Carbon trading practices adoption for sustainable construction: A study of the barriers in a developing country

The construction industry provides infrastructure and structures to society by consuming a substantial quantity of non‐renewable energy, which results in significant carbon dioxide emissions. Carbon dioxide (CO2) could pose a serious danger to the economy of any nation if proper measures are not put in place with the country being one of the leading producers and end‐users of fossil fuels in the world. This article seeks to evaluate the barriers to the adoption of carbon trading practices (CTP) in the construction sector with the view to ensuring low carbon usage. The article adopted quantitative approach with data obtained using questionnaire. Mean Item Score (MIS), standard deviation (SD), factor analysis and Kruskal–Wallis test was carried out in relation to the research questions. The study showed that the most significant barriers to the adoption of carbon trading are difficulties in obtaining finance, attitude to environmental sustainability and climate change, lack of cost‐effective abatement options and methods, lack of awareness of carbon market opportunties and risk in changes in the rules governing participation and credit among others. This study provides valuable insights into barriers of CTP in construction and will help stakeholders concerned with building energy performance to develop a functional framework for energy analysis in buildings to prepare possible risk analysis from the onset of project design spanning through completion.