Sustainable construction through energy management practices in developing economies: an analysis of barriers in the construction sector

Abstract

In the recent era, energy management practices (EMPs) have gained significant importance in developed countries, due to their cost efficiency and the potential to protect the environment. However, developing countries are not particularly serious about adopting and implementing sustainable construction practices, due to the different barriers that hinder them from doing so. Therefore, the complete adoption of effective EMPs is still at the initial stage. The objective of this study is to identify the barriers to EMPs adoption, in the construction sector of Pakistan. Initially, the barriers were identified from the earlier studies and screened by the fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). These screened barriers were then evaluated through the ISM. The results of the ISM show that there happens to be a "lack of communication and collaboration among project stakeholders," "attitudinal, cultural and behavioral resistance to adopt EMPs", "lack of top management support and interest in energy management issues," "no condition for implementing EMPs on construction site," and "lack of financing schemes to implement energy management technology," as the top barriers to EMPs adoption in the construction projects pertaining to Pakistan. Thus in this regard, this study empirically contributes to EMPs literature that is based on the developing countries and supports the policymakers in developing appropriate strategies to reduce energy consumption in construction projects-especially in developing countries.

Keywords: Construction projects; Developing countries; Energy management practices; Interpretive structural modeling; Sustainable construction practices.