows that the stakeholders executing residential and commercial construction projects have contributed largely to the results. Therefore, the perceptions of stakeholders working in the construction industry coming from diverse work backgrounds, having a wide range of construction experience in the UAE’s construction sector and working on multiple construction project types were included in the results produced by the survey.

3.2. Section Two of the Survey: Overall Perceptions and Awareness

The purpose of the second section of the survey was to collect the general opinions and perceptions of the stakeholders about certain aspects directly related to SC, such as the importance of SC, their perceptions about current construction methodologies and the willingness to implement sustainability on an individual and organizational scale. Furthermore, the respondents were questioned about their familiarity with existing sustainable initiatives and concepts derived from the literature that will assist in the formulation of the conclusions about the stakeholders’ understanding of SC in the UAE.

Table 6. Survey Responses.

No	Responses to Questions in %
1	How important do you think is implementing sustainability in the construction field?
	Important	Moderately Important	Not Important
	91.5	7.0	1.6
2	Do you think current construction practices will negatively impact the future generations?
	Yes	Unsure	No
	55.8	23.3	20.9
3	Does your company take any sustainable measures in any undertaken project?
	Always	Sometimes	Rarely
	35.7	33.3	31.1
4	Are you eager to implement sustainable practices and standards in construction projects?
	Eager	Moderately Eager	Not Eager
	65.2	23.3	11.7
5	Are you familiar with the differences between sustainable buildings and green buildings?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	53.5	21.7	24.8
6	How informed are you about the UAE’s sustainable initiatives in construction like Estidama, Sa’fat, Barjeel, etc.?
	Informed	Moderately Informed	Not Informed
	48.1	18.6	33.3

presents the responses by the stakeholders concerning their overall awareness levels and practices concerning SC. The importance of implementing sustainability in construction is undeniable, due to the direct link that sustainability has on the environmental, social and economic wellbeing of a community [4,6,8,9,35]. Responses to Question 1 presented in Table 6 confirm that the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry agree with this proclamation as 91.5% of the respondents confirmed that they believe that the implementation of sustainability is important. Responses to Question 2 presented in Table 6 indicate that only 55.8% of the respondents agree that the current construction practices will adversely impact the future generations, which is significantly lower than the expected percentage, due to the innumerable studies discussing the detrimental impacts that the construction sector has on the future generations’ resources and environment [8,9,10,11,12,13]. 23.3% of the respondents are unsure about the statement made; that is, they do not have the sufficient knowledge and expertise to make a judgment. 20.9% of the respondents disagree with the statement made by claiming that the existing construction practices and methodologies are sustainable enough and will not adversely impact the future generations’ wellbeing. This does not align with the current findings that explain the detrimental impacts that the construction sector is placing on the future generations’ resources [8,9,10,11,12,13]. These findings highlight that the efforts made by the government to pursue sustainability should be consolidated and propagated further to convince the stakeholders’ that the current traditional construction methodologies are not sustainable and will eventually have adverse effects on the quality of life of future generations.

Responses to question 3 in Table 6 compliment the findings from Question 2. As concluded in Question 2, a high percentage of the respondents believe that the current construction practices are sustainable, as a result of which 31.1% of the companies operating within the construction industry rarely or never took any sustainable measures in their firms where only 35.7% of the companies attempted to implement sustainable practices. The conclusion drawn from this question aligns with the previous question’s concluding remark, where it was emphasized that the current attempts to spread knowledge about the importance of implementing sustainability in construction projects should be expedited. Responses to question 4 in Table 6 show that on an individual scale, the respondents’ performance is slightly better, as compared to the companies’ scale question. This is because, despite having a significant percentage of the construction companies rarely or never applying any sustainable measures, individuals have shown some willingness to implement sustainable practices if provided with the opportunity as 65.2% of the respondents claimed that they are eager to implement sustainable standards in their projects.

