Green Procurement in Construction: Analysis of the Readiness Level and Key Catalyst among Construction Enablers

In the concern of sustainability and increasing awareness of environmental degradation, the Malaysian government has promoted numerous initiatives on green growth and green procurement (GP) to maintain and minimize the ecological effects in construction. However, this initiative is still in the infancy stage as to date, there is no specific guideline delineated to the construction industry, and it has yet to be enforced by the government to the construction practitioners. In construction, green procurement is a new area, and immediate actions are needed upon the principles, guidelines, and policy and implementation framework. Hence, this research aims to analyse the readiness level, barriers, and key catalysts among construction enablers towards adopting green procurement in the construction industry. Questionnaires were distributed to 102 construction enablers, focusing on quantity surveying firms in the Klang Valley area (Kuala Lumpur and Selangor), and 87 returned the responses. The analysis uses descriptive statistics via mean score, and the standard deviation was used to measure the variables and the mean's dispersion. It is revealed that the consultants are ready to adopt green procurement. However, GP's implementation's top challenges are lack of internal expertise, low awareness about green procurement, and lack of established best practices, standardized procedures and guidelines. It can be summarized that promoting GP and its implementation requires government support in policies, initiatives, and incentives. As the current practice is fragmented, ideally, GP's adoption in construction projects needs to conform to the acceptable standards that enable specific provisions to acquire eco-friendly sustainable construction

Not Just a Spatial Context : Understanding the Extent of Transport-related Social Exclusion

Mobility and accessibility limitations because of transport-related issues influence the ability of individuals to participate in activities. People affected by this circumstance are referred to as "transport disadvantaged," which might eventually lead to their social exclusion. Various scholars have investigated transport-related social exclusion (TRSE) issues and revealed the common transport difficulties encountered, affecting individuals from multiple backgrounds. Extensive studies have been done by looking at specific measures, such as issues related to time and spatial aspects when analysing the accessibility level in a particular locality. These studies focused on public transport performance to justify the accessibility level and the individuals' accessibility level in a local area. Despite numerous attempts to tackle the TRSE issues, any study investigating individuals' ability to participate in activities would not be compelling unless the TRSE issues were examined from a broader perspective. This paper discusses reliable evidence from previous research on the TRSE categories. These researchers use these categories correspondingly to explain the causes of transport difficulties. Furthermore, over 50 peer reviewed papers supporting these categories tying the discourse to transport mobility and accessibility restrictions were critically analysed. The findings provide insights to expand the understanding of the broad TRSE dimensions that would benefit future research investigating TRSE issues. The findings will also benefit the policymakers, designers, and users to understand more the importance of TRSE for better sustainable future development. Keywords: Transport-related social exclusion, mobility, accessibility, transport disadvantage, social exclusio

Evolution of Malaysia’s Plans Policies, Initiatives and Strategies on Green Procurement Implementation: A Review

Malaysia’s plans have evolved over the years, highlighting several goals to sustain economic growth and development in all constituent states of Malaysia. The five-year development plan comprises a comprehensive and integrated plan, policies, and strategies to lead the government in achieving the desired economic and socioeconomic goals. The first Malaysia plan was introduced in 1966-1970, and the development of Malaysia’s plans has continued since then. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan, the government emphasised sustainable management, responding to global climate change, and focusing on strategies and mitigation adaptation to ensure sustainable growth. Keeping environmental sustainability is a global commitment, especially in the construction industry, which contributes the most to environmental issues. Green procurement has been introduced to the construction industry as a way forward and a strategy towards sustainability. The primary objective of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the five-year development plans policies, initiatives, and strategies that have been proposed by the government on green procurement practices in Malaysia’s plans. The study employs integrative literature review to analyse the contents and features of Malaysia’s plans and its related government policy documents on green procurement. The findings of this study will assist stakeholders in better understanding the significance of green policies, initiatives, and strategies on green procurement implementation in Malaysia’s plans towards achieving inclusive, sustainable development in the construction industry

Evolution of Malaysia’s Plans Policies, Initiatives and Strategies on Green Procurement Implementation: A Review

Malaysia’s plans have evolved over the years, highlighting several goals to sustain economic growth and development in all constituent states of Malaysia. The five-year development plan comprises a comprehensive and integrated plan, policies, and strategies to lead the government in achieving the desired economic and socioeconomic goals. The first Malaysia plan was introduced in 1966-1970, and the development of Malaysia’s plans has continued since then. In the Tenth Malaysia Plan, the government emphasised sustainable management, responding to global climate change, and focusing on strategies and mitigation adaptation to ensure sustainable growth. Keeping environmental sustainability is a global commitment, especially in the construction industry, which contributes the most to environmental issues. Green procurement has been introduced to the construction industry as a way forward and a strategy towards sustainability. The primary objective of this paper is to analyse the evolution of the five-year development plans policies, initiatives, and strategies that have been proposed by the government on green procurement practices in Malaysia’s plans. The study employs integrative literature review to analyse the contents and features of Malaysia’s plans and its related government policy documents on green procurement. The findings of this study will assist stakeholders in better understanding the significance of green policies, initiatives, and strategies on green procurement implementation in Malaysia’s plans towards achieving inclusive, sustainable development in the construction industry

Introducing Green Practices for Construction Project Implementation Through Collaborative Approach

