Challenges And Importance Of Sustainable Housing In Malaysia

Green Building and Sustainable Architecture

Question:

Discuss About The Challenges Sustainable Housing In Malaysia?

With the increasing technology somewhere hazardous objects are also increasing with high rate. In the world where resources are diminishing faster with the growing population, it is essential to preserve minerals and resources for future generation. One of the ways to protect energies and resources is the development of green building or sustainable architecture. Using eco-friendly methods and appropriate stuff to construct buildings which assist in less use of energy, is referred as sustainable building. This helps in utilizing resources more effectively and efficiently. Sustainable building includes efficient use of resources, healthy lifestyle, responsibility towards environment and various other objects (Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2010). Through green building we can protect various resources from getting polluted so that they can be used by the society. As there is scarcity of minerals and they have alternate uses, it is very essential to save resources as much as we can.

‘High performance buildings’, ‘green construction’, ‘sustainable design and construction’ are some another names which can be used in place of green building. The process of making green buildings reduces various energies such as saving energy upto 40-50%, saving water upto 20-30% and it also brings more profits to the investors as less materials are consumed. Therefore, it clears that the green building process not only include the workers but the owner and investors also get benefits from it (Abidin, 2010). Green buildings also look alike the other buildings but the difference comes when we talk about their material used, amount of energy consumed, using natural resources and use of adequate methods to bring efficiency. This green building technique not only reduces the cost of making buildings but also helps in less use of precious and scarce resources.

Discovering new techniques to reduce the use of scarce resources and bringing out the best from limited resources is all that a sustainable development tries to convey to all the society. Thinking with a new attitude toward the problems of environment is the need of today’s world. Everything which is necessary to survive is present n environment, all there is a requirement for proper development of techniques and methods which not only preserve the resources but also provides a feeling comfort to the people. Sustainable construction is based on three-tiers that is, Economy, Environment and Society and these three tiers are responsible for the fulfillment of all social, personal, economic and other necessities of all the generations (Abidin, 2009).

Green building tries to bring more and more efficiency in the work by using natural resources like water, energy, eco-friendly materials, etc. As the studies clears that natural methods are the best way to cure any disease, in the same manner green buildings helps in concurring human lives naturally. This brings healthier environment for the people who will live in these buildings which will also affect their health in the better manner (Medineckiene, Turskis and Zavadskas, 2010). This approach is not only beneficial for the people who live in those buildings but it is also beneficial for the owner and other occupants. The ways in which it is beneficial for various factors are listed below:

• It helps in reducing the cost of maintenance as natural resources are cheaper than artificial resources.
• Replacement of objects in future will also costs lesser in green buildings.
• It also helps in bringing efficiency in work.
• It helps in improving the surroundings and health of owner and other occupants.
• It helps in improving the productivity.
• It provides more flexibility in work.
• The cost of production will also decrease.
• Resources are less and efficiently consumed at every level of construction.

Efficient Use of Resources and Responsibility Toward Environment

Constructing buildings with eco-friendly methods and techniques so that sustainable environment can be developed so that resources can be used in a well-organized manner is considered as the main aim of green design (Meyer, 2009). Green design teaches us to focus on the health of present as well as future generation. Bringing efficiency in the methods of construction, proper utilization of resources, improving lifecycle of building, concentrating on the heath of occupants and reducing the wastage of water and energy are the main objectives of sustainable building. These objectives are not only concerned with environmental point of view but also fulfill social and personal requirements (Bynum, Issa and Olbina, 2012).

1. Healthy interior environment: Materials that are taken in use must not contain any kind of harmful substances which is not suitable for human lives, all things that are used while the construction of building must be proper and should not contain any toxic substances. This should also be kept in mind that the surroundings must be healthy and hygienic. It is not only the responsibility of workers and builders to balance the environment in the building but the people who live in those buildings also a major role in maintaining a healthy environment (del Río Merino, IzquierdoGracia and Weis Azevedo, 2010).
2. Energy efficiency: All natural ways are must be adopted for minimizing the use of energy and other resources. Producing heat, light and other energies with the help of natural resources is the best way to make optimum utilization of natural resources instead of using artificial resources (Ogunbiyi,  Goulding and Oladapo, 2014). As there is scarcity of resources and it also has multiple uses, it is become essential to protect them as much as we can. The more efficiently resources are used the less it will be wasted
3. Ecologically benign materials: This principle states that the best possible methods should be taken into use for the consumption of building products and materials. This will help in reducing the wastage of resources and it also helps in bring efficiency in work. Recycling, renewing and reusing the products is the best way to minimize the wastage and maximize the worth of product (Gan,  Zuo,  Skitmore and Xiong, 2015).

