Barriers and Drivers to Sustainable Residential Home Construction in Ontario, Canada: Perspectives from the Construction Sector

Abstract

Over the past few decades, the province of Ontario in Canada has seen significant growth in its regions and townships, especially in suburban developments. These developments are within towns and more prominent cities, causing considerable suburban sprawl, in contrast to mid-rise and high-rise developments. The suburban neighbourhood has become more attractive for homebuyers because of the space, privacy, and relatively reduced living expenses while being close enough to major cities for convenient amenities and facilities. The construction industry has taken some initiative to develop more sustainable buildings; however, the focus is mostly on non-residential buildings or residential high-rise developments, but there is limited information on sustainable single-home residential construction. This study aimed to understand the barriers and drivers to sustainable residential construction in Ontario, including knowledge, awareness, familiarity and interest in sustainable residential construction by those who are involved in the sector. A survey was developed based on Rogers’ Theory of innovation adoption and included both closed (yes, no, and Likert scale) and open-ended questions. The survey was sent to Ontario companies that are involved in residential construction and included questions on sociodemographic characteristics and the length of time in the industry, as well as questions on knowledge and awareness of existing sustainable construction standards and interest in future sustainable applications within the industry. Findings show that construction industry professionals generally possess the necessary experience, knowledge, and interest in sustainable construction. They identified barriers such as costs of sustainable housing, lack of materials, and lack of homebuyer interest. Drivers included government financial incentives and local by-laws and material availability. Recommendations for promoting sustainable residential home construction include developing a database on sustainable materials, developing green standards at the local level, upgrade the Ontario Building code, and provide life cycle cost benefits of sustainable housing to homebuyers. Keywords: sustainable homes, neighbourhood developments, third-party sustainability certifiers, residential construction industry, Ontario