In May, MSU Construction Management (CM) Program faculty members Sinem Mollaoglu, PhD, and Matt Syal, PhD, were presented with Emerald Publishing’s Emerald Literati Award for Highly Commended Paper for their co-authored paper, titled “Diffusion of Green Building Guidelines as Innovation in Developing Countries.”

They have also been nominated for the Outstanding Paper Award, along with their co-authors Citra Chergia and Esin Ergen from the Civil Engineering Department at Istanbul Technical University in Turkey.

Outstanding Papers form the backbone of the Awards for Excellence. The Editorial Board of each journal is invited to choose a winning paper and three others that deserve a highly commended award from the previous year’s volume.

As these awards are chosen by eminent academics or managers, the winning authors receive the prestige of it being recognized that theirs is one of the most impressive pieces of work the judges have seen throughout the past year.

Sinem Mollaoglu is a CM associate professor at the MSU School of Planning, Design and Construction. She is a LEED-accredited professional. Matt Syal is a CM professor and is also LEED-accredited. 

The purpose of this paper is to comprehend the ways of knowledge and application of green building guidelines and assessment systems as innovations diffuse in developing countries’ Architecture Engineering and Construction (AEC) industries.

Building on recent research in India, this study focuses on Indonesia and Turkey. A total of 110 experts representing individuals from private and governmental sectors from both countries responded to the conducted survey.

Findings show insights to adoption of green building guidelines in developing countries, including their diffusion paths, barriers to their use and their applications. Additionally, the results are compared with the India case from the recent literature and analyzed via the lens of the diffusion of innovation theory.

Please join us in congratulating Mollaoglu and Syal on winning this prestigious award!