Optimising the Awareness of Benefits of Sustainable Construction Practices in Nigeria

Abstract

Awareness of the benefits of sustainable construction practices has been acknowledged as the fundamental principle that underlies its implementation. This survey study examined the level of awareness of the benefits of sustainable construction practices among building construction stakeholders and the strategies for optimising the awareness level through the use of questionnaire. The Mann–Whitney U Test result revealed that there was significant difference in the awareness level of benefits of sustainable construction practices between building professionals and non-professionals, in spite of a general moderate high level of awareness; due to difference in the training background and experience of the professionals and non-professionals. The Relative Importance Index (RII) result further showed that these differences could be narrowed through the adoption of 12 strategies for promotion of awareness. For maximum optimisation, the study suggested that six high level importance strategies had to be operationalised. However, when these are not readily available or very difficult to apply, alternative medium-high level importance strategy could be adopted. Thus, since non-professional stakeholders such as clients and non-professional contractors do not have opportunity of learning as professionals, the study suggested that the professionals should engage in such strategies as community or professional group engagement and local partnership with the non-professional stakeholders so as to create an interface that would promote awareness of benefits of sustainable construction practices among the stakeholders. Similarly, relevant authorities, such as government agencies and regulatory bodies need to embark on other alternative strategies such as advertisement promotion, etc.

Construction stakeholders’ perception on sustainable housing development in Anambra State, Nigeria

“…In Nigeria, Okoye et al (2021) noted that the awareness of SD is slightly different between professionals and nonprofessionals based on their level of education and experience. Therefore, the benefits of optimising awareness of sustainable construction practices are not adequately optimized and incorporated into construction in Nigeria.…”

“…This is because of lack of knowledge of basic building technology, unchecked or unplanned urbanization or development, and poor awareness of concept of SD, inadequate maintenance of existing structure (Aribigbola, 2006;Festus & Amos, 2015;Igbinoba, 2011). These issues have prevented the integration of SD principles into the housing sector in Nigeria, despite the increasing awareness of the concept among construction professionals (Okoye et al, 2021). The subsistence of low level of implementation SD principles in the housing sector was therefore, attributed to the low level of awareness among the non-professional stakeholders such as clients and contractors (Okoye et al, 2021).…”

“…These issues have prevented the integration of SD principles into the housing sector in Nigeria, despite the increasing awareness of the concept among construction professionals (Okoye et al, 2021). The subsistence of low level of implementation SD principles in the housing sector was therefore, attributed to the low level of awareness among the non-professional stakeholders such as clients and contractors (Okoye et al, 2021). In view of this, this study will examine the construction stakeholders' perception on sustainable housing development (SHD) in Anambra State, Nigeria.…”

Sustainable construction practice in Nigeria: barriers and strategies for improvement

“…Previous studies on SCP in Nigeria are focused on the abilities of construction firms (Dania et al. , 2014), sustainable health and safety practices in construction (Okoye and Okolie, 2013) and recognised barriers of sustainable construction (Daniel et al. , 2018).…”

“…Previous studies on SCP in Nigeria are focused on the abilities of construction firms (Dania et al, 2014), sustainable health and safety practices in construction (Okoye and Okolie, 2013) and recognised barriers of sustainable construction (Daniel et al, 2018). Likewise, several barriers, such as poor knowledge, inadequate perception and awareness, and lack of legislation and government support to sustainable construction practice, have been identified by some authors as vital impediments to full implementation of sustainable construction practice in Nigeria.…”