Alexandria Engineering Journal (2019) xxx, xxx–xxx

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Alexandria University

Alexandria Engineering Journal

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ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Constrains and barriers of implementing

sustainability into architectural professional
practice in Jordan
Hikmat H. Ali *, Ayat A. Alkayed

Department of Architecture, College of Architecture and Design, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid, Jordan

Received 7 July 2019; revised 24 August 2019; accepted 1 September 2019

KEYWORDS Abstract Sustainable buildings created a challenge for architectural professional practice in Jor-
Sustainable buildings; dan, and no doubt that there are many obstacles to the widespread of implementing sustainable
Professional practice; building practices. An experimental investigation was conducted to explore the level of implement-
Obstacles; ing sustainable building practices into professional practice, as well as identifying the obstacles of
Jordan implementing sustainable building practices. The research conducted an analytical survey; to reach
the main causes. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were going to be supported by mul-
tiple supportive methods and tools to ensure the most effective outcomes. It was found the weight of
each of the financial, social, steering and capacity factors that dominate the current reality. Based
on the results, the effect of each of factors will vary in different proportions, where steering factors
bear the greatest impact, which highlighting the components associated with it; then the capacity
factors, the results show the convergence of the influence of both financial and social factors.
Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V. This is an
open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction One of the most significant current discussions in buildings

