Purpose - The focus of this paper is on environmental protection, specifically within the context of green building at institutions of higher education (IHEs). One major reason why many IHEs are not undertaking sustainable building policies is the barriers to adoption. The lack of efficiency caused by these barriers to adoption of campus green building will be examined. The purpose of this paper is to identify the common barriers to adoption of green building initiatives at IHEs from multiple stakeholder perspectives and propose possible solutions. Design/methodology/approach - The manuscript provides a general review of the lack of efficiency caused by the barriers to adoption of sustainable building policies at tertiary education institutions. Findings - Campus sustainable building policies face various barriers to adoption of green building policies. Campus sustainable building policies face various barriers to adoption. These include lack of awareness among many stakeholders, incentives, champions, understanding of financial considerations, and occupant satisfaction. These barriers can be addressed through review of student perceptions, encouraging knowledge gains at larger wealthier IHEs, campus planning, offering financial motivations, employing a campus sustainability officer, and marketing green campus building initiatives. However, every stakeholder needs to be part of the collaboration and incentivized in order to reduce these barriers. Practical implications - This manuscript should be helpful to campus community members as they are involved in crafting, implementing, and managing green building policies. As green building development is a contemporary issue among the higher education sector, this research should prove helpful to decision makers as it identifies barriers and solutions to these barriers. Furthermore, this research can assist practitioners when attempting to implement green building policies at their respective IHEs by helping them understand the barriers as well as potential solutions for these barriers to campus green building. Originality/value - This general review uncovers barriers to green building in the higher education sector; a sector which historically is dearth on green building research. Furthermore, solutions are offered to address and overcome these barriers from multiple stakeholder perspectives within this sector.