Roadmap for the transition to biogenic building materials: A socio-technical analysis of barriers and drivers in the Danish construction industry

The threat of climate change and global resource scarcity has prompted changes in the way that goods are produced and consumed in the construction industry. An important way for the industry to contribute to the green transition is to substitute conventional building materials with biogenic materials that require less energy to produce and bind atmospheric carbon in their growth, thus effectively capturing and storing carbon inside the building stock. An increased use of biogenic materials not only necessitates new technical development but also major changes in existing production and consumption practices. While extant research has investigated barriers in relation to the uptake of low-carbon building materials, less attention has been placed on investigating the measures that support the transition to increased use of biogenic materials. Drawing on insights from socio-technical transition analysis, the paper explores barriers and drivers that influence the uptake and diffusion of biogenic materials in the Danish construction industry. Sixty distinct barriers are identified including cultural, infrastructural, technological, market, political, techno-scientific, and industrial network barriers. The study also identifies measures, which could contribute to an increased use of biogenic materials. These findings are combined in a roadmap for a transition towards an increased use of biogenic materials in the construction industry.