Wuhan Ligong Daxue Xuebao (Jiaotong Kexue Yu Gongcheng Ban)/Journal of Wuhan University of Technology (Transportation Science and Engineering)

This study investigates mediating pathways between foundation design and sustainable residential building performance through land suitability and geotechnical sustainability. Analyzing 168 Kendari housing stakeholders using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling and embedded two-stage analysis with 5,000 bootstrap resamplings, we found foundation design has no direct effect on building performance but operates through critical mediators. Land suitability and geotechnical sustainability function as significant partial mediators, with sequential mediation showing stronger indirect effects (0.188) than single-factor pathways. Technical and non-technical stakeholders showed differing perceptions. Effective foundation design requires integrating land suitability and sustainable geotechnics as critical mediators to improve residential building performance.