Technology and Sustainability

This assignment focuses on evaluating the importance of technology in promoting sustainability. It examines how technology contributes to sustainable city development and addresses climate change challenges. Respondents were asked to share their opinions on various statements related to these themes, using a scale ranging from 'Strongly Agree' to 'Neutral.' The data reveals insights into the perceived impact of technology on sustainability.

Running head: DISSERTATION
Effect of technology on environmental sustainability - A case study of GHD, New Zealand
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

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Acknowledgement
I would like to express my gratitude towards all the people who had guided me in every way
possible to complete my dissertation. These people had helped me to know my strength and
potential and use it in the best manner to undertake the research study. I would also like to
convey my gratitude towards my supervisor for the continuous monitoring and excellent
guidance, which has helped me to complete my study in proper time. The unconditional support
and guidance provided by my supervisor has not only helped me with the study but will also help
me throughout my life for other purposes also. I would also like to show appreciation for all the
respondents who spent their precious time to fill up the survey form and gave me interviews
regarding the research topic. Lastly, I express my gratitude to my friends and family, who lent
me a constant encouragement and support for completing my study.

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Abstract
The objective of this research paper is to find out the impact of technology on the environmental
sustainability. For this study, the researcher has taken a company, GHD New Zealand, which
focuses on environmental sustainability in their projects, as the case study company. GHD
contributes in the sustainable development through all its projects in the sectors, such as, water,
energy and resources, property and building, transportation and environment. The study focuses
on the factors contributing in the environmental sustainability and how much technology
contributes in improving the measures of sustainable development. The researcher has conducted
a survey on 50 employees of GHD New Zealand, and interviewed three managers to collect
primary data on the sustainability and company practices and analyzed those using quantitative
and qualitative method. It has been found that people perceive environmental sustainability as a
very important issue and they also think that technology plays a major role in sustainable
development. Advanced technology enhances environmental sustainability and that has been
reflected from the research paper. The researcher has made recommendations based on the
findings and has drawn a conclusion on the paper with future scope of the study.

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Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction....................................................................................................................6
1.1 Introduction............................................................................................................................6
1.2 Background of the study........................................................................................................7
1.3 Research aim........................................................................................................................10
1.4 Research objectives.............................................................................................................10
1.5 Research questions...............................................................................................................10
1.6 Problem statement...............................................................................................................11
1.7 Hypothesis...........................................................................................................................11
1.8 Rationale of the research.....................................................................................................11
1.9 Structure of the research......................................................................................................12
Chapter 2: Literature Review.........................................................................................................14
2.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................14
2.2 Environmental sustainability and its contributing factors...................................................15
2.3 Evaluation of the factors......................................................................................................16
2.4 Role of technology on sustainability...................................................................................18
2.5 Impact of technology...........................................................................................................20
2.6 Implementation of technology to improve sustainability....................................................23
2.7 Conceptual framework.........................................................................................................24
2.8 Summary..............................................................................................................................25

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Chapter 3: Methodology................................................................................................................26
3.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................26
3.2 Research Philosophy/Paradigm:..........................................................................................26
3.3 Research Approach..............................................................................................................27
3.4 Research purpose.................................................................................................................28
3.6 Data collection.....................................................................................................................29
3.7 Sample selection – population and sample size...................................................................30
3.8 Sampling techniques............................................................................................................31
3.9 Data analysis........................................................................................................................32
3.10 Limitations of the study.....................................................................................................32
3.11 Ethical Considerations.......................................................................................................33
3.12 Timeline of the research....................................................................................................34
3.13 Summary............................................................................................................................34
Chapter 4: Results, analysis and discussion..................................................................................35
4.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................35
4.2 Discussion............................................................................................................................35
4.2.1 Demographic analysis...................................................................................................35
4.2.2 Quantitative analysis.....................................................................................................43
Qualitative analysis: Interview analysis....................................................................................49
4.3 Summary..............................................................................................................................51

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Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation.................................................................................53
5.1 Introduction..........................................................................................................................53
5.2 Linking to the objectives.....................................................................................................53
5.2.1 Linking to the first objective.........................................................................................53
5.2.2 Linking to the second objective....................................................................................54
5.2.3 Linking to the third objective.......................................................................................55
5.2.4 Linking to the fourth objective.....................................................................................56
5.3 Recommendation.................................................................................................................56
5.4 Future scope of the study.....................................................................................................57
References......................................................................................................................................58
Appendix........................................................................................................................................64

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Chapter 1: Introduction
1.1 Introduction
Environmental sustainability is the other name for sustainable development. This is a
very significant societal challenge of 21st century. As stated by Moldan, Janoušková and Hák
(2012), the Brundtland Commission defined the sustainable development as the development,
which fulfils the requirements of the present without making any compromisation in the ability
of the future generation in meeting their requirements as well. Under sustainable development,
nature, life support and community must be sustained for the next generation, and for this, the
economy, people and society must be developed. Sustainable development is influenced by
technology. A trend in this type of development is the unusually fast development and
implementation of information technology. This is commonly known as IT Revolution (Miller
2015). It has contributed in reducing the cost of information and communication and made the
access to information easier for the people. Hence, the awareness about almost everything has
increased considerably. Sustainability is no exception. The world has become increasingly aware
and concerned about the sustainable development due to the usage of advanced information
technology. The policies for sustainable development aim to change the nature of the economic
growth than limiting it. The policies are based on the belief that continued growth in a finite
world is possible only through advancement of technology, as this enables the community to find
some new sources or provide other alternative sources if a particular resource seems to be
running out. At the same time, technology helps people in using, recycling and reusing of the
resources that are left in the most efficient way.

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Sustainability represents a noteworthy global challenge for the society as it forces the
society to balance between the wish to flourish economically and the responsibility for ensuring
the continued protection and conservation of the environment and social development
(McKinnon et al. 2015). The developing countries are specifically vulnerable and face more
challenges to implement the sustainability than the developed countries due to lack of capital and
infrastructure. The developed countries have now joined in multiple movements to increase the
awareness about sustainability and have been investing a substantial amount of money for the
research purpose. To implement the sustainable measures, technological advancement is the first
and foremost requirement. Advancement in technology in almost all the spheres, especially, in
the field of information and communication is extremely important to implement the measures
for sustainable development, as it helps in getting information about the stock of resources much
faster and hence, making decisions becomes faster too. The challenges towards sustainable
development can be offset through technology only. Not only the information, but the actions are
also dependent on technology.
The purpose of this research paper is to discover the effect of technology on the
sustainability of the environment. As the world is becoming more and more dependent on
technology and the impact on environment is also increasing, it has become extremely essential
for the companies to be careful about their footprint on the environment. The technological
revolution has changed the way of life and it has important implications on the developmental
aspects (Purt 2012). The improved technology plays a major role in all aspects of sustainable
development, such as, social, economic and environment. In this research study, the researcher
has taken GHD New Zealand as the case study company.

