SUSTAINABLE ARCHITECTURE. THEORY AND PRACTICE

 

Qualitative Survey - February - March 2016

 

This qualitative survey titled: ‘Sustainable Architecture. Theory and Practice.’ is been conducted as part of my Ph.D. research at Aarhus School of Architecture in Denmark. It is a section of phase 1 of my research, which aims to form a holistic-contextual grounding of modern sustainable architecture in order to form an educated hypothesis or red thread. However, specifically, the research question for this part of the phase is:  What are the factors that influence the relationship between sustainable architecture theory and practice and how does that impact the overall context of sustainable architecture practice? This survey is the initial method used in order to try and answer this initiating question. 

 

This original online survey was designed by myself and consists of around 27 questions depending on how the questions are answered. The survey consisting of mostly closed-ended, ordered scales and discrete questions with only two open-ended questions. The survey takes between 10-15 minutes to complete depending on how the questions are answered and the complexity of the answers to the open-ended questions. This survey will be conducted during February and March 2016.

 

The goal of this survey is to collect objective, unbiased information from a representative group within the field of sustainable architecture.The target population of this survey is experts in sustainable architecture, both in architectural practice, academia, and other organizations. A purposive sampling method has been used to create the sample frame. 

 

Characteristics of respondents within architectural practice are as follows:

- Working in an architectural practice within a ‘sustainability team’.

- An architecture practitioner who is a registered LEEDS, BREEAM, DGNB or other     sustainable certification consultant.

- An architecture practitioner who has well-known publications on sustainable      

  architecture. 

- The architect for sustainable design who is promoted on the practices website. 

- Architectural practitioners who are world-renowned for their knowledge of      

  sustainable architecture.

 

Characteristics of respondents within academia are as follows:
-  Academics who are teaching or involved in a ‘sustainable architecture’ related

    course at a university level.
- Academics who are conducting research or publishing within the field of

   sustainable architecture. 
-  Academics who are world-renowned for their knowledge of sustainable

   architecture.

 

Characteristics of ‘other’ respondents are as follows:
- Others who are ‘sustainable experts’ within their field and have some

   interactions with sustainable architecture. (e.g. consultants, municipal members

   and other areas of the building industry)
- Others who edit, critic and or publish within the field of sustainable architecture.

 

Note: there are not geographical restraints to this sample frame.