Assessment of barriers to the adoption of sustainable building materials (SBM) in the construction industry of a developing country

Emmanuel Chidiebere Eze*, Onyinye Sofolahan, Olayinka Gideon Omoboye

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

17 Citations (Scopus)
36 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Purpose

Sustainable/Green building materials (SBMs/GBMs) offer a wide range of benefits which cut across the economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability. The incorporation of these materials in construction projects in most developing countries is still low owing to some factors. This study assessed the major barriers to the incorporation of SBMs in the delivery of construction projects in developing countries, with Nigeria as a case in point.

Design/methodology/approach

The well-structured quantitative questionnaire was used to gather data from the key players in the construction industry, using the snowball sampling method and electronic means of questionnaire administration. Frequencies, percentile, relative importance index, Kruskal–Wallis H test, Kendall's coefficient of concordance and exploratory factor analysis were used to analyse the gathered data.

Findings

The study revealed that the major constructs of barriers to SBM adoption in construction projects are: (1) resistance and information barriers (Eigenvalues = 5.237; % of V = 23.806), (2) regulation and funding of R&D (Eigenvalues = 2.741; % of V = 12.457), (3) cost and market barriers (Eigenvalues = 2.223; % of V = 10.105), (4) government incentive and suppliers' availability (Eigenvalues = 1.728; % of V = 7.852) and (5) GB experts and labour barriers (Eigenvalues = 1.307; % of V = 5.942).

Originality/value

This study assessed the view of construction experts in the five states of the south-eastern geo-political zone of Nigeria, particularly as regards the barriers to the incorporation of sustainable building materials in construction projects in the region.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)153-166
Number of pages14
JournalFrontiers in Engineering and Built Environment
Volume3
Issue number3
Early online date20 Feb 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 29 Aug 2023

Keywords

  • Sustainable building materials (SBM)
  • Green building
  • Sustainability
  • Barriers
  • Construction projects

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