Wong, Florence (2025) Mass engineered timber construction in Southeast Asia: An analysis of obstacles, drivers and opportunities in hot and humid cities. PhD thesis, University of New South Wales, Australia.
Abstract
Mass engineered timber (MET) construction has prevailed in western countries in recent years, but Asia is seriously lagging behind. While Asia needs to provide more buildings due to rapid urbanization, building construction also creates significant carbon emissions. MET construction is considered able to tackle both issues, because it is a modern method of construction and timber has lower embodied carbon than conventional building materials. This thesis examines the reasons why MET is not gaining any prominence in Asia. Currently, there is research on MET in hot and humid climates. There are also studies identifying the drivers and barriers to MET adoption, including people's perceptions. However, these studies rarely focus on Asia. There is also a lack of cross-country comparison. This thesis conducted research into the hot and humid Southeast Asian cities of Singapore and Hong Kong, comparing them with Brisbane in Australia, to systematically evaluate the major parameters that are impacting MET adoption in these cities. The research questions are, firstly, to identify the current drivers and obstacles to MET adoption; and secondly, to assess whether MET projects can be feasible in the three cities, and what might constitute viable project opportunities. This research is therefore significant in reducing the knowledge gap by comparing these cities at different stages of adoption, and to help learn from early adopters. The thesis used a mixed-method research approach in four steps: a background literature review of MET development; a quantitative questionnaire survey of practitioners' perceptions worldwide; a literature review of key parameters of the three cities; and qualitative case studies with interviews of stakeholders in selected projects within the cities. The thesis followed the innovation diffusion theory (Rogers 2003) and developed a theoretical framework for analysis. It was found that the drivers and obstacles identified can be grouped into eight key parameters, classified into enabling parameters (1 to 4) and decision-making parameters (5 to 8). These can largely explain the different status of MET adoption. Using the three cities as examples, this theoretical framework is flexible enough to be used for analysis in other regions/cities, so that the forerunners can demonstrate their path of adoption, which will help other regions/cities to determine whether MET construction is appropriate for their own circumstances.
| Item Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Thesis advisor: | Osmond, Paul and Oldfield, Philip |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | mass timber construction; mass engineered timber; southeast asian cities; singapore and hong kong; sustainable construction; innovation diffusion |
| Index terms: | building material, Brisbane, humid climate, case study, carbon emission, Hong Kong, Singapore, urbanization, Australia, practitioner, timber construction, questionnaire, Asia, decision-making, mass timber, sustainable construction, interview, embodied carbon, innovation diffusion, survey, building construction, literature review |
| Subjects: | data collection methods, regions and continents, data analysis and analytics, building materials, design practice, decision analysis, sociology, practitioner, climate science, environmental impact, urban planning, sustainable construction, Geography, building construction |
| Topics: | Design Practice, Construction Technology, Governance, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Construction Materials, Sustainability, Risk Management, Geographical Context |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCEA |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here