Critical Aspects, Motivators and Barriers of Building-Integrated Vegetation

Abstract

PurposeGreen buildings which provide improved user health conditions and environmentallyresponsibleapplicationshavegainedsignificantattention, due to the increasing environmental problems, particularly causedbytheconstructionindustryattheglobalscale.However,vegetation is still not sufficiently integrated into buildings, even though numerous benefits of plants have been proven by many studies in literature.Thisresearchaimstofindouttheopinionsofprofessionalsandacademiciansinarchitecture-relatedfieldsregardingthecriticalaspects,aswellasthemotivatorsandbarriersfacedinBIVapplications, namely; green roofs, green walls and interior gardens. Hence, it strives to help increase their application rates by underlining the significant issues to be considered.Design/methodology/approachAs to fulfilling these objectives, a questionnaire survey was conducted on120participantswithvaryingprofessionsincludingarchitects,landscape designers and civil engineers, from four countries.FindingsThe results of this study pointed out that, healthcare buildings were given the first priority among the building types for applying BIV. Moreover, among the motivator factors, receiving a certificate was found as an important incentive, besides the environmental, social and economicbenefitsofBIV.Furthermore,althoughthehighlyratedbarriers were found as ‘the lack of proper regulations’ and ‘lack of demandbytheuser/client’,thefindingsshowedthatthehighestresponsibility for the implementation of these applications was placed on the architect.Research Limitations/Implications Based on the five major groups of Köppen climate classification system, the case countries were selected as one from each of the four main types,andbyneglectingonlyPolar,asitlackssettlements.Byconsideringdiverselevelsofdevelopmentandeconomicwelfare,countries were selected as; Canada (Snow: Humid-Subarctic), Libya (Dry:Desert-arid),Malaysia(Tropical:Tropical-Rainforest)andTurkey (Mild temperate: Mediterranean).Sincethestudycoveredfourdifferentcountries,thesurveywasconducted by the use of Google Forms software program. This tool enabled the production and distribution of questionnaires, as well as thecollectionofdatabasedontheresponsesoftheparticipants.Furthermore, in order to provide consistency among the questionnaires applied in different countries, the survey was conducted in English language, although it was not the native language for a majority of the participants. Moreover,basedonstudiesclaimingthatparticipantsaremoreinclined to select the option with the mid-value in a Likert scale, which implies a neutral position, in the questionnaire, these types of questions were constructed with the forced choice method, by keeping the scales with even number of options.Practical ImplicationsIt is expected that the results of this study would be beneficial to both the academicians and professionals involved in the green building industry,aswellastothegovernmentaland/orgreenbuildingauthorities. It is expected that this study will help serve as a guide for thestakeholderstoincreasetheapplicationratesofBIVintheconstruction industry.Social ImplicationsThe results of this study were also evaluated based on the findings of four case countries and certain conclusions were derived as to their underlying socio-economic and geographical reasons.Originality/value - Althoughstudiesonsimilarsubjectshaveappeared in the literature, there are none which solely focuses on BIV applicationsbyconductingasurveyonthementionedfourcasecountries and compares its findings with the literature and presents an in-depth analysis on the issue.