Mapping barriers to strategies: A dynamic stakeholder–stage framework for nearly zero energy buildings

• Quantitatively maps 42 NZEB barriers to 9 strategy categories across stages and stakeholders. • Reveals NZEB barriers shift from policy-finance friction to human-technology mismatch as projects progress. • First applies Correspondence Analysis to identify highly effective barrier-strategy matches. • Identifies persistent information coordination gaps during NZEB design and construction. Although Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) offer a clear path to reducing energy use and carbon emissions, different stakeholder groups face numerous barriers at four stages of implementation. Existing reviews catalog these barriers but lack precise stakeholder–stage alignment and fail to match each barrier with its most effective mitigation strategy. We reviewed 89 publications, identified 42 barriers and nine strategy categories, and applied Simple Correspondence Analysis (SCA) to quantify the couplings between barriers and strategies based on the consensus in the literature. We then developed a barrier–strategy mapping and prioritization framework to identify the dominant academic strategies associated with each barrier. The results show: (1) barriers shift from early financing–policy frictions to later human–technology frictions; (2) 90 % of barriers link to at least one highly significant strategy; (3) information coordination gaps and frequent design changes show no significant coupling with any mitigation strategy. The framework offers three values: (1) Practical guidance: it provides clear, stage‑specific guidance for barrier identification and strategy selection; (2) Theoretical foundation: it lays a structured basis for context‑sensitive empirical studies across regions, project types, and scales, enabling localized validation and optimization of the NZEB barrier–strategy model; (3) Mapping paradigm: this study proposes a strategy–barrier mapping paradigm grounded in systematic literature consensus. It provides a structured basis for selecting and prioritizing strategies across diverse regional conditions, project typologies, and real-world applications.

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Publication Details

Journal
Building and Environment
Published
2025-09-02
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2025.113653
Citations
1
Primary Topic
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
1.01

Funders

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article

Mapping barriers to strategies: A dynamic stakeholder–stage framework for nearly zero energy buildings

Zhengxuan Liu, Henk Visscher, Queena K. Qian, Hanbing Wang
1 citations
Building and Environment
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
1.01
article

Mapping barriers to strategies: A dynamic stakeholder–stage framework for nearly zero energy buildings

Zhengxuan Liu, Henk Visscher, Queena K. Qian, Hanbing Wang
article en
1 citations

Abstract

• Quantitatively maps 42 NZEB barriers to 9 strategy categories across stages and stakeholders. • Reveals NZEB barriers shift from policy-finance friction to human-technology mismatch as projects progress. • First applies Correspondence Analysis to identify highly effective barrier-strategy matches. • Identifies persistent information coordination gaps during NZEB design and construction. Although Nearly Zero Energy Buildings (NZEB) offer a clear path to reducing energy use and carbon emissions, different stakeholder groups face numerous barriers at four stages of implementation. Existing reviews catalog these barriers but lack precise stakeholder–stage alignment and fail to match each barrier with its most effective mitigation strategy. We reviewed 89 publications, identified 42 barriers and nine strategy categories, and applied Simple Correspondence Analysis (SCA) to quantify the couplings between barriers and strategies based on the consensus in the literature. We then developed a barrier–strategy mapping and prioritization framework to identify the dominant academic strategies associated with each barrier. The results show: (1) barriers shift from early financing–policy frictions to later human–technology frictions; (2) 90 % of barriers link to at least one highly significant strategy; (3) information coordination gaps and frequent design changes show no significant coupling with any mitigation strategy. The framework offers three values: (1) Practical guidance: it provides clear, stage‑specific guidance for barrier identification and strategy selection; (2) Theoretical foundation: it lays a structured basis for context‑sensitive empirical studies across regions, project types, and scales, enabling localized validation and optimization of the NZEB barrier–strategy model; (3) Mapping paradigm: this study proposes a strategy–barrier mapping paradigm grounded in systematic literature consensus. It provides a structured basis for selecting and prioritizing strategies across diverse regional conditions, project typologies, and real-world applications.

Building and EnvironmentVol. 285
Delft University of Technology (NL)
HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
Openalex Percentile: Top 21%
Building Energy and Comfort Optimization
1.01
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