Search results

Malaysia is still very much lacking behind in green building developments as compared to other countries such as Australia, Japan, and Singapore. Nevertheless, in order to strengthen the development of green building in Malaysia, government has provided and offers several initiatives to the construction key players in implementing green building such as investment tax allowance for the purchase of green technology equipment and income tax exemption on the use of green technology services and system, etc. Despite of all the incentives introduce, the implementation of green building construction still does not boast as expected and still relatively low. Therefore, this study will identify barriers, issues, and challenges faced by construction key players in implementing green building concepts especially related to green building incentives in their project. The opinions and views of related parties in building industry were obtained from structured interviews and questionnaires to key personnel in construction industry to give a clearer picture of the current situation. This study is succeeded in identifying the barriers and challenges, which mainly categorised into financial incentives, fiscal incentives, and structural incentives. The main issues identified are excessive cost of construction, tax exemption is limited and only for qualified person and legislative challenges. Nonetheless, this study also suggests various ways to overcome the barriers in promoting green building concept in Malaysia towards greener environment.

Sustainable features are gradually becoming important considerations by commercial real estate users. This is because of their considered impact in reducing operating costs and potential at reducing the negative impacts of buildings on human health and the natural environment. This chapter sought to examine the demands for sustainable features by users of commercial real estate like offices in Lagos State, Nigeria. It also evaluated the factors influencing demand for them to achieve value for money and enhance real estate investment decisions. The quantitative research methodology was adopted, and primary data were collected via questionnaires distributed to 134 purposively selected estate surveying firms in the study area. Ninety-five representing (70.9%) were returned and found useable and were analysed with the aid of descriptive statistics of percentages, mean and relative willingness index. The study found that power/energy-saving features are in high demand as alternatives to the epileptic nature of power supply in the country. The study recommended the need for the government to encourage the adoption and incorporation of locally made sustainable features in commercial real estate and to subsidise them for use in the Lagos commercial real estate market. Thus, it is concluded that with the right environment created by policy makers, sustainable features in buildings have huge potentials to contribute to prevent environmental problems in an emerging commercial real estate market like Nigeria.

Green building is an outcome of a design that focuses on increasing the efficiency of resources use energy and national environment. A variety of assessment programmes were developed, such as green building incentive (GBI) had been implemented in Malaysia as a strong indication for the key player in the construction industry to use the opportunity for their companies by embracing the idea of green building focussing on renewable energies, energy conservation, green building, waste management, and support service. However, the current situation reveals that the incentives were not effective enough to encourage the key players to apply the green building concept in their development. The purpose of this research is to produce a new parameter of GBIs for construction key players in Malaysia. The participants of this research were among the implementer and policy maker in helping to produce new parameter on green building incentives in Malaysia. The significant of this new parameter is to provide some guidance to the government in improving and strengthen the prior incentive, hence increase the participation of key building players in green building development in Malaysia. Apart from that, the green incentives are considered to be valuable tools in generating interest, in creating a motive for the adoption of green building practices over conventional practices and in eliminating knowledge gaps.

Green building (GB) is an important aspect of sustainable development that advocates for practices that enhance the health and well-being of the occupants and communities with minimal impact on the environment. The adoption of the GB concept is low in most developing countries. This study aimed at assessing the extent of the adoption of GB concepts in Kakamega municipality as a case study. The study sampled 64 respondents which consisted of 15 professionals in the building industry and 49 commercial and residential buildings within the municipality. The results indicated that at least 80% of the professionals were aware of GB concepts of water efficiency, energy efficiency, sustainable materials, sustainable site practices, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Water efficiency practices that were widely adopted in commercial and residential buildings were rainwater harvesting and the use of efficient plumbing fixtures. The energy-saving measures adopted were switching off appliances when not in use, use of energy-saving bulbs, and solar energy. The majority of the respondents felt that the indoor air quality was fair. Resource reuse was not widely adopted which could be attributed to a lack of policy or legislation. Low impact development (LID) design of vegetated storm conveyance and rain gardens (bioretention and porous/permeable pavements) was adopted in 42.9% of the buildings. Research into the use of sustainable materials is recommended for wider application as a GB concept. The study recommends the promotion of GB through incentives to enable wider adoption among the owners and developers. Furthermore, GB legislation and certification programs need to be adopted in Kenya. This study was largely based on Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) criteria and thus further studies are required on other assessment tools and methods.

Introduction: This chapter examines the impact of Financial Technology (Fintech) on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) goals to promote a sustainable financial system. Digital payment platforms, blockchain applications, and AI-powered analytics have revolutionised the financial landscape in recent years. These advancements have made integrating ESG principles into investment decisions and business practices easier.

Purpose: The main aim of this chapter is to analyse the connections and possibilities that Fintech offers to achieve ESG goals. Understanding how Fintech can facilitate sustainable finance practices is crucial for promoting investment in Fintech.

Methodology: A series of indexes have been examined, including the Global FinTech Index (GFI) in Global and Regional Rank, the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index, and performing the Green Growth Index, the Green Economic Opportunity Index, the Global Green Finance Index (GGFI), and the Financial Inclusion Index.

Findings: Through comparative analysis, it can be concluded that the countries with the highest rankings are Sweden, Finland, Denmark, Switzerland, and Germany. Sweden ranks highly in the GFI. These results show that these countries rank highly in achieving ESG objectives. Balkan countries, specifically Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro, have the weakest results compared to other countries. Policymakers can benefit from the study’s findings to design better regulations and frameworks that promote responsible fintech practices and foster sustainable finance.

Practical Implications: Regulators and agencies responsible for measuring fintech and ESG should strive to align the indexes associated with these two domains as closely as possible. In addition, businesses can utilise the findings of this study to increase awareness about the diverse solutions that fintech offers to achieve the objectives of ESG.