The usage of energy is one of the most vital and threatening environmental issues in relation with construction practices and managing its usage is unavoidable in any construction business. Buildings are considered as the one with highest energy consumers (Yeheyis, Hewage, Alam, Eskicioglu  andSadiq, 2013). Buildings of construction consumes energy as well as other important resources almost at all the stages of building project comprising design, construction, operation and demolition. As per the researches, the amount or the kind of energy which is being taken used throughout the life cycle of the building material, initiating from production to handling of those materials after their end. It is necessary to work upon all the stages as well as also to consider the impact of the GHGs during the complete building process (Sourani, 2011). The consumption of energy can be reduced or cut back if there is efficient strategies and practices of sustainable construction which can reduce the emission of the green house gases and also slowed down the depletion of the resources which are nonrenewable in nature. With such consciousness, higher level of attention is given to the efficient use of energy and energy conservation in construction as this is the sector that yields highest energy levels and reduction in the emissions may result into positive impact upon the environment. The energy which is used in the construction life cycle comprises of energy required both the embodied as well as operational energy (CZARNECKI and Kapron, 2010). The operational energy which is required in construction can be regarded as the energy which is utilized for maintaining the environment inside the construction or the building. As per the building’s life cycle analysis, the operational energy stands for approximately eighty five to ninety percent of the overall consumption of energy. It is also responsible for the highest emission of CO2 in construction that take place because of higher level of use of hot water, ventilation, cooling and heating. It comprises of energy from burning of fuels such as coal and oil, gas and electricity(Bashir, Suresh, Proverbs and Gameson, 2010).

Once the energy used for the operations is reduced then the second key attention is paid upon the energy utilization in the material production which is also known as embodied energy. The overall energy which is used for the creation or development of a building is the embodied energy. This energy also includes the direct energy which is being used in assembling process and construction; the indirect energy that is utilized for manufacturing of the building components and the materials (Ahn, Lee, Peña-Mora and Abourizk, 2010). The indirect energy comprises of the energy which is utilized for the extraction of the raw materials, manufacturing and processing and also the energy that is utilized in transport throughout the process. The building’s energy life can also be regarded as made up of the various inputs of the embodied and operational energy during the complete process of building life cycle (Pietrosemoli and Monroy, 2013).

Benefits of Green Buildings for Owners and Occupants

Thus the key objective in the energy consumption is to increase the usage of renewable sources of energy and decrease the overall consumption of the fossil fuels. This could be attained by taking use of various effective methods:

For the decreased consumption of energy, it is essential to monitor and check the choices of the construction methods and the materials which are possible through decreased loss of gain of solar heat, therefore decreasing the air-conditioning loads. By selecting those materials that comprises of low embodied energy can support in reducing the consumption of energy by the means of transportation of the materials, manufacturing, processing and mining (Nagapan, Rahman,  Asmi, Memon and Latif, 2012). For example, aluminum contains high amount of embodied energy there is high consumption of electricity for mining the raw material. The designs focusing upon the low energy building have high consideration towards this aspect as well as wider life cycle approach towards energy evaluation.

Protecting the building envelope is one of the most vital aspects of the various energy conservation methods and approaches as it has a major impact upon the total energy expenditure. An adequate and properly designed insulation can help in decreasing the total amount of heat loss by the means of building envelope that is approximately by half (Lam, Chan, Chau and Poon, 2011). The overall heat loss and draughts can be reduced with the help of air-tightness strategy, where the already present chimneys and vents were to be closed, insulation of the ceilings and floors and coating of the walls through modified plaster (Osman, Udin and Salleh, 2012). There can be attained high level of energy efficiency by the process of heat recovery and by the means of mechanical ventilation unit which will take up heat from various areas such as bathrooms and kitchens and will take use of the same in other places of the building.

