Influence of Practitioners’ Characteristics on Risk Assessment in Green Building Projects in Emerging Economies: A Case of Vietnam

Purpose – Risks are considered a significant obstacle to Green Building (GB) development and have recently received significant attention from both construction practitioners and academics. This study aimed to identify critical GB risks and explore the relationship between participants’ characteristics and risk assessment. Design/methodology/approach – Firstly, a list of GB risks was developed based on a comprehensive literature review and interviewing GB experts. After that, a survey of 207 construction professionals was then conducted to validate these GB risk factors. Finally, this research adopted the ANOVA test and hierarchical regression analysis to examine the relationship between participants’ characteristics and risk assessment. Findings – The results provided a list of GB risks classified and evaluated according to the GB project life cycle and, thus, may serve as a helpful reference for GB practitioners. Notably, the ANOVA analysis revealed that risk assessment negatively correlates with participants’ GB experience, while their industry experience does not affect risk assessment. Furthermore, the hierarchical regression analysis proved that participant roles do not moderate the association between risk assessment and GB experience. Originality/value – This study contributed to GB literature by implementing empirical research on GB risks in a developing country. The results implied the essential role of professionals with rich GB experience in risk management in GB projects. Furthermore, this research could help construction practitioners understand GB risks adequately and thereby have better risk-management strategies for future GB projects.