Systematic review and meta-analysis of drivers for sustainable building

What drives sustainable buildings (SB) into the mainstream? Despite a long-standing awareness of emissions, and resource and ecological impacts of buildings, recent reports show building emissions are rising, not falling. The built environment is responsible for nearly 40 % of global annual fossil fuel-related Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions, equating to around 13 Gt per year. To have any chance of keeping global warming to 1.5 °C, emissions need to halve by 2030 and be net-zero by 2050. Mainstreaming sustainable buildings has never been more urgent. It is therefore important to recognise what drives the adoption of sustainable buildings in developed and developing countries, accounting for different geographical regions and stakeholders of the built environment. This study conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature to identify generic drivers of sustainable building adoption. Following the review of 49 selected publications, 69 drivers of sustainable building adoption were identified. They were classified into seven categories using the “Race to zero built environment map”. These were Government/policy/regulations, Technical/ professional, Social/culture, Financial/economy, Technology/ data, Knowledge/training and Environmental related drivers. Pareto analysis identified the most significant drivers for sustainable building adoption within each category. The results showed differences in the significance of the drivers depending on their dynamics with the socio-economic status of a country (developed/developing), geographic region, and the relevant stakeholders, which is critically discussed. Timelines for each driver category presenting their evolution are included. These results are anticipated to support the formulation of policies for sustainable building adoption in countries and identify the most relevant drivers for their context and incorporate them to devise feasible strategies to promote sustainable building.