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Relationships between Environmental Initiatives and Impact Reductions for Construction Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Andrew S. Chang

    (Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

  • Claudia Canelas

    (Department of Civil Engineering, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan 701, Taiwan)

  • Yi-Ling Chen

    (Department of Accounting, Shih Chien University, Taipei 104, Taiwan)

Abstract

A company undertakes environmental initiatives to reduce environmental impact from their activities; however, the impact reduction effect of these initiatives is not clear. This study investigated the environmental initiatives and impact indicators disclosed in forty corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports of construction companies and determined the relationships between the initiatives and indicators. The results demonstrated that the likelihood of an initiative reducing environmental impacts was approximately 25% on average, meaning that one in four companies was able to successfully implement initiatives. The energy consumption reduction from initiatives had the highest probability, at 40%, and water consumption reduction had only 9.4%. This study contributes to making explicit relationships between initiatives and impact reductions possible. A company can verify the effectiveness of initiatives by examining the values of their corresponding indicators before implementing environmental initiatives.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrew S. Chang & Claudia Canelas & Yi-Ling Chen, 2021. "Relationships between Environmental Initiatives and Impact Reductions for Construction Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-15, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:14:p:8061-:d:597176
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Arnold Bernaciak & Małgorzata Halaburda & Anna Bernaciak, 2021. "The Construction Industry as the Subject of Implementing Corporate Social Responsibility (the Case of Poland)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, August.

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