Awareness of Factors Contributing to Sustainable Construction in Nigeria

Abstract

The need to slow down climate change and global warming has made sustainable development major issue among policy makers and world leaders. Awareness on sustainability concept among industry practitioners is crucial in influencing design, materials selection and construction methods. The aim of this study is to examine the level of awareness on key sustainability concepts and factors that influence their adoption during construction by practitioners in Nigeria. Through an online survey, 120 copies of semi-structured questionnaire were administered on built environment practitioners such as architects, engineers, quantity surveyors, and builders working in client, contracting, consulting and academia with 77% response rate. Factorial two-way ANOVA was performed to examine if there are differences in the level of awareness of factors contributing to sustainable construction among the groupings. Also, binomial logit regression analysis was adopted in predicting the factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept among practitioners in construction industry. The study revealed that professionals from client organization recorded highest (3.8) mean score in terms of awareness on sustainability concept followed by those from academia (3.6), consulting (3.0) and contracting (2.2). In terms of factors that significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction, findings from the study revealed that academic qualification (β =2.226, p<0.05) and type of organization (β =1.127, p<0.05) significantly influence adoption of sustainability concept during construction. Practitioners with high academic qualification and those from client organization, exhibited high level of awareness on sustainability concept, this equally influenced their adoption of key elements of sustainability (site planning, energy efficiency, water efficiency, renewable energy, resource conservation, material reuse, indoor environmental quality) during construction. The determination of the level of awareness and adoption of factors contributing to sustainable construction by practitioners will serve as guide to industry practitioners regarding issues to integrate into design and construction project from inception to completion. To improve awareness of sustainable practices in the industry, stakeholders should direct efforts towards organizing seminars, conferences and workshops centered on sustainable construction through the various professional bodies at state and local government levels.