Rahimian, A; Ahmed, R R; Fazeli, A; Aghdam, E; Kumar Singh, A; Naji, M; Mohandes, S R; Fordjour Antwi-Afari, M and Zayed, T (2025) Examining the barriers to the adoption of IoT-based technologies in green buildings. Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, 151(3): 04024211, ISSN 0733-9364
Abstract
Although the adoption of Internet of Things (IoTs) for green buildings (GBs) has attracted significant attention from researchers and practitioners in the construction sector, few studies have investigated the barriers to its implementation. To bridge this gap, this study aimed to identify and analyze the barriers to the adoption of IoTs in GBs through the lens of seasoned experts in the Hong Kong construction sector. A hybrid of systematic reviews, expert interviews, and social network analysis was used. The results revealed that 26 barriers impede the adoption of IoTs within GBs, and these barriers can be categorized into seven clusters. The most significant barriers include "political/regulatory"and "security"categories; and "cybersecurity and data risks,""concerns over the protection of intellectual property,""fewer GB codes/regulations available,""documentation requirements,"and "uncertain government policies and absence of government support."These findings pave the way for relevant decision makers to adopt further productive measures to promote the adoption of IoT-based technologies in GBs, thereby expediting the application of the sustainability paradigm in the construction sector.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | barriers; green buildings; green construction; internet of things; social network analysis; sustainability |
| Index terms: | government policy, social network analysis, government support, paradigm, practitioner, interview, internet, regulation, systematic literature review, documentation, Hong Kong, construction sector, intellectual property, green building, implementation |
| Subjects: | public policy, research methods, professional development, political science, practitioner, education and knowledge transfer, Geography, government bodies, contractual arrangements, data collection methods, intellectual property, industry analysis, research evaluation and metrics, computing systems, design practice |
| Topics: | Legal Issues, Roles and Professions, Research Practice, Procurement, Geographical Context, Digital Applications, Governance, Information Management, Design Practice |
| Descriptive scope: | 4 PCTE |
N.B. Descriptive scope is a count of how many of the five facets of empirical research are indicated by the words used in title, abstract and keywords. It is not intended as a judgement on the research; merely a count of the kind of word we would expect to indicate Phenomenon, Concepts, Theoretical framing, Empirical techniques, Analytical techniques. If all five are present, then a code of “5 PCTEA” will indicate this. If you feel the coding for this record is questionable, we welcome discussion around the terms we matched or the way we categorized them. The facet you would expect may not be coded, or a facet may be coded inappropriately. This can also bear on a larger question, of which facets should be treated as defining in construction management research. Please get in touch, and we will look at it. More details here