Exploring the Barriers to Managing Green Building Construction Projects and Proposed Solutions

Abstract

Sustainability has gained importance in the building design/construction industry due to the increase in the need for energy, the extensive use of non-renewable resources, and therefore the damage caused to the environment by traditional building design and construction. The concept of green building was developed for this reason. Green buildings can be defined as structures that consume less water, energy, and other resources while emphasizing human health and protecting the environment. While green buildings have these advantages over traditional buildings, the rate of green building production is less than expected because many barriers are encountered during the design and production of green buildings, despite the recent attention paid to sustainable practices. This research focuses on exploring the barriers encountered during green building production in Turkiye and the possible solutions for overcoming these barriers. According to the data obtained through a questionnaire survey, the most important difficulties encountered in Turkiye include the lack of government subsidies, the lack of green building regulations, the public’s indifference to green building technologies, and education and technology deficiencies. According to the respondents, the possible solutions involve government incentives, adoption of national standards and best practices, educating the public and the design/construction professionals about green buildings, and the development of novel green building technologies. The major contribution of the findings is that it highlights the fact that the stakeholders of green building projects (i.e., owners, designers, constructors, and facility managers) face important barriers and lets stakeholders recognize that solutions to overcome these barriers are available. The major implication is that the stakeholders in green building projects will likely be better prepared to deal with any barrier before undertaking green building projects in Turkiye and countries with similar socio-economic conditions.