As explained in the literature review, clearly comprehending the terminology associated with SC is essential in the avoidance of contributing to the existing conceptual chaos [6,23,31]. One common example of terminological confusion or the usage of different terms interchangeably despite the significant difference in their meanings, is using the terms “sustainable buildings” and “green buildings” reciprocally [23]. Question 5 in Table 6 shows that only 53.5% of the respondents are familiar with the differences between the terms. Green buildings focus on the environmental dimension whereas sustainable buildings provide a holistic approach as it covers the three pillars of sustainability. This confusion in the basic terminology reflects the low knowledge levels about what SC is and therefore, it impedes the progress of implementing sustainability. The UAE has undertaken valuable initiatives to promote sustainable practices in construction. As presented in the literature review, several initiatives have emerged across the UAE to ensure that the three pillars of sustainability are addressed in construction, such as Estidama, Sa’fat and Barjeel [35,47,48,49]. However, results collected confirm that only 48.1% of the respondents are familiar with these existing local initiatives as shown in Question 6 in Table 6.

As discussed in the literature review, for practitioners to counteract the lack of consensus about what SC is [4], they have resorted to several solutions, including the automation of construction projects and the execution of the projects through project delivery systems that are deemed as sustainable, such as DB, CMR and IPD [21,29,38,39,40,41,42]. These different approaches emerge due to the various perceptions governing the term SC. Question 1 in

Table 7. Survey Responses.

No	Responses to Questions in %
1	Do you think sustainability can be implemented through automation of construction projects?
	Yes	Unsure	No
	70.5	20.2	9.3
2	Do you think sustainability can be implemented through project delivery systems like DB, CMR, and IPD?
	Yes	Unsure	No
	82.2	11.6	6.3

shows that 70.5% of the respondents agree that sustainability can be implemented through construction automation and robotics, whereas Question 2 illustrates that 82.2% agree that utilizing green project delivery systems is the way to implement sustainability in the construction sector. The variance in the respondents’ answers and the slightly high percentage of respondents being unsure or rejecting established sustainable practices further emphasizes that there is not enough awareness amongst practitioners about how to approach sustainability. For instance, 20.2% of the respondents were unsure about the relationship between sustainability and automation and 9.3% confirmed that the automation does not make a project sustainable. This contrasts with the studies presented in the literature review that confirmed that CAR is a feasible approach that ameliorates the sustainable performance of the construction processes [40,41,42]. Similarly, 11.6% of the respondents stated that they are unsure about how particular project delivery systems enhance the construction processes and 6.2% declared that CMR, DB and IPD will not assist in achieving SC. This contradicts the research conducted in this field that concluded that these delivery systems can result in a sustainable project due to the early involvement of the stakeholders and the utilization of technologies (such as BIM) [13,23,27].

Upon questioning the respondents about the stakeholder having the strongest influence in determining the sustainability of a construction project, there was a clear division observed. Figure 2 shows that 34.9% perceive that the government is the main entity that determines the extent of sustainability implementation as they lay down the rules for the construction procedures. 34.1% of the respondents believe that clients/developers are responsible for supporting SC with the reason being that they finance the construction project. 24.8% of the respondents asserted that architects and engineers working in consultancy firms should lead the way to SC, as they have the sufficient knowledge to design a complete sustainable construction process that can be followed by the other stakeholders.

Generally, clients and contractors are recognised as key players in the implementation of sustainable measures [27]. Contractors, in particular, are further perceived as the principal party accountable for the adverse impacts that the construction processes have on the environment during the construction phase. Despite the critical role that contractors have on achieving sustainability, only 5.4% of the respondents viewed contractors as a stakeholder having influence on SC. Another finding is that only 0.8% of the respondents believe that all the stakeholders should collaborate to achieve SC projects, which is the current direction the industry is headed towards, due to the numerous benefits associated with the collaboration of all of the project’s stakeholders [13,21,23]. These findings confirm the issue raised in the literature review, which is the emergence of the circle of blame amongst the stakeholders working in the construction sector [23] in the UAE where each stakeholder perceives the other as the party in charge of adopting sustainable practices, resulting in the slow advancement of SC.

The respondents were presented with two fundamental sustainable initiatives derived from the literature review, which are important in understanding the historical basis of sustainability (Brundtland Report) [1,2,3] and the future that sustainability is headed towards (17 SDGs) [1,5]. These were selected to check if the respondents are aware of the highly distinguished Brundtland Report that defined what sustainability is, and to further assess whether they are aware of the 17 SDGs which provides a sense of direction for stakeholders adopting sustainable practices and measures in their projects. The stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry displayed low levels of knowledge and awareness of both the mentioned initiatives. Question 1 in

Table 8. Survey Responses.

