Barriers to effective implementation of sustainable building practices in Zimbabwe

Isaiah G Daniels

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Sustainability is the ability to meet current generation needs without compromising the
ability of the future generation to meet its own needs as defined by the Brundtland
Commission (1987). The focus of sustainability is not only on protecting the environment
but rather it is broader as it incorporates social and economic needs. As a result of more
emphasis on sustainability, construction companies in recent years around the world have
adopted sustainable building practices such as sustainable procurement, sustainable
construction and corporate sustainability among others with a view of satisfying the current
needs without jeopardising the possibility of future generations meeting their own needs.
Sustainable construction can be defined as ‘the creation and responsible management of a
healthy built environment based on the prudent use of resources and ecological principles’
(Kibert, 1994). In implementing sustainable building practices, construction companies face
challenges that hamper the full implementation of sustainable building practices. To start
off with, as a barrier companies are facing the challenge of less emphasis on sustainability
by clients. As we know, a number of construction projects are initiated and financed by the
client as a result the client has more say as to features of the project. Most clients are more
worried about cost, quality and time on their projects they are overlooking sustainability as
a main priority.

At the top of the list are financial barriers. The fear of higher investment costs for
sustainable buildings compared with traditional building and the risks of unforeseen costs
have been addressed as barriers for sustainable buildings (Hakkien & Belloni, 2011).
Currently the Zimbabwean economy is experiencing slow growth and there is little activity in
the construction sector. In such an environment, the adoption of sustainable building
solution s becomes hindered because clients are concerned about the higher risk based on
unfamiliar techniques, the higher initial costs associated with additional testing and
inspection in construction, a lack of performance information and a lack of manufacturer
and supplier support. Also due to the depressed economy, construction companies are
competing for the few available jobs and will tend to want to offer competitive tender
prices.

In line with this is the point that there are few financial institutions which are investing in
sustainable construction projects. Instead financial institutes which are initiating projects
are emphasising less on sustainability as they perceive it to be expensive and a highly risky

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venture to fully fund sustainable building initiatives. Key issues here are to minimize the
payback period on such projects.

Another barrier to implementation of sustainable building are perceived costs. Blair and
Wright state that sustainable products are often perceived as being or requiring a big capital
investment. In terms of the procurement aspect, the whole process becomes time
consuming and expensive which is in conflict with the procurement objectives of obtaining
the goods at the lowest possible price (Lyons and Ferrington, 2006).

Technical barriers also have a bearing on the success of sustainable building. This
component has to do with a number of issues which include the local availability of
environmentally sustainable materials, lack of sustainability measurement tools, lack of
technical ability and chronic skills and labour shortage. These barriers are considered
technical because they have a direct impact on the success of implementation of sustainable
construction principles. Some environmentally sustainable products are not as readily
available in Zimbabwe, some may not meet performance specifications, or may not be cost-
competitive. Also lack of facilities like water onsite recycling plants in Zimbabwe which can
recycle water and lead to sustainable practices by using recycled water instead purified
water is being is but an example of the effect of technical barriers on implementation
sustainable practices.

The absence of locally available materials will inevitably necessitate the importation of the
same. This leads to another barrier which is the lack of finance to import these. As an
example, solar geysers are not manufactured in Zimbabwe rather, suppliers are purchasing
them from outside and this is a challenge because it will be more costly to import as
compared to a product that is manufactured locally. This makes the upfront cost of
incorporating sustainable standards in building to become high and it tends to repel clients
and contractors from such.

The lack of senior management support is another barrier that was identified by Blair and
Wright (2012) as a barrier to implementation of sustainable building. An organisational
culture and structures, and processes that are supportive and conducive towards
sustainable solutions, as well as senior management support are key in sustainable

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construction. In Zimbabwe very few organisations exhibit the intergration of support for
sustainable building practices. An example of this would be LaFarge Cement which has a
strong policy on sustainable communities which is driven by its management. Most of the
organisations however lack a clear direction from top management to make delivering
sustainable development objectives through procurement a priority.

Williams and Dair (2007) cite the knowledge/ awareness barriers. They identify lack of
awareness of professionals, lack of professional knowledge, lack of awareness of clients,
lack of awareness of benefits, ignorance or misconceptions about sustainability, lack of
education and knowledge in sustainable design as the major barriers to implementation of
sustainable construction. Hakkinen & Belloni (2011) state that sustainable construction can
be hindered by ignorance or a lack of common understanding about sustainability.

Another impediment to implementing the sustainable building practices emanates from the
misplaced perception that there is no consumer demand for such a product. The
construction industry aims to satisfy user demand of which contractors in Zimbabwe have
not perceived a demand in sustainable building as a result they are responding to the
desires of the market.

Also there has been the tendency to use traditional design and construction methods by
local consultants and contractors. This has hindered the successful implementation of
sustainable building practices because the traditional methods focus less on sustainability
because they were established long ago before sustainability was of major concern to the
industry.

In addition to this, there has been some reluctance to try new things owing to the risk factor
as clients and even contractors are afraid of trying new things in line with sustainable
practices. They are not willing to adopt new ideas which have never been done before in
Zimbawe. Also this reluctance has been due to higher investment costs into these practices.

Lack of government support. Sustainable construction would be successful if if stakeholders

such at the government put in place legislation that would require corporate sustainability
policies and also the development of various policy documents to enforce sustainability in
all aspects of their development (Dadzie & Dzokoto, 2013). In practice, there is less

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strictness on improving compliance of contractors to these policies. This can be seen for
example by the granting of building permits on wetlands (case in point ???) Also the
government could even give incentives to companies that are prioritising sustainability so as
to assist financially but instead there is no such assistance.

Local regulations as a barrier. City council regulations are pausing a problem in that they are
forbidding use of some construction materials which are sustainable. Also the regulations
require a lot of paper work before approval of certain sustainable practices of which this is a
strain to construction companies as it may affect project time and even additional expenses
for this approval. As a result companies are sticking to what is understood by local city
councils instead of venturing into something new and complicated.

Summarily, though strides have been made in Zimbabwe to implement sustainable building
standards as evidenced by the several projects (Eastgate Mall, (that hosp), and also by the
existence of organisations like (to research here) cc, there are still a lot of barriers that need
to be overcome in order to effectively implement sustainable construction. (to complete
conclusion)

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References

Chari, F and Chiriseri, L. (2012). Barriers to Sustainable Procurement in Zimbabwe.

“Greener Journal of Business and Management Studies” 4(1), pp14-18.

Dzokoto, S.D. and Dadzie J. (2013). “Barriers to Sustaiable Construction in the Ghanaian
Construction Industry: Consultants Perspectives” In: Laryea,S. and Agyepong, S. eds (2013)
Procs 5th West Africa Built Environment Research (WABER) Conference, 12-14 August
pp243,

Hakkinen,T and Belloni, K. (2011). Barriers and drivers for sustainable building. “Building
Research Information” 39(3), pp239-255.

Kibert C.J, Sendzimir, J and Guy, G.B. (2000) Defining an Ecology of Construction.
“Construction Ecology: Nature as the Basis for Green Buildings.” New York: Spon Press,
pp7-28.

Tomkiewicz H.S (YEAR). “Barriers to Implementation of Sustainable Construction Practices

in the Homebuilding Industry”

Williams, K and Dair, C. (2007). What is stopping sustainable building in England? Barriers
experienced by stakeholders in delivering sustainable developments. “Sustainable
Development” (15)3, pp135-147.