## 4 Results and Discussion
### Challenges to Implementing Carbon Reduction Strategies in Construction Procurement
#### 4.2.2 Ambiguous Procurement Guidelines and Documents  
It was observed that the current procurement guidelines issued by the government agencies were not specialised enough for the industry to provide carbon-related input, as agreed upon by all participants under the contractor category. A few carbon reduction strategies have been recognised in construction procurement, such as using LCA tools to quantify life cycle carbon emissions of products and services. However, all participants claimed that there was still a limited number of process and strategy frameworks that provided clear and consistent guidance on integrating carbon reduction strategies in the \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Participants** & **Illustrative Quotes** \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{Client \#5} & “Two procurement agencies have applied carbon strategies in the tender document. This document included the specifications and life cycle cost (LCC), which refers to the total cost of ownership over the life of an asset, such as a building asset.” \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Consultant \#2} & “Some organisations have adopted the carbon reduction strategies. We are working with a public organisation to develop an integrated embodied and operational carbon reporting tool.” \\ \hline \multirow{3}{*}{Contractor \#2} & “In the education sector’s construction procurement process, there are a lot of tender documents that incorporate carbon reduction strategies, such as upgrading LED lighting tender, school design and construction tender.” \\ \cline{1-1}  & \\ \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 3: The main challenges to reducing carbon emissions in construction procurement mentioned by research participants. tender document. Furthermore, some interviewees opined that the tender documents addressing carbon reduction objectives varied among individual organisations, and there was no standardised process or method to follow. On the one hand, some government agencies, including the Ministry of Transport (MOT) and the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE), have established zero-carbon policy agendas for the procurement process related to capital investment as part of the broader fit-for-purpose initiative. On the other hand, other organisations have focused on developing in-house policies and guidelines for early-stage assessment work to understand the carbon reduction requirements with significant capital projects, especially the feasibility of projects in terms of embodied carbon emissions associated with construction materials and products and operational carbon emissions emitted from the operation stage of the project. The current inconsistent and ambiguous procurement guidelines may be due to the immaturity of carbon reduction-focused construction procurement in New Zealand as the construction industry is in its infancy of the transition to a net zero-carbon future [7; 46]. In driving carbon reduction in construction procurement, the process and strategy frameworks that provided clear and consistent guidance on integrating carbon reduction strategies in the tender document are expected to be well-established in future work. Moreover, there was a lack of carbon reduction measurements in the procurement document. First, some participants believed that the evaluation criteria in the tender document included only the information regarding fit-for-purpose and the capability and capacity of the contractor to deliver the project. No specific carbon reduction-related criteria and measurements for carbon performance were recognised. Second, it was observed by the majority of participants that the description of design requirements was often insufficient. The current tender document provided a standard specification detailing some basic design requirements. The information on energy efficiency and whole-of-life carbon reduction was not addressed. Third, the pricing information section of the tender document may not specify any budget relevant to the carbon reduction plan and implementation.