Hindrances to the adoption of green walls: a hybrid fuzzy-based approach

Green walls – comprising living walls and green facades – are being widely touted as environmentally friendly products in architectural design. Green walls can be viable in every aspect of sustainability; they benefit building occupants in various ways – economic, social and environmental advantages. Despite this, the adoption rate is still in its infancy. And research on barriers that inhibit their wider adoption is scarce. To address this gap, this paper aims to identify and assess the relative importance of hindrances to green wall adoption in Hong Kong. To this end, fuzzy Delphi method (FDM), and Fuzzy Parsimonious Analytic Hierarchy Process (FPAHP) are used in ranking the identified hindrances. Findings provide a list of ranking for the identified barriers; financial barriers and difficulties in installation and maintenance turn out to be the most critical hindrances to green wall adoption. This paper offers illuminating insight into the challenges of green wall adoption for researchers. In practical terms, findings provide lessons for clients, designers and all key stakeholders of building projects. Discussions raise awareness of policy makers too, especially to reconsider the financial incentives for green wall installers. These all would facilitate wider adoption of green walls in the building industry.