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Abstract
The construction industry is growing and due to its devastating impacts on environment, the development of sustainable buildings is imperative. Nonetheless, the number of sustainable buildings is still few compared to conventional buildings. This study analyses the barriers to development of sustainable buildings and solutions to lessen these barriers. To that end, barriers were classified into political, economic, social, technological, legal, and environmental barriers using the PESTLE technique. Then, questionnaires were emailed to the industry professionals in Sweden, United States and New Zealand to evaluate the impact of 42 barriers and 20 solutions on development of sustainable buildings. Findings showed that the most important barriers were social and economic barriers, including ‘long payback period and investment risks’, ‘high initial costs’ and ‘lack of demand for sustainable buildings’ and the most effective solutions were, ‘financial incentives from government’, ‘using past successful sustainable projects as references’ and ‘engaging professionals and staff with sustainable building experience’. Also using Building Information Modelling (BIM) technology in projects could help reducing barriers. This study analysed the barriers affecting the development of sustainable buildings in developed countries, but it also provides a comprehensive reference and new insight for further studies on sustainable building development in developing countries.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).