Barriers to adoption of green buildings - a review

Sayani Saha, Rahul Hiremath, P Sanjay. Barriers to adoption of green buildings – a review. Cardiometry; Issue 22; May 2022; p. 377-385; DOI: 10.18137/cardiometry.2022.22.377385; Available from: barriers_adoption_green

Adopting GBs is gaining momentum due to the rise in global sustainability awareness and various problems like climate change, fast urbanization, population explosion, in an evaluator study by Butera, Gou & Xie. However, some problems hinder the adoption of GBs. Lack of awareness, high capital costs, rules, and regulations across geographies has reduced the adoption of GBs. One of the biggest roadblocks is asymmetric awareness of the various stakeholders and the absence of a comprehensive policy mechanism. According to Li, Yang, He, & Zhao, China does not have a complete technology system to construct GBs. China’s GB market is not matured as people’s concept towards GBs is not clear, as observed by Liu & Hu. In the US, people remain doubtful that GBs have not achieved what they had promised in terms of energy savings, stated Scofield. There are issues convincing people to buy GBs with added expenses, like certification, technology, and expenditure. Condition in the UK is still better with increased awareness amongst the public. However, there are poorly designed GB projects because of bad architecture, resulting in much more energy usage than buildings, which are not certified, as observed by Zhang et al. In Japan, the mandatory requirement of CASBEE AP the first-class license in architecture limits the reach. This barrier is enhanced by limited GB understandings, e.g., India faces a serious problem of inadequate understanding of GBs accompanied by a lack of compulsory laws regarding mandatory enforcement. The majority of the GBs in India either belong to private companies or the government. The residential demand is low, observed Darko et al., due to higher green premium and tedious certification rules. Thus, we see the GB market is unique and has its barriers; it is important to understand India’s barriers to GB adoption standings concerning the world and improvise solutions accordingly.

1.1    Current status of green buildings in india

According to GRIHA Manual, 2010, India is witnessing a construction boom, with the sector growing at 9% and contributing around 6.5% to GDP. Although sustainable construction is still a big question, with 60% of the construction yet to happen, India can make great strides towards sustainable development. According to World Green Building Trends, 2018, survey participants expect rapid green activity growth in the coming three years, mostly powered by the drive for healthier and greener buildings accompanied by environmental rules and regulations. India is at par with the global average to undertake new green building construction (51%) while significantly below the global average for existing retrofits (World Green Building Trends, 2018). India’s GB market is still an emerging one and needs enough public awareness and green educated professionals. With systematic identification of unique and overlapping barriers to GB adoption in India versus other countries, identifying solutions can bridge the existing gap, which would be a useful resource for academia and the industry to bolster the GB movement.

1.2    Innovation in GB development

Over the years, GB development witnessed many evolutions. There has been a collaboration of green initiatives at various urban scales, using regenerative design, “zero urban heat impact buildings.” Innovative sustainable buildings are spread across the globe but lack mass adoption, which becomes a common barrier [1]. There are examples like the Mokoko floating school in Nigeria, structured to adapt to the aquatic lifestyle of the local communities. With the use of indigenous materials like wood, bamboo, etc., architectures are made, signifying the people’s culture and needs. Inspiration can be drawn from these and can be implemented. Buildings utilizing bottle construction mechanisms by using plastic glass bottles are an innovation. Bottles filled with sand when used for construction result in good insulation [2]. There are examples of innovations in sustainable materials, e.g., transparent wood usage, which is an environmentally friendly option to glass and plastic. Hydrogels placed between two ceramic panels installed between already constructed walls can give a cooling effect and sub- stitute to overworked ACs. Instead of steel reinforcement, “bamboo reinforced concrete” is a much greener alternative, which is being used. These innovations are proof that the construction industry is revolutionizing and becoming futuristic. However, more adaption of these is necessary to take a step towards the GB movement [3].

1.3    Recent green policy developments

Policies play an important role in the adoption of sustainable measures and GBs across the world. For example, the aviation sector is again energy-intensive and contributes to GHG emissions. In India, the domestic aviation market is one of the fastest-growing domestic markets globally. It is forecasted to have continuous positive growth. Hence, to achieve sustainable and inclusive growth in that sector, the GOI has proposed a “Green Aviation Policy” to develop a regulatory framework to rectify the environmental hazards created by the civil aviation industry by recognizing key policy areas that require guiding principles and regulations. This policy will try to make bio-jet fuels economical and expedite securing clearance for aviation projects in India [4]. The UK government plans to re-launch a “Green Investment Bank” to help finance the climate ambitions of the country. This plan comes amidst the growing concern of investing in green infrastructure to meet the UK’s climate goals and help in reviving the economy. In March 2019, UK Green Building Council (UKGBC) drafted the definition of “Net Zero Carbon” buildings to provide information on ways to achieve net-zero carbon in construction and operation, which would help to formulate policy and regulation [5].

1.4    Review

2    The objectives of this extensive review are

To identify the various barriers to GB adoption.

To identify overlapping and unique barriers specific to India and recommend solutions taking global inspiration.

