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Construction professionals’ perspectives on drivers and barriers of sustainable construction

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Abstract

With the associated environmental challenges and unsustainable patterns of construction, there is also notable awareness and willingness among the state bodies to adopt sustainability measures and practices in Kazakhstan. This study explores the drivers of and barriers inhibiting the adoption of sustainability paradigm in the construction context of Kazakhstan. The drivers and barriers were validated through the survey and structured workshop with the construction professionals to ensure their relevance to the local context, which were then ranked according to their levels of influence through the lens of the industry professionals in Kazakhstan. Delphi technique was the last stage before consolidating the specified lists. Stakeholder opinions were then consolidated to develop a context-oriented decision support system. The findings reveal that addressing environmental issues is vital to increase the level of sustainability leading to the more efficient use of construction materials and resources. Various social aspects are also found to be driving forces for the effective adoption of the SC concept. On the other hand, a great portion of SC barriers is related to economic aspects, which are followed by government as well as awareness and education related barriers. The findings are hoped to contribute to the body of knowledge in terms of drivers of, and barriers to SC in developing countries, particularly in Central Asian countries due to similarities in context. The findings may also be useful for the construction forefront players seeking ways to improve sustainability performance of the construction industry.

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Acknowledgements

Mr. Farnush Nazipov, a student from Nazarbayev University, is acknowledged for his assistance in data collection. The support of Nazarbayev University and Ara Institute of Canterbury is acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Serik Tokbolat & Ferhat Karaca

  2. The Environment & Resource Efficiency Cluster, Nazarbayev University, Astana, Kazakhstan

    Ferhat Karaca

  3. Department of Engineering and Architectural Studies, Ara Institute of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand

    Serdar Durdyev

  4. Department of Building, Energy and Materials Technology, The Arctic University of Norway, Narvik, Norway

    Rajnish Kaur Calay

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  1. Serik Tokbolat
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  2. Ferhat Karaca
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  3. Serdar Durdyev
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  4. Rajnish Kaur Calay
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Correspondence to Serik Tokbolat.

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Tokbolat, S., Karaca, F., Durdyev, S. et al. Construction professionals’ perspectives on drivers and barriers of sustainable construction. Environ Dev Sustain 22, 4361–4378 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00388-3

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