The log mean divisia index based carbon productivity in the Australian construction industry

Environmental protection and economic growth are two indicators of sustainable global development. This study aims to investigate the performance of environmental protection and economic growth by measuring carbon productivity in the construction field. Carbon productivity is the amount of gross domestic product generated by the unit of carbon emissions. The log mean Divisia index method is used to investigate influential factors including carbon intensity, energy intensity and regional adjustment that impact on changes of carbon productivity. The study utilises a range of data from the Australian construction industry during 1995-2004 including energy consumption, industry value added and carbon dioxide equivalent consumption. The research indicates carbon productivity in the Australian construction industry has clearly increased. Energy intensity plays a significant positive role in promoting carbon productivity, whereas carbon intensity and regional adjustment have limited influence. Introducing advanced construction machinery and equipment is a feasible pathway to enhance carbon productivity. The research method is generic and can be used to measure other performance indicators and decomposing them into influential factors.