3    Research methodology

To gather pertinent peer-reviewed journals, papers, review articles, and reports, a systematic search is conducted on databases like “Scopus” and “Web of Science” to access reputable publications. An exhaustive

• 1.    Selection of database

• 2.    Preliminary search

• 3.    Review of preliminary search results

• 4.    Selection of relevant articles

• 5.    Synthesis and critically review of articles

• 6.    Identification of :

  • 6.1.    Overlapping barriers

  • 6.2.    Unique barriers

• 7.    Draw solutions for related barriers

• 8.    Conclusions and recommendation for further research

  
  
  

Fig. 1. Overall research flow

Table 1

Coding of GB barriers country wise

Barrier code	Barrier Name	Description	Countries
B1	High capital costs	Higher initial costs, which might cost more than that of conventional building’s accompanied by higher procurement of green products and services	IND,US,UK,CN,SG,GH,MY,AUS,VT
B2	Lack or misplacement of Government incentives	Incentives serve as an influencer that influences people to act in a certain way. Lack of it or misplacement makes sure the public is not motivated to adopt GB.	MY,IND,AUS,KU,HK,BR,SP,CO
B3	Lack of stakeholder’s awareness	Limited know-how regarding GBs from all stakeholders, for example, owners, architects, structural engineers, architectural engineers, construction manager, building operators, occupants, etc., hinders the adoption of GB’s	IND,US,CN,GH,MY,VT
B4	Lack of demand	Lack of GB awareness leads to limited motivated demand of GB’s from clients	IND,CN,GH,MX,SA,CO
B5	Organizational and psychological	Construction play maker’s resistance to change and avocation of perception that sustainability costs more	US,UK,MY,CN,GH
B6	Inefficient policy implementation	GB implementation is poor due to lack of robust Government policy	IND,CN,GH,MY,VT
B7	Lack of GBT expertise	Limited GBT experience as a result of lack of expertise	US,UK,MY,IND,GH
B8	Lack of financing mechanisms	Proper credit lines and resources are absent for funding GB projects	IND,MY,SA,CN
B9	Extension of project schedules	GB implementation requires an integrated approach taking all of the stakeholders, which, if not done swiftly, can result in delay and increase budgets.	IND,CN,SG
B10	Lack of research and development work	Limited exposure to previous research and development	IND,SG,VT

Barrier code	Barrier Name	Description	Countries
B11	Lack of public motivation	There is a requirement to develop a sense of accountability for sustainable building development. The active market participation is not sufficient.	CN, IND, VT
B12	Unpredictable performance of GBT’s	GBT’s unpredictable performance maybe incur additional cost and hinders overall performance	CN, IND, VT
B13	High payback period	With higher upfront costs, the payback period for GBs is high, which demotivates the investors.	IND, US, VT
B14	Uncertain supply of green products	Green product unavailability is a serious hindrance in the first step to GB adoption.	IND, MY, UAE
B15	Poor building code enforcement	Poor regulatory GB code enforcement aids construction playmakers in evading compulsory GB construction rules.	IND

List of abbreviations: AP – Accredited Professional; AC – Air conditioning; GB – Green building; GBT – Green Building Technology; WLC – Whole life costing

Country abbreviations used: IND – India; US – United States of America; UK – United Kingdom; CN – China; SG – Singapore; MY – Malaysia; GH – Ghana; AUS – Australia; BR – Brazil; CO – Columbia; SP – Spain; VT – Vietnam; HK – Hong Kong; KU – Kuwait; SA – Saudi Arabia; UAE – the United Arab Emirates search is conducted based on the ‘keywords/abstract/ title’ cell present in the databases for document type ‘article’ or ‘review’ published in the past two decades. The keyword which is used to search, includes mainly “green buildings”, “sustainable buildings”, “barriers”, “challenges”, “hindrances”, “obstacles”, “drivers”, “built environment”, “construction”, “zero-carbon”, “LEED”, “energy-efficient”, “high performance” [12].

Figure 1 summarizes the logical sequence of the research flow. It begins with selecting a suitable database, which is then followed by a preliminary search of articles related to GB barriers [13]. The result is again filtered to choose further relevant articles [14]. The selected articles are then critically reviewed, analyzed, and identified with overlapping and unique barriers in India compared with few countries worldwide. Finally, arriving at solutions and recommendations for further research in the barriers to GB adoption space [15]

3    Result and analysis

By conducting a thorough and systematic review of the articles dealing with barriers to GB adoption till 2019, findings are documented. Table 1 contains the gist of all the barriers from prominent countries along with barrier codes [16]. It is observed from Figure 1 that there are pertinent factors that hinder the development of GBs. However, amongst all High capital costs, Lack of stakeholder awareness, Organizational and psychological, Inefficient policy implementation, Lack of GB incentives, Lack of GB expertise, Lack of client demand, and the development of GBs in many countries [17]. There are barriers specific to India, such as poor regulation on building code enforcement, unavailability of green building products and services, lack of pre-existing research and development work, and lack of financing mechanisms. Some of them are also present in few other countries but strongly in India [18]. Further, the paper discusses individual barriers in detail [19].