No	Responses to Questions in %
1	How familiar are you with the Brundtland Report?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	62.8	12.8	24.8
2	How familiar are you with the 17 SDGs in the UN 2030 agenda?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	48.9	17.8	33.4

shows that 62.8% of the respondents are not familiar with the Brundtland Report/Our Common Future and only 24.8% of the respondents are familiar with the initiative. The respondents showed a slightly enhanced level of awareness about the 17 SGDs in the UN 2030 Agenda. However, there is still a high percentage, 48.9%, not familiar with what the 17 SDSs are, as shown in Question 2 responses in Table 8. These low percentages reflect the low levels of awareness amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction sector about these key initiatives that stakeholders working in the construction field should try to achieve. The lack of knowledge about these initiatives poses the question as to how these stakeholders are trying to achieve sustainability, if they are not aware of the basic definition of sustainability and the potential framework for achieving sustainability.

As discussed in the literature review, some stakeholders utilize design concepts to implement sustainability in construction to resolve the issue of the absence of consensus about what SC is. Some of the sustainable design approaches undertaken are vernacular architecture, nearly zero-energy buildings and passive housing design [2,9]. Respondents were presented with these concepts to assess their level of familiarity. The respondents showed low levels of awareness with these concepts. Responses to Question 1 in

Table 9. Survey Responses.

No	Responses to Questions in %
1	How familiar are you with the vernacular architecture?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	27.2	13.8	59.7
2	How familiar are you with passive housing design?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	32.6	18.6	48.9
3	How familiar are you with nearly zero energy buildings?
	Familiar	Moderately Familiar	Not Familiar
	46.5	23.3	30.3

shows that 59.7% of the respondents are not familiar with what vernacular architecture is. Responses to Question 2 in Table 9 illustrates that 48.9% of the survey respondents are not aware about passive housing design. The survey respondents have displayed a slightly enhanced familiarity with the term nearly zero-energy buildings, where 46.5% confirmed that they are familiar with the term as shown in question 3 in Table 9.

3.3. Section Three of the Survey: Perceptions of SC Scope

The purpose of the third section was to understand the stakeholders’ perceptions about the scope to which they perceive sustainability covers. The respondents were presented with the triple bottom line of sustainability and the different project phases, and they were requested to highlight the pillar and the project phase that they mainly associate sustainability with. In this section, the survey respondents were requested to respond to ten statements made about the scope of implementing sustainability, based on how much they agree with the given statements by using a 5-point Likert Scale.

The respondents were presented with the triple bottom line of sustainability: the environmental, social and economic pillars. They were requested to determine how much they relate sustainability to each pillar.

Table 10. RII ranking of the three pillars of sustainability in terms of their relevance to SC.

Item	RII	Ranking	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
Environmental Pillar	0.933	1	108	16	5
Economic Pillar	0.862	2	87	30	12
Social Pillar	0.824	3	76	38	15

shows the RII ranking of the three pillars of sustainability in terms of their relevance to sustainability as per the respondents’ perceptions. As discussed, the scope that sustainability covers can be perceived from different perspectives by practitioners working in the field of construction [4,7,13,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23]. The purpose of this section was to rank the most popular perception governing the pillar that respondents relate sustainability to by using the RII. By doing so, the least popular dimension that respondents relate sustainability to was identified, which is the social pillar and thus corrective actions such as increasing the level of awareness of the stakeholders to ensure that they are aware of the importance of the three pillars of sustainability equally. As predicted in the literature review, the social and economic dimensions of sustainability are not properly acknowledged in the construction field, like the environmental pillar, which is highly problematic [13]. The ranking in Table 10 reflects that the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry mainly perceive SC from the environmental point of view, whereas the economic and the social dimensions are not as recognised in the UAE’s construction sector, with the social dimension having the lowest RII.

The survey responses for the ranking of the three pillars of sustainability were segregated into categories according to the respondents’ professional background/their organization’s core business. The RII calculation was then repeated for each category to rank the three pillars of sustainability for each organization’s core business individually to further analyse the perceptions for each category.

Table 11. Categorized RII ranking of the three pillars of sustainability in terms of their relevance to SC based on the respondents’ professional background.

	Environmental Pillar		Economic Pillar		Social Pillar
	RII	Ranking	RII	Ranking	RII	Ranking
Contractors	0.961	1	0.863	2	0.794	3
Consultants	0.926	1	0.889	2	0.870	3
Clients	0.810	1	0.762	2	0.619	3
Design and Build	1.000	1	0.867	2	0.867	2
Subcontractors	0.929	1	0.881	2	0.833	3
Suppliers	0.909	1	0.758	2	0.727	3
Government	1.000	1	0.833	3	1.000	1

shows that the contractors, consultants, clients/developers, subcontractors and suppliers rank the pillars of sustainability in terms of their importance as follows (1) Environmental pillar (2) Economic Pillar (3) Social pillar. Whereas, respondents working for government entities gave equal prominence to the environmental pillar and the social pillar. Respondents working for design and build companies mainly relate sustainability to the environmental pillar, followed by the economic and social pillar wherein they both received the same RII.

The same process was repeated again wherein the survey responses for the ranking of the triple bottom line of sustainability were segregated into different categories based on the years of the respondents’ experience in the construction industry, to check how the years of experience can influence the perceptions.

Table 12. Categorized RII ranking of the three pillars of sustainability in terms of their relevance to SC based on the respondents’ years of experience in the construction industry.

	Environmental Pillar		Economic Pillar		Social Pillar
	RII	Ranking	RII	Ranking	RII	Ranking
<5 years	0.937	1	0.810	3	0.825	2
5–10 years	0.980	1	0.824	2	0.706	3
10–15 years	0.922	2	0.961	1	0.882	2
>15 years	0.928	1	0.860	2	0.838	3

, shows the ranking of the three pillars based on the respondents’ years of experience. Substantial proportion of the respondents mainly related sustainability to the environmental pillar regardless of their years of experience, but for the other two pillars there were some fluctuations. For instance, respondents with more than fifteen years of experience responded that sustainability is inclined more towards the economic dimension. On the other hand, respondents having less than five years of experience in the construction industry related sustainability more to the social dimension over the economic dimension which can be an indicator that the social dimension is now being properly addressed in the universities’ curriculums.

As discussed in the literature review, there is a division amongst practitioners working in the construction industry about which phase in a construction project’s life cycle they perceive sustainability can be most efficiently implemented in [2,21,22,23,24,25,26]. The respondents were presented with the different phases that a construction project goes through, namely, the design, contract formulation, construction, operations and maintenance, demolition and even the refurbishment/renovation phases. They were requested to note their perceptions on how much they believe sustainability can be most efficiently implemented in each phase.

Table 13. RII Ranking of the project phases in terms of their relevance to SC.

Item	RII	Ranking	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
Design Phase	0.912	1	103	18	8
Construction Phase	0.873	2	96	17	16
Renovations Phase	0.863	3	89	27	13
Operations and Maintenance Phase	0.822	4	83	23	23
Contract Formulation Phase	0.816	5	79	29	21
Procurement Phase	0.814	6	81	24	24
Demolition Phase	0.736	7	63	30	36

ranks the project phases using the RII, in terms of the project phase that the stakeholders relate sustainability to. As discussed in the literature review, the scope that sustainability covers can be perceived differently by the multiple stakeholders working in the construction field [2,21,22,23,24,25,26]. The other purpose of this section was to rank the most popular perception governing the project phase that the respondents relate sustainability to by using the RII. By doing so, the least popular project phases that respondents relate sustainability to were clearly identified. In the UAE’s construction industry, the least popular phases that stakeholders relate sustainability to are the operations and maintenance phase, the contract formulation phase, the procurement phase and the demolition phase. Immediate corrective actions such as increasing the level of awareness amongst the stakeholders or leading future research governing the least popular project phases should be undertaken to ensure that the stakeholders in the UAE are aware of the importance of implementing sustainability in all of the project phases equally. The stakeholders in the UAE should be educated about these least popular phases, by informing them about how sustainable practices can be implemented during them, and the possible merits of implementing sustainability in these particular phases. As evident in Table 13, the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry are well informed about practicing sustainable principles in the design and construction phases of a project, which is a positive indicator.

The survey responses, for the ranking of the project phases that the stakeholders mostly relate sustainability to, were segregated into categories according to the respondents’ organization’s core business. The RII calculation was then repeated for each category to rank the different project phases for each organization’s core business individually to further examine the perceptions for each category as indicated in

Table 14. Categorized RII ranking of the project phases, in terms of the project phase that the stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to, based on the respondents’ professional background.

