Green construction and environmental performance: an assessment framework

1. Introduction

The construction industry significantly contributes to the economic growth and social development of nations (Boadu et al., 2020). Ajayi and Oyedele (2018) proffer that the construction industry is both vital and inextricably linked to the global economy, contributing about 13% to global wealth generation and spurring large-scale employment across the globe. However, the construction industry impacts upon the environment throughout the project's life cycle, from design through to construction, operation and finally, demolition (Ametepey et al., 2020). Similarly, Nathaniel (2019) reports that the construction industry's energy consumption and related air emissions negatively impact the environment. This impact has elevated the industry's sustainability agenda, engendering for the emergence of many environmental concepts worldwide and attempts to develop and apply green practices, such as green construction, green building and green finance (Owusu-Manu et al., 2021).

The construction industry's environmental impact can be divided into three categories: ecosystem impacts, natural resource impacts and public impacts (Zolfagharian et al., 2014). This industry also consumes vast quantities of energy and concomitant pollution, such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide (Sandanayake et al., 2019). Because of the sector's increased energy consumption, the ambient CO₂ level has risen, resulting in massive CO₂ emissions (Chang et al., 2019). Primary sources of CO₂ emissions include the energy necessary for the manufacturing and delivery of building materials and the processing of resources, construction waste management and the demands for construction equipment. Indeed, buildings account for approximately 39% of global CO₂ emissions each year (International Energy Agency, 2019). The negative environmental repercussions of global construction activities have promoted the notion of sustainable development (Oke et al., 2019; Fathalizadeh et al., 2021).

The construction industry has aided in bringing together the requirements for green construction to meet the sustainability agenda. Green construction is perceived as a tool for the construction sector to achieve sustainable development (Oke et al., 2019). Several developed countries view green construction as the industry's response to achieving sustainable development. However, construction projects in many developing countries have been characterized by poor performance in terms of sustainability, going against the call for a more sustainable environment, which is achieved through green...