The recycling of the construction materials as well as the designing for the deconstruction which is energy efficient helps in reducing the consumption of energy in the manufacturing process as well as also saves on the fossil fuels and natural resources. The design for the deconstruction comprises of decrease in chemically disparate coatings, adhesives and the binders for better individual constituent materials (Ortiz, Castells and Sonnemann, 2009). There is also comprised of a deconstruction blueprint and a construction blueprint. All the construction materials will have particular barcodes so that there can be proper handling instructions with the contractor at the time of deconstruction for the components and materials upon the removal. There will also be included connection points connecting the machinery and the workers, built- in tie-offs, component accessibility designed in, self-stabilizing components and the self-supporting components (Rafindadi, Miki?, Kova?i? and Ceki?, 2014). The buildings that take use of the recycling and reuse processes also facilitates the usage of highly recyclable materials, high quality materials, bio-based materials and the non-hazardous materials. The efficient design for the deconstruction present opportunities for the building designs that can fill the gap of materials which are to be used in the buildings (Prum, 2010). It also supports in attaining a transformation of a zero-energy construction industry.

Objectives of Sustainable Building

The designing for developing the transportation which consumes low energy helps in decreasing the emissions that causes pollution by having an impact upon the overall quantity of fuel used. The reduced consumption of energy in construction and buildings has a small impact on the overall consumption of the energy from the perspectives of complete nation if there is high wastage of energy in the rural and the urban transportation systems ((Ametepey, Aigbavboa and Ansah, 2015). A potential layout of the community which places general shops, schools and other services near to the business areas or residential areas makes it convenient to visit those places without being travelling for long distances. It also emphasis upon providing fascinating walking paths and bicycle which can ultimately decrease the total vehicle miles which are to be travelled per household. From the overall perspective, it will decrease the consumption of energy for the purpose of transportation as well as upgrading the quality of human lives- even though without any expenses for vehicles (Ravindrarajah, R. S and Yukari, 2010). Thus, the decreased energy consumption house designs must be combined with the modern designs which will help in increasing the usage of bicycle and public transportation for daily purpose. If there is increased use of bicycles and public transportation then it will result in reduced use of private vehicles that will ultimately lower the overall consumption of energy and also cost of road construction. Thus, there will also be reduced air pollution and traffic jams (Opoku and Fortune, 2011).

To develop energy competent tech-processes for the maintenance, fitout and construction of buildings. An integrated and efficient approach towards efficient energy consumption in construction processes would require instigating by the construction project team from the starting to attain the objective of consumption of energy (Chatterjee, 2009).

There can also be used the passive energy design that comprises of orientation of building, usage of water bodies for the purpose of cooling and evaporation, landscaping by vegetation and natural ventilation. All such energy designs can support in attaining visual as well as thermal comfort inside the construction of the building, for having considerable down fall in the consumption of energy levels by artificial lightning and conventional air conditioning in the building (ZainulAbidin and Othman, 2013). The designers and the architects can also attain the energy efficiency in construction by having an in-depth analysis of the micro and the macro climatic conditions of the location or the site, by adopting the bioclimatic design feature, by using solar-passive design and by taking benefit of the natural resources.

The consumption as well as the extraction of the natural resources in construction poses a direct impact upon the environment and the natural bio-diversity because of the continuous fragmentation of the ecosystems and the natural areas use to a number of construction activities. In specific, there is high consumption of the minerals resources in building processes and it is reported that maximum of those mineral resources are non-renewable in nature. Thus, it is vital to decrease the consumption of the non-renewable resources (Karunasena, Rathnayake and Senarathne, 2016). It is required to be integrated in order to consider at the time of starting of the construction project and the phase of designing, where there is high importance led upon the selection of the materials and it must be performed on the basis of the impact imposed by the materials on the environment (Saleh and Alalouch, 2015). At the deconstruction phase and also at the construction phase, there can also be used a number of approaches for lessening the overall impact of the consumption of the materials on the environment and the natural resources. Following are the efficient methods which can be used in attaining high level of material efficiency in construction:

