IMPLEMENTATION CHALLENGES OF SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES: A THEORETICAL EVALUATION ON A COUNTRY’S CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

Abstract

Recent years have seen many challenges associated with sustainable construction practices, which stem mainly from the need to maintain a balance between the different dimensions of sustainability, including economic, social, and environmental. As a result, the paper investigates previous literature on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices in the South African construction industry. The data for this paper came from a systematic literature review, which included references to published theoretical literature. According to literature findings, one of the major challenges in sustainability implementation is capital cost, which is followed by information gathering, a lack of legislative incentives, leadership/management barriers, the challenges of chronic labor shortages, a lack of innovation and adaptability among industry stakeholders, and the industry's overall resistance to change. The study is primarily a literature review on the challenges of implementing sustainable practices as well as contributing innovative strategies to the thinking on sustainability in the South African construction industry. It is recommended that the construction industry be robust, have an attitude shift in finding practical solutions to tackle sustainable construction barriers, and develop standards and training objectives to ensure that the construction processes undertaken by various construction firms result in higher levels of education and environmental awareness.