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1.2 Background of the study
Sustainable development is a major concern of today’s world. As the development of
technology is happening rapidly, the demand for resources and energy is increasing at a very fast
pace too. Since, the stock of energy resources, such as, coal, oil and gas are quite limited, people
are now looking forward to the sources of renewable energies (Tilman and Clark 2014). All the
major organizations of the world are now involved in sustainable practices to reduce their
footprints on the environment and improving the living condition of the community. Reduction
of waste of resources, recycling, conservation of energy and resources, redesigning of products
are done with the implementation of advanced technology. This has led to the discovery of green
technologies that aims to decrease the impact of the human beings on the environment and
design ways of achieving sustainable development (Caniato et al. 2012). The green technology
has gained much importance in the past decade due to increasing concern about sustainability.
The key parameters of green technology are economic feasibility, social equitability and
sustainability (Dai et al. 2013). The environment has been damaged irreparably by the mankind
for their own benefits. The impacts of the damage have been very much apparent, for example,
increasing rate of global warming, and extinction of many species due to climate change. If the
level of damage is not controlled at this very point, within a few decades, the environmental
damage would be enormous. The earth might become inhabitable due to inhospitable climate
conditions. The present day technology is able to provide relevant solutions to the environmental
sustainability.
According to Murugesan and Gangadharan (2012), Green technologies provide an
approach towards saving the environment and finding a way out of the destruction. However,
like every other technologies, green technologies also have its pros and cons. One of the major

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benefits of the green technologies is to reduce the carbon emission and control the rise of the
temperature. This is achieved through sustainable manufacturing, fuel-efficient transportation,
green buildings, paperless offices, waste recycling, and energy efficiency measures, like,
installing more of the LED lights (Miller 2015).
The basic aim of an organization is to reduce the input cost and implementation of green
technology, such as, energy saving lights, air conditioners, green buildings, etc. not only reduces
the cost on the part of the companies, but also for the consumers also. The power production
enjoys savings also. The saving of energy results in reduction in the input cost of the company
and also gives the opportunity to fulfill their social responsibilities (Malhotra, Melville and
Watson 2013). The case study company, GHD New Zealand has invested in many sectors, such
as, water, energy and resources, transportation, property, buildings, and of course environment.
Using less of the resources and recycling and reusing those resources results in lesser amount of
pollution and cleaner environment. It also helps to fulfill the duties towards the society and
community. Hence, the green technology helps in reducing the environmental footprint of the
company and thereby creates products that do not create much damage for the environment. The
global concerns about the sustainable development and protection and conservation of the
environment push the organizations to use green technologies and be competitive in the
international market (Laurent, Olsen and Hauschild 2012).
Hence, the innovation and improvement in the technologies have provided scopes to the
organizations to implement those technologies to reduce the damages to the environment and
make it sustainable. This provides the context of this research study. The researcher will focus on
the positive and negative impacts of the technology and their contribution in improvement of the

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environmental sustainability. The significance of the factors will be tested based on various
literatures and the data from the case study company, i.e. GHD New Zealand.
1.3 Research aim
The research paper’s aim is to discover how the technology affects the sustainability
practices of the organizations and how much the advanced technology affects the environment. It
also aims to find out how much the sustainable practices by GHD New Zealand have been
contributing towards achieving the environmental sustainability.
1.4 Research objectives
The research paper’s objectives are as follows.
 To discover the elements, that contributes in environmental sustainability
 To assess the significance of the factors affecting the environmental sustainability
 To examine the impact of technology on the environmental sustainability
 To recommend ways for improvement of the environmental sustainability through the
implementation of advanced technology
1.5 Research questions
The research questions of the paper are as follows:
1) What are the elements that contribute in the environmental sustainability?
2) What is the importance of the factors that affect the environmental sustainability?
3) How the advanced technology affects the environmental sustainability?

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4) What are the ways for improving the environmental sustainability through the
implementation of advanced technology?
1.6 Problem statement
The implementation of advanced technology in the sustainable practices by the
organizations and the role that the technology plays in improving the environmental
sustainability are the problem statements of this research study. The researcher will be assessing
the factors affecting sustainability and the effect of technology on the environmental
sustainability practices by the organizations, through a study of the practices by GHD New
Zealand.
1.7 Hypothesis
The hypotheses that will be tested in this research paper are:
H0 (Null hypothesis): Technology does not have any impact on the environmental sustainability
H1 (Alternative hypothesis): Technology has major impact on the environmental sustainability
1.8 Rationale of the research
Sustainability is a very big issue in the present days. As population throughout the world
is increasing and technological advancement is happening rapidly, the demand for energy, water,
resources and land, is increasing too. The advancement of technology has cast its impact in every
aspect of life. From household purpose to commercial purpose, technology has contributed
significantly to improve the quality and way of life of the people (Ones and Dilchert 2012). The
technological advancement has happened in every field and it has been adopted by the
organizations in their sustainable practices. The environmental sustainability is a big agenda for
almost all the major companies of the world. These companies focus on reducing the effect of

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their actions on the environment through the implementation of advanced technology. Reducing
wastes, recycling and reusing those, reducing carbon emission are the major agendas for the
companies for sustainable development and this can be done only through the application of the
technologies that have been improved to make the environment more sustainable (Purt 2012).
Thus, it can be said that the rationale of the research paper is to find out the effect of the
technology on the sustainability of the environment, which would be evaluated on the basis of
the activities of the case study organization, that is, GHD New Zealand.
1.9 Structure of the research
Chapter 1 is the Introduction. This chapter introduces the research subject to the readers. It offers
a broad idea of the research topic and describes the background study of the research topic, aims,
objectives, questions, problem statement, hypothesis and rationale of the research.
Chapter 2 represents the Literature Review. It illustrates the relevance of the research objectives
on the basis previous literatures by scholars. This helps to gain some insights about the topic of
the research and to decide the direction of the research study.
Chapter 3 is the Research Methodology. It addresses the methodologies of the research studies
and choosing the proper methodology for the current topic. This is helpful in conducting the
research is a more systematic and thematic manner. The reasons behind choosing a particular
method, data collection and data analysis process will also be described in this chapter.
Chapter 4 represents Results, Analysis and Discussion chapter, which illustrates the analysis of
the collected data, results obtained from analysis, and discussions on them. The acceptance or

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rejection of the hypothesis and its discussion on the findings are the subject matter of this
chapter.
Chapter 5 is the last chapter, that is, Conclusion and Recommendation. In this chapter, the
linking of the outcome of data analysis is done with the research objectives. It also presents the
limitation and the future scope of the study. On the basis of the analysis, the researcher makes
recommendations on the ways of improvement in the technology to enhance the environmental
sustainability in the future.

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Chapter 2: Literature Review
2.1 Introduction
The chapter on literature review focuses on environmental sustainability and technology
as its contributing factor. The driving motivation behind the research was to find out the
contributing factors in promoting and enhancing the environmental sustainability. Amid many
contributors, impact of technology earns much attention, as it is more dynamic way of addressing
the ecological threats the human race is exposed to. The research intends to find out the role of
technology in sustaining ecological balance while assessing its impact overall in the context. For
this the researcher has gone for extensive detailed analysis of the core concepts involved in
building up the entire discussion. He has pertained to relevant scholarly articles that allowed him
to derive specific and prolific knowledge in line with the conceptual framework of the paper. He
proceeds to gather information on research methodology in order to move forward in a framed
manner with the research work. The researcher at first gives explanation about what is
understood by environmental sustainability and its identifiable factors promoting it. Then he
focuses upon evaluation of these factors highlighting their importance and extent in outlining the
sustenance process. He justifiably combines the resources and opinions of different other authors
from various sources and manages to preset the integrated idea in reflective way appreciably. To
consolidate the concept of the paper he focuses on segregating his analysis in two parts where the
latter part revolves around the core impact of technology on economic, social and environmental
sustenance which are mutually dependent and connected with one another. He also finds it
important to come up with specific recommendation that his study and research brings out
evidently. Hence, quite insightfully the literature review owes importance to the researchers as

