Uptake and Adoption of Sustainable Energy Technologies: Prioritizing Strategies to Overcome Barriers in the Construction Industry by Using an Integrated AHP-TOPSIS Approach

Energy conservation through sustainable energy technologies (SETs) in the construction industry is capturing considerable attention worldwide. However, the presence of challenges makes SETs implementation difficult, and hence to increase the effective adoption of SETs, potential strategies are essential to overcome challenges. The objective of this study is to identify and rank major strategies of SETs adoption in the construction sector to overcome its barriers. This study proposes an integrated framework based on two methodologies, fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and fuzzy technique for order performance by similarity to an ideal solution (F-TOPSIS), to prioritize major strategies to overcome SETs adoption barriers. Initially, obstacles and strategies are identified from a comprehensive literature review. Later, FAHP is utilized to obtain weights of various SETs barriers through pairwise comparison, and strategies are ranked by using F-TOPSIS. The proposed methodology is empirically applied to the construction sector of developing countries. The integrated framework provides a detailed and effective decision-making tool for uptake and adoption of SETs. Lastly, the robustness of the methodology is evaluated with the support of sensitivity analysis. Results indicate that government and economic barriers are the most critical barriers which can be overcome through cooperation of relevant authorities, financial assistance, and developing appropriate policies.