What is stopping sustainable building in England? Barriers experienced by stakeholders in delivering sustainable developments

TLDR

In England, both top‑down and bottom‑up pressures push for a sustainable built environment, yet most new projects exhibit few sustainability features. This paper presents 12 barriers to achieving sustainability in development schemes, drawn from qualitative research on five recently completed projects in England. The authors conducted qualitative research on five completed projects to identify these 12 barriers. Stakeholders identified barriers such as lack of consideration of sustainability measures, real and perceived costs, and inadequate expertise and powers, and the paper suggests ways to overcome them. © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

Abstract

Abstract In England there is both top‐down and bottom‐up pressure to deliver a sustainable built environment. However, most new projects display few sustainability features. This paper presents 12 barriers to achieving sustainability in development schemes, drawn from qualitative research on five recently completed projects in England. The barriers that were identified by the stakeholders in the schemes include a lack of consideration of sustainability measures, real and perceived costs and inadequate expertise and powers. The paper concludes by suggesting some ways in which these barriers might be overcome. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.