Successful construction project implementation depends on support from the stakeholders to meet the project objectives. Among the challenges identified related to stakeholders is the level of knowledge and awareness on working together to meet the project objective. The green initiative has been considered one of the project’s missions to tackle the environmental degradation issue due to the construction process. One of the green initiatives is the introduction of green practices. Thus, this conceptual paper highlights the importance of a collaborative approach for empowering the understanding, awareness, and willingness of construction stakeholders and the government to implement green practices in the construction process. The framework is developed through a literature review as the method to collect and analyse the literature data. The paper concluded that a collaborative approach enables all actors, particularly the construction stakeholders, to be educated, aware, and willing to implement green practices in the construction process

The preliminary results on the push factors for the elderly to move to retirement villages in Malaysia

Many countries are witnessing a rise in the ageing population, which has become a global phenomenon that all nations must address. As the population of greying people is expected to increase in Malaysia, the demand for senior citizen accommodation is predicted to have experienced a major rise by 2030. However, although studies related to retirement villages (RV) are highly important to understand how to provide a better ambience for the elderly, research on the development of retirement villages in Malaysia is yet to gather pace fully. Thus, this paper aims to explore the potential of the retirement village in Malaysia by focusing on the push factors for the elderly to move to retirement villages in the local Malaysian context. The outcome of this paper presents the initial findings derived from a literature review and pilot survey. Eight potential push factors were identified after questions were posed to potential respondents through a pilot survey questionnaire. The research revealed that the main potential reason why the elderly relocate to retirement villages was related to social factors, with the elderly preferring better access to healthcare and support due to their unique requirements. The findings of this study are relevant to Chapter 11, as underlined in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call on all governments to offer access to a secure, green environment for everyone, especially the elderly. Theoretically, this research provides the first findings on the elements that encourage the elderly to relocate to an RV when they retire in Malaysia

E-procurement adoption in the Malaysian construction sector : integrating diffusionof innovations and theory of planned behaviour framework

In recent years, environmental problems have become more prominent in the construction industry. The production and use of building materials are still one of the main reasons for various ecological and environmental challenges in the industry. Compared with traditional building materials, green building materials are environmentally friendly. Therefore, the adoption of green building materials in the construction industry can generally solve the industry’s ecological and environmental problems and promote green and low-carbon development. Research on contractors’ green procurement behaviour can promote the construction industry’s sustainable development. Many scholars discuss and agree that the implementation of e-procurement is a green approach towards sustainable construction. However, current evidence indicates that procurement stakeholders, especially contractors, are struggling to implement e-procurement effectively. Therefore, there is a need to study contractors’ behaviour in relation to green e-procurement. In response, this study investigates the adoption of e-procurement by Malaysian contractors by adopting planned behaviour theories and diffusion of innovations in their decision-making process. Here, a conceptual framework has been developed which focuses on factors influencing contractors’ adoptions. The framework can be used for understanding the contractors’ adoption decision of e-procurement. The result will help to find the critical key factors affecting green procurement behaviour from contractors’ perspectives and extend the theories further. This framework is also in tandem with the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB), Construction 4.0 Strategic Plan (2021-2025) in identifying critical factors that affect the adoption of green procurement on construction projects

Green procurement framework for the Malaysian construction industry

Construction projects have a negative impact on the environment. As Malaysia is planning more construction projects to cater for its current and future development needs, practitioners are urged to undertake greener approaches to construction. One of the efforts is the introduction of green procurement, which is promoted under the Malaysian Government’s MyHijau initiative. Construction procurement is recognised as a tool to shift the construction business into a greener industry. However, the implementation of green procurement in Malaysia is still in its infancy and faces a number of challenges, such as the lack of knowledge. A significant gap has been found between policy formulation and actual project delivery as there are no practical guidelines for stakeholders to procure environmental-friendly construction projects. To address this problem, the present research (as part of an ongoing PhD project) aims to develop a green procurement framework that guides stakeholders in procuring green projects in Malaysia. This article highlights the concept of green procurement in Malaysia, the work carried out to date to achieve the research objectives and the preliminary framework that has been established. It is hoped that this research will help academics and practitioners to further explore the potential of green procurement to improve sustainability in the current construction industry practices

Exploring the potential for green-oriented procurement in building projects: A case of the Malaysian construction industry

This thesis provides a way forward for a green construction in Malaysia in exploring the potential of green-oriented procurement of building projects in the Malaysian construction industry. The research outcomes contribute to knowledge and practice by not only developing a green-oriented procurement model for use as a planning tool, but also triggering an increased awareness of project teams and practitioners of the need for greener construction

Developing green procurement framework for construction projects in Malaysia

With the current emerging development pattern in Malaysia, Malaysian government has enthusiastically promoted green procurement approach that will help the construction project being green. Previous studies highlighted that the concept of green procurement is still very new to the Malaysian construction industry, and this increases the needs for further research in this area. This paper addresses the needs of guidelines for stakeholders to procure environmentally-friendly construction. Currently, there is a limited practical guideline for stakeholders to procure green projects. This paper discusses the progress to date of a research project aimed at developing a green procurement framework for construction projects in the Malaysian construction industry. This framework will guide the stakeholders to plan the green procurement implementation to procure a construction projects. Through literature and expert opinion, this paper explores the list of green practices within procurement practices which becomes the basis to develop a survey instrument that will be used in the later part of this study. The paper will shed useful information for construction researchers and practitioners in exploring the green procurement concept for construction industry in Malaysia