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1. Introduction
The present-day construction clients demand assurance on the long-term economic performance and costs of their buildings. Consequently, the construction supply chain, which consists of developers, suppliers, manufacturers, design teams and construction teams, are under immense pressure to minimise the total project cost and to focus on cost over its life cycle (Oberg, 2005). The concept of green building as applied to the construction of buildings is intended to promote utmost efficiency and to reduce financial costs (Woodward, 1997). On this note, United States General Services Administration (2011) states that green buildings save 19 per cent of the aggregate operational costs, 25 per cent of energy and 36 per cent of CO2 emissions while conventional buildings consume about 40 per cent of global energy, 40 per cent of other resources, 25 per cent of global water and let out one-third of Green House Gas emissions. Thus, United States Environmental Protection Agency (2017) defined green buildings as:
“The practice of creating structures and using processes that are environmentally responsible and resource-efficient throughout a building’s life-cycle and consists of design, construction, operation, maintenance, renovation and deconstruction” (para. 1). This practice expands and complements the classical building design concerns of economy, utility, durability and comfort.
On a similar note, Green Building Council Sri Lanka encourages the adoption of green building practices in Sri Lanka by introducing a green rating system. According to Green Building Council Sri Lanka (2010), a green building is designed to use less energy and water, to have improved indoor air quality and to reduce the life-cycle environmental impacts of the materials used. Consequently, green buildings associate various sustainable features such as sustainable sites, management, energy efficiency, water efficiency, materials and resources, indoor environmental quality, health, well-being, etc. to resource conservation (United States Green Building Council, 2009).
The uptake of green building is far below the expected level due to reasons of high initial investment cost (Nelms et al., 2005), lack of awareness among a wider audience about major cost savings during operation, underestimating the potential cost savings and overestimating the capital costs of energy efficient measures (Ala-Juusela et al., 2014). Further, there is evidence that many organisations, both private and public sectors, commit their investment decisions based on the estimates...