Stakeholders Perception of Sustainable Housing Strategies - Research Paper Example

Stakeholders’ Perception of Sustainable Housing Strategies Abstract Environmental awareness has improved in the society and regulatory measures and social conscience required eco-friendly ventures. The housing sector in Qatar is involved in this transitional wave in and stakeholders are expected to embrace eco-friendly patterns. This project aims at identifying the most eco-friendly housing patterns in the country for advocacy among stakeholders and the study seeks to develop a structural framework that should be applied as a guideline to upcoming construction projects in Qatar. The study also seeks to address the issue of the rising need for housing in Qatar because of economic development in the country besides seeking to advice stakeholders on the appropriate directions to take in providing sustainable housing for the present and future generations. This is because the changing life styles call for changing housing systems and hence the need for using materials that are environmental friendly during construction, occupancy, maintenance, and demolitions. Introduction The study seeks to develop a structural framework that can be used in future constructions for eco-friendly housing facilities in the country. This is because the increasing environmental consciousness in the society requires environmentally favorable structures whose applications are also eco-friendly. Environmental sustainability is currently considered as an environmental challenge and a global issue. Sustainable housing can achieve a better environment by reducing the amount of energy consumption towards a better living environment. This scope identifies achievement of sustainable housing design with the success of both the environment and the residents. It promotes achievement of human comfort through improving ventilation and natural lighting techniques. Sustainable housing is at the same time related to sustainability of building materials and energy use to reduce the impact of housing on the environment. This paper identifies the stakeholder’s perceptions and attitude that influence sustainable housing design in Qatar. This study focuses in increasing awareness of stakeholders toward sustainable housing design by incorporating new technologies, in order to change the un-sustainable designs and practices of building. The aim of the study is to recognize stakeholders’ perceptions through the difference and similarities as will be achieve through some questionnaire surveys, interviews, and case studies with different stakeholders. The study will investigate the strategy of decisions by utilizing the improvement of sustainable housing (Zhengyu and Jay, 2009). Problem statement The existing need for better constructions towards environmental conservation and preservation in the housing sector has not been met because of prevalent application of ancient architectural practices in constructions. Conservative applications in housing constructions have not considered the dynamic environment that has significantly deteriorated to require housing structures that are more sensitive to the environment. The study therefore seeks to develop a framework for bridging the gap between environmental needs and architectural practices in order to upgrade the housing sector to meet environmental needs. The study explores stakeholders’ perceptions over sustainable housing strategies in Qatar and is significant to the society because of its potential to develop a framework for an eco-friendly industry. This will set an example for other industries to emulate towards a favorable environment for better living standards. Its significance also extend to the role of a moral agent as it has the potential of promoting social responsibility among investors in the housing industry and the morality can spread to other construction, manufacturing, and processing industries. Implementing the study’s scope and meeting its objectives involved exploration of the following research question. What is the stakeholders’ perception of sustainable housing strategies in Qatar? Literature review Many factors and strategies influence durability and energy of wood house design. A study has indicated that failure in a wood structure is cause by the fungi and inserts. The study solves the climatic issues related to the hot humid climate by showing the influences of climatic and social issues and giving strategies for sustainable hosing design (David, Lwewis and Shane, 2006). Further, the study identifies design issues in the mainstream housing without changing the current mainstream house practice. It also focuses on three aspects for sustainable housing; efficiency, flexibility, and affordability comparing it with the house itself and the neighborhood. The study also offers a process to follow in order to achieve sustainability at household level (Abu Hoque (N/A). It is important to address other experiences, because this will lead to support and understand different methods and ideas. Since Yasser (2010), shows in their research about the socioeconomic, economic and infrastructure, that flourishing the GCC countries to investigate their potential by having an experience from different value managers through their point of view. The study provides supporting issues by having a successful integration of sustainability from value manager practices. In addition, it gives knowledge and attitudes toward sustainability. In addition, Laurie, Chanel and Karen studies about how to provide a good environment