	Design		Contract Formulation		Construction		Procurement		Operations Maintenance		Demolition		Renovation
	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank
Contractors	0.931	1	0.765	6	0.882	2	0.853	4	0.833	5	0.725	7	0.863	3
Consultants	0.901	2	0.846	5	0.926	1	0.840	6	0.852	4	0.753	7	0.889	3
Clients	0.619	4	0.619	4	0.667	3	0.619	4	0.714	2	0.714	2	0.762	1
Design Build	0.933	1	0.533	5	0.800	3	0.667	4	0.867	2	0.667	4	0.867	2
Subcontractors	1.000	1	0.976	2	0.857	3	0.738	7	0.833	4	0.762	6	0.810	5
Suppliers	0.879	2	0.758	5	0.788	4	0.667	6	0.636	7	0.818	3	0.939	1
Government	1.000	1	0.833	3	0.917	2	1.000	1	0.833	3	1.000	1	1.000	1

. For instance, contractors including subcontractors, and engineers working for design build companies ranked the design phase as the main project phase wherein sustainability should be implemented. On the contrary, consultants ranked the construction phase as the prominent phase in a project’s lifecycle where sustainability should be mainly implemented, which further confirms the presence of the circle of blame amongst the stakeholders. Workers in the governmental authorities ranked first the design, procurement, demolition and renovation phases collectively.

The same process was repeated wherein the survey responses, for the project phases that the stakeholders mostly relate sustainability to, were segregated based on the years of the respondents’ experience in the construction industry, to check how the years of experience can influence the perceptions.

Table 15. Categorized RII ranking of the project phase that the stakeholders mainly relate sustainability to, based on the respondents’ construction experience.

	Design		Contract Formulation		Construction		Procurement		Operations Maintenance		Demolition		Renovation
	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank	RII	Rank
<5 years	0.841	3	0.746	5	0.873	2	0.841	3	0.841	3	0.762	4	0.905	1
5–10 years	0.902	1	0.824	3	0.824	3	0.745	4	0.686	5	0.863	2	0.863	2
10–15 years	0.882	1	0.863	2	0.882	1	0.824	3	0.863	2	0.784	4	0.882	1
>15 years	0.941	1	0.829	5	0.883	2	0.824	6	0.838	4	0.748	7	0.842	3

shows the ranking of the different project phases based on the respondents’ years of experience.

3.4. Section Four of the Survey: Perceptions of SC Merits

The aim of the fourth section of the survey was to understand the existing stakeholders’ perceptions about the merits that they associate sustainability with. The slow development of the sustainability field in construction results from the absence of knowledge amongst the stakeholders about the potential merits associated with SC [23]. The respondents were presented with several advantages derived from the three pillars of sustainability based on the literature review. The respondents were requested to rate the advantages stated, based on how much they agree or disagree with the importance of the given merits by using a 5-point Likert Scale. By using the RII, the ranking of the most popular merits and its subsequent pillar was identified which assisted in understanding the pillar that most of the respondents relate SC to and also the least popular pillar amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry was identified.

In the previous section, it was concluded that the respondents were not informed about the three pillars of sustainability equally. They related SC mainly to the environmental pillar, followed by the economic pillar and ranked lastly was the social pillar. This conclusion was emphasized in the responses of this section, where a high percentage of the respondents strongly agreed with all the merits derived from the environment pillar and ranked them first in terms of their relative importance as evident in

Table 16. RII ranking of the merits associated with SC.

Item	RII	Ranking	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
SC enhances recycling and renewable application	0.977	1	121	7	1
SC enhances resource usage efficiency	0.970	2	118	10	1
SC contributes to the protection of the ecology	0.944	3	110	16	3
SC contributes to the social well-beings of end users	0.922	4	103	22	4
SC enhances the life cycle performance of a building	0.918	5	103	20	6
SC stimulates economic achievements e.g., cost efficiency	0.904	6	100	21	8
SC increases the quality of construction projects.	0.899	7	96	27	6
SC increases the safety of construction projects.	0.868	8	84	39	6
SC stimulates economic achievements e.g., high rates of return	0.848	9	84	31	14
SC ensures the protection of labour rights and wages	0.747	10	60	40	29
SC dictates social justice	0.703	11	52	40	37

. The advantages ranked as the most important from the stakeholders’ perceptions include (1) the efficiency of SC in recycling and renewable applications through the recycling of the construction materials at the end of a building’s life [7,27], (2) enhancing the resource usage efficiency and (3) the ecological protection through the conservation of the biodiversity by the sustainable use of land [5,7,13]. It is important to note that the last two advantages ranked, were those derived from the social pillar. Those merits were (1) SC ensures the protection of labour rights and wages, and (2) SC dictates social justice.

