Overcoming Obstacles in Eco-Friendly Building

Sustainable construction is a critical aspect of urban development, with the potential to mitigate climate change and protect the world around us. However, the path to sustainable construction is fraught with challenges, ranging from regulatory issues to cost considerations.

Understanding Sustainable Construction

Sustainable construction begins way before the contractors arrive on site, and it doesn’t stop there either. It’s about making every step, from beginning to end, a sustainable and ‘best practice’ decision. Sustainable construction accounts for every phase, from design to construction to the ongoing maintenance of the building.

Challenges to Sustainable Construction

Regulatory Challenges

Policies, standards, and regulations are possibly not every architect’s, builder’s, or designer’s best friend but they are there for a reason. Unfortunately, when it comes to sustainable construction, “building regulations are nowhere near good enough”. This lack of rules is slowing down our transition to natural materials and therefore presents challenges to sustainable construction.

Cost Considerations

The cost of sustainable construction is often seen as a major hurdle. The additional cost of building sustainable buildings is one of the key challenges facing the construction industry in a bid to achieve sustainable construction.

Information and Understanding

A limited understanding of the benefits of sustainable construction is another significant challenge. Encouraging people to change the way they’ve always done things is never going to be easy. While calls to construct buildings more sustainably may be met with scoffs and points to the price tag, there’s so much more to it than that.

Conclusion

Despite these challenges, the construction industry is gradually becoming more sustainable. With the right information, sustainable construction is do-able. It is an undeniable fact that humans are hard-wired to resist change. Though not impossible, there are always obstacles in the way and hurdles to hop over; attempting to do something different in the name of a more sustainable future is no exception.

References

CityChangers.org. (n.d.). The Challenges of Sustainable Construction1

Forbes. (2021). The Construction Industry Is Getting Greener: Why, How, And What’s Changing? 4

(n.d.). The challenges and opportunities for sustainable building2

SciELO. (n.d.). Understanding the barriers and drivers of sustainable construction3