by real experiences of living in a sustainable environmental friendly house, however to investigate the ideal functional aspects of living in environmentally friendly house. Therefore, the focus is to gain a residential satisfaction through such a design features such as ventilation and natural lighting, which considered as important elements in the design. Generally, different theories, experiences, and methods used to gain a sustainable housing design. It is clearly that some theories reflect the development of sustainable hosing is by residences experience by achieving a good understanding of their needs. In the other hands, sustainable housing development is not depends on individual or household behavior; it should be reflected from the industrial institution and stakeholders. As results, there should be integration between the residents, social and industrial institution in order to have ideal sustainable house strategies that could be applied, and impact in sustainable housing design in Qatar. The desire to look into the concept of sustainable housing arises from the increasing need for housing for the growing population and the changing tastes and preferences of occupants that call for constant renovations and demolitions then reconstruction. More than 74 percent of the population of the State of Qatar residing in the communities of Al- Rayyan and Doha communities and the government of the State of Qatar has enacted a variety of initiatives in order to produce new urban centers. A recent research conducted three years after launching the Population Policy demonstrated that the population density of Doha was estimated at over 3,100 residents per square kilometer. This a high density compared to other areas such as the Shamal Township where the population density is eight people per square kilometer. It has been documented that such intense population density as in the Doha area can induce environmental concerns. This large population density may become a public health hazard to the residents whom inhabit the State of Qatar (Adly, 2013). The United Nations Summit on Environment and development during the 1992 Earth summit that was held in Rio de Janeiro has established the challenge of the development of sustainable housing is one of the particular agendas that must be addressed by developing nations. Similar to sustainable development that has the aspects of equity and futurity, the development of sustainable housing seeks to guarantee that everyone who is in the present and the future has a location in which they can reside (Li & Sheen, 2002). The decision-making procedures on the development of sustainable housing remain a challenging endeavor that requires that all of the potential outcomes of the recommended policy actions be taken into account. The development of sustainable housing is however limited by the subjective points of view of the decision makers who may maintain distinct or diverging perspectives. The particular decisions of concern in sustainable housing policy also require making the choices among the variety of policy implementations in order to attain the optimal degree of housing sustainability (Li & Shen, 2002). Methodology Research design The study applied qualitative research’s phenomenology design. This involves reliance on research participants’ experience with a phenomenon to derive meaning. The design was preferred because of its scope that correspond to the scope of the study, sought stakeholders perspectives on the housing sustainability and its strategies. Population, sample, and sampling strategy The study’s target population is the set of stakeholders to the housing industry in Qatar. A sample of 25 stakeholders was selected using simple randomized design. The design was further chosen because of its ability to eliminate bias and its simple approach for implementation (Antonisamy 57). Data collection tools Questionnaire The research will use self-administered questionnaire as the data collection tool. Questionnaire has been selected because of its advantages that match the research scope and facilitates data collection process. Flexibility of the tool suits the type of study. Application of self-administered questionnaires also ensures affordability of the data collection process because the approach is relatively cheap. It is also easy to disseminate self-administered questionnaires and this ensures a wider sample space and larger number of participants towards external validity of research results. Further, questionnaires allow participants sufficient time to respond to the questions and this facilitates accuracy towards credibility. The data collection tool’s property that ensures anonymity also facilitates participants’ honesty and accuracy of obtained data. Disadvantages such as poor response rates will however be managed through awareness during the distribution stage. The following are the questions that were incorporated in the questionnaire for data collection. What is your definition of sustainable housing? What is the significance of sustainable housing? How would you rate current sustainable housing strategies in Qatar? Do you thing that the current sustainable housing strategies in Qatar should be modified? What challenges have you observed that affect sustainable housing in Qatar? What is your opinion regarding the current strategies’ ability to minimize environmental risks and enhance green spaces? How would you rate the current applicable construction materials and practices in relation to sustainable housing strategies? Do the current housing