Barriers of implementing sustainable housing in Malaysian residential property sector

Abstract

Designing and constructing sustainable housing by changing its design, construction and operation could help in reducing resource consumption and mitigate climate change. However, it is found that there are barriers impeding the implementation of sustainable housing. This research aims to determine such barriers in Malaysian residential property sector. A questionnaire was designed and distributed to the key stakeholders (i.e. engineers, real estate agents, contractors and home buyers) in Malaysia. This questionnaire asked the respondents to rate the relative importance of 21 barriers which were categorized into four key categories (i.e. design and technical barrier, economic barrier, institutional barrier and socio-culture barrier). The results showed that economic barrier is the most critical category among the four categories of barriers. Out of the 21 barriers, the top critical barrier is high capital/investment cost. This research identified the importance of different barriers based on the perceptions of and experiences of the respondents. While most studies focused on the professional stakeholders or home buyers, there are only few studies dedicated to the combination of the perceptions for both professional stakeholders and homebuyers in Malaysia. This research could contribute to both the knowledge and practices of sustainable housing implementation in Malaysia.