Reducing Energy Consumption in Construction Practices

Waste Minimization Designs: Construction sector isconsidered as one of the most vital waste generators that result in numerous economic, social and environmental issues. The waste in the construction industry takes the form of generation of the unwanted materials in the process of demolition. By reducing the amount of construction waste can result in saving good sum of the non-renewable resources. A number of researches have identified and noticed that the there is a vital role of the business designers in minimizing construction waste (Wahlström, Laine-Ylijoki, Järnström, Kaartinen, Erlandsson, Palm Cousins and Birgisdottir, 2013). The waste minimization is an essential part of sustainable construction and also of significant importance throughout the design process. There are majorly three key principles that are required to be followed for achieving sustainable construction and waste minimization i.e. effective disposal and storage of the construction waste, recycling and reuse and recovering as well as reducing the construction waste.

disposal and storage of the construction waste: in various circumstances, where there cannot be prevented the construction waste from taking place as well as where it cannot be recovered, it is required to be stored in a proper way and must be kept under adequate control. There are two forms of special construction waste i.e. the construction debris and the non-hazardous construction debris which are land filled the landfills or in the MSW i.e. the Municipal solid waste which only undertake such type of construction debris (Jaillon, Poon and Chiang, 2009). All the decisions in respect with the acceptability of the waste depend upon the risk assessment which is different for every site. there are licenses that have a control over the type and quantity of the waste which can be accepted, in respect with the components substances, a fix rate of loading for specific waste and the hazardous waste (Rekola, Mäkeläinen and Häkkinen, 2012). It is necessary for the designers to keep in mind and consider the various guidelines and policies for the disposal and the material storage during the construction design.

Recovering as well as reducing the construction waste: One of the best measures for decreasing the impact of construction waste on the environment is through preventing and decreasing the amount of waste as much as possible. There will be effective disposal needs, recycling, reuse and reduce and therefore offering the economic advantages (Shams, Mahmud and Al-Amin, 2011). The researches and the analysis has demonstrated that the recovery result in reduction of the wastage amount as well as the GHG emissions, reduces the raw material usage and also save energy. The recovery of the potential materials and energy from wastes has also been regarded as most vital practice for the attainment of the energy saving to ease the situations of pressing energy (Salama and Hana, 2010).

Recycling and Reuse: the recycled products usually decrease the impact upon the environment, specifically the waste creation and the use of the resources. The significance of the alternatives such as the reuse and the recycling for re-entering the components and materials of construction in the production chain. For reducing the demolition and the construction waste, there is an effective alternative of reusing the building materials (Opoku and Fortune, 2011). At the time of building deconstruction, there is recovering of the building components and the functional parts that includes tiles, windows, bricks, other than the traditional demolition in which the various parts are changed back into the raw materials to processing. it must be assessed by the designers that whether any already existing building could also be completely or partly refurbished for meeting the needs of the construction project (Shi, 2009). It is essential to carry out a pre-demolition audit of the construction buildings which can be demolished for discovering whether the components or materials can be reused. It is necessary to be assessed by the designers that whether flexibility and deconstruction is a priority or can be considered.

Embodied and Operational Energy in Construction

Identify durable materials: Durability is considered as a factor that notifies the degree to which the construction materials maintain its specific requirements. The construction sustainability or the building sustainability can be increased by enhancing the materials’ durability. A system, component or the material is sounds to be durable when its actual performance i.e. the useful service life is compared with the actual time needed for the related effects on the environment which could be absorbed by the environment and the ecosystem(Kofoworola and Gheewala, 2009). The construction materials which have a longer life in comparison with other construction materials which have been produced for a similar purpose are required to be replaced less often. It directly decreases the amount of natural resources needed for manufacturing as well as the capital required for installation and the labour. If the materials have high or great durability, then there is a need of fewer amounts of time and resources for their maintenance. The materials which are durable which needed less frequent replacement will need a very less amount of raw materials and will manufacture reduced landfill waste over the complete life time of the construction building (Amado and Barroso, 2013).

Identify local materials and natural materials: The natural construction materials are regarded as low in the level of embodied energy as well as in the level of toxicity in comparison with the man-made materials. All these natural materials need a very less processing and also are eco-friendly which causes very less damage to the environment. Many, such as wood, are the ones which are considered as theoretically renewable. When there is incorporation of the natural materials in the construction and building products, there is increased sustainability of the products (Waidyasekara, De Silva and Raufdeen, 2013). The use of the natural building materials help in reducing the impact and burden upon the environment which also decreases the transport distances and therefore reduce the air pollution caused because of the vehicles. Often, there is high suitability of the local materials in respect with the climatic conditions as well as the purchase of these local materials also support the economies of the regions. For example, the continuously increasing and high usage of the marble quarried halfway all over the globe is not considered as good and sustainable choice (GhaffarianHoseini, Dahlan, Berardi, GhaffarianHoseini, Makaremi and GhaffarianHoseini, 2013). On the other hand, steel, which is needed for durability and structural strength, is considered as a justifiable use of the construction material which is usually produced at some distance from the site of the construction.

