Evaluating the Critical Barriers to Green Construction Technologies Adoption in China

Yujing Wang,Dan Chong,Xun Liu

doi:10.3390/su13126510

Abstract

Green construction technologies (GCTs) are important drivers of sustainable development in the construction industry. Despite a wide range of GCTs being available on the Chinese construction market, they are not yet widely popular. This study aims to evaluate the critical barriers hampering large-scale GCT adoption in China. Through a literature review, 21 barriers were identified and listed in the questionnaire survey, and 225 valid responses from 21 provinces in China were collected. The Mann–Whitney U test was conducted to verify whether different stakeholder groups perceive these barriers differently. Moreover, a comparative analysis of barriers to GCT, GBT (green building technologies), and GC (green construction) adoption was conducted. Results of statistical analyses showed that the top five barriers inhibiting GCT adoption are “lack of government incentives”, “extra costs associated with GCTs”, “dependence on traditional construction technology”, “a shortage of technological training for project staff”, and “conflicts of interest among stakeholders in GCT adoption”. Moreover, the top five factors preventing the adoption of GCTs differ from those of GBTs and GCs. This study not only provides valuable resources for stakeholders to better understand the critical factors preventing GCT adoption, but also could help policy makers to effectively promote GCT adoption.

Highlights

IntroductionPublisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations
Senior managers working for contractors pay insufficient attention to Green construction technologies (GCTs) adoption Lack of environmental protection awareness among organization managers working for contractors
The four barriers, which are “Dependence of traditional construction technology” (B15), “Lack of environmental protection awareness among organization managers working for contractors” (B10), “Lack of environmental protection awareness among technicians” (B12), and “Senior managers working for contractors pay insufficient attention on GCTs adoption” (B9), have significant differences between the two groups at the 5% significance level

Summary

Introduction

Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. The construction industry is recognized as a major contributor to social and economic development, but it has harmful impacts on the ecological environment [1,2,3]. The construction industry accounted for 35% of the total energy and 38% of processrelated CO2 emission in 2020 [4]. China has the largest construction market worldwide, and its annual construction-related CO2 emissions are more than 2.1 billion tons, with. 46.5% attributable to the industry overall [5]; in addition, it generates 40% of all solid wastes [6]. Construction is undoubtedly a national pillar of industry [7]

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