Sustainable construction in Chile: a diagnosis

Abstract

The construction sector plays an important role in the sustainable development of a country. However, in Chile, activities in the field of sustainable building practices are still in a preliminary phase and specific legislation in this area barely exists. Only little information on sustainable building activities is documented and available. The aim of this paper is to explore the efforts taken by the government and the building industry towards environmental building practices, enabling the generation of policy-ideas for the future improvement of the status of sustainable construction in Chile. The paper includes information about the current government response in the form of policies and policy instruments, the industry actions regarding sustainability, and the environmental awareness of designers, contractors, and the government as it is demonstrated by the attitude of these actors towards the environment. Finally, barriers to sustainable construction practices are also reported. An interesting conclusion obtained from this research effort is that there is a mismatch between the industry’s vision and the government perception on the constraints towards environmental building practices in our country.