Pollution prevention and Design: There are several prevention measures which can be taken at the time of construction process and manufacturing process for the prevention of the pollution. All these prevention measures contribute considerably in environmental sustainability. The researchers recommend the selection of the materials which have been manufactured by the companies which are environmentally responsible and encourage the efforts of people preventing pollution. Although, all such products initially possess higher “off-the-shelf” price, as they are much potential then those products that causes high levels of environmental pollution which exploit the environment (Waris, Liew, Khamidi and Idrus, 2014). There are varied forms of pollution in the construction projects i.e. in the form of soil, water and air. there are very few researches or reports which give high consideration to the pollution caused because of soil and so there is very less amount of data presented in that particular aspect.

Promoting a Better Future

In the construction sector, there is a big issue of soil pollution at the construction site. It is also considered as an issue in the material extraction at the time when there is deposition of waste and mainly the hazardous waste. The water which is waste is directly released into the streams which also comprises of a number of toxic particles. There is a vital importance of the means of transportation (Kibert, 2016). Therefore, the emissions generated from the rail, air and road transportation are also considered as the major cause behind the continuously increasing amount of photochemical smog in eth environment. In the fog, the key components are hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide and thus there tales place ozone release due to the action of the sunlight on the various organic compounds which are present in the lower atmosphere. And due to the huge quantities which are involved and because of large bulk amount, the moving construction material are considered as a major cause behind the continuously increasing total pollution emissions due to transportation (Azhar, Carlton, Olsen and Ahmad, 2011). By gaining the knowledge of the manufacturers which take use of the sustainable manufacturing strategies and techniques; by identifying their particular products and also avoiding the production with the help of the methods that cause high level of pollution, the construction of the building designers can also encourage the marketing as well as the sue of the sustainable construction materials in the construction projects (Robichaud and Anantatmula, 2010).

Identify the less-toxic and non-toxic materials: The substances which are less-toxic or non-toxic are less hazardous to the building occupants and the construction workers. There are number of construction materials which have a negative or adverse impact upon the indoor air quality which leads to health hazards (Olubunmi, Xia and Skitmore, 2016). In the construction industry there are a number of different materials which have either a short term impact of a lifelong impact. such as materials like common products, cleaners, sealants, paints and adhesives comprises of the VOCs i.e. the volatile organic compounds which emit some dangerous fumes but these emissions are for a shorter time period or say till the time of installation. On the other hand, there are materials which cause problems throughout the life of the building (Sorvig and Thompson, 2018). So, to reduce the pollution cause because of the materials in the construction projects and to have sustainable construction, it is essential to take use of the building materials which are less toxic or non-toxic. This will help in reducing the environmental health issues and also the requirement for the air scrubbers will be decrease with the usage of non-hazardous and non-toxic substances in the construction projects (Steinemann, Wargocki and Rismanchi, 2017)

Sustainable construction or the green building is not only considered as a development trend but is also an integrated approach to construction which suits to the demand and whole relevance and significance will be kept on increasing. The There are a number of benefits of green building and sustainable construction and can be broadly categorized fewer than three major categories i.ee. Social, economic and environmental (Pacheco-Torgal, Cabeza, Labrincha and De Magalhaes, 2014).

Environmental Advantages: The most prominent environmental benefits or advantages comprises of the reduction in the emissions. There are huge amount of continuously increasing emissions of the hazardous and harmful gases. The environment is suffering from a number of adverse impacts because of these emissions. Sustainable construction effectively reduces the amount of emissions. Another major benefit is water conservation, as with potential sustainable construction practices, there is consumption of water as there is decrease in the wastage of water during the construction projects. Other key benefits include waste reduction, temperature moderation, energy consumption and storm water management (Deng and Wu, 2014).

