A Business approach for transformation to sustainable construction: an implementation on a developing country

Abstract

Construction industry in several developing countries has undergone major transitions to cope with their national economic goals and – as importantly – to align their markets with the growing global sustainability trends. This study proposes a business approach addressing the common barriers against the strong presence of sustainable construction materials in these countries. The Egyptian market was selected as a candidate for a potential sustainable transformation. The use of sustainable concrete is advocated as a pivotal market transformation that warrants technical leverage in the construction industry and ensures local development as well as global competitiveness. A mixed-mode survey was performed to estimate the level of understanding of sustainable construction and, thus, gauge market’s receptiveness to change. Like most sustainable changes in developing countries, the use of sustainable concrete in Egypt as a mainstream construction material is challenged by the stagnant culture of the industry and the absence of a proactive legislative role. Business implementation of the desired transformation is suggested to endure the three stages of the Kotter’s model for change: unfreeze-change-lock. In view of the noted commonness of the barriers and similarities in construction cultures of developing countries, due consideration to the proposed approach could be given in these markets. The business dimension of this effort is intended to complement past attempts promoting sustainable transformation.