A green profession? A global survey of RICS members and their engagement with the sustainability agenda
| Published date | 26 September 2008 |
| Pages | 460-481 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14635780810908352 |
| Date | 26 September 2008 |
| Author | Tim Dixon,Andrea Colantonio,David Shiers,Richard Reed,Sara Wilkinson,Paul Gallimore |
| Subject Matter | Property management & built environment |
A green profession? A global
survey of RICS members and their
engagement with the
sustainability agenda
Tim Dixon, Andrea Colantonio and David Shiers
Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development,
Department of Real Estate and Construction, Oxford Brookes University,
Oxford, UK
Richard Reed
Faculty of Science and Technology, Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia
Sara Wilkinson
Faculty of Architecture Building and Planning, University of Melbourne,
Melbourne, Australia, and
Paul Gallimore
Department of Real Estate, Georgia State University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Abstract
Purpose – This study seeks to provide a review of the background and context to the engagement of
RICS members with the sustainability agenda, and to examine the extent to which the surveying
profession uses relevant information, tools and techniques to achieve the key objectives of sustainable
development (or sustainability).
Design/methodology/approach – The paper analyses results from a major international online
survey of 4,600 RICS respondent members, supported by 31 structured telephone interviews.
Findings – The results suggest that, although sustainability is highly relevant to RICS members’
work, a lack of knowledge and expertise is making it more difficult for sustainability tools and other
information to be used effectively.
Research limitations/implications – The survey is based on a substantial number of responses
which are broadly representative of the global RICS population. A key implication is that “laggard”
faculties include the disciplines of commercial property and valuation.
Practical implications – The research suggests that key stakeholders must work together to
provide better information, guidance and education and training to “hardwire” the sustainability
agenda across RICS faculties.
Originality/value – This is the first truly global survey of its kind and focuses particularly on those
faculties that play a major role in property investment and finance (i.e. valuation and commercial
property), comparing their position with that of other faculties in an international context.
Keywords Sustainable development, Surveying,Property, Asset valuation
Paper type Research paper
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/1463-578X.htm
The authors’ thanks are owed to the RICS for funding this research, and to Stephen Brown of
RICS and Miles Keeping of King Sturge for their input into the steering group for this research.
JPIF
26,6
460
Received September 2007
Accepted December 2007
Journal of Property Investment &
Finance
Vol. 26 No. 6, 2008
pp. 460-481
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
1463-578X
DOI 10.1108/14635780810908352
1. Introduction
Professional bodies have increasingly realised that sustainable development (SD) is not
only a key issue for their work but also has implications for the wider relationship
between professionals and society[1]. This is particularly the case for the built
environment professions, where buildings have a major impact in environmental,
economic and social terms (United Nations Environment Programme, 2007). To tak e
one example, buildings are major emitters of carbon, which contributes to global
warming: for example, if all the energy used in constructing, occupying and operating
buildings is combined then buildings are responsible for 50 per cent of carbon
emissions in the UK (Building Research Establishment, 2003). This is also a broader
global issue, with the built environment a major contributor to global environmental
issues, and with consequent impacts on the natural environment.
It is no surprise, therefore, that in the built environment professions new initiatives
have been developed to “mainstream” SD, and ultimately, the achievement of the end
goal of “sustainability”[2]. For example, the Engineering Council UK changed its
registration requirements in 2004 to include sustainability, which now means that all
chartered engineers must now demonstrate commitment and practice to sustainable
development (see. for example, Institution of Civil Engineers, 2002; Royal Academy of
Engineering, 2005). With some 130,000 members worldwide[3] the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has now also introduced a new set of ma ndatory
competencies for membership, which includes sustainability and more recently, in
2005, still introduced a “Sustainability Policy” and a new set of mandatory
competencies relating to sustainability (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,
2007a).
Although there has been no shortage of research which has sought to examine the
role and impact of the real estate industry in the sustainability agenda (for reviews of
this work, see, for example, Rapson et al., 2007; Dixon, 2006), there has been little or no
research which has examined the role of surveyors as major actors in the “supply side”
of the real estate service sector in relation to sustainability[4].
This paper therefore seeks to examine:
.the background and context to the engagement of RICS members[5] with the
sustainability agenda; and
.the extent to which the surveying profession uses relevant information, tools and
techniques to achieve the key objectives of sustainable development.
The empirical part of this paper, which primarily addresses the second of the above
questions, is based on a major international online survey of 47,000 RICS members,
supported by 31 structured telephone interviews (Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors, 2007b). The paper focuses particularly on those faculties that play a major
role in property investment and finance (i.e. valuation and commercial property), and
seeks to compare their position in relation to other faculties in an international context.
2. Background and context
The importance of sustainable development for the built environment professions is a
point that has been targeted in several prominent taskforces at a national level in the
UK (Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions, 1999a; Egan, 2004),
and the government’s Sustainable Development Educational Panel[6] also set a target
A green
profession?
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