The present impediments to the implementation of sustainable practices in residential and commercial structures in the United States, India and Afghanistan will be evaluated and compared in this study. This study intends to identify the barriers to sustainable development within the residential and commercial buildings creating a basis for the methods to address these issues. The selection of these three countries was based on taking the United States as a developed country, India as developing country and Afghanistan as an undeveloped country. Understanding the barriers studied will establish a path to overcoming them and allow the market to open up to the widespread implementation of sustainable practices. According to the survey conducted, about 91% of respondents in Afghanistan, about 71% in India and 32% of respondents in the USA have moderate to low knowledge on sustainable construction. Other barriers mentioned in the study include the high cost of materials, insufficient training, government policy, and so on.