TITLE:
Extent of Green Construction Finance Adoption in Kenya’s Construction Industry
AUTHORS:
Dorcas Mutheu Musingi, Shadrack Mutungi Simon, James Ouma Okaka
KEYWORDS:
Green Construction, Green Finance, Kenya, Survey, Uptake
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research,
Vol.13 No.4,
November
27,
2025
ABSTRACT: With the world moving towards sustainable development, and with the great impact that construction has on the environment, the extent of green construction in Kenya is low, and this has been partly attributed to a low uptake of green construction finance. The objective of this paper was to evaluate the determinants of green construction uptake in Kenya’s construction industry. A survey research design was adopted. The target population comprised registered developers in Kenya’s construction industry. The study found green construction finance uptake in Kenya to be extremely low, averaging 1.06% of projects among architects and developers over a period of five years. Most respondents had no green construction finance experience, with residential projects slightly leading in adoption. EDGE certification was the most common, followed by LEED and Green Star. Green loans were the dominant financing option, with green bonds, private capital, and mortgages being less used. Project values ranged widely (KSh 25 - 550 million), indicating applicability across scales. While the uptake remains very low, 98% of developers would recommend green construction finance, showing strong latent interest. The study concluded that the adoption of green construction finance in Kenya’s construction sector is at an early, low-penetration stage.