Economic Advantages: Other than the environmental benefits, the second vital significance is for the economy. There are several benefits like energy and water savings. with the sustainable construction strategies, practices and their effective implementation, the construction projects reduces the usage of energy and water which ultimately leads to water and energy savings (Hwang, Zhao and Tan, 2015). Other economic benefits comprises of enhanced property values, development of the local talent pool, sales improvements, enhanced employee productivity, improved employee attendance, reduced infrastructure strain and improved property values (Jat and Mane, 2018).

Social Advantages: There are number of social advantages associated with the implementation of the sustainable construction practices. Such as the key benefit are the improved health conditions, recreation, healthier lifestyles and improved schools. With the decrease in the emissions, pollution and the usage of hazardous materials, there are less adverse impact upon the health of the workers (Bond and Devine, 2016). Thus, there are major key social benefits gained by the people and the government through sustainable construction.

As per the various construction reports, researches and construction marketplace, there has been realized an overall decrease of eight to nine percent in the operational cost in the construction of the commercial green buildings. As well as there has also been an overall increase of 7.5 percent in the value of the buildings. The reports also state a return on investment of 6.6 percent improvement with the practices of sustainable construction. As per the reports and data of the Greening of Corporate America SmartMarket Report, there has been experienced a total of 3.5 percent occupancy ratio upsurge in the commercial green buildings and also a three percent ratio upsurge in rent. In comparison with the market comparable and the energy star building in the 1^st quarter of the year 2008, the energy star buildings have attained an increased occupancy rate of 3.6 percent (Dobson, Sourani,Sertyesilisik andTunstall, 2013). The green building is regarded as the approach of renovating structures or building to be resource as well as energy competent across the life cycle of the building or the construction project from the designing phase to construction, deconstruction, renovation, maintenance and operation.

The sustainable construction or the green building take efficient use of the natural resources and also less in quantity with minimal wastage, all this results in reduced impact upon the environment and lower utility bills. All these advantages range from effective saving of water, waste and energy to huge health and productivity benefits. The water and the energy savings can be forecasted with reasonable measuring, precisions and monitoring over time. In respect with the heath and the productivity benefits are comparatively are much hard to forecast with the implementation of the sustainable construction practices (Zuo and Zhao, 2014).

Decreased energy consumption: Energy is regarded as the widely considered cost of construction or building operations which can be decreased by the means of energy efficiency and also through the related measures which are the component of green building design. The decreased purchase of electricity and the decrease demand for energy results in green building energy savings. It has been analyzed that on average basis, the sustainable or the green buildings are twenty eight percent more efficient in comparison with the buildings which are made traditionally (Castro-Lacouture, Sefair, Flórez and Medaglia, 2009).

Reduced use of natural resources: The sustainable construction and the green buildings take efficient use of the materials as they use fewer amounts of resources with the help of the elimination of the unnecessary materials and use of efficient designs (Samari, Ghodrati, Esmaeilifar, Olfat and Shafiei, 2013).

Lower Initial Costs: Sustainable construction design teams comprises of the occupant representatives, cost consultants, the green contractor, security experts, safety experts, O&M staff, health experts, landscape designers, designing team and the owners. All of them are required to work together from the initial level by working on an integrated sustainable construction design (Pitt, Tucker, Riley and Longden, 2009). The construction team is required to develop unique and innovative solutions which can effectively meet the social, environmental and energy goals of green building while maintain the cost effectiveness.

Water cost saving: The sustainable construction and the green buildings encourage the use of the water saving strategies which can support the construction projects to take use of water in an efficient manner (Waris, Liew, Khamidi and Idrus, 2014). The green building projects follows an integrated approach to assess the water resources, water demand, water supplies. There are various strategies of it such as reuse measures, water recycling, effective irrigation technologies, selecting adaptive plants, installation of the sub meters and efficient plumbing fixtures(Fuerst and McAllister, 2011).

Reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions: the best and the foremost benefit which saves a lot of cost and offers higher financial benefits is the lowering of the air pollution and greenhouse gas and CO2 emissions. There is a decrease in the energy consumption through energy-efficient design which also helps in reducing the air pollution (Yudelson, 2010).

Other Benefits: there are several other benefits associated with the implementation of the sustainable construction practices and working upon green buildings. such as there is improve productivity, lower absenteeism, improve performance, lower costs of facility maintenance, increase durability, decrease maintenance cost and repairs, decreased cost of dealing with complaints, better resale value, greater building longevity and regional economic growth (Dobson, Sourani,Sertyesilisik andTunstall, 2013).

