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Article

A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries

by
Caleb Debrah
1,*,
Albert Ping Chuen Chan
1,
Michael Atafo Adabre
1,
De-Graft Owusu-Manu
2 and
Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari
3
1
Department of Building and Real Estate, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 11 Yuk Choi Road, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong
2
Department of Construction Technology and Management, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, PMB, Kumasi 00233, Ghana
3
Department of Civil Engineering, Aston University, Birmingham B4 7ET, UK
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Architecture 2025, 5(3), 75; https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075
Submission received: 30 July 2025 / Revised: 3 September 2025 / Accepted: 4 September 2025 / Published: 5 September 2025
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Green Buildings)

Abstract

Green buildings (GBs) are a means of achieving sustainable construction. However, they face challenges, such as higher (perceived or actual) investment costs and inadequate capital. Green finance (GF) presents opportunities to address some challenges of GB. Barriers hinder GF-in-GB; however, previous studies identifying barriers to GF-in-GB are limited. Moreover, prior studies have not considered the interrelationships among these barriers. This study aims to identify and prioritize the critical barriers to GF-in-GB in Ghana to inform decision-making by policymakers and stakeholders. This study developed a valid set of barriers and criteria from the literature to ascertain their interactions through two rounds of Delphi surveys with 12 professionals with GF-in-GB experience. A two-step fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (FDEMATEL) method was employed to validate 16 criteria of barriers using linguistic preferences. The findings of this study indicate that split incentives, inadequate private investment, inadequate management support, and limited green projects are critical barriers to GF-in-GB. These criteria deserve critical attention, as they are of high importance cause indices and can give rise to effect barriers. The government can adopt the research findings in policymaking and by other stakeholders that seek to eliminate barriers by focusing on the most influential ones.
Keywords: barriers; fuzzy Delphi method; fuzzy DEMATEL; green finance; green building; sustainable urbanization barriers; fuzzy Delphi method; fuzzy DEMATEL; green finance; green building; sustainable urbanization

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Debrah, C.; Chan, A.P.C.; Adabre, M.A.; Owusu-Manu, D.-G.; Antwi-Afari, M.F. A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries. Architecture 2025, 5, 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075

AMA Style

Debrah C, Chan APC, Adabre MA, Owusu-Manu D-G, Antwi-Afari MF. A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries. Architecture. 2025; 5(3):75. https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075

Chicago/Turabian Style

Debrah, Caleb, Albert Ping Chuen Chan, Michael Atafo Adabre, De-Graft Owusu-Manu, and Maxwell Fordjour Antwi-Afari. 2025. "A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries" Architecture 5, no. 3: 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075

APA Style

Debrah, C., Chan, A. P. C., Adabre, M. A., Owusu-Manu, D.-G., & Antwi-Afari, M. F. (2025). A Two-Step Fuzzy DEMATEL Analysis of the Barriers to Green Finance in Green Building in Developing Countries. Architecture, 5(3), 75. https://doi.org/10.3390/architecture5030075

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