Beyond barriers: exploring the considerations hindering the adoption of green construction from a behavioural economics perspective

Abstract

Several academic researchers have investigated the barriers inhibiting the adoption of green construction. Numerous interventions including raising awareness through educational forums, monitoring and enforcement programmes, and financial incentives have been recommended as strategies to encourage the wider adoption of green construction. However, most of these interventions have failed to address the low adoption of green construction. This raises the question 'Why'? Drawing on the insights from Behavioural Economics, specifically Game Theory and Prospect Theory, and the broad social sciences, it is proposed that it is at the individual level of choice that building construction stakeholders are reluctant to adopt green construction, and building construction stakeholders' decision-making is influenced by the confluence of 'elements' which bring about the tendency for them to prefer non-adoption to adoption. Following this, this paper aimed at exploring the 'considerations' that can underlie the tendency for building construction stakeholders to prefer non-adoption to adoption through a literature review. Four key considerations were found. They are dilemma concern, trust in others' actions, fear of being a sucker, and short-term self-interest. It is concluded that, when given empirical support, policies to increase adoption of green construction should address whichever consideration(s) that strongly hinder green construction adoption in a particular setting.

Unpacking the problems behind the limited green construction adoption: towards a theoretical model

“…Except for social norms which have a reflective-formative higher order measurement model, the measurement models of all the constructs are conceptualised reflectively (see Figure 1). The rationale for their reflective conceptualisation is that they were measured by using indicators which create reflections of the definition of the construct (Hair et al , 2017; Hammond et al , forthcoming). For example, considering the conceptual variable “trust”, which is defined as “trust and belief of others in the building construction industry to be cooperative or uncooperative in the quest for the attainment of sustainability”, its measurement relies on eight indicators such as “ TR3 – I believe that most other people in the industry are not willing to help mitigate the adverse environmental impact of construction activities ”.…”

“…Finally, the dependent construct, green construction adoption (GC) is reflective of 12 set of indicators (GC1-GC12). These indicators are being developed by Hammond et al (forthcoming).…”

“…The two problems underpinning the decision-making process in the adoption of green construction are characterised by six conceptual variables connected by a set of 12 structural relationships. Five of the conceptual variables – social norms, personal dilemma, trust, loss aversion and self-interest – are used to explain green construction adoption (Hammond et al , 2019a). A hypothesis is a tentative, provisional or unconfirmed statement derived from theory that can be either verified or falsified and clearly states the expected relationships between an independent and dependent variable (Stockemer, 2018, p. 16).…”

“…While the most recognised barriers blocking the adoption of green construction have been focused on factors such as high cost, lack of policies, lack of knowledge and awareness among others, it has been argued that this focus has concealed a wider set of barriers which need to be acknowledged and addressed (see Hammond et al , 2019a, b, c). The four main motives for the argument are as follows: First, some researchers have opined that the perceived higher costs associated with the adoption of green construction runs contrary to the belief that green buildings have long-run cost savings and outperform their conventional counterparts during their life cycle (see for example Bartlett and Howard, 2000; Rehm and Ade, 2013; Dwaikat and Ali, 2018; Ade and Rehm, 2020) Second, a range of policies have been developed in various countries to motivate designers, developers and contractors to embrace green construction (UN Environment and International Energy Agency, 2017; Liu et al , 2019); yet, these plethora of policies are still not enough to promote green construction adoption (UN Environment and International Energy Agency, 2017).…”

“…To extend Hammond et al (2019a) and answer the question: why is the limited adoption of green construction persisting given the importance of green construction for reducing the negative environmental impact of the construction industry and the numerous policies instituted by governments around the world to motivate building construction stakeholders (BCS), the objectives this paper are to (1) characterise the two problems underpinning the decision-making process in the adoption of green construction with a theoretical model consisting of six conceptual variables and (2) outline the expected relationships (hypotheses) in the theoretical model.…”