By ranking the merits using the RII, the top three advantages, from the respondents’ perceptions, were based on the environmental pillar, further highlighting that the stakeholders in the UAE mainly perceive SC from the environmental perspective and give prominence to the environmental aspect of sustainability, over the other dimensions. The last two advantages ranked in terms of importance were derived from the social pillar. Despite being significantly advantageous, those social merits were ranked last with a major difference in the RII score than the previous merits. This highlights that the social sustainability is the least popular dimension or pillar amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction sector. This section concludes that the stakeholders in the UAE are well informed about the environmental benefits of SC, but efforts made to familiarize the stakeholders about the potential benefits of the economic and social dimensions such as the high rates of return, the enhanced cost efficiency and life cycle performance, the increased safety and quality measures associated with SC, should be amplified further.

3.5. Section Five of the Survey: Perceptions of SC Barriers

The fifth section of the survey intended to comprehend the existing stakeholders’ perceptions about the barriers that impede the implementation of sustainability in the construction industry. The slow progress in the SC field is also the result of the misapprehensions amongst the practitioners about the existing [23]. The respondents were presented with multiple disadvantages, which according to the presented literature are the most commonly perceived drawbacks of SC [7,24,29,31,32,33,34]. The respondents were requested to rate the disadvantages stated based on how much they agree or disagree with the given barriers by using a 5-point Likert Scale. By using the RII, the ranking of the top barriers that impede the implementation of SC is identified. This will assist in addressing these top ranked barriers in future research, to correct any prevailing misconceptions about implementing sustainability, particularly in the UAE’s construction industry.

As shown in

Table 17. RII ranking of the barriers associated with SC.

Item	RII	Ranking	Agree	Neutral	Disagree
SC requires extensive research to promote implementing sustainable technologies.	0.977	1	121	7	1
Difficult to implement SC due to the lack of awareness and information about what SC is. (Lack of standardized definitions, codes, regulations and standards)	0.970	2	118	10	1
It is difficult to deliver a sustainable project within acceptable cost constraints.	0.944	3	110	16	3
The long lifespan of existing construction systems hinders the introduction of new sustainable practices.	0.922	4	103	22	4
Materials used in SC are not readily available in the market (long lead items) and can cause delay in construction projects.	0.918	5	103	20	6
SC increases the project duration, due to its complexity.	0.904	6	100	21	8
New sustainable technologies increase the risks and uncertainties of construction projects.	0.899	7	96	27	6
SC negatively impacts the contractor’s profits.	0.868	8	84	39	6

, the results obtained from this section aligns with the information discussed in the literature review. This is because the respondents ranked (1) the lack of research, where reliable data concerning the financial benefits of adopting SC measures can be produced for utilization by the stakeholders and (2) the difficulty to implement sustainable practices in construction due to the lack of awareness, understanding and information about what sustainable construction is by the lack of standardized definitions, codes, regulations and standards) as the top two barriers that mainly impede the implementation of SC. The existing various perceptions of what SC is has resulted in conceptual chaos and high levels of confusion amongst the stakeholders, which in turn has slowed down the progress of adopting sustainability in construction. The difficulty in delivering a sustainable project within acceptable cost constraints was ranked third by the respondents as a major barrier that hinders the implementation of SC. The high costs associated with SC result from the high initial capital costs, increased risk of unforeseen costs, the underestimation of the cost savings, expenses of specialized teams and materials, and the errors in cost estimations. The long lifespan of the current construction practices hindering the introduction of new sustainable measures and practices was ranked fourth by the respondents as a barrier that obstructs the implementation of SC since stakeholders can be hesitant to modify the existing practices and deal with unfamiliar or unprecedented construction techniques that are sustainable which require particular expertise. Ranked fifth was the fact that materials used in SC are not readily available in the market (considered as long lead items) and can cause severe delay in construction projects. Other drawbacks hindering the implementation of SC are (1) the increase in the project’s duration as a result of the complexity of achieving SC. (2) sustainable technologies increase the risks and uncertainties of construction projects (3) SC negatively impacts the contractor’s profits. These were not perceived as major drawbacks hindering the implementation of SC amongst the stakeholders of the UAE’s construction industry as they ranked as the bottom three.