The construction sector is regarded as one of the broadest sector in terms of mechanism and process for the use of human settlements. It comprises of a complete construction project cycle starting from the feasibility studies and ending to deconstruction. Sustainable construction is the responsible and effective management of a healthy building environment based upon the various efficient resources and the ecological principles. But while obtaining sustainable construction practices and strategies, there are several challenges and issues that came across the path of sustainability (Lam, Chan, Poon, Chau and Chun, 2010). There are numerous studies and researches that demonstrate the various potential challenges of sustainable construction that in respect with the economic, social and environmental concerns.

The first and the foremost challenges that came across in the sustainable construction are the economic challenges. The main objective of any construction project is the economic revenue for all its developers and the investors (Suhendro, 2014). Thus, it is a vital consideration for all the decision makers in respect with the implementation of the practices that leads to sustainable construction. In the various construction projects, where there are used sustainable construction practices, it’s analyzed that the overall cost and expense of the construction projects increases without much equivalent benefits received (Pacheco-Torgal, 2014). This kind of perception of the people is a big and major issue in eth sustainable construction which occurs as a challenge. Such kind of challenge is usually seen in the countries or regions which are developing in nature as the technologies which are energy efficient for example the energy saving equipment, eater, high performance insulation protection etc. are to be imported in the country (Pearce and Ahn, 2017). All these expenses done upon import of this equipment resulted in increased cost of the construction project. There are several cost analysis studies which have been conducted in the past on the practice of sustainable construction. all these studies and their analysis depicts that there has been an increase of 0 to 18 percent in the overall cost due to the adoption and implementation of eth practices of the sustainable construction in the construction project (Tatari and Kucukvar, 2011).

These additional costs are well known as the ‘green premium’ which is considered as very much higher in the developing regions. In various countries, the overall percentage also reached to thirty percent in some of the countries and in some of the construction projects (Nilashi, Zakaria, Ibrahim, Majid, Zin, Chugtai and Yakubu, 2015). The key reason behind this sudden increase in the cost is the lack of availability of the green materials and the equipment and the specialized services requiring for achieving sustainable construction. There are various other economic challenges identified by the researchers which have a major impact upon the cost effectiveness of the building or the construction project (Castleton, Stovin, Beck and Davison, 2010). The lacks of demand in the construction sector for the green build or the green products as well as the lack of the governmental incentives are also considered as two major challenges in implementing sustainable construction across the world. Another major economic aspect other than the cost factor is the time utilized in the construction which is a vital aspect with the help of which the overall performances of the construction projects are measured. There are construction delays that often take place and result in increased cost of eth construction project. This also impacts the goodwill of the stakeholders (Ching, 2014). The sustainable construction need proper integration of the building components with the green technologies, thus there can be resulted a number of dramatic delays takes place at different stages of the construction project.

This has been analyzed and evaluated that one of the major challenge in the success of sustainable construction is due to the professional and capacity challenges. The lack of the adequate knowledge and competence in respect with the green build, green technologies is the major reason which hinders the potential of the industry stakeholders in order to collaborate to achieve complete sustainable construction across the world (Yang and Zou, 2014). There are companies and industries which do not possess correct knowledge on green strategies and technologies and this lack of competent knowledge result in usage of practices which are unsustainable. The construction industry is also depended upon the foreign workforces and these workers do not possess the required knowledge or expertise and thus the challenges took place in terms of adverse impact upon the economic condition and the environmental condition (Hong, Koo, Kim, Lee and Jeong, 2015).

Another major challenge in the path of sustainable construction is the green material supply chain. As per the various researches and studies, it has been analyzed that there is unavailability of the green equipment and green materials from the local distributors or suppliers network in various countries (Wilkinson and Langston, 2014). Thus, there is an absence of a reliable supply chain network which hinders the growth of sustainable construction. This challenge has a direct impact upon the cost effectiveness if implementing the practices of sustainable construction (Testa, Annunziata, Iraldo and Frey, 2016). Thus, the inadequate as well as uncertain association takes place among the constructors and the suppliers which result in eth situation of conflicts among the stakeholders. Therefore, there is a vital need of effective legislation which can raise the lower benchmark and there will be raised the upper benchmark by the market forces. The absence of the green assessment methods and the green building codes is another key challenge towards the attainment of the practices of sustainable construction in the construction sector (Cao, Wang, Li, Skitmore, Huang and Zhang, 2015).