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well as readers as it paves the way toward enlightening and introducing the topic and study of
research to all.
2.2 Environmental sustainability and its contributing factors
The concept of environmental sustainability is better reflected in understanding the term
sustainability. Sustainability on a broader note refers to the continuance with persuasion of any
defined behavior or pattern indefinitely. Interpretation of environmental sustainability lies on this
intuition referring to environmental activities that contributes to sustenance of its quality over the
depletion and exhaustion of it. An environment is sustainable when it makes utilization of
resources and conducts activities that do not pose threat to future generation in terms of
availability of resources and impact of the activities and events taken up today (Lippiatt 2017). In
the discussion of sustainability made by Herman Daly, one of the pioneers of the ecological
sustainability has presented the concept from viewpoint of maintaining natural capital at certain
level. First of all he speaks of renewable resources that according to him should be maintained
with highest priority in order to ascertain abundance of the resources in near future. For this he
recommends sustainable yield that further explains that the harvest rate should not surpass the
regeneration rate. Next, he speaks of sustainable disposal of waste (Laurent, Olsen and Hauschild
2012). As per suggestion, waste generation from any projects should always be lower than the
capacity of environment to assimilate. The next and last component to address and achieve
environmental sustainability is the calibration of resources, which are not renewable (Moldan,
Janoušková and Hák 2012). The extensive use of non-renewable resources requires equivalent
and comparable development of the substitutive renewable resources (Epstein and Buhovac
2014). These three components enhance and consolidate the sustainability of nature.
Factors:

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There are many factors that directly and indirectly create impact on the environment and its
overtime condition.
Human Consumption: It is one of the biggest intentions behind economic activities going on
around us. It not only derives the resources to keep up a standard life from nature but also give
back some return to the nature often dreadful for the present as well as the upcoming future
generation (Lippiatt 2017). The human activities broadly are confined to production and
consumption both of which exerts much important impact on the sustainability of nature. The
production of food, agricultural goods, industrial goods and other services and their consumption
depletes the natural resources like water, land, minerals, oil and gas, energy components (Garetti
and Taisch 2012). The mode and pattern of their usage made by human has greater impact on the
environmental.
Management of Environmental resources: How well environmental resources like freshwater,
oceans, atmosphere, lands, energy and mineral resources are managed and maintained
determines the future of the resources to exert environmental sustainability (Lippiatt 2017).
Management of resources also include saving the non-renewable resources from being exhausted
totally through introduction of renewable energy resources like wind, solar energy and their over
time improvement.
2.3 Evaluation of the factors
Many aspects of human civilization have close impact on environment and influence its
condition ahead. The three major contributing factors amid many of the legit factors affecting the
environmental sustenance are economic, Social and Technological. These are there broader

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channel through which various activities impact and influence the natural condition as well as set
its future.
Economic Factors: As stated before biggest component o f economic activities revolve around
production and consumption, which has most contributing impact on the environment in form of
depletion of its resource on which human civilization feeds. Any form of production be it
agricultural, industrial or service sector based, it requires enough natural resources and usage of
them like land, energy like gas, oil; water, metals and minerals and so on. Every nation
undergoes production process, which requires huge amount of resources to be available and
allocated properly. Misallocation and improper utilization of them leads to over usage and threat
of impediment crisis (Lippiatt 2017). Moreover, the consumption and disposal of wastes too
affects the surrounding nature. The important conceptual tools like embodied resource use,
productivity of resources and intensity of resource use are crucial parameters that allow detect
the impact consumption exerts on the composition and existence of natural elements for future
generation (Kuik and Verbruggen 2012). Over the time human consumption would rise and
never fall pertaining to increase in population and consequently in demand. Thus, the extent of
economic impact earns severe importance in shaping the natural resources sustainability.
Social Factors: These would broadly include the behavior pattern and knowledge of human as a
whole community or social groups regarding the sustainability in contrast with the activities
undertaken by them. The role of social awareness and social trend of treating environment are
huge on how well the environmental resources are going to be managed and deployed sustaining
its quality and quantity both. Moreover the social outcome of public and private treatment in
terms of various activities like consumption, production, deforestation, fishery, extensive use of
land or creating pressure on land by excessively growing population not only finishes off the

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abundance but also create negative impacts in terms of pollution, market failure and various
other negative externality. The awareness of the people has greater impact on sustainability and
changes in that can bring down the probability of crisis.
Technological Factor: Environmental sustainability requires better usage of resources along
with its allocation and technology is the only channel through which proper materialization of
these can be acquired.
2.4 Role of technology on sustainability
Environment is broad space that evidently includes all the operating factors like
economic and social phenomenon. Hence, environmental sustainability is summation of
sustainability in all of these aspects of human lives as well. The importance of sustainable
development of the environment is immense as it infiltrates its benefit in all the operative factors
underlying it (Osbaldiston and Schott 2012). Amid the vast and conflicting needs and demands
in present time it is challenging to save the resources for future as well as maintain its quality
without any deprivation (Lippiatt 2017). This could be possible only through judicious use of
technology in all aspects of the human civilization, that is, social, economic and environmental.
Role of technology on environment:
The greatest source of mitigating human demands is the surrounding natural environment
itself. The proper environmental sustainability enables and sustains a conditional situation that
allows both human and nature to co-exist without being threat to the existence of each other (Li,
Yu and He 2014). There should remain productive harmony between them along with carrying
on the ability to meet the economic and social requirements of the people. Usage of technology

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can put the resources under best use that not only saves the present but also pave sway for better
future generation.
Role of technology on economy:
To ensure economic sustainability strategies regarding optimal and responsible use of
resources are to be build. This allows balance to be achieved over long run of time. Technology
can leave severe impact on the growth and sustenance of economic activities through
improvement in business operation and production processes, enhancing quality of health and
education. All of these creates and expands opportunity for people over time in terms of job,
more income and subsequently consumption. Implication of green technology usage has greater
impact on business and industrial growth that exploits environment minimally. These along with
recycling allow saving resources that keep them available and away from crisis and this
consolidates uninterrupted production in order to meet the growing demand and consumption.
Application of sustainable methods in agriculture pertaining to less usage of pesticides,
hormones and antibiotics and avoid their side effects while saving the natural resources from
depletion.
The biggest role played by technology in environmental sustainability is through
application of green technology. It aims to replace the harmful practices that deplete and damage
the resources with the ones that are sustainable. This implies the inclusion of renewable
substitutive energy resources like solar, water and wind energy replacing the use of non-
replenished fossil fuels. This helps in avoiding pollution by lowering down carbon emission by
large amount.

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Role of technology on society:
For technology to exert sustainability on environment, social acceptance is the first step,
which comes through knowledge and mass awareness. Knowledge about human rights, corporate
governance, individual attitude and behavior toward accepting and acknowledging sustainability
are important social factors. On social level, people need to identify whether the want is greater
to them of the need, which can be mitigated with less amount of carbon emission than go for the
activities leaving detrimental impact on the environment. The role of technology in creating
social sustainability operates through education regarding environment, ways to sustain while
making better choices for upcoming generation (Osbaldiston and Schott 2012).More the
education spread among all strata of people more is the probability of success toward green
tomorrow.
2.5 Impact of technology
Impact of technology on sustainable environment is evidently crucial through its role
upon three broad sectors capturing maximum of the global problems: Agriculture, Health and
Energy. In order to sustain ecosystem of the Earth and steer life toward right direction with the
elements of well-being and good life. This requires lesser poverty and health issues, house
related issues, integrated and sustainable agriculture bringing forth the food system. To achieve
these objectives, application and implementation of environmental technology owes crucial
importance. Calibrating the knowledge of environmental science and applying monitoring on the
activities, employing green chemistry models are built in order to conserve the resources of
nature and avoid the detrimental outcome of human activities on nature. Sustainable

