A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries

Abstract

Green buildings (GBs) are a means of achieving sustainable construction. However, they face challenges, such as higher (perceived or actual) investment costs and inadequate capital. Green finance (GF) presents opportunities to address some challenges of GB. Barriers hinder GF-in-GB; however, previous studies identifying barriers to GF-in-GB are limited. Moreover, prior studies have not considered the interrelationships among these barriers. This study aims to identify and prioritize the critical barriers to GF-in-GB in Ghana to inform decision-making by policymakers and stakeholders. This study developed a valid set of barriers and criteria from the literature to ascertain their interactions through two rounds of Delphi surveys with 12 professionals with GF-in-GB experience. A two-step fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) method was employed to validate 16 criteria of barriers using linguistic preferences. The findings of this study indicate that split incentives, inadequate private investment, inadequate management support, and limited green projects are critical barriers to GF-in-GB. These criteria deserve critical attention, as they are of high importance cause indices and can give rise to effect barriers. The government can adopt the research findings in policymaking and by other stakeholders that seek to eliminate barriers by focusing on the most influential ones.

Publication DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075
Divisions: College of Engineering & Physical Sciences > School of Infrastructure and Sustainable Engineering > Civil Engineering
College of Engineering & Physical Sciences
Funding Information: This research was funded by a PhD Scholarship from the Department of Building and Real Estate at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University Matching Fund Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant Scheme Number 1-W36V, Able Endowed Prof
Additional Information: Copyright © 2025 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Uncontrolled Keywords: barriers,fuzzy Delphi method,fuzzy DEMATEL,green finance,green building,sustainable urbanization
Publication ISSN: 2673-8945
Last Modified: 29 Sep 2025 07:42
Date Deposited: 22 Sep 2025 17:07
Full Text Link:
Related URLs: https://www.mdp ... 673-8945/5/3/75 (Publisher URL)
PURE Output Type: Article
Published Date: 2025-09
Published Online Date: 2025-09-05
Accepted Date: 2025-09-04
Authors: Debrah, Caleb
Chan, Albert Ping Chuen
Adabre, Michael Atafo
Owusu-Manu, De-Graft
Antwi-Afari, Maxwell Fordjour (ORCID Profile 0000-0002-6812-7839)

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License: Creative Commons Attribution


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