Applicability of smart building concept to enhance sustainable building practice in Sri Lanka

Abstract

With the expansion of economic activities, sustainable development in construction industry got more attention worldwide. Hence, industry practitioners are more concerned on achieving sustainable construction goals to make more effective and efficient services. The Smart Building concept can be implemented with advanced building technologies to achieve clients’ requirements with in the economic, environmental and social parameters while enhancing building performances efficiently. To explore the applicability of Smart Building concept to enhance sustainable building practices in Sri Lanka, the qualitative research approach was used in this research. The opinions of the smart and sustainable construction experts were obtained through semi-structured interviews. Smart Building concept is novel to the Sri Lankan construction industry and the implementation is still in the initial stage. However, the perception of the construction industry on the Smart Building concept is focused on a strong and positive direction. The recognised sustainable benefits of Smart Building concept implementation can be used as a promoting tool to make interest on Smart Buildings. Most of these benefits are long term and most of the clients do not recognise the value of Smart Buildings in terms of sustainability. Therefore, improving the knowledge and awareness of the developers is vital during the implementation process within the local context. Lack of financial resources, complex technology requirement, reluctant to commence new technologies and lack of knowledge of developers and owners are the main barriers that are existing within the local context. Mitigating these barriers will expedite the implementation process of Smart Building concept and will upgrade the performance of the local construction industry dramatically.