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development is attainable and defines the core motivation behind appearance of green
technology.
To promote sustainable development energy is the core element as this absorbs the
maximum of the technology To reverse the dependence upon fossil fuels and their subsequent
adverse effect on nature provokes technology to come up with energy resources that can be
renewed over time and replenished without the threat of depletion and crisis of them. The major
source of renewable energy has been sun, wind, tide and biomass that are used effectively in
order to produce more energy required to sustain the nature. Development of energy based upon
these alternative sources and betterment in technology pertaining to energy storage such as
flywheels and batteries lead to efficient dealing of with nature (Osbaldiston and Schott 2012).
Sustainable energy generation technologies involve photovoltaic, bioreactors wind turbines and
so on. Hydrogen generation and usage through renewable sources and processes are important
way of ensuring energy efficiency and sufficiency while maintaining sustainability of
environment.
Greater the technological development higher is the impact on the lives of people through
better environment that further promotes better health conditions. Better and improved
technology allows diseases to be treated and cured with alacrity and efficiency as well.
Promotion of this through air purification, water purification, sewage treatment is of intriguing
importance that can only be materialized through adoption of technology (Zagklis et al. 2013).
Provision of clean water for drinking and fresh air to breathe is the major ways to promote good
health among population. Application of biofiltration is best way to control water pollution by
capturing the pollutants and process wastewater (Markard, Raven and Truffer 2012). This is also

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helpful in macrobiotic oxidation of pollutants in the air. Moreover desalination and
bioremediation are also important technique to ensure quality of water and air.
Environmental sustainability through technology can be achieved by enhancing the
quality of agricultural production. Technologically sound agricultural production secures
plentiful food production (Garnett et al. 2013). Sufficient food supply is major component of
sustainable development promoting health and ensures the availability of biggest necessity at
prices affordable by people. Combining the advanced technology and ecological sensitivity, and
ecologically sustainable agriculture can be promoted.
The biggest contribution in technological revolution is implemented through information
technology. Through calibration of information such technology possess much potent to
manipulate and alter thinking of people and influence their standard of living. Through
improvisation of air, water and land conditions, information technology influences the urban
lifestyle and conditions of people with keeping up the sustenance element. Information
technology has extended towards building network of fiber optic cables, system of earth-orbiting
satellites that enhances the ability to protect environment through conducting adequate surveys
(Zagklis et al. 2013). With the application of technology, monitoring the overall environmental
conditions has become much easier. This not only has influence upon environment directly but
also has greater influences on industrial processing. Application of technology in form of
biotechnology, nanotechnology, information technology and so on have extensive applicatory
importance in nuclear power plants, chemical processing involved in mineral extraction,
processing of industrial goods in production methods (Lehmann and Joseph 2015). These leave
remarkable impact upon reducing or minimizing at least the pollution level emanated from such

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complex procedures involved in production and contributes significantly in improving efficiency
of energy resources.
2.6 Implementation of technology to improve sustainability
Keeping in mind the remarkable impact that technology has upon the environmental
sustenance, the application as well as research for technological advancements have grown with
higher pace over the years. The motive is to invest upon more research and development and
come up with better technological innovation that would create a sustainably developed
atmosphere promoting greener future (Bocken et al. 2014). Sustainable development is need of
hour for almost every sector involved in production and it requires assessment of the impact too.
With growth in aspirations and needs people live a want based life revolving around materials
and activities that hampers the ecosystem balances and cause resource depletion. Doing this
people often ignore the subsistence requirement of survival which can only be sourced from the
environment we live in. So conservation of the environment is mandatory in order to promote for
better future. The biggest environmental threat facing human civilization are increasing pollution
and earth’s temperature, global warming indicating changes in weather and climatic pattern
(Horbach, Rammer and Rennings 2012). The motive is not only to mitigate the issues and
challenges but also to employ processes and techniques in production that reduces the negative
externalities and promote improvement in environmental standard. The reason technological
advancements is necessary is it holds the backbone of an economy considering the
environmental as well as social sustainability and any deviation from this might lead to over all
degradation. Biggest recommendation revolve around developing the resources if renewable
category so that enough energy sources are available to meet the demand of future generation
(Li, Yu and He 2014). This necessitates the energy conservation with application of alternative

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Human consumption
Natural resources
Impact of technology
on environmental
sustainability
Technology
Sustainable
development
energy sources. For this important source can be solar energy, wind power, wind turbine,
hydroelectric power and wave energy. Exploiting these sources of energy required power can be
generated which can be utilized on a broader scale without posing threat to ecological
sustenance. The application of technology in industrial, agricultural production ventures
pertaining to various procedures like bioremediation, infiltration, bioreactor, desalinations, green
computing are best methods. The greater the application of green computing higher is the
reduction in use of harmful materials. It maximizes the efficiency of energy that further enhances
the ability of recycling, biodegradation of the industrial and other wastes and defunct products.
Green computing is suggested to be used by many corporate IT sector firms to negate the
environmental impact of the technological operations they undertake. Using photovoltaic system
is best option to employ solar panels that involves innumerable solar cells. These are helpful in
generating electric powers (Gong, Darling and You 2015). This system converts light into
electricity applying the semiconducting materials with exhibition of photovoltaic effect. These
are installed on fixed mounts rooftop, ground and wall.
2.7 Conceptual framework

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Figure 1: Conceptual framework
(Source: Author)
2.8 Summary
The paper on broader note intends to focus upon the analytical debate of whether and
how the technology manipulates the environmental sustainability. Environmental sustainability is
a concept that promotes greeting a future generation with abundance of resources necessary and
crucially important for the survival of human race. It explains how the resources should be
utilized so that it does not reduce the ability to consume for the upcoming generation. For this
biggest requirement is judicious use of existing resources and constantly develop the renewable
energy bases that have no threat of depletion and non-replenishing challenges. Moreover using
technology, better production and management of wastes can be brought into operation, which
further adds in the sustenance of nature. Application of technology in agriculture, complex
industrial production, health and energy sectors allow the society to receive less burden of
environmental abuse with lowered rate of carbon and hazardous gas emissions. Thus, technology
at one hand protects the present generation from pollution, global climatic changes and hazards
and on the other hand it contributes in conserving the natural resources for further use in future
through introduction of alternative resources pertaining to renewable sources of energy.

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Chapter 3: Methodology
3.1 Introduction
The chapter addresses the methodology section of the research paper. It enlightens
various aspects of the research methodology, namely, research paradigm or philosophy, research
approach, purpose, strategy and data collection and data analysis procedures. This chapter
analyzes the objective and vision of the researcher in carrying out the research (Mackey and
Gass 2015). It presents the data collection method, sample selection and technique of the
research paper. Both the primary and secondary data has been analyzed in this paper. This
chapter highlights all the features of the research process.
3.2 Research Philosophy/Paradigm:
Research philosophy or paradigm is an essential section of research methodology. Its
primary objective is to help the reader to understand the thought process and vision of the
researcher. It is designed according to the research method and objective. The philosophy is
based on the value, principles and ethics, relevant for the research study. Various types of
research paradigm or philosophy are: positivism, epistemology, interpretivism and realism
(Silverman 2016).
Positivism philosophy is chosen when the researcher chooses to conduct the research in
scientific method. In this philosophy, the research strategy is constructed as the foundation of the
process. Its key objective is to uncover the truth behind the topics and related factors
scientifically to reach to a conclusion. This is considered to be the most rational and logical
method of research (Neuman & Robson, 2014). Epistemology is used if the data collection
process is objective in nature. It is based on factual analysis and the feelings and understanding

27DISSERTATION
of the researcher plays a major role in this philosophy (Flick 2015). Realism is based on reality,
assumption and hypothetical process of the research and lastly, interpretivism is subjective and
purely depends on the interpretation and analytical skills of the researcher (Smith 2015).
In this research paper, the researcher has chosen positivism philosophy, as he wants to
find out scientifically that whether technology has important impact on the environmental
sustainability. A rational and scientific method is appropriate for a research work, where a
phenomena needs to be tested both qualitatively and quantitatively (Roberts 2013). While
assessing the impact of technology on the environmental sustainability, the researcher followed
both the survey and interview method for the employees of GHD New Zealand, along with the
qualitative and quantitative method. This gives a scientific angle to a research work.
3.3 Research Approach
Research approach refers to the line or direction of the research that the researcher
chooses based on the objectives. Two major types of research approach are the inductive
approach and deductive approach. The deductive approach tests an already established theory
while the inductive approach generates a new theory from the study. As stated by Broad (2014),
deductive approach starts with a hypothesis, which is to be tested on the basis of some theory,
and the emphasis remains on the causality. It is mainly associated with quantitative research,
however, it can be applied in the qualitative approach also. On the other hand, Knobe and
Nichols (2013) stated that, inductive approach is mainly focused on narrowing the extent of the
study by using research questions. This approach focuses on the exploration of a new phenomena
or addressing previously explored phenomena from a new and different perspective. It is mainly
associated with qualitative approach. It requires the researcher to be free from any preconceived
notion while doing the research (Gray 2013).