strategies meet affordability needs? Do the housing strategies meet people’s social utility expectations? How would you rate the current sustainable housing strategies as a source of employment? Do the strategies promote savings among individuals? How would you rate the current housing strategies’ effectiveness? Observation The study also applied observation as a supplementary data collection approach to the questionnaire approach. Application of many techniques has the advantages of eliminating potential bias or challenges that one technique would encounter. Observation of actual activities over sustainable housing strategies was preferred as a data collection approach because of its diversified advantages such as the researcher’s ability obtains primary data in its natural occurrence the ability to achieve accuracy that could be compromised by other observers (Kothari, 2008). Results The study’s results was derived from the following structured questionnaire. Stakeholders’ perception of sustainable housing strategies in Qatar 1. What is your definition of sustainable housing? (A) Affordable living quarters, with adequate necessities like water and electricity (B) Living quarters that are near an urban area (C) Living quarters that minimize harmful environmental impact while providing optimum comfort and economy for the occupants (D) I do not know. 2. What is the significance of sustainable housing? (A) Availing cheap homes with adequate necessities like water and electricity. (B) Enhancing accessibility to the urban areas (C) Enhancing minimal harmful effects to the natural environment (D) I do not know. 3. How would you rate current sustainable housing strategies in Qatar? (A) Poor (B) Very Good (C) Good (D) Average 4. Do you think that the current sustainable housing strategies in Qatar should be modified? (A) They should be wiped out completely and replaced with better ones (B) No (C) Yes (D) I do not know 5. What challenges have you observed that affect sustainable housing in Qatar? (A) The cost of establishing sustainable housing is high while the process of doing it is complex. (B) The extreme hot and dry climate of Qatar leads to high-energy consumption for air conditioning, water pumping and water purification. (C) Rapid growth in Qatar causes congestion, reducing the applicability of sustainable energy sources like the sun and wind while disabling natural ventilation. (D) None 6. What is your opinion regarding the current strategies’ ability to minimize environmental risks and enhance green spaces? (A)They are completely non-effective (A) They are extremely effective (B) They are averagely effective (C) I do not know 7. How would you rate the current applicable construction materials and practices in relation to sustainable housing strategies? (A) Poor (B) Very Good (C) Good (D) Average 8. Do the current housing strategies meet affordability needs? (A) No (B) Yes (C) Somehow (D) I do not know 9. Do the housing strategies meet people’s social utility expectations? (A) No (B) Yes (C) Somehow (D) I do not know 10. How would you rate the current sustainable housing strategies as a source of employment? (A) Poor (B) Very good (C) Good (D) Average 11. Do the strategies promote savings among individuals? (A) No (B) Yes (C) Somehow (D) I do not know 12. How would you rate the current housing strategies’ effectiveness? (A) Poor (B) Very Good (C) Good (D) Average The following table summarizes the study’s results. Response for 25 respondents Question A B C D 1 6 11 7 1 2 7 10 7 1 3 7 8 8 2 4 7 8 8 2 5 9 7 9 0 6 5 7 11 2 7 5 8 10 2 8 6 11 6 2 9 3 15 7 0 10 6 11 6 2 11 7 11 6 1 12 7 11 5 2 Chart Illustration of the Response for 25 respondents Line Graph illustrating the Response Data analysis Identification of stakeholders’ perception of sustainable housing strategies in Qatar relied on their understanding of the scope of the housing sector, its involved strategies and possible improvements to the strategies. The study sought the stakeholders’ perspectives on 12 different aspects on the housing industry and its sustainability in order to explore the research objectives and answer the research questions. The stakeholders offered diversified understanding of a sustainable housing. Most of the interviewed stakeholders identified sustainable housing with utility to the participants and environmental impacts. In their responses, the majority of the stakeholders demonstrated understanding of sustainable housing as dwellings that are close to urban centers to mean that urbanization offers sustainability. Significant number of stakeholders however identified sustainable housing as that living quarter that offers limited negative impacts to the environment and at the same time optimizes dwellers’ comfort at minimum costs. This was followed by an almost a similar percentage that believes sustainability of housing coincides with its affordability and availability of associated facilities and commodities such as electricity. Reviewing these responses identifies lack of environmental consciousness but identifies utility as the general driver to opinions of a sustainable housing. This means that stakeholders are willing to influence management of resources and to manage resources towards increasing the number of housing structures in urban centers and their neighborhoods at the expense of cost and derivable utility from the houses. A perception of environmentally unfriendly houses that may also be expensive therefore characterizes the housing industry in Qatar. A similar perspective that associates sustainability