ZEMCH 2015 - International Conference Proceedings | Page 69

tered Surveyors (RICS) Oceania LinkedIn, the ZEMCH LinkedIn and the researchers LinkedIn networks. The researcher endeavoured to collect data from different countries to determine whether
attitudes varied between developed and developing nations. The survey was distributed in May
2015 and open for a 4 week period.
The survey comprised three distinct sections as follows. Section one asked the respondent about
their age, gender, the sector they work in, level of education and professional qualifications and
membership, and the global region they work in. The second part of the questionnaire comprised questions about different viewpoints of sustainability, and aimed to reveal whether respondents held Ecocentric or Anthropocentric/Technocentric perspectives. This data was critical
as it helped identify whether or not there is a clear and consistent set of viewpoints. Section three
posed questions about environmental actions respondents take at home, on the assumption that
at home they have dominion and choice over actions. The final section posed the same questions
about action but set in the workplace to see whether variation existed between actions at home
and at work. The aim was to determine whether the views respondents expressed in section 2
were followed through with actions in sections 3 and 4. Only responses to section 1 and 2 are
reported here.

Data analysis and discussion
Section one asked respondents about themselves to gain a deeper understanding of their background and level of experience. There were 59 responses to the survey, which is relatively small.
Males comprised 76.8% of the respondents. 39.3% of respondents were aged between 41 and 55
years of age, followed by 37.5% aged 26-40 years. The sample is experienced with 71.15% having
over 10 years professional practice experience. Of the remaining respondents, 15.38% had 5 to
10 years experience and 13.46% had less than 5 years experience. Overall 33.33% most of the respondents are employed in academic roles, followed by property 22.22% and construction 17.67%,
with the remaining respondents employed in architecture, engineering and land surveying. However this is a reasonable range of built environment professionals. They are highly educated, with
71.15% having a post graduate qualification. Given the distribution of the survey most are members
of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), 58.56% followed by the Australian Property
Institute (API) at 29.27%. Built environment professionals often join more than one professional
body and this is the case with this sample. Not surprisingly 82.35% worked in the Oceania region,
with 5.88% each based in the UK and Middle East. 76.47% have responsibility for decision-making
in the work role and 60.78% are responsible for other staff members.
Overall the sample is predominantly male, well educated, academic, experienced, a member of
RICS, responsible for decision-making and staff within the workplace, and working in Oceania.
Given the age and level of experience all respondents should have had reasonable exposure to
sustainability concepts at university and in the workplace as well as through continuing professional development requirements of the professional bodies they belong to.
Section two asked respondents about their personal view on a number of key tenets of sustainability as summarised in table 1 above. Table 2 provides a summary of the responses to questions
8 to 15. Question 8 asked whether respondents believed that humankind is a part of the eco-system, this is a Moderate Ecology standpoint, which 97.7% agreed to, with 2.3% not knowing the
answer (Dobson, 1990. Washington, 2015). When compared to question 9, which asked whether
respondents believed ‘that humankind is the most intelligent of species on the planet and that
gives humankind the right to decide how the planet resources are used’, 54.5% agreed with this
Cornucopian standpoint. This illustrates that the understanding is not fixed to one set of values or

Conceptual understanding of sustainability in built environment professionals

67