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In the current research paper, the researcher will be using the deductive approach. He will
be testing the hypothesis, as stated in the Introduction chapter, on the basis of some proved
theory. The researcher will do both the quantitative as well as qualitative analysis as per the
deductive approach.
3.4 Research purpose
Research purpose represents the objective of the study. The objective of a research paper
is to identify a concept or explain or forecast a situation (Henwood 2014). Two major types of
research purpose are there, namely, exploratory, explanatory and analytical. Exploratory research
is conducted for an issue, which has not been studied before. This aims to find out a new way
from the subject matter. When no information from the past studies is available to the readers on
a particular research topic, then exploratory method is used (Lewis 2015). On the other hand,
Flick (2015) states, that when the researcher aims to focus on the causal relationship then
explanatory research method is followed. To understand the cause and effect of a particular
phenomenon, the researcher explains the events around it and thus, this type is called the
explanatory research. In this approach, the hypothesis testing method is followed. Moreover,
analytical processes are used in explanatory method.
In this research paper, the researcher will be using the explanatory research approach. He
will be testing the hypothesis on the basis of some already tested theories and he will be
evaluating the causal relationship between the impact of technology and environmental
sustainability.

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3.5 Research strategy
Research strategy is also referred to as research design. In the words of Creswell (2013),
the research design based on the hypothesis testing is the experimental analysis of the causal
relationship among the variables. Research strategy is often described as the basic plan of the
way the researcher will answer the research questions (Neuman and Robson 2014). There are
many research designs, namely, case study, experiment, survey, ethnography, grounded theory,
action research and archival research etc. One of major type of research design is the case study
approach. The hypothesis is tested against the backdrop of a relevant case study. Case study is a
major research strategy under the deductive approach. This design helps in carrying out
empirical investigation for studying the contemporary research phenomenon by using multiple
sources of facts. This design is best suited when the researcher wishes to expand in-depth insight
of the research topic (Yin 2013).
In this research paper, the researcher will be taking a case study approach to identify the
impact of technology on the environmental sustainability. For that, the researcher has taken the
company, GHD New Zealand, as a case study. GHD provides sustainable solutions to the public
and private sector clients in the sectors, like, water, energy and resources, property and building,
environment and transportation (Ghd.com 2017). It uses advanced technology to contribute in
the sustainable development through its projects in the above mentioned sectors.
3.6 Data collection
The two types of data are Primary and secondary. The data, which is collected directly
from the field of study, is known as primary data and secondary data is collected from online
sources, books, journals, magazines (Beer and Faulkner 2014). Primary data is mainly collected
through interviews, surveys etc. It helps to gain an in-sight about the situation or topic of

30DISSERTATION
research from the people, who are directly involved. Secondary data helps to validate the
analytical results of primary data.
In this research study, the researcher will be collecting the primary data through
questionnaire survey and interview of some of the employees of GHD New Zealand. A
questionnaire, with 15 close ended questions, has been prepared for the survey, and 5 open ended
questions are taken for the interview. For secondary data, the researcher will consult official
websites of GHD and various other official websites, scholarly literature and online sources to
find out the relevant and current data on the environmental sustainability.
3.7 Sample selection – population and sample size
Sample selection is an important part of any survey method of research. It is crucial to
select a proper sample size as the direction of the study is majorly influenced by this. Sample is
the subset of the total population. The population for a research study represents the focus group
or collection of individuals who will be studied to get the answers of the research questions
(Gelman et al. 2014). A sample selection is made as the total population cannot be studied as that
would be very time consuming and would be robust and complex. In this research, the total
population is the total number of employees of GHD New Zealand. There are approximately 500
direct employees working in different locations of GHD offices in New Zealand. These
employees form the population base for this research.
A sample is the subset of a population, with the same characteristics. Since, entire
population cannot be studied, a sample is taken out from the population to conduct the survey. In
this case, 10% of the population size is taken as the sample, that is, 50 employees of GHD New
Zealand. 10% is a decent size for a sample, as that would contain almost all the characteristics of

31DISSERTATION
the population appropriately (Best and Kahn 2016). 50 employees would definitely be the
representative of the total number of employees.
3.8 Sampling techniques
Various types of sampling techniques are used by the researchers to take a sample out of
a population. A researcher can use any of the sampling technique for sampling. Those techniques
are, simple random sampling, stratified sampling and cluster sampling (Singh and Masuku
2014). These methods fall under the category of probability sampling and the non probability
sampling consists of the methods, such as, purposive sampling, snowball sampling, convenience
sampling, judgment sampling and quota sampling (Rossi, Wright and Anderson 2013).
For the current research study, the probability sampling method is the most suitable and
the researcher has chosen the simple random sampling for taking out the sample size of 50. In
this technique, each sample has equal probability of selection. This method is easy to apply,
however, it has more chances of sampling error (Eriksson and Kovalainen 2015). The researcher
has chosen all the participants randomly from the entire employee base of GHD. However, he
has chosen purposive sampling for choosing the managers of the company for conducting the
interviews. The researcher has chosen the managers based on their experience and knowledge.
They can help more effectively by providing the more in depth information about the company’s
performance on the sustainable practices.
Population Sample size % of population Sample technique Sample frame
500 50 10% Simple random
sampling
E-mail and hard
copy

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Table 1: Sampling for survey
(Source: Created by researcher)
Population Sample size % of population Sample technique Sample frame
8 3 37.5% Non-probability
sampling
E-mail and hard
copy
Table 2: Sampling of interview
(Source: Created by researcher)
3.9 Data analysis
Data analysis procedure consists of two methods, namely, qualitative and quantitative.
The numeric data is analyzed using quantitative approach and the categorical data, such as,
interview responses are analyzed using qualitative approach. The responses to the close ended
questions are represented through the Likert scale, with 1 = ‘Strongly agree’ and 5 = ‘Strongly
disagree’. Statistical analysis, such as, descriptive statistics and correlation will be performed on
the data using SPSS version 20. These operations help to find out the relationship among the
variables and pattern of the responses. Qualitative data analysis will be executed on the interview
responses and on the secondary data using thematic approach.
3.10 Limitations of the study
This research paper has few limitations. Firstly, the researcher has chosen only one case
study company, due to time constraint and complexity. The sample size is also small within the

33DISSERTATION
company to reduce the robustness of the research paper. However, the primary data will contain
some level of fluctuating error due to the small size of the sample. Secondly, the managers were
contacted only for the interview while only the employees participated in the survey. This may
lead to some missing information from both the sides. Thirdly, environmental sustainability is a
broad topic. It is difficult to get many sources of authentic data on this particular topic, that is,
impact of technology on the environmental sustainability. Lack of data might make the analysis
results biased.
3.11 Ethical Considerations
The researcher must be aware about the ethical considerations of the research work. The
researcher must maintain the originality of the paper because, any similarity with previously
published scholarly articles will be penalized. Another important issue is the anonymity of the
participants. The personal information of the respondents must be kept confidential. Their
sentiments should not be hurt during the survey or interview. Moreover, since the researcher has
taken a case study company, he must not reveal any confidential information to another
company, as this might hurt the business of the concerned company.

