Identifying Barriers to the Implementation of Sustainable Construction

The 6th International Project and Construction Management Conference (e-IPCMC 2020)
Author(s): Beyza Başdemir and Gülben Çalış
Title: Identifying Barriers to the Implementation of Sustainable Construction
Abstract: In the last decades, industrialization and urbanization have led to an increasing demand in the construction industry. Subsequently, this demand caused many environmental problems, which are due to harmful emissions and wastes produced and released into the environment along with the use of natural resources and energy throughout the building life cycle. Adapting sustainable practices in the construction sector has potential in reducing negative environmental impacts, however; its implementation has not been successful yet due to numerous barriers. This study aims at identifying and prioritizing potential barriers to the transition of sustainable construction. Within this context, 7 barriers were identified via a thorough literature review and a survey is designed to prioritize these barriers to the transition of sustainable construction. A total of 10 professionals were interviewed and the responses were analyzed via Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) methods. The results show that the most influential barrier moving toward the sustainable construction practices is the difficulties in selecting sustainable construction materials whereas the least influential one is the design of the construction project.