A comprehensive review on the adoption of insulated block/eco-block as a green building technology from a resident perspective

Abstract

Green building technologies (GBTs) have gained significant momentum as a result of the environmental, energy management and societal problems within the building sector. The insulated block/eco-block is a GBT, which consists of an insulation material that prevents hot/cold air to enter inside buildings, conserve energy and improve indoor comfort in comparison to conventional block. However, conventional building techniques are still dominant in developing countries due to a lack of people's knowledge about GBT, poor interaction with building experts and low support from policymakers. Public acceptance of the eco-block technology is essential for its successful introduction into society. This paper is the first one to systematically review 45 peer-reviewed articles in this field of study with a focus on eco-block. Recent publications have extended theoretical models like (TPB, TAM, DOI, VBN and UTAUT) to study green building consumption. Lack of subjective knowledge about eco-block, lack of trust in the suppliers of eco-block, high price sensitivity, poor education and low-income households are recognised as the major barriers to the technology adoption. The contribution of the paper lies in establishing an original adoption decision framework that groups together a set of (contextual factors, psychological factors and demographic factors) to fill the research gap. The adoption framework could eventually assist the construction experts to analyse the different stages involved in the residents' decision to adopt the eco-block building technology. The paper culminates with a discussion on the application of the conceptual framework as a reference in future GBT usage. • The concept of building insulation was introduced in developing countries. • 45 published articles discussing the adoption of the eco-block building were selected for full paper analysis. • An adoption decision framework was developed to understand residents' acceptance of the eco-block building technology.