of housing with urban centers is identifiable with stakeholders’ perspective of significance of sustainability of housing. Out of the 25 interviewed participants, 40 percent attach believes that sustainable housing is one that aids access to urban centers. Twenty-eight percent however attach sustainability to housing’s ability to offer necessities such as water and electricity while another 28 percent identified environmental conservation as the role of sustainable housing and this identifies potential threat of the housing industry to the environment. This is because irrespective of the stakeholders’ positions in the industry, whether investors or consumers, they are likely to influence constructions near urban centers or at strategic places that can aid access to urban centers even if such developments undermines environmental conservation and preservation efforts. A majority of the interviewed stakeholders believe that the current sustainable housing strategies are good. Seventy-two percent thinks that the strategies are at least average. While the results would indicate sustainability, the stakeholders’ understanding of sustainability plays an important role in the response’s bias and identifies the current state of sustainability of Qatari housing industry. This is because the stakeholders are oblivious of the significance of environmental consciousness and cost effectiveness in sustainability. Their unanimous opinion of a more that average sustainability of housing means that most of the constructions have been directed towards urban centers and further communicates potential environmental threats and high costs of construction and renting. This therefore means that the housing industry’s current sustainability strategies are very poor because they have ignored environmental and cost factors. The stakeholders’ opinion of the need to transform the sector’s sustainability strategies further shows lack of directions on whether the strategies should be modified or not. While 32 percent believe that modification is necessary, another 32 percent would prefer the status quo while 28 percent would prefer new strategies. The significance of majority perspective would therefore indicate the status quo that identifies sustainability concerns. Further, the 28 percent that preferred new strategies did not disclose whether their preference would support more orientation to urban areas or focus on costs and environmental conservation. The lack of precise direction of sustainability strategies therefore induces the need for informed policies to ensure that strategies for sustainability in the industry are developed, approved and implemented. Such policies can emanate from professional bodies such as architectural association or from government ministry that is responsible for constructions and public works. Stakeholders identify two challenges to sustainable housing in Qatar, high cost of attaining a sustainable housing and the rapid growth in the country that has led to congestion. A significant percentage however identify the country’s hot and dry climate and its consequential high energy consumption towards maintaining favorable atmospheric conditions as a major challenge. The participants however agreed, unanimously that sustainable housing in Qatar faces challenges. Further, the stakeholders’ opinions to the challenges may not reflect the exact challenges to sustainability in the industry because of the stakeholders’ biased perception of sustainability. The major challenges, high costs, and congestion could for example be challenges to resource distribution in urban centers that experience high demand for housing and not related to sustainability factors such as costs achieving eco-friendly houses and cost effective structures. Stakeholders’ perception of sustainability in housing is however evoked by the direct mention of environmental risks and the concept of green space. While they held the opinion that existing strategies are good for sustainability, the highest frequency of the stakeholders only perceived average effectiveness of the current strategies to minimizing environmental risks and enhancement of green space, a view that identifies weak sustainability. A significant proportion of the participants however believed in the strategies’ ability to minimize environmental risks but the identifiable bias in perspective due to preference to urban location could blind participants to environmental consciousness. A positive correlation over the relationship between construction materials, and practices and sustainable housing strategy was reported by the participants as more than 70 percent of the participants rated the materials highly in relation to sustainability. Unbiased judgments that are conscious of the meaning of sustainability would therefore communicate effectiveness of the materials and practices towards sustainability but the participants’ opinion of sustainability appears to be corrupted by urbanization. A significant portion of the sample, 20 percent, however described the materials and practices as poor to housing sustainability, this proportion is consistent with the less than 30 percent that attributed sustainability to environmental consciousness, and cost effectiveness and their opinion could be valid to the effect that the currently applied materials and practices relate poorly to housing sustainability. Consideration of the participants’ perception over cost of the housing strategies identifies affordability. Twenty-four percent of the participants however believe that the strategies