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3.12 Timeline of the research
Activities Week 1 Week 4 Week 8 Week 12 Week 16 Week 20 Week 24
Selection of
research topic
✓
Reviewing the
literature
✓
Selection of
research methods
✓
Collection of
primary data
✓
Drawing
conclusion
✓
Providing
recommendations
✓
Submission of
research
✓
Table 3: Gantt chart
(Source: Created by researcher)
3.13 Summary
Research methodology is helpful for the researcher to carry forward the research work in
a systematic and structured manner. It also mentions the data collection process, sampling
technique and data analysis process. These are helpful in gaining knowledge about various
methods, philosophy, approach and design of the research and data analysis process.

35DISSERTATION
Chapter 4: Results, analysis and discussion
4.1 Introduction
The chapter represents the data analysis, its results and the findings. The researcher has
collected both the primary and secondary data to have an idea about the impact of technology on
the environmental sustainability. The researcher has conducted a survey on the employees of
GHD New Zealand and 50 employees have responded for the survey. They have answered 15
close ended questions. The researcher has also conducted interviews for on three managers of the
company with 5 open ended questions and their responses were analyzed qualitatively. The
survey responses were analyzed using quantitative analysis method. All the calculations are done
using SPSS version 20. Both the quantitative and qualitative data analysis method has been used
by the researcher to get to the results. The close ended responses are represented through Likert
scale, with values, such as, 1 = Strongly Agree, 2 = Agree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Disagree and 5 =
Strongly Disagree.
4.2 Discussion
4.2.1 Demographic analysis
This section focuses on the demographic analysis of the data. Under the demographic
details, the age profile, gender profile and tenure in the company have been analyzed. From the
tables and charts below, an idea of the demographic aspects of the respondents is generated.
Frequency Percent
Valid
Male 27 54.0
Female 23 46.0
Total 50 100.0

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Table 4: Gender profile of the respondents
Figure 2: Gender Profile of the respondents
The gender profile shows that the proportion of male and female respondents is almost
equal, number of females being slightly less. Among the 50 respondents, 54% are male and 46%
are female.
Frequency Percent
Valid
26 - 30 years 8 16.0
31 - 40 years 17 34.0
41 - 50 years 20 40.0
50 & Up 5 10.0
Total 50 100.0
Table 5: Age profile of the respondents

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Figure 3: Age Profile of the respondents
In the age profile, it can be found that, maximum number of the respondents belongs to
the age group of 31 to 40 years. It is seen that, 40% of the respondents are in the age group of 41
– 50 years, followed by 34% in the group of 31 – 40 years. Only 16% belong to the group of 26 –
30 years and 10% are quite senior, with an age group of 50 years and up. Thus, it can be said
that, majority of the employees, who were willing to participate in the survey are mostly the
seniors in the company. People become experienced with age and hence, have a better
perspective of the sustainability issue and that is reflected in the survey response.
Frequency Percent
Valid 1 - 2 years 4 8.0
2 - 5 years 5 10.0
5 - 8 years 14 28.0

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8 - 12 years 12 24.0
More than 12 years 15 30.0
Total 50 100.0
Table 6: Tenure in GHD New Zealand
Figure 4: Tenure of the respondents in GHD New Zealand
(Source: Author)
From the above table and graph, it can be found that, maximum respondents belong to the
organization for more than five years. Among the 50 participants, 30% are associated with the
company for more than 12 years, 24% for 8 to 12 years and 28% are for 5 to 8 years. Long
association with the company has helped the participants to reflect upon the sustainable activities
of the organization more precisely.

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In the following bar graphs, the number of responses for each option under few variables
is portrayed. The first three figures show the response rate for the importance of environmental
sustainability, impact of technology on environment and improved technology enhances
sustainability.
On the question, whether people think that environmental sustainability is important,
54% of people have agreed, 36% strongly agreed and only 10% remained neutral. None of the
participants disagreed or strongly disagreed on the importance of technology. Hence, this is
considered to be an important factor in the context of environmental sustainability.

40DISSERTATION
Regarding the following questions, if there is impact of technology on the sustainability
and if improved technology enhances sustainable development, majority of the respondents

41DISSERTATION
strongly agreed. This is shown in the above two figures. In these two cases also, none of the
participants disagreed.
In the next section, the response patterns regarding the factors of GHD are displayed.
Regarding GHD’s contribution in environmental sustainability, using improved technology for
achieving sustainable development goals and meeting the 10 principles of UNGC, increased
contribution in the sustainability, for developing sustainable cities and communities, the
employees all strongly agreed. Very few people remained neutral and no employee disagreed or
strongly disagreed. Hence, it can be said that the employees of GHD New Zealand are very much
concerned about the sustainable development and they strongly agreed to the contribution and
effort of the company towards the usage of improved technology to achieve the goals of
sustainability.

42DISSERTATION

43DISSERTATION
4.2.2 Quantitative analysis
In this research, the researcher has taken 12 variables, among which 6 variables focus on
the importance of the environmental sustainability and impact of technology, and the rest focus
on the company’s actions towards the environmental sustainability through the implementation
of advanced technology.
Reliability test
Firstly, the data is tested for reliability. This is important to see that if the collected data is
generating a valid result and if the data is reliable. Cronbach’s Alpha value is considered for the
reliability test.

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Reliability Statistics
Cronbach's
Alpha
Cronbach's
Alpha Based on
Standardized
Items
N of Items
.910 .915 12
Table 7: Reliability score
The alpha value for this research study generates a value of 0.910, which is quite higher
than the acceptable value of 0.7. As stated by Melchers and Beck (2017), the Cronbach’s Alpha
value, which is equal or more than 0.7, is an acceptable score. Hence, it can be said that, the
variables taken for this test are generating an excellent result, and hence, the response data is
extremely reliable. The attitude of the participants and truthfulness of the answers are the
possible reasons for this score.
Average score analysis
The researcher has calculated the mean values for all the variables to gather knowledge
about how the data is distributed.
Variables Mean
Understanding of
environmental sustainability 1.56
Importance of environmental
sustainability 1.74
Impact of technology on
environmental sustainability 1.34
Improved technology
enhances sustainability 1.32

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Knowledge about GHD's
sustainability policies 1.82
Contribution of GHD in
environmental sustainability 1.50
GHD Follows UNGC 10
principles 1.62
Usage of improved
technology by GHD 1.58
Relevance of technology to
serve the purpose 1.58
Increase in the contribution
in the sustainability 1.54
GHD contributes in making
sustainable cities and
communities
1.50
Improved technology in
climate change actions 1.62
Table 8: Average score for the variables
The researcher has performed the descriptive analysis on the 12 numeric variables. Since,
the response values are represented on a Likert scale, the mean values are calculated on that
basis. A lower score means the responses are tilted towards the confirming of the facts. All the
scores are around 1.5. This indicates that the respondents have agreed on almost all the questions
based on the importance of sustainability, impact of technology and GHD’s contribution towards
the sustainable development. The employees have agreed that they have an understanding about
the concept of sustainable development and along with that, they also have a good knowledge
about the company’s actions towards sustainability. Only in case of knowledge about GHD’s
sustainable policy, people’s responses are more towards being neutral.

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The correlation function have been performed twice separately to find out the relation
between the variables, such as, impact of technology on environment and improved technology
enhancing environmental sustainability, and among the three variables concerning the
environmental policy of GHD New Zealand.
Correlations
Impact of
technology on
environmental
sustainability
Improved
technology
enhances
sustainability
Impact of technology on
environmental sustainability
Pearson Correlation 1 .910**
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 50 50
Improved technology
enhances sustainability
Pearson Correlation .910** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000
N 50 50
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 9: Correlation between Impact of technology and improved technology enhancing
sustainability
It can be seen from the above table that, the correlation coefficient value is 0.910, which
is very high among the two variables. This indicates that the two variables are highly correlated.
Technology has a positive impact on environmental sustainability and people also perceive that
in the same way. Improved technology has positive impact on the sustainable development,
which is reflected in the correlation analysis.