production is a sustainable building. The idea of sustainable
The construction industry represents the process of social construction is not a strange idea of reality, especially since
development and its impacts on the quality of people’s lives the content of this idea represents the solution to the problems
[1]. It is a measure of the extended economic performance in facing the construction industry. The current state of buildings
the developed and developing countries, as well as it con- is a state of production produced by the use of resources
tributes with a significant proportion in the Gross Domestic (energy, water, materials, and land) both during construction
Product (GDP) of these countries [2]. The outputs of this and operation phases [3], If we aspire to change this state of
industry ‘‘buildings” are one of the most important necessities buildings, we must first change the process (design method,
of life. the implementation of the design) that lead to that result to
be more efficient [4].
* Correspondent author. There have been several studies in the literature reporting
E-mail address: hikmat@just.edu.jo (H.H. Ali). that sustainable buildings are designed to reduce negative
Peer review under responsibility of Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria impacts on the environment while improving health and the
University. quality of life for the occupants, by practicing of sustainable
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
1110-0168 Ó 2019 Faculty of Engineering, Alexandria University. Production and hosting by Elsevier B.V.
This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
2 H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed
buildings to five categories: 1. Sustainable site planning; 2.
Energy efficiency, adopting renewable energy, and minimized
greenhouse gas emissions; 3. water efficiency and Safeguarding
water; 4. Conservation of resources and reuse of materials; 5.
Improve health and indoor environmental quality. The forego-
ing demonstrates the multiplicity and diversity of sustainable
building practices and their different objectives [5]. A substan-
tial amount of studies has been published on the low level of
implementing sustainability into professional practice. There
have been several studies in the literature reporting that sus-
tainable building is a vital issue facing most societies that hope
to improve the quality of buildings and raise their efficiency.
This is a guide to that there is a gap between what really exists
and what we hope [6].
The construction industry is one of the largest production
activities in Jordan. It occupies an important position in the
national economy. This sector requires many efforts to face
many problems, related to the contracting system and con-
struction project implementation. As one of the main prob-
lems, the construction sector must be adequately prepared in
the field of project management to cope with the increasing
development and complexity of construction projects and
activities [7]. This sector in Jordan accounts for 39% of total
final energy consumption, and the country has seen significant
growth in the building sector about 16% during 2018 [8]. The
construction market in Jordan consumes a lot of resources to
produce outputs and needs a high cost during the construction
and operation process [9]. This means that there is a big dis-
tance between the idea of sustainable construction and what
is on reality. To minimize this distance, sustainable building
practices must be applied, but at the outset, we look at the rea-
sons for the breadth of this distance to develop logical solu-
tions to achieve the desired application of sustainable
construction practices [10,11].
In Jordan, many initiatives were founded to promote sus-
tainability and green building practice. One of which is the Jor-
dan Green Building Council (Jordan GBC). It is a non-
governmental agency that concerned with encouraging aware-
ness and supporting of implementation sustainable and Green
Building Practices, as well as enhancing the standards and
roles of environmental issues in the built environment. It helps
in educations and training by providing access to international
and regional institutions and programs, and provide connec-
tions with international certified training programs. This helps
architects, engineers and construction firms to improve knowl-
edge and enhance skills in green professional practices [12].
A few sustainable and green projects were built in Jordan.
Two exceptional projects that were gotten Leed certification;
the World Health Organization (WHO) Building; and The
Embassy Building of the Kingdom of the Netherlands.
WHO building was designed with a built-up area of 3900 sq.
m. The designer adopted many green building measures that
enhanced the quality of life of the users and reduced the envi-
ronmental negative impacts. Firstly, controlling the lighting
systems through adopting natural day-lighting through using
specific cladding system, curtain walls, and specific glazing
materials were used on elevations. photovoltaic panels were
used for lighting exterior areas. These are produced an amount
of 2.5% of renewable energy of total energy usage in the build-
ing and site. Secondly, water efficiency plan was applied by
collecting rainwater from the roof and hardscape in winter,
and from the condensate water from AC Units in summer,
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Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
and stored in special tanks. Thirdly, efficient envelope and
HVAC systems were implemented through meeting thermal
comfort conditions and standards.
The Embassy Building of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in
Amman was designed with a built-up area of 1253 sq.m. by
Rudy Uytenhaak Architects, Netherlands. This building was
implementing many green and sustainable measures that
included: Using photovoltaic panels as the mean power supplier
for all office computers that would save about 4.3% of the total
electricity load. Besides, the daylight collected in all offices that
saves 2.8% of total energy usage. The Estimated annual energy
generated from solar collectors equals 5, 415 kWh/year, while
the running cost for heating and cooling amounts to JODs 7,
086 per year, It also adopted efficient and durable building
envelope design through using concrete and stone to increase
thermal mass. Moreover, water improvement system was
adopted to reduce 30% of total water consumption, and low
flow fittings were used in the building and dearth resisting soft
landscaping including plants render the outdoor space [13].
The research focused on the studying and diagnosis the
causes and factors that lead to the weakness of sustainable
building practices, focused on the main issues and the institu-
tional and organizational aspects that govern the various con-
struction activities, from evaluating the level of interest in the
principles and issues of the concept of sustainable construc-
tion, and then link them to possible causes of poor implemen-
tation of sustainable building practices. As a result,
Sustainable construction practices have proven to be effective
both theoretically and practically in many research and stud-
ies. This shows that there is a great effort by many entities
to implement the idea of the sustainable building which has
also proved it doesn’t need high cost and much technology
to implement many sustainable building practices. There
hasn’t been a noticeable improvement in the output of the
existing buildings on the practical level, that indicating there
is existence of factors (constraints and barriers) behind the
low level of implementing these practices widely in the profes-
sional practice, what are the factors that are resisting efforts in
this direction on a broader range?
This research has four major objectives and goals.
1. Understand and diagnose the problem of weak implemen-
tation of sustainable construction practices in Jordan
2. Develop a hypothesis derived from the concept of solving
this problem theoretically to raise the level of implementa-
tion of these practices to become common and known in all
construction work.
3. Assess the level of implementation of sustainable building
practices in Jordan and identifying the constraints and bar-
riers that prevent their widespread implementation,
4. Distinguish these reasons into internal or external factors,
while verifying the validity of the research hypothesis,
and then embarking on a regulatory framework to imple-
ment these practices on a large range from the theoretical
solution.
2. Theoretical and conceptual framework
A conceptual framework is a key tool for understanding the
research problem, mainly it depends on two concepts; struc-
Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability
ture and system, which present the needed relationship
between the research and what it really is. This framework
has two characteristics; one is analytical and the other is com-
prehensive. The first one analyzes the pattern to find the prop-
erties that govern it. The comprehensiveness one is considered
as an attempt to create a generic paradigm, as it deals with sev-
eral levels in different patterns and tries to put them within a
common theoretical model that is capable of describing them
individually as well as describing them together [14].
The perspective of ‘‘System” used to understand the imple-
mentation of the concept of sustainable construction in its
dimensions, and its different relationships. In this research,
the word system is used to refer to ‘‘System of Built Environ-
ment” that consists of several subsystems such as those respon-
sible of the code, specifications, architectural and engineering
education, building research institutes, building materials
industry, municipalities, owners of construction projects, engi-
neering offices, contracting companies, etc. The process of
‘‘production of construction projects” is a subsystem of the
former regime that seeks to achieve the specific objective of
‘‘to build a building”. As shown in Fig. 1. presents who
involved in construction activities and built environment, in
general, represent a single nested network of major and minor
systems characterized by continuous interaction effects, and
this system is associated by most larger systems such as the
political system, social or industrial, which consists the other
side of a set of subsystems as municipalities and engineering
offices and contractors for construction projects, and these,
in turn, consist of a set of smaller systems.
So the low level of implementation the concept of sustain-
able construction practices associated with this mutual rela-
tionship between small and large systems, and when we look
at that four executors as single entities responsible for applying
sustainable concept in construction projects we isolate these
Fig. 1 Entities are concerned with the built environment as a system consisting of subsystems and associated with larger systems.
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Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
3
entities as systems from the other subsystem, and this reduces
the chances of implementing sustainability.
Structural functionalism in the research will consider all of
the institutions that are involved in construction activities as
one theme seeks to achieve the common goal of creating
high-quality buildings (sustainable building). This theme con-
sists of a set of units (the involved institutions in construction
activities by a directly or indirectly role), and each unit covers
a specific functional role to achieve the objectives of the theme
and contribute to its survival and its balance. There are two
themes one is internal and the other is external as Fig. 2 shown.
The two roles are one thing with two hands. The internal unit
is responsible for doing the engineering procedures, outputs,
practices, requirements, regulations, and performance by
adopting methods and integrated balance between the environ-
mental, social and economic trio. The final output of this work
is the function of the external unit that the organization uses to
achieve the theme’s objectives, balance, and survival.
The research finds that the low level of implementation of
sustainable building practices comes as a result of the lack of
complete functional construction of the sustainable construc-
tion format. Where there are still gaps in the existing organiza-
tion, there is a lack of integration of the required functions and
roles from various bodies and institutions that are involved in
construction activities.
According to the previous analysis can be concluded that
the implementation of sustainable building practices in prac-
tice requires institutional solutions such as strategies, plans
and legislation, and the provision of information and incen-
tives that encourage the application of such practices. These
institutional constraints are put pressure on the executive level
to a great extent, do not allow for the growth of experience and
do not provide many opportunities for creativity in the design
and construction practices at the executive level, and the insti-
4 H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed

Fig. 2 Balance and integration of internal and external functions

for each module of the layout.

tutions of the dominance and acceptance of the established tra-

ditional construction practices and encourages the survival of Fig. 3 Model of the proposed theoretical solution to achieve a
longer and prevent change in practice. broader level of sustainable building practices.
The institutional impact on sustainable building practices
can be achieved through three aspects: regulatory, normative
interpretation, so that it forms the whole ‘‘Theoretical Frame-
and cognitive, with the regulatory aspect covering both regula-
work for the Research”. The theoretical framework is only a
tions and legal pressures and coercive penalties by official bod-
perspective through which the researcher deals with the
ies, while the normative aspect includes the standards and
research problem.
ethics of professional and educational curricula adopted by
The hypothetic-deductive method is performed in this
professional institutions and industry bodies and universities,
research. This method begins with a theory, and then the sci-
while the cognitive aspect is concerned with raising awareness
entific hypothesis is derived, to achieve the results at the final
and correcting misconceptions by social institutions [15].
step.
In light of the concepts presented, used as a theoretical
Steps of the Hypothetic – Deductive Method
framework for the research, the research presents a theoretical
model for a proposed solution to the research problem. This
Step 1: Observation
model is a microcosm based on a strategic partnership and
functional integration between three sectors: senior govern-
In this step, the researchers carefully observe the phenom-
ment levels, research institutions, professional and industrial
ena, describe, and measure what is observed. This step leads
organizations as shown in Fig. 3.
to develop what are called constructs. Constructs help in rising
The implementation of sustainable building practices by
the above-disordered parts to understand the core of what the
executives in the base bottom line requires large institutions
phenomena are and how they operate. These constructs are
to play the required roles in the areas of legislation, education,
formulated after the two phases of observation and data
research and development, professional controls, performance
collection.
control, etc. When major institutions play these roles, the
inevitable result is the raise of awareness and the interest of
Step 2: Classification
those involved in construction projects at the executive level,
which leads to ensuring the implementation of sustainable
In the second stage, researchers normally categorize the
building practices in the professional practice.
data into groups after the theory-formatting phase using the
observed and described phenomena. Categorization helps the
3. Methodology researchers in simplifying the world in ways that underline
the possibly significant relationships between the phenomena
This section discusses briefly the principles and procedures of and the interesting results. The researchers can get from cate-
the logical thought processes that applied to scientific investi- gorization schemes framework or typologies for the data and
gation, sets out the reasons behind the selected methodology, theory formation.
and provides the overall research design.
The research used the method of (Deductive – Hypothetical Step 3: Defining the relationships
Observational Procedure) to make a realistic hypothesis.
Where the researcher according to his knowledge of the Jorda- In this step, the researchers explore the relationship
nian professional practice, formulates a set of theoretical con- between the category-defining aspects and the observed results.
structs, and hypotheses as well as an appropriate In this stage, the process of data analysis, extrapolation, and

Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability
accessing results is performed. The outputs of studies at this
step are often called models [16–19].
The questionnaire method was used, due to the type of the
research, aims, variables and the size of the large sample which
deals with the problem of the research through descriptive,
classifying and quantitatively interpreting the data. Where
the survey structured around four main aspects.
1. Level of widespread and interest of sustainable construc-
tion building in Jordan.
2. Level of implementing sustainable practices and principles
in professional practice.
3. Level of education and their application within the Archi-
tectural studios in Jordanian universities.
4. Constraints and Barriers of implementing sustainability
into professional practice in Jordan.
To perform a research study on ‘‘Constraints and Barriers
of Implementing Sustainability into the Jordanian Professional
Practice” both quantitative and qualitative research methods
will be adopted in this research as shown in Fig. 4 [20].
Fig. 4 shows that the research is based on a problem that
exists in professional practice. The causes of this problem over-
lap around four main areas social; economic; steering and
capacity factors. The research is based on three theories to
interpret this problem and to understand the situation further.
The survey was conducted by distributing the questionnaire to
a selected sample. Delphi procedure was adopted at the first
stage, to reach a theoretical solution, which will lead to a prac-
tical solution. This will expand to be implemented for sustain-
able buildings product in professional practice.
3.1. Delphi technique to conduct this research
Delphi technique can be considered as a method for organizing
the communication amongst the panel of expert seeking their
opinion in a complex issue [21]. The research principal goal
is to obtain the most reliable consensus of a group of experts
by a series of intensive questionnaire interspersed with con-
trolled opinion feedback [21]. This technique consists of an
Fig. 4
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Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
5
anonymous and multi-phase survey. Responses and groups
opinions are collected in rounds, to compete for additional
rounds until a consensus is attained on each criterion [22].
‘‘Decision Delphi” was chosen for this research that arranges
the decision making the procedure and informs the future real-
ity, as opposed to merely forecasting it [23]. Therefore, the
panel for a decision Delphi does not need to be large, as it is
implemented in circumstances where resolution creates an
impact on the imminent development of matters resolved by
the Delphi panel [24,25].
The number of experts in a Delphi panel can vary from 10
to 50 members [26,27]. The Delphi panel in this study com-
prises 21 members, including some of the world’s leading
experts in the domain of the research, as well as professionals
and highly-informed local experts from (designers’ offices, con-
tractors’ offices, municipalities, and universities)
Selection of the Delphi panel is guided by the following
criteria:

Academic specialist.

Decision-maker, manager, or practitioner in the field of sus-
tainable building.

Accredited professional in one of the leading sustainable.

Expert with a level of influence regarding the adoption of
the resulting methodology.
3.2. Sampling procedure
The research community is composed of engineers from differ-
ent disciplines, officials and employees of construction activi-
ties in Jordan. Representing the main overlapping parties in
the implementation of construction projects (owner, designer,
executor, and municipalities). These four parties represent
the Bottom Base Line (BBL) of any construction project in
addition to the academics in Universities.
The research sample was selected with Simple Random
Design to be statistically representative of the number of
departments and sections on five operational agencies con-
cerned with the production of buildings as follows:
Research framework and parameters.
6 H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed
1. Projects, buildings departments, and sections in govern-
ment agencies concerned with the construction of large
numbers of Buildings.
2. Building permits departments and sections in the Secre-
tariat and municipalities in various cities of the Jordan.
3. Engineering consultants working in the field of building
design and oversee their implementation.
4. Construction companies operating in the domain of
implementation.
5. Academics working in Jordanian universities.
The questionnaire was distributed to 300 people of the
selected sample. A total of 213 responses were received from
the selected sample, which is distributed by hand, social media,
or e-mail. This means that the percentage of questionnaire
returned to the distributed questionnaire is around 71%.
3.3. Statistical processing methods and data analysis
After obtaining the results of the questionnaires were dis-
charged, and the data encoded and converted to values of 1–
5 according to the Likert scale, for inclusion in the statistical
program SPSS. The methods of statistical analysis were chosen
for the type of data and the objectives of the questionnaire.
The method of descriptive statistics and deductive statistics
were used. In descriptive statistics, means were used. In the
deductive statistic, Factor Analysis of Mixed Data (FAMD).
This technique is applied to a set of variables when the
researcher is interested in discovering which variable in the
set is a more loading factor and has the highest weight among
all of the variables and factors [28].
In simple words, it’s a matrix of data, measured for N
objects, K variables per object, according to the big size of
the sample, this technique (FAMD) works on five goals:
1. Simplification
2. Data reduction (variable selection)
3. Rotation
4. Classification
5. Loading
There are five steps for Factor Analysis protocol [28,29]:
1. Is the data suitable for Factor Analysis? (Sample size
should be not less than 100 cases)
2. How will the factors be extracted? (Every component have
a correlation value less than 0.3 will extracted by Principal
components analysis (PCA)).
3. What criteria will assist in determining Factor Analysis?
(Total of components (factors) should have an
eigenvalue > 1).
4. Selection of rotational data (optional step).
5. Interpretation and loading factors (these loadings reflect
the theoretical and conceptual intent, the acceptable value
should be > 0.5).
4. Results and analysis
The analysis can be divided into two interrelated parts: First
part deals with the level of implementation of sustainable
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Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
building and construction in professional practice. The results
of this analysis answer the following question: To what extent
are sustainable construction practices applied in the Jordanian
architectural professional practice? The second part of the
analysis aims to identify the barriers and constraints that pre-
vent the wider implementation of sustainable construction.
The results of this analysis answer the following question:
Why are sustainable building practices not implemented more
widely in Jordan?
4.1. Measuring the interest about the concept of sustainable
building
This part of the questionnaire aims to monitor the views of the
sample on the extent which sustainable construction is wide-
spread. In the following figure (5), the distribution of grade
values, mean, and interest and implementation index are
shown, which was calculated by SPSS.
This result confirms that: (a) The level of the sustainable
construction concept among the members of society is low,
(b) The lack of interest in the implementation of sustainable
construction, (c) Its presence on the professional practice,
and (d) poor interest of those involved in the construction pro-
jects of the protection of the natural environment. The analysis
of the result in this section shows that the idea of sustainable
construction and its implementation don’t take sufficient
importance in the Jordanian architectural professional prac-
tice. It is not practiced in society despite the different cate-
gories of the sample. Since the idea of a sustainable building
is linked to the protection of the surrounding environment,
the concern of those involved in building to protect the natural
environment can be considered as weak. As shown in Fig. 6.
4.2. Sustainable building practices that are measured
This part aims to measure the level of implementation of sus-
tainable building practices in Jordanian architectural profes-
sional practice in all types of buildings; residential, public, or
commercial. The implementation index was calculated by
SPSS and can categorize the practices according to the grade
level referring to Figs. 5, 6, and Table 1. The grade level for
application index was divided into five categories from very
high implementation to very low implementation according
to the average values.
The studied practices in the research are:
1. Planning, designing, and development of the site.
2. General issues related to the building.
3. External issues of the building (external environment)
4. Internal issues of the building (internal environment)
5. Sustainable building materials and systems.
6. Energy efficiency in building.
7. Water efficiency in building.
8. Executing the building.
9. Experimenting and demolishing the building.
Figs. 7 and 8, and Table 2 show that the apparent can be
classified as follow:
High implementation practices:
1. External issues of building design.
Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability 7

