Designers’ attitude and behaviour towards construction waste minimization by design: A study in Shenzhen, China

•The influence of designers’ attitude on waste minimization behaviour was examined.•Predictors of designers’ implementing waste minimization by design were explored.•Attitude and perceived behavioural control are crucial to the behaviour.•Subjective norm plays a limited role on determining the behaviour.•Perceived behavioural control is more critical than the attitude towards behaviour. Construction waste presents a significant challenge to the sustainable development in the context of rapid urbanization. Although construction waste management has been implemented at different levels, there are limited studies on the role of design professionals particularly the implementation of waste minimization by design. This paper aims to examine the influence of designers’ attitude on their waste minimization behaviour and explores the predictors of designers’ implementing waste minimization by design. Based on Ajzen's theory of planned behaviour (TPB), a hypothetic model was developed, which was consequently tested via the structural equation modelling (SEM). A questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data in Shenzhen, Mainland China. Results showed that the designers’ attitude and perceived behavioural control have positive and significant effects on their behaviour on waste minimization. However, subjective norm plays a limited role. Moreover, the total effect of perceived behavioural control is notably greater than that of attitude on designers’ behaviour. Corresponding policies are proposed to facilitate waste minimization during the design process.