The awareness of public in respect with the environmental issues caused due to the construction projects is another vital aspect for the successful achievement of sustainable construction. The studies concluded that maximum of the people are usually aware of the various environmental issues and pollution challenges. And the construction companies consider the environmental protection as the key responsibility of the government bodies (Simcoe and Toffel, 2014). Due to such consideration and irresponsible behaviour of the companies of construction industry, there are issues of limited view of responsibility and so limited awareness for the green technologies is present among the construction industries (Miller, Doh and Mulvey, 2015). There is very limited knowledge in respect with the cost and benefit of the implementation of the practices of sustainable construction. There is a sort of resistance among the people handling the construction projects and thus it is very difficult to change the traditional or the conventional approaches of construction in comparison with the use of new and improved sustainable approaches of construction. The lack of the fiscal incentives from the government is another big and major challenge for the successful implementation of the practices of sustainable construction (Inyim, Rivera and Zhu, 2014). The public projects usually hold the maximum share of the construction industry or the construction market (Zhao, He, Johnson and Mou, 2015). Thus, there is a need to have substantial initiatives taken by the government in order to have sustainable applications in the construction sector. The sustainable technologies are not economical or financial competitive, so it is a great responsibility of the government to give adequate support to the construction companies in order to work with the implementation of the sustainable construction practices and policies (Chegut, Eichholtz and Kok, 2014).

The effective use of the green equipment and the green technologies are very much important for the vigorous achievement of sustainable construction in the construction practices. The construction industries usually face a crucial challenge of unavailability of the green equipment and green technologies in the domestic markets which are not so developed and thus the construction industry has to face the challenge (Aghili, Mohammed and Sheau-Ting, 2016). The next major challenge is the risk or the uncertainty among the construction industry stakeholders in respect with the performances of the green products and the efficient technologies and consequently in respect with their feature of cost effectiveness (Clark, 2017).

All such challenges raise the barricades among the practitioners in order to support the transformation from the traditional construction methods to the contemporary sustainable construction methods and practices (Gibbs and O’Neill, 2015). In various studies ad researches, the authors have highlighted the significance of the green technologies, green practices and green specifications as the most vital aspect in the success of sustainable construction across the construction industry. In the absence of the various formal codes of building and as building standards is a big challenge for the construction industry (Jalaei and Jrade, 2014). The people involved in the sustainable construction practices must also have adequate knowledge of the sustainable construction as the lack or absence of knowledge may create big issues for the designers as well. The sustainable technologies in various countries are still a big issue as there is unavailability of the equipment and technologies. Thus, the lack of complete understanding of the operation requirements and the implementation of the practices of sustainable construction in construction sector and the lack of suitable sustainable know-hows presents is a vital challenge for the successful sustainable construction (Tsai, Yang,Chang and Lee, 2014).

Conclusion

The paper has reviewed the various strategies, trends and aspects of green building and construction management specifically in respect with the sustainable construction. The study highlighted the sustainable construction as a significant pillar in achieving economic, social and environmental benefits and sustainable development. The paper concludes that high focus on sustainable construction helps in utilizing resources more effectively and efficiently. Sustainable building offers healthy lifestyle, responsibility towards environment and consumption of energy. By implementing green design practices in the construction projects offer constructing buildings with eco-friendly methods and techniques so that sustainable environment can be developed so that resources can be used in a well-organized manner. The consumption of energy can be reduced or cut back if there are efficient strategies and practices of sustainable construction which can reduce the emission of the greenhouse gases and also slowed down the depletion of the resources which are nonrenewable in nature. The paper has highlighted the key benefits of sustainable construction and also some challenges. If there will be effective planning and strategic moves in the implementation of the practices of sustainable construction, there could be attained high sustainable development. So, to achieve fully sustainable construction practices and green building, it is also necessary that the Government must give its support to the construction industry and must offer valuable subsidies and take initiatives in order to reduce the cost of the green equipment. With such initiatives, there could be faster attainment of eth goal of sustainable construction across the globe.

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Following are the key or the major benefits of green building and sustain ale construction: