Suchergebnisse

With the associated environmental challenges and unsustainable patterns of construction, there is also notable awareness and willingness among the state bodies to adopt sustainability measures and practices in Kazakhstan. This study explores the drivers of and barriers inhibiting the adoption of sustainability paradigm in the construction context of Kazakhstan. The drivers and barriers were validated through the survey and structured workshop with the construction professionals to ensure their relevance to the local context, which were then ranked according to their levels of influence through the lens of the industry professionals in Kazakhstan. Delphi technique was the last stage before consolidating the specified lists. Stakeholder opinions were then consolidated to develop a context-oriented decision support system. The findings reveal that addressing environmental issues is vital to increase the level of sustainability leading to the more efficient use of construction materials and resources. Various social aspects are also found to be driving forces for the effective adoption of the SC concept. On the other hand, a great portion of SC barriers is related to economic aspects, which are followed by government as well as awareness and education related barriers. The findings are hoped to contribute to the body of knowledge in terms of drivers of, and barriers to SC in developing countries, particularly in Central Asian countries due to similarities in context. The findings may also be useful for the construction forefront players seeking ways to improve sustainability performance of the construction industry.

In the lead-up to the Paris climate change conference, the majority of the UN Member States submitted their Intended Nationally Determined Contributions on carbon emissions reduction to be met by 2030. Kazakhstan is no exception. The government made pledges and, therefore, has to adapt its national policies and regulations to meet the set ambitious goals. In this regard, the role of residential building sector is of the utmost importance due to its significant share in the country's energy consumption and carbon emissions profile. Thus, this study presents the types of residential buildings available and assesses how far they are from meeting the green building (GB) indicators set in various certification schemes and standards. This would help in suggesting practical steps to improve the sustainability levels of the residential building stock of Kazakhstan. This study collected a robust set of data on existing residential buildings in Astana, chosen as a case study location, classified them and, based on a developed checklist, evaluated their performance compared to GB standards. The study has found that old buildings tend to have a rather poor level of sustainability, whereas the sustainability of new buildings depends on the class of the building—steadily increasing from economy to premium class in all categories of the checklist. A detailed analysis of the results has led to the development of recommendations on how each type of building should be improved to meet the GB standards.