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The Effect of Job Status on Stressors and Stress Coping Strategies in the New Zealand Construction Sector
(Taylor and Francis Group on behalf of the Associated Schools of Construction, 2025-04-11) van Heerden A; Flemmer C; Boulic M; McDonald BW
The construction sector is a substantial employer but has a reputation for having stressful jobs. This study investigates whether stress is affected by job status within the hierarchical structure of construction teams from highest status executives to managers with intermediate status to tradespersons (both skilled and unskilled) with the lowest status. Statistical analysis of survey responses from 300 New Zealand construction workers explores the effect of job status on significant stressors and identifies key stress coping strategies for the different roles. Tradespersons are primarily stressed by physical job demands and are most likely to turn to maladaptive stress responses. They would benefit from site safety and stress reduction training. Relationship-based stressors are problematic for managers, and this could be addressed in communication and role-specific skills training. Both managers and tradespersons would benefit from an organization culture that fosters supportive management, career development, flexible work hours, and counseling services. Executives face stress from long hours, operational problems and managing contractors. If they prioritize financial success, then they may be reluctant to implement costly training programs and flexible work schedules. However, reducing job stress amongst all team members can improve job satisfaction, reduce employee turnover and increase productivity of the whole team.
Policy implications of time-differentiated climate change analysis in life cycle assessment of building elements in Aotearoa New Zealand
(Springer-Verlag GmbH, 2025-03-21) McLaren SJ; Elliot T; Dowdell D; Wakelin S; Kouchaki-Penchah H; Levasseur A; Hoxha E
Purpose: Climate change policies are increasingly including time-dependent carbon targets for different economic activities. However, current standards and guidelines for climate change assessment of buildings ignore these dynamic aspects and require use of static life cycle assessment (LCA). This research investigates how to better account for the timing of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and removals in LCAs of buildings and construction products, using a static and dynamic LCA case study of roofs, walls and floors in Aotearoa New Zealand residential dwellings. Methods: Static and dynamic LCA methods were used to assess the climate change impact of two assemblies each for external walls, ground floors and roofs used in stand-alone residential dwellings in Aotearoa New Zealand. Each assembly was modelled for a life cycle extending from material production, through to element construction, operational use, and final end-of-life treatment. Results were calculated as total GWP100 results for each life cycle stage, GWP100 results disaggregated into time periods, and as instantaneous and cumulative radiative forcing up to year 190. Sensitivity analysis was undertaken for the building reference service life, exposure zone, location, and end-of-life treatment. Results and discussion: Four time-related aspects were found to be particularly significant as regards their contribution to the final static LCA (sLCA) climate change results: -Inclusion versus exclusion of biogenic carbon storage in landfill -Modelling of end-of-life recycling activities using current versus future low or net zero carbon technologies (in module D) -Building reference service life (50 versus 90 years) -Choice of modelling parameters for landfilled timber and engineered wood products. Use of dynamic LCA (dLCA) enabled priorities to be identified for climate change mitigation actions in the shorter and longer term, and showed that half of the assemblies achieved net zero carbon by year 190 (timber wall, steel wall, timber floor). Conclusions: Timing of GHG emissions and removals should be included in LCAs to support decision-making in the context of achieving targets set in climate change policies. In particular, LCA results should show ongoing biogenic carbon storage in landfilled timber and engineered wood products. Carbon footprint standards, guidelines and calculation tools should be prescriptive about building and construction product reference service lives, the EofL fate for different materials/products, and modelling of forestry and landfill activities, to provide a level playing field for stakeholders.
A comprehensive approach for assessing the causes of low productivity in the construction sector: a systematic categorization and ranking using Pareto and Fuzzy analysis
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2024-07-21) Premakumara A; Siriwardana C
Implementing a comprehensive and globally adaptable assessment approach for causes of low construction productivity has proven to be a contemporary challenge. This prevails since the factors influencing the construction industry vary significantly by geographic region and operational characteristics. Hence, substantial research on this topic has restricted its scope to a particular location without a comprehensive global categorization. Furthermore, much of this research has neglected the influence of subjectivity in the stakeholder response evaluations. To address these shortcomings, this study provides a unique assessment of the construction context initiated by a systematic review of 130 studies published worldwide over the previous 32 years. The 915 unique factors from this systematic review were then categorized into regional and productivity dimensions through Pareto and Frequency analysis techniques. The regional categorization encompassed nine distinct regions spanning the world, while the productivity component encompassed a set of 14 distinctive benchmarks that characterize productivity in the construction industry. These sorted factors were then adapted in the Sri Lankan context as a pilot study through a cross-sectional survey including 117 stakeholders. The following Fuzzy analysis allowed the mitigation of the ambiguity of these survey responses while ranking the factors based on a calculated importance index while also considering the interdependence of the introduced benchmarks. Ultimately, the employed assessment approach for identifying and ranking factors contributing to low construction productivity in this study is proposed as globally adaptable with its successful incorporation of subjective evaluation.

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