Fig. 5 The average values are distributed on the qualitative ranks and the limits for each grade.

Mean Index of interest

2.54

2.54

1.61

1.55
0.18

THE PREVALENCE OF THE
CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION.
SPREADING THE IDEA OF
IMPLEMENTING SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION.
0.17
THE INTEREST OF THOSE
INVOLVED IN CONSTRUCTION
TO PROTECT THE NATURAL
ENVIRONMENT.

Fig. 6 Distribution of means and interest index related to the concept of sustainable building.

1. Sustainable building materials and systems.

Table 1 The level of existence of the concept of sustainable 2. Energy efficiency in the building.
construction among the various aspects of society. 3. Water efficiency in the building.
A general concept about sustainable Mean Index of Category 4. Implementing the building.
building interest 5. Experimenting and demolishing the building
The prevalence of the concept of 2.54 2.54 Low 6. Experimenting and demolishing the building
sustainable construction interest
Spreading the idea of implementing 1.61 0.18 Very low It is important to take the average value for all practices
sustainable construction interest and find a single arithmetic average for all practices:
The interest of those involved in 1.55 0.17 Very low
construction to protect the natural interest RððmeanforalltheninepracticesÞ=ninepracticesÞ
environment
= 19.36/9 = 2.15, with an application index = 0.29, Weak
implementation category.
Medium implementation practices. The previous results show that there is a disparity in the
implementation of sustainable building practices in Jordan
1. Planning, design, and development of the site. ranging from very low to medium to relatively high. None of
2. General issues related to building design. the tested practices are applied 100%. This indicates that all
practices are known in one way or another, but are applied
Poor implementation practices: in different proportions for several reasons. It can be noted
that the interest of those involved in construction activities
1. Internal issues of building design. focuses mainly on the functional aspects of building projects
while neglecting the issues related to using natural resources
Very poor implementation practices: and techniques.

Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
8 H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed

4
3.5
3
2.5
2
1.5
1
0.5
0 GENERAL SUSTAINABLE EXPERIMENTI
PLANNING, EXTERNAL INTERNAL ENERGY WATER
ISSUES BUILDING IMPLEMENTI NG AND
DESIGN, AND ISSUES OF ISSUES OF EFFICIENCY EFFICIENCY
RELATED TO MATERIALS NG THE DEMOLISHIN
STUDIES OF BUILDING BUILDING IN THE IN THE
BUILDING AND BUILDING G THE
THE SITE DESIGN DESIGN BUILDING BUILDING
DESIGN SYSTEMS BUILDING
MEAN 3.2 3.34 3.54 2.56 1.52 1.78 1.25 1.18 1.02
APPLICATION INDEX 0.53 0.55 0.65 0.33 0.17 0.19 0.14 0.12 0.11

Mean Applicaon index Poly. (Mean) Linear (Applicaon index)

Fig. 7 Distribution of means and interest index related to sustainable building practices that are measured.

Table 2 The implementation of sustainable building practices.

Sustainable building practices Mean Application
index
B1 Planning, design, and studies of the 3.20 0.53
site
B2 General issues related to building 3.34 0.55
design
B3 External issues of building design 3.54 0.65
B4 Internal issues of building design 2.56 0.33
B5 Sustainable building materials and 1.52 0.17
systems
B6 Energy efficiency in the building 1.78 0.19
B7 Water efficiency in the building 1.25 0.14
B8 Implementing the building 1.18 0.12
B9 Experimenting and demolishing the 1.02 0.11
building

3. Materials, specifications, and standards

Fig. 8 Distribution of interest index related to sustainable
building practices.
4.3. Measuring constraints and barriers effect on implementing
sustainability
Already concluded that the level of implementation of sustain-
able building practices in Jordanian architectural professional
status is low. This is due to several reasons and factors that
impede the spread of sustainable construction in Jordan. These
factors are:
1. Awareness and knowledge of different views
2. Organizational aspects, laws, and legislation
4. Costs, marketing, and incentives
5. Actual examples and measurements
6. Support from various stockholders
7. Education, Rehabilitation and Scientific Research
These factors are classified into four domains (social/cul-
tural, financial/economic, steering, and professional/capacity
barriers). The social/cultural barrier includes factors related
to awareness and interest. The financial/economic barrier
includes the factors related to the initial cost, investments,
and incentives. Steering barrier includes the factors related
to codes, regulations, legislation, standards, and support.
Professional/capacity barrier includes the factors related to
the design and construction team; professional knowledge;
materials; and education. As shown in Table 3, Figs. 9
and 10.

Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
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Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability
Table 3 Extraction values of constraints and barriers of
implementing sustainability.
Constraints and barriers Initial
Awareness and knowledge of different views 1.00
Organizational aspects, laws, and legislation 1.00
Materials, specifications, and standards 1.00
Costs, marketing, and incentives 1.00
Actual examples and measurements 1.00
Support from various stockholders 1.00
Education, Rehabilitation and Scientific 1.00
Research
The level of Impact (loading value) of the Proposed Com-
ponents for the Barriers to Implementing Sustainable Building
Practices.
The previous analysis clearly shows that there are many
reasons for the low level of implementing sustainable construc-
tion practices in the Jordanian architectural professional prac-
tice. Besides, the previous result shows a clear dominance of
the institutional and organizational reasons, which are external
causes that executors (owner, designer, contractor and owner)
cannot construct, address, handle and control these causes.
These reasons are associated with larger institutions beyond
the issue of awareness that some researchers identify as the
main reason for the low level of implementing sustainable
practices. Moreover, the results indicate that the real reasons
for this weakness are institutional organizational reasons.
The results of the analysis show that the lack of national
standards for sustainable building materials prevents the
implementation of the concept of sustainable construction,
which is not only a barrier of the design and implementation
of construction but also a barrier of the issuance of green
building codes. Thus, significant progress cannot be made in
the implementation of sustainable building practices without
Organizaonal aspects,
laws, and legislaon
Materials,
specificaons, and
standards
Costs, markeng, and
incenves
Fig. 9 Extraction values of constraints and barriers of implementing sustainability.
Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
9
the development of these standards. One of the entities that
working on sustainability in Jordan is Jordan Green Building
Council, it’s a non-governmental entity. The mission for it to
Extraction improve the awareness about sustainable construction in the
0.710 built environment, through encouraging the use of green and
0.734 sustainable concepts. In addition to practicing through design-
0.686 ing, planning, and developing sustainable construction in
0.726 Jordan.
0.560 A major issue is highlighted in the study is the lack of public
0.666 awareness of the implementation of the concept of sustainable
0.700
construction. It is necessary to find laws binding on the imple-
mentation of sustainable building practices because they are
insufficient to achieve the required level of sustainable con-
struction practices unless there are mechanisms to raise aware-
ness among different sectors of society and the existence of
incentives and possibly sanctions. These laws (if promulgated)
will remain mere theoretical laws.
The results of the study indicate that one of the main rea-
sons of the weak implementation of the concept of sustainable
construction is related to the costs and the initial costs of the
construction of buildings, although the construction of a sus-
tainable building is a future investment, meaning that
increased spending on the design and construction phase will
lead to functional, economic, and environmental benefits
throughout the life of the building. This barrier is increasing
with the absence of financial incentives provided by govern-
ment institutions, either to bear the initial cost of construction
or on materials related to sustainable construction.
The results of the analysis show that architectural and engi-
neering education in Jordanian universities leads to a reduc-
tion in the level of implementation of sustainable building
practices. This situation is related to the vision and philoso-
phies of academic institutions and teaching methods. As most
of the architecture departments in the Jordanian universities
focus on highlighting the visual aspects and give them the pri-
ority, leading to imaginary solutions that have no relation to
Extracon
Awareness and
knowledge of different
views
0.8
0.7 Educaon,
0.6
0.5 Rehabilitaon and
0.4 Scienfic Research
0.3
0.2
0.1
0
Support from various
stockholders
Actual examples and
measurements
10
90.00%
80.00%
70.00%
loading values
60.00%
50.00%
40.00%
30.00%
20.00%
10.00%
0.00%
Awareness and Organizaonal
knowledge of aspects, laws, specificaons, markeng, and examples and
different views and legislaon and standards incenves
constraints and barriers
Fig. 10 Loading values of constraints and barriers of implementing sustainability.
reality. Besides, these visual aspects are not restricted by eco-
nomic aspects unlike what happens in reality. However, there
is also a part of faculty members and scientific research consid-
ers the reality that people can deal with. So there is a difficulty
in integrating sustainable building requirements in the context
of architectural education. The study clarifies that the current
architectural education in Jordanian universities leads to a
reduction in the level of implementation of sustainable build-
ing practices in professional practice. This situation is related,
as mentioned above, to the vision and philosophies of these
academic institutions, as well as to the separation between
the theoretical and practical aspects represented in design that
is far away from practice, and economic orientation, as the stu-
dent is away from the analysis of the initial cost of the project.
‘‘Wright” believes that for sustainability to succeed, it must
become a binding element in architectural education and pro-
fessional practice, and an integral part of it. A specialist
believes that sustainable design involves diverse fields of
knowledge and requires a multidisciplinary team. Therefore,
its teaching cannot be adapted to the traditional method of
architectural learning, where the various technical skills are
isolated from one another and rarely presented in a course in
a holistic manner.
The departments of architecture are required to review and
develop their plans, programs, and academic decisions to
adopt the implementation of the concept of sustainable build-
ing. These sections should also pay attention to the protection
of nature, the efficiency of using the materials, and the integra-
tion of economic issues, together with aesthetic and functional
issues, to fill the gap between theoretical courses and profes-
sional practice by providing academic expertise related to prac-
tical reality, and to promote studies and research on
sustainable building.
Besides, it is noticeable from the results of the study that the
reason for the realistic examples of sustainable buildings is one
of the barriers with a weak effect. This can be explained by the
lack of presence of these buildings to reflect the impact of their
presence on the community. Based on the hypothesis of the
research, the cumulative loading is measured by loading of
the external and the internal factors. According to the division
in the preceding chapters, the internal factor loading is 62.69%
Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
Alexandria Eng. J. (2019), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aej.2019.09.003
H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed
Materials, Costs, Actual Support from Educaon,
various Rehabilitaon
measurements stockholders and Scienfic
Research
and the external one is 77.62%, which imply the validity of the
hypothesis of considering the weakness of the implementation
of sustainable construction practices is due to external con-
straints, even though they are all interrelated reasons that
cause poor implementation in the Jordanian professional
architectural practice.
4.4. Establishment of an institutional and organizational
framework
A proposed framework is derived from the result of the prac-
tical study and the theoretical and practical study; it’s general
and applicable guidance. This framework aims to arrange the
‘‘organizational environment” in which construction activities
are carried out, redefine the roles of those involved in these
projects, and enhance their complementary to achieve the com-
mon objectives of raising the efficiency of construction projects
from three aspects of economy, environment, and function.
The framework is based on the following theoretical pillars:

Achieving the implementation of the concept of sustainable
construction in professional practice requires institutional
organizational work led by major institutions.

Achieving the implementation of this concept in profes-
sional practice requires structured work that starts from
the top to bottom (from the national level to the executive
level).