4. Discussion

The relationship between SD and construction is undeniable due to the construction sector’s significant role in the growth of any nation’s economy, which directly impacts the environmental, the social and economic status of a community. Sustainability has a solid definition on a broader level. However, in construction, there is no consensus about what the term sustainable construction covers. The multiple perceptions amongst practitioners in the construction sector impede the implementation of sustainable principles due to absence of a general understanding of what sustainability is in the construction context. The existing various perceptions divide the existing knowledge and research related to this field and has therefore resulted into conceptual chaos and confusion about what SC is.

This study aimed to set a benchmark for the existing perceptions governing sustainability amongst the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction sector where their level of awareness of certain sustainable principles, their perceptions of the scope to which sustainability can be implemented in construction and their perceptions of the merits and barriers of SC was collected. By understanding the existing perceptions about the meaning, scope, application, merits and barriers of sustainability in construction, the needed corrective actions, such as correcting misconceptions, and the next step to be undertaken to propagate sustainability becomes clear. The research reviewed the existing literature about the current definitions, theories, practices, factors, application, merits and barriers of SC. The reviewed literature was condensed to develop a questionnaire that was validated by an expert panel and used to collect data from 129 industry professionals. The collected data was analysed and synthesized into findings for a path forward in the SC direction. The research addressed a gap by gathering information about the perceptions of the stakeholders working exclusively in the UAE’s construction industry. The research identified the meaning, scope, factors, merits, barriers and application of sustainability in the construction context from the perspective of the UAE’s stakeholders.

The stakeholders included in this research came from diverse backgrounds working, had a wide variety of work experience in the UAE’s construction industry and have undertaken different types of construction projects. This confirms the inclusion of the perceptions of stakeholders coming from diverse work backgrounds, having a wide range of construction experience in the UAE and having experience working on multiple construction project types. The analysis of the multiple perceptions collected from the stakeholders was done using descriptive statistics and the RII. The analysis assisted in formulating the following conclusions that lead to the comprehension of the UAE’s stakeholders’ perceptions of SC, thus, meeting the objective of this paper which was to set a baseline for the perceptions governing sustainability amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry.

The stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry accept the importance of implementing sustainability in the construction field, which is a positive indicator. However, a high proportion stated that the existing traditional construction methodologies will not have any adverse impact on future generations which is an erroneous comprehension of the existing information that proves otherwise. Furthermore, a few stakeholders reported that the companies that they are working for don’t undertake any sustainable measures. Therefore, the current efforts made by the governmental authorities in the UAE, to advocate SC should be consolidated and propagated further to thoroughly inform the stakeholders’ that the current conventional construction methodologies are not sustainable. A positive conclusion drawn from this study was that more than half of the stakeholders showed eagerness to implement sustainable practices and standards. The stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry seemed to display some confusion in the basic terminology associated with SC, where there was a clear confusion about the differences, for instance, between the terms “green buildings” and “sustainable buildings”. Furthermore, it was concluded that the stakeholders are not properly informed about the valuable sustainable construction initiatives undertaken by the UAE’s government such as Estidama, Sa’fat, Barjeel, etc. Regarding the implementation of SC through sustainable project delivery systems or through automation of projects, the answers received showed variance and there was a high percentage of respondents being unsure or rejecting such established sustainable practices. This emphasizes that there is not enough awareness on how to approach sustainability.

There was a distinct division amongst the practitioners about identifying the stakeholder responsible for the implementation of sustainable projects. This confirms the emergence of the circle of blame amongst the stakeholders working in the construction sector in the UAE, where each stakeholder perceives the other as the person in charge of adopting sustainable measures and practices, resulting in the slow advancement of SC. Less than one percent of the respondents believe that all stakeholders should collaborate for achieving SC which contradicts the existing knowledge about the importance of the collaboration of the stakeholders. The survey responses also reflected the low levels of awareness amongst the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry about the 2 major initiatives of sustainability, which are the Brundtland Report and the 17 SDGs, as they formulated the definition of sustainability and proposed a framework that stakeholders working in the construction field should try to achieve. The low levels of knowledge about these two important initiatives poses the question as to how these stakeholders are trying to achieve sustainability, if they are not aware of the basic definition of sustainability and the potential framework for achieving sustainability. The respondents also showed low levels of awareness about basic design approaches such as vernacular architecture, nearly zero-energy buildings and passive housing design.

