Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations: building occupations' perspectives

Liew , Pei Yi (2025) Environmental, social and governance (ESG) considerations: building occupations' perspectives. Final Year Project, UTAR.

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Abstract

The real estate sector significantly contributes to climate change, accounting for approximately nearly one-third of carbon emissions and over a third of energy consumption. As individuals spent approximately 90% of their time indoors, this raised important concerns regarding health, well-being, and quality of life. While numerous studies explored ESG practices in relation to financial performance, limited research has focused on ESG practices from the perspective of building occupants. Therefore, this study aims to uncover the ESG considerations from building occupants’ perspective in Malaysia. The literature review identified eighteen (18) important ESG practices, which served as the basis to examine twenty-three (23) ESG criteria, grouped into nine (9) environmental, eight (8) social, and six (6) governance aspects. A quantitative approach was employed in this study, where an online questionnaire was distributed to building occupants of high-rise buildings in Klang Valley. A total of 148 responses were collected and analysed using the Cronbach's Alpha Reliability Test, Arithmetic Mean, Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis Test, and Spearman’s Correlation Test. The Arithmetic Mean results revealed that safety and security, along with health and well-being, were perceived as the most important ESG practices. Occupants placed the highest value on criteria such as the installation of security systems and the adoption of energy-efficient technologies. However, the adoption of renewable energy and green certifications remained low, with only security systems and natural lighting being commonly implemented. The Mann-Whitney U test indicated that tenants, married individuals, and highly educated occupants significantly prioritised affordability, cost reduction, and resource efficiency. Meanwhile, the Kruskal Wallis test identified significant differences across age, property age, education level, and geographical location, highlighting the varying ESG preferences among occupants with different demographic and residential backgrounds. A strong correlation was identified using Spearman’s Correlation test between “enhancing water efficiency” and “practicing water conservation.” The findings underscore the importance of integrating occupant perspectives to support sustainable development goals and to encourage responsible property management within Malaysia's urban residential sector. Keywords: Environmental; Social; Governance; ESG practices; Building occupants Subject Area: HT101-395 Urban groups. The city. Urban sociology

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