The growing concerns over the adverse effects of buildings on the environment and the need to achieve users’ thermal, visual, acoustic, spatial and indoor environmental air quality comfort have given rise to the demand for energy efficient buildings. This paper relied on a review of 36 articles published between 2007 and 2019 to identify and categorise energy efficiency design, planning and construction applicable to office buildings. The data were randomly selected using Science Direct and Google Scholar search engines on the internet and analysed by thematic textual analysis. The results revealed 29 energy efficiency design strategies applicable for office buildings which were categorised into the three distinct phases of building projects: pre-construction (design and planning), construction and post construction stages. The strategies were further categorised into energy efficient landscape designs, site selection, building orientation, building plan and appropriate space organisation. The study also established that building envelope systems, building orientation, integration of renewable energy sources and day lighting design strategies were the most implemented in office buildings. The review concluded by highlighting the key areas of focus in energy efficiency design strategies in office buildings, the extent research has progressed on the subject and future possible directions on the topic.

The economy of Nigeria is experiencing a downturn in recent times and as a result, the rate of unemployment and poverty has increased rapidly. A good foundation to employment generation and job security is vocational education. Evidently, the growth of any nation depends on its technological components. Despite the fact that vocational education is important for economy development, its effective implementation has been and it is still being faced with many challenges. This paper looks at the roles of parents in vocational educational and its viability in a dwindling economy like Nigeria. Using quantitative data from 100 parents, it could be deduced that parents preferred courses with better recognition and acceptance. It is recommended that parents of secondary schools graduate be educated on the prospects of vocational education, especially its ability to generate employment. Furthermore, vocational education should be better incorporated into tertiary curriculum and certificates should be awarded.

This data article describes the dataset on the digital technologies and applications used by architectural firms in the delivery of building projects. The data set was sourced through a questionnaire survey of 75 registered architectural firms in Abuja, Nigeria. The survey was conducted between December 2017 and January 2018 in the study area. The data, which were analyzed using descriptive statistics, contain the characteristics of architectural firms in Abuja that participated in the survey, the different stand-alone and integrated data acquisition, creation, processing, storage and communication/exchange technologies, applications and tools and intelligent systems the firms use in building procurement process. In addition, the advantages and challenges associated with the use of digital technologies in the procurement of building projects by architectural firms in the study area are also presented in this dataset.

An examination of the integrated relevant energy efficiency features is emergent to proffer amicable solutions into some tropical buildings and energy issues. This would go a long way to determine the registered thermal comfort levels enjoyable by the users, occupants and dwellers of such buildings. In this regard, great accountability is required on the part of the stakeholders, especially the Architect-designers. This study investigated the daylighting features engaged in the selected museums of South-western states in Nigeria. The integration of natural daylighting into museums spaces is a major factor in determining the positioning and sizing of fenestrations to the interior spaces of most buildings. Especially in Museum building designs where the artefacts are supposedly not to be exposed to the direct rays of the sun. The effects of daylighting exposure to the museum artefacts depends greatly on the length of exposure to light rays and object tolerance. The aim of this project is to carry out an assessment of daylighting designs in the Selected Museums of South-West Nigeria in order to integrate relevant energy efficiency features into the architectural designs. The study methodology engaged questionnaires, interview and literature reviews in order to have an understanding of the daylighting features integrated into Museum buildings. It also examined the relevant energy-design features for integrating daylighting strategies into the Museum designs. Questionnaires were administered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) through descriptive analysis of the data. The analysis showed that there are parametric-energy design indices in the existing architectural designs that are applicable in forms, spaces, materials, techniques, installation and strategies to museums in the tropical climatic regions. The analysis further showed that the use of domes, clerestory windows, atriums, light tubes and anti-solar glass/windows were considered to be most adequate daylighting features sufficient for daylighting designs and energy efficiency optimization. This study developed an architectural design model of a museum as a canonized exemplar that explores various strategies and techniques on how daylighting can be achieved in the museum spaces. It finally recommended an architectural model design specific to all tropical building species in a holistic form and spaces, and planning. These would enable a high-level patronage and optimization for entrepreneurial benefits within the confine of museums and other culture-related buildings in the tropical climate.

No abstract