Modeling the Impact of Barriers on Sustainable Housing in Developing Countries

Abstract

Sustainable housing has been an overarching goal globally, and Ghana is no exception vis-à-vis the country’s energy and housing affordability challenges particularly in cities. Yet, its implementation has been plagued by barriers. This study assesses the influence of barriers on sustainable housing in Ghana. Forty-seven valid responses were obtained from a questionnaire survey. Confirmatory factor analysis validated three main groupings of barriers: “cost-related,” “incentive-related,” and “retrofit-related.” Partial least square structural equation modeling of the responses showed that incentive-related barriers have medium effect size (0.192) on sustainable housing while retrofit-related barriers have high effect size (0.430) on sustainable housing. Furthermore, incentive-related barriers have a significant impact on retrofit-related barriers. Cost-related barriers only had a significant impact on incentive-related barriers. Accordingly, cost-related barriers are secondary barriers to sustainable housing. The findings apprise policymakers of barriers that require efficient resource allocation for sustainable housing for sustainable built environment.