The significant negative impact on the environment by the current conventional construction practices combined with Kenya‘s commitment to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 has necessitated the embracement of sustainable approaches such as green building. However, no matter how often new environmental rules and regulations are imposed or amended, the progress of green building will only succeed through end-users (home owners and tenants) demand and strong purchase appeal.
This paper thus seeks to explore the current status of green building from the perspective of end-users of Nairobi County in terms of level of awareness and understanding, the factors hindering the adoption of green building and possible solutions to mitigate these factors. Primary data was collected through a well-structured questionnaire using a sample size of forty one respondents. Based on the findings, the level of awareness was high although adoption of green building was low. Price, limited options in the market, lack of information, reliability of using renewable energy, uncertain returns, lack of interest and fear of the unknown were the factors hindering the adoption of green building. These factors coupled with other end-users considerations such as security and location contributed to the low uptake of green building. Furthermore, the end-users were more interested on tangible evidence rather than hopeful promises on the benefits of green building before embarking on investing in green building.
The study recommends economic incentives, formulation of policies, customer-focused designs and education efforts as some of the attractive instruments that may help in the successful implementation of green building in the country.