Abstract
Buildings are one of the biggest consumers of fossil fuels, and thus, contribute largely to greenhouse gas emissions. As a result, a large number of studies have been conducted and innovative ideas or green solutions have been invented, adopted, and implemented across the globe. These solutions are often contextual and heavily dependent on local environmental and socio-economic factors. Green roofs are such an example. Green roofs (both intensive and extensive) for buildings have been successfully adopted in many countries around the world. Bangladesh, a developing country that can benefit from green roofs, seems to remain in complete darkness regarding its potential. The objective of this study is to identify the reasons why green roofs have not been widely implemented in Bangladesh, especially in the capital Dhaka, even though, theoretically, the climatic conditions of this country favor this technology. This study focuses on the perception of the construction industry to comprehend the possible obstacles they are facing towards using green roofs in their designs. A questionnaire study was conducted among architects, engineers, construction managers, contractors, and owners who are at different levels of experience in their respective fields. The results indicate a gap in knowledge and misconceptions, which are major hindrances to the implementation of green roofs.
Highlights
Buildings account for 40% of total global energy consumption [1], 33% of raw materials, and 50%of electricity [2]
It is evident from literature that green roofs are an important part in greening buildings and can contribute significantly to environmental sustainability, especially in urban areas by many means, such as improvement in the urban heat island effect, energy savings, urban flooding, air quality, etc
Green roof implementation in the cities of Bangladesh, especially in the metropolitan Dhaka area where the environment is deteriorating at a rapid pace, is very low
Summary
Buildings account for 40% of total global energy consumption [1], 33% of raw materials, and 50%of electricity [2]. In the last few decades, global warming and the hike in energy use, despite the energy deficiency as well as lack of energy security, have resulted challenges in the construction industry, including the unsustainable extraction of resources to meet the demand of booming construction industries, in developing countries In response to these problems, Buildings 2019, 9, 79; doi:10.3390/buildings9040079 www.mdpi.com/journal/buildings. A number of key research works have been conducted to address these issues from various perspectives [4,5] These perspectives include use of materials, design of substrate layers, selection of vegetation types, performance on water retention capacity, reduction of indoor thermal energy, and smart technologies for green roofs [5,6,7,8,9,10]. Green roofs retain storm water [11], improve ecosystem multi-functionality [12], act as fire protection, improve air quality [13], and mitigate the urban heat island effect [14]
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