INFLUENTIAL FACTORS ON SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN MYANMAR: A CASE STUDY OF PRIVATE RESIDENTIAL SECTOR IN YANGON

Abstract

The construction industry has continuously made an important contribution to the country's economy and GDP. At the same time, its activity has a great impact on society and the environment. The construction industry is increasingly approaching sustainability by integrating environmental sustainability, social equity, and economic efficiency into its operational practices. In Myanmar, the sustainable construction approach is challenging and still in its early stages. Without the right strategies based on influential factors, a successful approach to sustainability is impossible. On the path to achieving sustainable goals, it is useful to understand the influential factors in the relevant context. This study examines the professional perspectives in private residential construction in Yangon, the commercial capital and largest urbanized city and aims to 1) identify 20 influential factors on sustainable construction and 2) prioritize the most influential factors in terms of economic, social and environmental aspects using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method, which compares experts' pairwise judgments in a hierarchy structure with consistency checks, and to weigh the importance of each factor using a quantitative survey method. Interviews and questionnaires were conducted with material suppliers, contractors, developers, building designers, academia, and members of city development committees at administrative and management levels in the residential sector. The results address, in order of influence, 8 factors for sustainable construction. It is found that professionals consider the highest ranked factor "Political Stability" as the most important factor for sustainable construction with 27.7% of influence weight. The study highlights the essential findings for practitioners, decision-makers and policymakers in developing strategies to implement sustainability.

-