3.1    High capital costs

3.2    Lack of misplacements of government incentives

3.3    Lack of stakeholder’s awareness

As mentioned earlier, ‘human challenge’ is again the biggest impediment, including educating or generating awareness amongst the various stakeholders, as they play an important role. Just like there are exclusive environmental needs for different countries. Similarly, different stakeholders play varied roles in different countries for GB policy implementation, according to the building structure, according to Falkenbach, Lindholm, & Schleich. The various stakeholders involved in a GB project on a global level, by and large, can be classified as – The Government, Developers, Buyers, Tenants, Private bodies, Corporates, Clients. Each of them plays a pivotal part in the GB movement;

3.4    Lack of client demand

The construction sector being client-driven; hence the decision of clients plays a major role in the adoption of green construction. According to Pitt, Tucker, Riley, & Longden, shortage of awareness from the client-side and low demand for sustainable buildings 382 | Cardiometry | Issue 22. May 2022

severely impacts the GB adoption. It was reported by Zhang X. L., Shen, Wu, & Qi that the absence of motivated demand from the customers’ end is a challenge, which is required to overcome. As per Ahn, Pearce, Wang, & Wang in Ghana, most clients are self-convinced that there is no need for sustainable buildings. In India, as per Abraham & Gundimeda, more added infrastructure and essential training are needed to create proficiency in GBs. The dearth of proper information and unavailability of green professionals having experience in this particular field becomes an issue; India, Saudi Arabia, Mexico, and China (mainland).

3.5    Inefficient policy implementation

3.6    Lack of financing mechanisms

3.7    Lack of research and development work

3.8    Unpredictable performances of GBTs

4    Discussions

A variety of barriers were identified, out of which overlapping barriers are High capital costs, Lack of stakeholder awareness, Organizational and psychological, Lack or misplacement of Government incentives, Lack of GBT expertise, Lack of financing mechanisms, Lack of demand. The unique barriers to India and few other countries are lack of public motivation, Unpredictable performance of GBTs, Poor building code enforcement, High payback period, uncertain supply of green products. The total 15 barriers identified are classified under five main categories, viz., Economic, Governmental, Organizational, and social perception, Information, Technology, and material.

The economic barrier includes the factors that increase the cost. They include B1, i.e., “High capital costs” are prevalent in most countries. The rest of the factors exist partially, specifically in India. It is also seen that in the US, an extension of schedules is a weak barrier due to the adoption of an integrated design mechanism, which allocates enough time for feedback and revision.

Organizational and social perception barrier includes the various pre-existing mindsets that hinder the adoption of GBs. It includes psychological barriers, i.e., resistance to change the perception that sustainability costs more; also, lack of client demand and public motivation. The GB market is comparatively inert and extrapolatory in the developing countries, which is due to the low public motivation and awareness.

The last barrier, i.e., technology and material, includes the uncertain performance of GBTs, and uncertainty in the green material supply chain is mainly seen in emerging markets, like India and China. World Green Building Trends, 2018 highlights that 21% of the respondents feel there is a lack of availability of green products in India. Spreading awareness about innovative green building materials and implement- ing the same will help attract public attention towards greener alternatives. Apart from these, the sustainable innovation barrier is a significant one, which hinders the adoption of sustainable methods into the mainstream.

GB adoption still has a long way to go in the Asian markets compared to developed countries. In comparison to the US, UK, Japan, Singapore, China, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, India still have a long road to cover in terms of GB adoption. There is a need for proper implementation of policies. The study also explores how the government is one of the most important stakeholders in GB adoption and takes an “initiator, controller, and moderator.” It was highlighted by Sharma how barriers and challenges are positively related to the government. Hence, the government should formulate effective policies taking into consideration the different entities involved. The policies should be enforced, plus there must be a mechanism to track the same. There must be rules for defaulters, which can attract penalties if found to default. Both Corporate and governments should collaborate and work together towards GB implementation. An integrated design approach should be adopted in GB implementation. The probability of extension of project schedules hence added costs could be ruled out. The informa- tion barrier that arises from lack of research works on GBs, promotion and publicity, GB awareness, GB education, and training must be diminished. Proper training and GB education, and GB demonstration projects should be undertaken to increase stakeholder awareness. Measures like information distribution using the medium of television, print media, radio, plus dedicated websites to serve as a one-stop database for all standardized GB data can be helpful. Forming partnerships with industry agencies, governments can organize workshops and launch campaigns. With more Government funds allocated to research and developmental works on GBs, India can have a solid base of GB literature helping the industry and academia. India also faces the barrier of inconsistent supply of green products, which can be eradicated by proper Government incentive programs and an active GB market.

Figure 2 is a fishbone diagram of all the barriers to GB adoption under the main categories.

5    Conclusion and recommendations

GB movement is gaining importance across the globe. By utilizing the potential of GBs, the negative impacts of the construction sector can be offset. India’s GB adoption has been sluggish. By identifying unique and overlapping barriers, this research empowers var-

Fig. 2. Fishbone diagram of barriers

ious institutions and Government bodies in India to formulate necessary GB approaches by recognizing the loopholes.

Conflict of interest

None declared.

Author contributions

The authors read the ICMJE criteria for authorship and approved the final manuscript.