The research

In 2006, RICS commissioned Oxford Brookes University (UK), University of Melbourne (Australia), Georgia State University (USA), and King Sturge LLP to explore how RICS members were engaging with the sustainability agenda and the tools, techniques and information they were using to underpin professional advice and work. The research for this project comprised four main components:

• Telephone interviews with 31 respondents. (8 respondents in UK and Europe; 18 respondents in Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, New Zealand and South Africa, and 5 in USA and Canada)
• Scoping of sustainability tools and initial pilot study of 100 RICS members
• Online survey of some 47,000 RICS members worldwide; and
• Further follow up email survey of 350 respondents worldwide from the main survey.

A response rate of 10% was achieved for the main online survey and 14% for the follow up survey.

Outputs from the research

The full report is available as a PDF here.

The research is also supported by a website where full details about the sustainability information and tools discussed in this report are listed with weblinks and other useful information. The intention is to provide a ‘one stop shop’ for RICS members wanting more information about the tools that can be used in their professional work.

The research was led by the Oxford Institute for Sustainable Development, based at Oxford Brookes University, in partnership with Georgia State University in the USA, University of Melbourne in Australia, and King Sturge (international property consultants).

The research team

Oxford Brookes

• Professor Tim Dixon - Project Leader
• David Shiers - Principal Investigator
• Andrea Colantonio - Researcher

Georgia State University

• Professor Paul Gallimore - Principal Investigator

University of Melbourne

• Dr Richard Reed - Principal Investigator
• Dr Sara Wilkinson - Principal Investigator

King Sturge

• Miles Keeping - Principal Investigator