are not cost effective and do not meet affordability needs. The consistency in percentage of opinions with reservations over the current strategies to the percentage that identified housing sustainability with environmental concerns and cost, and the consistency between the proportion of the participants that understood sustainability in terms of accessibility to urban centers and those that support the current strategies however develop an insight. It can therefore be understood that opinions that the current strategies can meet affordability needs could have been influenced by urbanization factors or by relativism of affordability due to high costs that have been involved in constructions in urban centers and areas that are strategically placed to access urban centers. The current housing strategies however meet people’s social utility needs, as a majority of the interviewed stakeholders believes. It is however important to note that social utilities are diverse and may be influenced by many secondary factors other than primary housing strategies. The current housing strategies are however, a good source of employment to the population and this identifies their ability to offer financial empowerment for meeting utility needs. A majority of the stakeholders also believed that the strategies promote savings among individuals and this is consistent with the strategies’ potentials as a source of employment in the society. Generally, stakeholders believe that the current sustainable housing strategies are very good. Observation of the current state of building strategies however identifies inefficiencies that undermine sustainable housing. Further observation of the environment and the current initiatives that are being implemented towards eco-friendly constructions means that the current strategies have not met sustainability needs in terms of environmental conservation. The Eco Villa project that aims at establishing Qatar as a leader in sustainable housing and the level of efforts that has been focused on it communicates the identified inefficiencies in the current Qatari sustainable housing strategies and the need for diversification of the project’s efforts, ideas, and resources towards a sustainable housing industry in the nation. Conclusion The study sought to explore stakeholders’ perception of sustainable housing strategy. It applied qualitative research method with phenomenology design in which questionnaire and personal observation was used to collect data. The participants’ responses identify oblivion over definition of sustainability and a misunderstanding of the meaning and scope of a sustainable housing and involved strategies. Most of the participants understood sustainability as accessibility to urban centers instead of environmental friendliness and affordability. This misunderstanding is further coupled with bias that associates housing strategies with urbanization, its needs, and its consequences. As a result, the participants’ views of significance of sustainable housing strategies and whether those strategies should be reviewed are not based on sustainability motives. The bias is further extended to other aspects of the current strategies but consistency in percentages in opinions over scope of sustainable housing and other perspectives identifies a minor proportion of the sampled stakeholders knowledge of the housing industry in Qatar and a critical perspective of the current sustainability strategies and practices. Measured to establish projects for sustainability housing also identify current inefficiencies that have identified the need for such measures. This study therefore concludes that sustainability-housing strategies in Qatar are inefficient. Further, stakeholders to the industry do not understand the concept of sustainable housing and its strategies and are instead focused on urbanization. This has corrupted the stakeholders’ perception of sustainable housing strategies. Recommendations Lack of knowledge on sustainable housing, among stakeholders, is the major identified problem. The problem has far-reaching consequences that has affected the stakeholders’ perception of sustainability in the industry and threatens possible achievement of sustainability. This paper therefore recommends awareness campaigns among stakeholders on the meaning and scope of sustainable housing and its strategies. The stakeholders that should be informed include investors who determine where their investments can be channeled to and therefore dictates locations for housing constructions, and investment advisors who may be driven by short-term profitability objectives. The public, that is the consumer for the housing industry, is another stakeholder that needs to be informed of the meaning of sustainable housing and its scope because the public’s demand appropriate housing has the impact of facilitating sustainability. Architectures, which develop housing designs, should also be informed of the concept of sustainable housing and its benefits. The paper also recommends institutional efforts to transform strategies from the current ones that are focused to urbanization and its advantages, to strategies that focus on environmental concerns and involved costs of constructing and even purchasing or renting housing structures. Works cited Abu Hoque, AddressingHousehold sustainability by improving mainstream housing design in New Zealand. Principle of urban designer & senior associate, 1-12 Adly, Ayman. ”More has to be done’ for urban centers.” Gulf Times, 24 February 2013 accessed 18 May 2013 Read More