Multi-criteria analysis of barriers to the use of green building technologies in residential buildings: a case study of Mashhad, Iran

Green building technologies are not widely adopted in some large cities, such as Mashhad in the northeast of Iran, due to existing barriers which need to be well identified and ranked. This study is thus aimed at prioritizing the most important barriers to greater adoption of green building technologies in Mashhad’s residential buildings. We conducted a scoping study to review the literature, which resulted in the initial selection and classification of twenty barriers. The criteria questionnaire was distributed among 84 local experts to collect their opinions regarding the relevance of the selected barriers and classifications. Consequently, fourteen barriers have been classified into four indicator categories. The weighting questionnaire was then distributed among experts to obtain their judgments about the weighting of barriers and indicators. The best–worst method was implemented as a multi-criteria evaluation technique to analyze the collected data and determine the weight and ranking of indicators and barriers. Findings showed that political and economic indicators attracted the highest priority, while social indicator assigned the lowest rank. Furthermore, “insufficient governmental incentives/supports” and “high cost of sustainable projects” were the dominant barriers, while “weakness in management” was the most insignificant one. Based on the investigation of this study, we suggest and conclude that the government has the capacity to facilitate the development of green building projects and resolve the major barriers by implementing academic programs, raising awareness, providing loans, issuing permits, and offering more attractive incentives.