Key barriers and solutions for decarbonizing Egypt's construction sector

Decarbonization in the construction industry demands a cyclical, collaborative approach involving architects, engineers, material suppliers, contractors, and clients. Each stakeholder plays a pivotal role in fostering continuous innovation and improvement to reduce the industry's carbon footprint. Despite increasing attention on low-carbon materials and sustainable practices, the construction sector remains a significant source of emissions. Existing research often overlooks the unique challenges faced by developing countries like Egypt, failing to address key barriers or align them with actionable and context-specific solutions. The goal of this research is to identify and analyze the financial, technological, and regulatory challenges obstructing decarbonization efforts in the construction sector. To address this, the research bridges this gap through a comprehensive, multistep methodology. Initially, an industry survey was conducted with the following objectives: (1) identifying and prioritizing 32 barriers to decarbonization; (2) providing a clear prioritization of these challenges by evaluating their significance and impact on the decarbonization process; (3) collecting and analyzing rankings to understand who stakeholders believe should take the lead on carbon reduction; and (4) exploring stakeholders' priorities and perspectives, focusing on understanding their views on barriers and potential solutions. Second, different statistical analysis tests and methods (i.e., internal, and external reliability, statistically significant differences, evaluation metrics, clustering analysis, and heatmap analysis) were employed to analyze the results and draw conclusions. Based on a total of 125 responses and 32 decarbonization barriers, the findings reflected that the top three barriers adversely affecting decarbonization construction projects included: (1) perception of higher construction costs; (2) limited market which prioritizes cost and speed over reducing embodied carbon; and (3) high initial investment costs for low-carbon technologies. Barriers were categorized into three clusters based on criticality, with 56% requiring immediate action. This study not only ranks barriers but also aligns them with actionable solutions, offering insights to guide decision-makers, researchers, and practitioners. It provides a roadmap for overcoming decarbonization challenges and advancing sustainable construction practices in Egypt.