Addressing the misalignment in stakeholder perceptions of retrofitting barriers: a reflection of Nigeria’s residential building sector

Retrofitting is recognised as one of the ways to achieve energy-efficient buildings as the world continues to intensify efforts towards net-zero emissions, but the lack of understanding of how stakeholders perceive the barriers to retrofitting, especially for homes in tropical areas, makes it difficult to meet their needs and promote retrofit initiatives. This study examines the perceptions of stakeholders regarding the barriers to passive retrofitting of residential buildings in Lagos State, Nigeria. It investigates stakeholder perceptions of barriers through the evaluation of quantitative data collected using a research questionnaire from 118 property managers and 163 homeowners. The Mann-Whitney U test results showed that the perceptions of the stakeholder groups differed significantly on nine of the 27 barriers ( p < 0.05, effect sizes from 0.124 to 0.222), including a lack of government subsidies, a lack of capital, price changes in green materials, issues with implementation regulations, meeting building regulation needs, a lack of motivation to invest in retrofitting, poor communication with building owners, safety risks during renovation, and a long payback period. While effect sizes were small, these differences represent meaningful policy-relevant distinctions that require targeted intervention strategies. This study offers empirical support for stakeholder-focused policy interventions, which could assist in increasing the successful retrofitting of residential buildings in tropical climates