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Correlations
Usage of
improved
technology by
GHD
GHD contributes
in making
sustainable
cities and
communities
Increase in the
contribution in
the sustainability
Usage of improved
technology by GHD
Pearson Correlation 1 .285* .606**
Sig. (2-tailed) .045 .000
N 50 50 50
GHD contributes in making
sustainable cities and
communities
Pearson Correlation .285* 1 .520**
Sig. (2-tailed) .045 .000
N 50 50 50
Increase in the contribution
in the sustainability
Pearson Correlation .606** .520** 1
Sig. (2-tailed) .000 .000
N 50 50 50
*. Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).
**. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
Table 10: Correlation among the variables concerning GHD
In the above table, the correlation among the significant variables, that are designed on
the various technological and environmental aspects of the GHD’s policies are portrayed. It is
seen that, the Pearson correlation coefficient value is positive for all the three variables. It
indicates that the employees perceive that usage of improved technology by GHD has increased
its contribution in the sustainability and this is reflected through the rise in the number of
projects on developing sustainable cities and communities.
Regression analysis has also been performed on the significant variables to find out the
dependency of sustainability on the improved technology. For this analysis, the variables taken
for the company are considered. How much the sustainable development goals are dependent on
the technology is examined through this analysis.

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SUMMARY OUTPUT
Regression Statistics
Multiple R 0.59868078
R Square 0.35841867
Adjusted R
Square 0.344768
Standard Error 0.43906815
Observations 49
ANOVA
df SS MS F
Significance
F
Regression 1 5.061749391
5.06174
9 26.2565 5.52243E-06
Residual 47 9.060699588
0.19278
1
Total 48 14.12244898
Coefficients
Standard
Error t Stat P-value Lower 95%
Upper
95%
Intercept 0.74691358 0.168997411
4.41967
5 5.8E-05 0.406934648 1.086893
1 0.50514403 0.098581823
5.12410
9
5.52E-
06 0.306822989 0.703465
Table 11: Regression analysis between usage of improved technology and increased
contribution in sustainability by GHD
Since, the researcher has taken the case study of GHD New Zealand, the activities of
GHD are analyzed in the context of environmental sustainability and the usage of improved
technology. Regression analysis has been conducted with ‘Usage of improved technology’ as
independent and ‘Increase in contribution in sustainability by GHD’ as the dependent variable.
The R square value is 0.35, that is, it explains 35% of the analysis. The p-value is 5.52E-06,
which is far less than the critical value of 0.05. Thus, it can be said that the economic model is

49DISSERTATION
statistically significant, that is, improved technology contributes more in the sustainable
development.
Qualitative analysis: Interview analysis
Three managers were selected from GHD New Zealand for the interviews for this
research. Maurice Hoban, National Market Leader, Environment & Planning, Christina Taylor,
Finance Manager, and Sioban Hartwell, National Market Leader, Water, are the three managers,
whom the researcher has chosen through purposive sampling. They were asked 5 questions about
GHD’s sustainable development goals, 10 principles of UNGC that the company follows, the
way GHD contributes in the environmental sustainability, its encouragement towards increased
usage of green technology and the extent to which the improved technology used by GHD has
contributed towards environmental sustainability.
All the three managers agreed on the fact that GHD has been following the 10 principles
of United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) quite diligently. They have taken the sustainability
goals quite importantly and have been acting accordingly. In all the sectors that they operate in,
that is, water, transport, energy and resources, property and building and environment, the
company uses enhanced technology. The company encourages the usage of green technology in
their projects and wants to implement more of the technology in future. Green technology refers
to the technology that promotes sustainable development. This type of technology is a
continuously evolving processes and materials, from the technologies for generating energy to
the non-toxic cleaning products. The Green technology encompasses environmentally
sustainable methods and techniques suitable for all type of things required in daily life. Since,
sustainable development is one of the major concerns for almost all the major companies of the
world, GHD New Zealand also follows the sustainability policies religiously. Hoban, Taylor and

50DISSERTATION
Hartwell, all said that GHD New Zealand ensures that green technology is used in all their
projects in all the sectors. In the energy and resource sector, GHD focuses on the securing the
efficient energy supplies at a fair and feasible price along with optimization of the production
processes. Development in the sector for efficient and sustainable solutions and improvement in
competitiveness are main agendas of GHD. Similarly, in all the other sectors, GHD has been
involved in offering practical, integrated and innovative solutions, which aim at accomplishing
the sustainability goals. Across the country, GHD has been running numerous projects in all the
above mentioned sectors, that are compatible with their sustainable development goals.
All the three managers of GHD New Zealand, Hoban, Taylor and Hartwell, have notified
that the company follows 10 UNGC principles for human rights, anticorruption, labor and
environment. It has set 17 SDG (sustainable development goals) that aims for:
 no poverty
 zero hunger
 quality education
 clean and affordable energy
 gender equality
 well being and good health
 sanitation and clean water for all
 economic growth and decent work
 innovation, infrastructure and industry
 decreased inequality among the communities
 sustainable cities and societies,
 responsible production and consumption of resources to reduce wastages,

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 climate action,
 improving life below the water and
 above the land,
 ensuring peace and justice and
 Building partnerships to attain these goals
All the three managers of GHD New Zealand have reported that the company has been using
improved green technology in their projects and over the years, the contribution of GHD towards
environmental sustainability has increased significantly. The managers highlighted the
performance of the company and the corporate social responsibilities, maintained by the
company. The number of projects for the well being of the society and the environment have
increased. Hence, from the analysis of the interview of the three managers of GHD New Zealand
it can be found that, improved green technology has helped the company to contribute more in
the environmental sustainability.
4.3 Summary
From the analysis of the survey responses and the interview data, it is found that, people
perceive technology is an important factor for improving the environmental sustainability. The
usage of green technology and IT are two very important elements that influence a company’s
performance towards the sustainable development. Almost all the major organizations of the
world are contributing towards achieving the sustainability goals. To have an idea about the
topic, the researcher has taken GHD New Zealand as a case study company, and has chosen a
sample of 50 respondents from the population size of 500, through simple random sampling. The
employees were asked 15 close ended questions, whosevalue is represented in the likert scale.
Three managers of GHD have been interviewed by the researcher with 5 open ended questions.

52DISSERTATION
The survey responses were analyzed using quantitative and descriptive analysis and the interview
responses were analyzed qualitatively. From the above data analysis, it is found that GHD New
Zealand has been proactively using sustainable technologies in all their projects and over the
years, their contribution towards the sustainable development have increased considerably. It has
increased its involvement in making more sustainable cities and communities. It is also found
that, people consider impact of technology is quite significant on the environmental
sustainability and this makes people more aware about the sustainable development. Usage of
green technology and implementation of other measures have increased to achieve more
environmental sustainability and this is reflected in the data analysis.

