Identification of drivers and barriers of green building practice in Iraq

The impact of modernization and urbanization has encouraged improvement in the construction industry of Iraq, particularly in the development of the infrastructure. The slower rate of the construction process in the past has given a great deal of potential for integrating the green concept simultaneously with the development of the country. The insufficient amount of evidence concerning the progress of green construction in Iraq implies that this idea is not still at the top of the agenda of the construction industry yet. Proactive behavior of the government, private sector, and professional boards are highly important for bringing "greener" changes to the construction industry. Green building (GB) is considered as a sufficient way for the implementation of sustainability in terms of environment, economy, and society in the construction industry, therefore, it is crucial to gain a clearer comprehension of the main problems that influence its progress. This research has the aim of investigating the main aspects of adopting the green building in Iraq by determining major drivers for adopting GB and barriers that inhibit adopting GB. Twenty six drivers and twenty barriers were identified by administering a questionnaire. respondents were from Iraqi universities (civil engineering and other engineering disciplines). According to the questionnaire results, Conserving energy, environmental protection, water conservation, developing government legislation and increase knowledge and awareness, and information were the most significant drivers. The main barriers for the adoption of green building were determined as lack of its promotion by government, lack of government incentives and rules, lack of information of the green product, and unavailability of approved green materials and technologies.difference in the perceptions of civil engineering and other engineering disciplines are further analyzed with Spearman's rank test and analysis of variation to control if there is a consensus between groups. Both tests showed that there was no significant difference in the perceptions of GB drivers and barriers statistically. The results aim to provide a significant reference for practitioners and researchers of the industry for deepening their understanding of the main problems influencing the decision-making of the green building, and for policymakers that aim to promote adopting green building in the construction industry for developing proper policies and incentives in Iraq.