Overview of the special issue
Environmental, social and governance, or “ESG”, is a notable trend in corporate governance, management and investment over the past 2 decades (Pollman, 2024). The term was coined in the UN Global Compact (2004) report “Who Cares Wins: Connecting Financial Markets to a Changing World”, noting that including ESG factors in investment decisions would contribute to more stable, predictable and better investment markets and sustainable development.
ESG scores are used as proxies for evaluating the sustainability of organisations (Clément et al., 2022). The term is a framework incorporating factors categorised as environmental (E), social (S) and governance (G) (Li et al., 2021). “Environment” refers to aspects including climate, emissions resource use and transition risks. “Social” relates to human aspects, including health and well-being, modern slavery and social value. “Governance” relates to an organisation's leadership and corporate behaviour. These categories can be closely interrelated; for example, public realm enhancements can contribute to social value and lead to environmental improvements.
ESG has diverse interpretations and applications. Whilst this provides flexibility in different contexts, it presents challenges in supporting understanding, encouraging adoption and measuring success.
Drawing on international examples, this special issue explores ESG-related challenges and opportunities within the built environment, from procurement through practical implementation. Collectively, the contributions highlight that it is in transition. Whilst sustainability and ESG principles are increasingly embedded across policy and regulation, there remains unevenness in translating these into consistent, measurable, equitable outcomes. This is not just a technical challenge, but a challenge that extends across institutions, behaviours and contexts.
Overview of the contributions
Ten papers are included in this special issue. These articles focus across several topics, demonstrating the breadth of ESG in the built environment.
In “Integrating social value into public procurement: a strategic framework for sustainable construction in Nigerian tertiary institutions”, Mangvwat et al. (2026) investigate how social value can be integrated into procurement practices in public institutions across eleven states. They argue the gaps in the legal framework and absence of clear mandates result in limited social value commitment and present a strategic framework integrating social value in public procurement in Nigerian construction projects.
Qian et al. (2026) consider “Integrating environmental, social, and governance (ESG) principles into public sector construction procurement: a New Zealand case analysis of evaluation weightings and criteria”. The authors assess how this is integrated into contractor selection and how it reflects local policy priorities. Qian et al. (2026) find a mixture of explicitly weighted criteria and unweighted considerations and cases of no discernible ESG criteria. Larger projects included higher rates of ESG requirements. Although weighting was consistent, a greater emphasis on social outcomes revealed a socially-driven procurement model. They argue for a more consistent application of ESG criteria with implications for policymakers.
Sosu et al. (2026) explore ESG practices in supporting less waste generation and reduced use of natural resources in “Adopting environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices among project managers in the Ghanaian construction industry”. The authors find social sustainability practices were the most frequently adopted amongst construction project managers, followed by governance and environmental practices. For ESG to be more widely adopted, they note the most critical barriers to overcome are financial constraints, data limitations and the lack of leadership and policy support. This has implications for policymakers in emerging economies, in addition to providing practical value for benchmarking ESG performance, designing targeting interventions and enabling sustainability.
In “Do overall findings correlate with granular findings? An analysis of factors influencing office workers' thermal comfort and indoor air quality” Rasheed and Wang (2026) explore office occupant satisfaction with indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in New Zealand. The research considers factors impacting indoor air quality and thermal comfort on the perception of comfort, satisfaction and productivity, highlighting that unmeasured factors may shape occupants’ perception of their internal environment. They make a case for a transition to more granular, high-resolution data going beyond averaged IEQ indices and enabling smarter building management.
“Encumbrances of integrating sustainability concepts and practices in rural community buildings: empirical evidence from Ghana” explores challenges associated with implementing sustainability practices in rural Ghanian community buildings (Mireku et al., 2026). The authors argue construction professionals face 21 challenges in integrating sustainability. The importance of considering social dimensions of sustainable development and the importance of stakeholder collaboration is emphasised.
In “Embedding ESG in facility management practices: a South African corporate real estate perspective”, Ramantswana et al. (2026) used focus groups to explore understanding, prioritisation and implementation of ESG principles in facility management and corporate real estate management. Findings highlight the critical role professionals have in operationalising ESG principles, particularly with innovative technologies. Whilst ESG implementation is largely driven by client expectations, the authors argue there are several barriers to implementation from regulatory complexities to resistance to change.
In “Climate policy enforcement and ESG alignment in green building startups”, Zafar and Mehmood (2026) explore how national climate policy enforcement influences ESG performance. Using cross-sectional data from 63 countries, the authors find differentiated impacts of enforcement mechanisms on startup behaviours, arguing that energy code compliance and permit processes have a more robust impact on green building startups, whereas disclosure mandates and retrofit obligations may result in unintended negative effects. The results have relevance for policymakers designing sustainability regulations and investors assessing the ESG risks associated with startups.
In “Environmental, social and governance (ESG) in the built environment: science mapping of present and future trends”, Radzi et al. (2026) emphasise the absence of a unified understanding and the fragmented nature of ESG, requiring the quantitative mapping of current and future trends. Through a bibliometric analysis, the authors highlight how ESG is conceptualised and operationalised across spatial, institutional and policy domains.
Li and Li's (2026) paper focuses on commercial buildings, comparing methodologies for the assessment and management of greenhouse gas emissions across the building lifecycle. Drawing on frameworks from Europe, North America, the UK, China and emerging economies, the authors highlight differences in scope, boundary definitions and practical applications with implications for guiding embodied and operational carbon management. The findings emphasise that effective carbon reduction is dependent on harmonisation of lifecycle assessment frameworks with digital innovations, data transparency, coherent policy and how well frameworks are integrated with existing systems.
In “Remanufacturing in the construction industry: key factors, job competencies and implementation framework”, Gao et al. (2026) identify 13 key factors for remanufacturing execution in Chinese building component manufacturing companies. These key factors constitute challenges and opportunities. The authors highlight skills, characteristics and behaviours required to successfully execute tasks and present a framework for guidance in the context of remanufacturing of building components, contributing to sustainability goals.
Collectively, this special issue highlights the diverse ways in which ESG is interpreted and adopted in different countries and in different sectors. Best practices are identified, and readers will have a deeper understanding of the various ways ESG can be adopted.
Beyond this special issue, next steps for ESG research, practice and policy include aspects relating to frameworks, training, incentivisation and innovation. Frameworks need development for practical implementation and adoption and for consistent measurement of ESG improvements beyond generic benchmarking. The creation of specialised training, coupled with incentivisation and accreditation, would support practical adoption amongst professionals, whereas the use of technology and granular data can enable greater understanding of practitioners and reduce inefficiencies that average measurements can overlook. ESG represents a significant opportunity in the built environment, and a consistent approach is needed to ensure it can be easily assimilated and the benefits realised.
