Key Barriers and Feasibility of Implementing Green Roofs on Buildings in Malaysia

Abstract

The implementation of green roofs in buildings offers various environmental, social, and economic advantages. Despite Malaysia’s rapid urbanization, green roofs are not commonly integrated into existing or new buildings, which limits their potential benefits. Identifying the reasons behind this lack of implementation is crucial to promoting the widespread implementation of green roofs. Although previous works have explored barriers in developed urban areas, little attention has been given to Malaysia, where green roof implementation is still in its early stages. To address this research gap, our study aims to investigate the key barriers to implementing green roofs in buildings in Malaysia. Additionally, the study aims to assess the feasibility and level of support for green roof implementation in Malaysia. We utilized a combination of literature review, questionnaire surveys, and structured face-to-face interviews. Through the utilization of both normalization and the Relative Importance Index (RII) analysis, the findings highlight the presence of three primary barriers that impede the effective implementation of green roofs in Malaysia. Notably, the key barriers are: high/additional construction costs, high/increased maintenance costs, and lack of owner/client interest. Understanding and prioritizing these root causes can empower building owners, developers, and policymakers to develop effective strategies for green roof implementation. Our findings offer valuable insights for promoting sustainable development in Malaysian buildings and contribute to the advancement of green roof practices in the country.

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

“…• There are only a few training programs about green building design, construction, operation, and demolition [1,4,16,[35][36][37][38][42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53];…”

“…Stakeholders' lack of interest in green building technologies [4,36,43,44,47] Weak communication between the stakeholders [1,6,34,35,38,42,43,47,50,51,67,68] Lack of experience in green building production [6,16,34,35,38,44,45,[48][49][50]52,54,67,68] Difficulties in documentation processes [6,43] Commitment to traditional building technologies [4,37,42,44,50,51] Lack of trust in R&D about green building technologies [38,44,50] Distinct differences between green building and traditional building specifications [6,[34][35][36]38,42,…”

“…Resistance to use green building materials [34,36,50] Lack of information about green building materials and technologies [16,45,47,48,50,68] Insufficient government subsidies for green building production [4,42,[44][45][46][47][48][49][50]67] The lack of regulations about green building production [1,4,35,37,43,45,[47][48][49][50]54,67] Insufficient government incentives offered to the public [4,37,42,[44][45][46][47]49,54,67] Few public buildings with green building certification [44,50] Lack of recognition of the government's green building certification program [36,42,44,46,…”

“…Barrier 1 Barrier 2 Barrier 3 … … … Barrier 30 Insufficient government incentives offered to the public [4,37,42,[44][45][46][47]49,54,67] Few public buildings with green building certification [44,50] Lack of recognition of the government's green building certification program [36,42,44,46,47] Table 4. Matrix of respondents (Ri) vs. barriers to green building production (Bj).…”

“…In an investigation performed on the problems encountered in green building projects in Malaysia, the indexed barriers are current customers' lack of interest in green building projects, lack of experience, lack of technical procedures, lack of resources in information technologies, lack of government support, and the delays in delivery to the operation [48], whereas another study adds the issues of additional construction costs and increased maintenance costs [49].…”