Strategies for Promoting Green Building Technologies Adoption in the Construction Industry—An International Study

Albert Ping Chuen Chan,Ernest Effah Ameyaw,Amos Darko

doi:10.3390/su9060969

Albert Ping Chuen Chan, Ernest Effah Ameyaw + Show 1 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/su9060969

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Abstract

Because green building technologies (GBTs) adoption is a promising way of ameliorating the sustainability performance of buildings, GBTs are receiving increased interest in the global construction community. The barriers to the adoption of GBTs, such as higher cost and lack of awareness, further indicate that proper strategies need to be devised for promoting the wider adoption of GBTs in buildings development. However, there exist limited empirical studies identifying the strategies for promoting GBTs adoption in the construction industry. This study aims to identify the strategies that are important for promoting GBTs adoption in construction. After a comprehensive literature review to identify strategies for the promotion of GBTs adoption, empirical data were gleaned through a questionnaire survey with 104 green building experts around the world. The analysis results validated the importance of all of the 12 promotion strategies used for the study. Green building experts from different countries and with different backgrounds had significant agreement on the relative importance ranking of the promotion strategies. Furthermore, “financial and further market-based incentives for GBTs adopters”, “availability of better information on cost and benefits of GBTs”, “mandatory governmental policies and regulations”, and “green rating and labeling” were identified as the top four important promotion strategies. The research findings provide a valuable reference to assist practitioners and policy makers in developing practical strategies for promoting GBTs adoption to eventually achieve the sustainable development of buildings. From the perspective of international experts, this study adds to the green building literature by offering empirical evidence of the important strategies for promoting GBTs adoption in the construction industry. Future research will investigate the interrelationships among the promotion strategies and their impacts on the GBTs adoption process.

Highlights

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain the primary factors driving global warming and climate change [1], and buildings play a central part in causing GHG emissions
Green building technologies (GBTs) are gaining an increasing interest in the construction industry globally because adopting green building technologies (GBTs) is a way of enhancing the sustainability performance of buildings
To promote the widespread adoption of GBTs in buildings development, this study identified the strategies that are important for promoting GBTs adoption in the construction industry

Summary

Introduction

Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions remain the primary factors driving global warming and climate change [1], and buildings play a central part in causing GHG emissions. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) [3] reported that, globally, buildings account for up to 40% of total energy consumption and 30% of GHG emissions. In specific countries such as Hong Kong, buildings account for nearly 70% of GHG emissions [4]. These facts show that the sustainable development of buildings would contribute significantly to the reduction in the amount of GHG emissions emanating from the construction industry into the atmosphere. In recent years, the need to improve the sustainability performance of buildings has become a major concern for the construction industry

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