53DISSERTATION
Chapter 5: Conclusion and recommendation
5.1 Introduction
This is last chapter of the research paper. In this chapter, the researcher draws a
conclusion to the research study. The researcher has used both the quantitative and qualitative
approach to reach to a conclusion. The data analysis has been conducted based on the research
objectives and literature reviews. The researcher has taken the case study approach, as it is not
possible to study an entire population because that would make the study more complex, robust
cost and time consuming. 50 employees and 3 managers of GHD New Zealand have been chosen
by the researcher to conduct the survey and interviews to collect the primary data. The
concluding remarks of the research study have been discussed in this chapter.
5.2 Linking to the objectives
5.2.1 Linking to the first objective
The researcher has aimed to find out the elements that contribute in the environmental
sustainability. For that, he has referred to several scholarly articles for conducting the
background study of the paper. From various literatures, the researcher has found many factors
that makes contribution in the sustainable development. Citing from the previous literatures, the
researcher shows that, human consumption has the biggest impact on the environment. The
usage of resources, increased consumption and increased wastages are creating pressures on the
environment. The natural resources are depleting, which is not good for the future. Hence, the
concept of responsible production and consumption has emerged. In every arena of production
and consumption, the organizations are now using advanced technologies that help them to
reduce their carbon footprint and contribute more in the well being of the community. Almost

54DISSERTATION
every developmental project across the world now focus on conserving and protecting the
environment and the researcher has found that along with the human consumption, the
management of resources is also important. The environmental resources, such as, lands, air,
fresh and sea water, minerals, energy, such as, oil and gas are the major factors of the
environment that need to be protected for sustainability. GHD New Zealand, the company taken
as a case study, has been contributing in the environmental sustainability through the usage of
advanced technology.
5.2.2 Linking to the second objective
The researcher aimed to evaluate the importance of the factors contributing in the
environmental sustainability as the second objective of the paper and for that, many scholarly
articles have been consulted. The factors that contribute in the sustainable development have a
broad impact not only on the human life, but also on the economy, society and on the
technology. Similarly, there is a social, economical and technological impact on the environment
too. Hence, these factors are categorized into three broad categories, such as, social, economic
and technological. Since, the biggest economic activities revolve around production and
consumption, these activities puts a heavy pressure on the resource reserves of the earth. The
natural resources, such as, oil and gas, minerals etc. are non-renewable resources of energy, and
for sustainability, these need to be taken care of. Hence, people are now focusing on the
renewable sources of energy, such as, hydro, solar power and wind energy. For utilizing these
resources, advanced technology is extremely important and hence, this way, technology
enhances sustainability. Social factors include the social awareness and the actions undertaken
by people or organizations to improve the conditions of the community. The management of the
environmental resources in the most efficient manner falls under the social factor influencing

55DISSERTATION
sustainability. This also includes the efficient management of lands, deforestation, pollution and
other negative externalities. Lastly, the technological factors influence the sustainability in a
major way. Every action taken by the mankind for destruction or protection of the environment
involves technology. As the world is getting more concerned about sustainable development, it
has become essential to apply eco-friendly mechanisms and technology to make the solutions
viable for the sustainable development. The researcher has found from the managers of GHD
that the company makes an effort to provide environmentally sustainable solutions to the clients
to by effectively allocating and utilizing the environmental resources. They focus on efficient
utilization of the renewable and non-renewable sources of energy and bring out a solution, which
contributes in the sustainable development goals of the company.
5.2.3 Linking to the third objective
To get an idea of the impact of technology on the environmental sustainability, the
researcher has studied many literatures. Sustainable development involves many measures that is
heavily dependent on the new and advanced technologies. Green technology is the biggest
example of this. The green technology replaces the harmful technology and practices, which
depletes and damage the sustainable resources. Thus, green technology encompasses the
practices and mechanisms that use sustainable techniques, useful for sustainable development.
For example, green building involves sustainable techniques suitable for housing. Green
technologies use methods, such as, energy saving LED lights and other electronics, low pollution
emitting machines etc. that contribute towards fulfilling the sustainable goals of the
organizations. The production of energy from renewable sources and supply and distribution of
that energy takes a great deal of efforts as it involves very advanced technology. Even for
controlling and reducing pollution, advanced technology is applied. From studying the case

56DISSERTATION
study, the researcher has found many projects, in which the company uses green technology to
contribute in the sustainable development. GHD has been making efforts to lower the carbon
emission and implements advanced technology in all their operation sectors. It has been found
from the survey that, over the years the contribution of GHD in sustainable development has
increased. It has been making sustainable cities and communities for the past few years and it has
been taking initiatives for increasing its contribution towards environmental sustainability. Thus,
it can be said that, the researcher has found evidences through his research that technology plays
a major role in enhancing the environmental sustainability.
5.2.4 Linking to the fourth objective
The researcher has tried to find out ways to implement the advanced technology in the
sustainable projects by the organizations. The companies are doing continuous research to invent
and innovate ways to find out new technologies with the motive of contributing more in the
sustainability. More research and developmental activities has been undertaken by the companies
for finding out more sustainable mechanisms that would be suitable for the economy and the
society. From the case study of GHD, the researcher got the responses that the company has
framed 17 sustainable development goals (SDG) and follows the 10 principles of UNGC. To
fulfill these objectives, the company has put substantial investment in the research and
development of new ways for implementing the technologies that can bring more sustainability
through the projects.
5.3 Recommendation
It can be recommended that, GHD New Zealand should invest more capital towards the
research and development of new technologies that can be cost effective. They should give
training to their employees regarding the new technologies. At the same time, the employees

57DISSERTATION
should be given a chance to assess their skills and work accordingly. Hence, training and
orientation programs are required. The company should study the market and launch projects that
promote environmental sustainability. It should also focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of
the technologies so that the cost of operation does not exceed its budget. Lastly, it can be said
that, all the organizations should be more careful about reducing wastes and responsible
production and consumption. Along with that, the companies must improve their technologies so
that they can contribute more in the environmental sustainability.
5.4 Future scope of the study
The research paper has some limitations, such as, only one case study company and small
sample size within the company. Firstly, the primary survey data consists some fluctuating
sampling error due to the small size of the sample. Hence, in future researchers should increase
the sample size to reduce the fluctuating error and to get more precise results. Secondly, in the
future, researchers may consider to study some more companies as the performance of a single
company narrows down the study. Thirdly, the managers should also be asked close ended
questions, and employees should be asked open ended questions to get a bigger picture of the
situation. Fourthly, secondary data analysis should also be done to support the results of primary
data analysis. Only primary data analysis does not generate a correct result, it should be
supported by the secondary data. Thus, there are some future scopes for the researchers to study
further in this topic.

58DISSERTATION
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Appendix
Descriptive tables for the variables
Importance of environmental sustainability
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 18 36.0 36.0 36.0
Agree 27 54.0 54.0 90.0
Neutral 5 10.0 10.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Impact of technology on environmental sustainability
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 36 72.0 72.0 72.0
Agree 11 22.0 22.0 94.0
Neutral 3 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Improved technology enhances sustainability
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 36 72.0 72.0 72.0
Agree 12 24.0 24.0 96.0
Neutral 2 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Knowledge about GHD's sustainability policies

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Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 22 44.0 44.0 44.0
Agree 15 30.0 30.0 74.0
Neutral 13 26.0 26.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Contribution of GHD in environmental sustainability
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 27 54.0 54.0 54.0
Agree 21 42.0 42.0 96.0
Neutral 2 4.0 4.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
GHD Follows UNGC 10 principles
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 23 46.0 46.0 46.0
Agree 23 46.0 46.0 92.0
Neutral 4 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Usage of improved technology by GHD
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 25 50.0 50.0 50.0
Agree 21 42.0 42.0 92.0
Neutral 4 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0

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Relevance of technology to serve the purpose
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 25 50.0 50.0 50.0
Agree 21 42.0 42.0 92.0
Neutral 4 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Increase in the contribution in the sustainability
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 24 48.0 48.0 48.0
Agree 25 50.0 50.0 98.0
Neutral 1 2.0 2.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
GHD contributes in making sustainable cities and communities
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 28 56.0 56.0 56.0
Agree 19 38.0 38.0 94.0
Neutral 3 6.0 6.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0
Improved technology in climate change actions
Frequency Percent Valid Percent Cumulative
Percent
Valid
Strongly agree 23 46.0 46.0 46.0
Agree 23 46.0 46.0 92.0
Neutral 4 8.0 8.0 100.0
Total 50 100.0 100.0