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Climate change is considered an extremely serious problem as global anthropogenic carbon dioxide emissions (CO2e) and environmental pollution continue to rise; thus, affecting a wide range of governmental initiatives (Pollitt, 2016) and attracting global attention (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2016). Due to the increasing concern of the public about the harmful effects of CO2e to humans and environment, the International Green Building Conference (IGBC) gathered architects, contractors, developers, engineers, consultants, manufacturers, designers, project and property managers, and hospitality professionals to empower sustainable building solutions, policies and plans focusing on climate change mitigation. In addition, Conference of Parties (COP21) in Paris launched a global alliance for buildings and construction and gave three key developments: the Paris Agreement (signed by 195 nations), emissions reduction (agreed by 18 countries and over 60 organizations), and public awareness of the link between health and green building practices (GBP) (Hsu et al., 2016).
GBP can be defined as methods that promote the conservation of resources, energy and water usage, while reducing the use of natural resources. These include water conservation, energy conservation, and building designs that produce a healthy indoor environment for occupants. GBP can be effectively used for a number of reasons, including reducing energy consumption and related costs; conserving non-renewable resources; reducing building materials use; and improving indoor air quality, thus promoting employee health and productivity.
GBP has been growing in popularity for many years and the interest is expected to continue growing in the coming decades. Consequently, GBP adoption continues to gain popularity in response to worldwide efforts to reduce the negative impacts of developed areas to the economy, environment and social structure (Khaemba, 2013). At the same time, it has been revealed in previous studies that the building sector has the biggest capability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions globally (Lomas 2010; Department for Communities and Local Government, 2007; Department of Trade and Industry, 2007; United Nation Environment Programme, 2007). GBP is now an issue for discussion among government and industries, as it has both negative and positive impacts on the society and natural resources, especially in land use planning, our indoor environment and our health.According to Kibert (2005), construction is responsible for many health-related issues like acute health and discomfort conditions, building related illnesses, and idiopathic environmental intolerances. Despite this, conventional constructions do not pay much attention to these (Azizi and Wilkinson, 2015).
Subsequently, because of the harmful consequences of the conventional building practices, building efficiency has become a primary concern for the community and environmental advocates (Ding, 2008; Cooper, 1999; Crawley and Aho, 1999; Kohler, 1999). Horvath and Program (1999), however, argued that construction companies still need more improvement to decrease their environmental footprint. Additionally, it is also essential for these firms to provide worldwide sustenance and be mindful of the extensive interest of the society in preserving the environment in line with pollution concerns and economic growth (Horvath and Program, 1999). It is widely recognized that the construction sector has direct and indirect significant relationships with various aspects of sustainable development (Bourdeau, 1999).
As Qatar is rapidly becoming a global construction hub, many construction projects are in the works including the national railway system, causeways, and urban redevelopment, which has caused it to be among the most polluted countries in the world (Walker, 2014; Scott, 2014). In addition, many environmental issues have resulted from the projects, calling for great efforts to be made to protect the environment. Therefore, this study takes a look at the current status of GBP in Qatar and the intention of engineers towards the adoption of GBP.
More specifically, this study aimed to achieve the following objectives and sub-objectives: