GREEN HOMES DEVELOPMENT: FACTORS AFFECTING HOUSING DEVELOPERS' READINESS

Housing can be inferred as an industry with activities that provide buildings and structures with the aim to fulfill the human needs for shelter, protection from any dangers and as a rest place after daily activities. The demand for housing keeps increasing in consistence with the rising number of global population as people seek for betterment of life in the modern civilization. The Malaysian housing industry experiences similar circumstances. However, Malaysian government has stressed that the provision of housing should be developed in a sustainable manner. In order to encourage sustainable practice in the housing industry, the government has urged the housing developers to develop green homes by introducing incentives in relation to green technology development as well as become a leader in green building design. Nevertheless, most of the housing developers are still reluctant to develop green homes. This study aims to identify factors that influence readiness of housing developers to develop green homes. A questionnaire-based survey was carried out within 395 housing developer firms and 249 questionnaires were duly returned. Statistical analyses such as descriptive analysis, exploratory factor analysis and multiple regression analysis were utilized to analyze the data. This study found that there are three significant factors influencing Malaysian housing developers' readiness to develop green homes that comprise of government supports, external expertise supports and housing market readiness. This implies that government's role, the availability of local green technology expertise and marketing research on housing market will facilitate the housing developers to develop green homes in Malaysia.