Achieving the concept of sustainable construction in profes-
sional practice requires collective action based on common
objectives so that roles and responsibilities are distributed
among different stakeholders.
The government plays its highest levels as a leading role in
realizing the concept of sustainable construction practice. It is
able, through its financial and organizational powers and
capabilities, to exert direct influence on both the academic
and research sectors; and the professional and industrial orga-
nizations through the development of national plans and reg-
ulations; the provided support; incentives and information;
and creating demand for sustainable construction products
and services. On the other hand, the professional and indus-
Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability
Naonal level
Major Instuons level
Collecve acon, integrave,
organized, shared values
Excecuve level
Fig. 11 Main sectors to achieve the implementation of sustain-
able building.
trial organizations work to raise the level of the executive bod-
ies’ performance within their competencies through the devel-
opment and application of professional controls; ethics of
practice; control of performance; and the provided informa-
tion and technical support. The academic and research institu-
tions serve as a back-up providing the field of practice and
other sectors qualified human resources and research services
development, education, participation in rehabilitation, infor-
mation and technical support. As shown in Figs. 11 and 12.
Fig. 12 Proposed Framework to implement sustainable building practices.
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11
Fig. 12 shows that the solution starts from the national
level through the launch of a national strategy to implement
sustainable building practices. The roles are then divided into
the three major institutions including the government sector;
the academic and research sector; and the professional and
industrial NGOs. The roles of these institutions are: develop-
ing the architectural education; developing the standards of
building materials; creating incentives to increase the demand
for sustainable building materials; providing these materials
at affordable prices; providing information, technical support,
standards, and awareness-raising; in addition to the profes-
sional organization role of controlling the performance of
the execution.
Four main categories are required to work in an integrated
manner to ensure the implementation of sustainable building
practices:
The first of these sectors are government institutions. Their
role is focused on leadership and control, strategic planning,
coordination of efforts and follow-up, legislation, regulations,
laws, and codes. The creation of incentives, for example
through water and electricity fees, the issuance of penalties
and fines, the provision of financial support, the financing of
research and development and work on their implementation,
finding examples of realistic illustration contribute to the pro-
vision of information and increase cognitive awareness.
The second category includes academic and research insti-
tutions through the rehabilitation of graduates, enriching the
research movement of materials, techniques, and practices.
The third category, the professional industrial group, is the
role of organization and supervision, awareness-raising, sup-
port, information, training, and rehabilitation for
professionals.
12
While the fourth and final category, which includes private
sector institutions, is the executive roles of the manufacture
and supply of building materials, the development of programs
and objectives of projects, activating market movement,
investing in environmentally friendly buildings and materials,
and recycling of construction and demolition waste.
5. Conclusion and discussion
Based on the analysis and the theoretical discussion, it can be
concluded that the concept of the sustainable building is the
right concept for good, appropriate and highly efficient con-
struction. This concept contributes to raise the quality of
future construction projects, maximize their efficiency, and
overcome the current problems of existing buildings in the
functional, health, and economic aspects. The implementation
of this concept becomes a basic need and a substitute for the
usual building style.
The research finds that achieving the broad implementation
of sustainable building in practice requires a structured institu-
tional framework that integrates the roles and functions of the
concerned bodies and emphasizes the existence of policies and
higher strategies. In addition, this framework requires govern-
ment support; the need for each side to review its interior func-
tions including the objectives, requirements, procedure, and
incentives, as well as carrying out its external functions, which
include the final outputs representing the contribution of each
side within the general system, the modification and improve-
ment of these functions to suit the requirements of sustainable
construction. This strategy aims to gradually institutionalize
the implementation of sustainable building practices in a way
that becomes the prevailing norm, as each side carries out its
internal and external functions: legislation and regulation,
research and development, education, training and raising
awareness, incentives, support and information provision,
standard-setting and attention to the implementation of sus-
tainable building practices. In addition to the professional
organization and control the performance of engineering
offices and construction companies. This concerted collective
action leads to the integration of roles among all parties and
to institutional transformation into the concept of sustainable
construction.
The concept of sustainable construction in Jordan is only
an idea. This weakness is more about institutional and legisla-
tive sources. Thus, its implementation in Jordan requires an
integrated collective work that starts from strategic national
planning to the level of major institutions in terms of (legisla-
tion; government support; research and development; manu-
facturing; local market revitalization; leadership and
regulatory references; professional organization; performance
control; and development of national standards and stan-
dards), and then to the executive level, there must be a strategic
partnership between all parties. That means we have to estab-
lish new entities to restore functional, environmental, and eco-
nomic outlook to gradually the sustainable construction
practices become prevailing practices.
The results of the study will support the concept of sustain-
able construction and the need to take serious steps in this
direction to transition from the traditional way of construction
to sustainable construction. This concept is the right way to
live in a comfortable way from economic, environmental,
Please cite this article in press as: H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed, Constrains and barriers of implementing sustainability into architectural professional practice in Jordan,
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H.H. Ali, A.A. Alkayed
health and social aspects. The implementation of sustainable
building practices into professional practice in Jordan is an
urgent need; the study investigated the obstacles of implement-
ing sustainability that cause a low level of implementing sus-
tainability. Consequently, conducting a comprehensive
review of the existing financial research, professional regula-
tions, laws, and regulations. As well as working on creating
binding laws for the implementation of sustainable building
practices. Developing awareness programs for different sectors
of society by identifying the benefits of sustainable building.
Working on monitoring the performance of engineering offices
and contracting companies are highly recommended for pro-
fessional practice in Jordan. However, conducting an analysis
on the systems and the current regulatory processes to assess
them in terms of the concept of sustainable development,
and the proposed solutions to make them more sustainable,
Examining the role of technology in achieving a broader level
of application of sustainable building practices must be
considered.
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