The analysis of the collected data using the RII concluded that the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry mainly relate the term SC to the environment pillar of sustainability. Despite their importance, the economic and the social pillars are not as recognised in the UAE’s construction industry, with the social dimension having the lowest RII score, confirming how it is generally overlooked. Therefore, rigorous efforts should be taken to spread awareness about the social pillar and the benefits associated with it in the UAE’s construction industry. Additionally, SC can be implemented efficiently in all the phases of a construction project. However, from the survey responses, it has been concluded that the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry are more familiar with implementing sustainable practices in the design and construction phases. The contract formulation, the procurement and the demolition phase received the lowest RII ranking, highlighting that the respondents least relate sustainability to these three phases.

The survey further confirmed that the stakeholders in the UAE’s construction industry are well informed about the environmental benefits of SC, but efforts made to familiarize the stakeholders about the benefits of the economic and social pillars such as the high rates of return, the enhanced cost efficiency and life cycle performance, the increased safety and quality measures associated with SC, should be amplified further. This further confirms that the most prominent pillar of sustainability from the UAE’s stakeholders’ perceptions is the environmental pillar, with the social and economic pillars being constantly overlooked. Additionally, the top barriers that impede the implementation of SC from the perceptions of the stakeholders were identified. The main barriers as ranked by the respondents were the necessity to conduct further extensive research in this field and the difficulty to implement sustainable practices in construction due to the lack of awareness, understanding and information about what sustainable construction is. Lack of standardized definitions, codes, regulations and standards was a topic of discussion in this paper. The data collected aligns with the problem statement which is the lack of knowledge or understanding about what SC entails [32]. The progress in SC is impeded due to this lack of understanding and reliable data about what the term SC includes due to the wide content that falls under the SC umbrella [32]. The low levels of knowledge and this high level of confusion impedes the stakeholders from initiating SC practices in their areas of work.

5. Conclusions and Future Work

Sustainability has a very solid understanding on a broad level; however, when placed in the construction context, there is no agreement among the stakeholders about what it entails. Different practitioners working in the construction industry perceive sustainability in the construction industry from different perspectives. The aim of this research was to set a benchmark for the perceptions governing the understanding of sustainability in the construction industry amongst practitioners working in the UAE’s construction sector. To collect the existing perceptions, the reviewed literature was condensed to develop an online survey validated by an expert panel and collected data from 129 industry professionals in the year 2022. The reliability of the collected data was done using the coefficient of Cronbach’s alpha. Upon confirming the validity and reliability of the collected data, the analysis of the collected perceptions was done using descriptive statistics and the relative importance index. The findings from the survey confirm that the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry are not as familiar with the economic and social pillars as the environmental pillar. Additionally, stakeholders in the UAE are more familiar with implementing sustainable practices in the design and construction phases of a construction project, whereas the contract formation, procurement and demolition phases had the lowest RII ranking. Moreover, the stakeholders in the UAE are informed about the environmental benefits of sustainable construction, but the efforts to familiarize these stakeholders about the benefits of the economic and social pillars should be amplified further. The main barriers of implementing sustainable construction from the perceptions of the stakeholders were the necessity for additional research and the difficulty to implement sustainable construction due to the lack of understanding and confusion about what it means.

The data collected aligns with the main problem statement which is the lack of knowledge or understanding about what sustainable construction entails. The progress in SC is impeded due to this lack of understanding and reliable data about what the term SC includes due to the wide content that falls under the SC umbrella. The low levels of knowledge and this high level of confusion impedes the stakeholders from initiating SC practices in their areas of work. The contribution that this research has added to the existing body of knowledge is that the collection and analysis of the perceptions governing sustainability exclusively in the UAE’s construction industry should draw the attention of policymakers that the true meaning of sustainability has not yet infiltrated the construction industry and immediate intervention is mandatory to increase the awareness levels of the stakeholders working in the UAE’s construction industry about what SC is.

For future research work in this field, it is highly recommended to address other prominent and evolving pillars of sustainability such as the culture/human pillar. Additionally, the same study can be repeated across a longitudinal time horizon to check how the perceptions governing sustainability in the UAE in particular are evolving over time. Moreover, the same study can be repeated to collect the perceptions of the residents of the UAE rather than being limited only to the professionals working in the construction sector of the UAE.