Barriers to Low Carbon Retrofitting of Higher Educational Building Projects

The adoption of sustainable practices is being prompted by resource scarcity and climate change in every industry worldwide. One of the biggest consumers of energy are buildings, which account for 19% of all energy-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 32% of global final energy use. Educational buildings frequently have quite high energy consumption patterns compared to public buildings. Existing buildings can be retrofitted to significantly cut global energy use, carbon emissions, and improve building performance. This paper seeks to assess the barriers militating against low carbon retrofitting of educational buildings and ways of addressing these barriers to reduce carbon emissions. Thematic analysis revealed that lack of awareness, financial issues, high cost of retrofitting, lack of skilled workers and unwillingness on the part of client are key barriers to low carbon retrofitting of educational building projects. To address such barriers, it was revealed that training of professionals on retrofitting, having a mandatory energy efficiency retrofitting policy, dedicated financing mechanism and enlightening clients on need for retrofitting. It is therefore important for government to put policies in place and create enabling environment that will make implementation of low carbon retrofitting possible.