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Abstract
Undertaking infrastructure development projects and especially the construction of buildings in Nigeria lack sustainable green rating systems has resulted into construction practises that have caused many environmental problems. Lacking the green building rating systems has contributed to the ineptitude of construction managers and other professionals working in the construction industry in Nigeria. However, a research into the best green building rating system suitable for adoption in Nigeria shows the Green Star to be the best candidate for adoption when a research was conducted to evaluate many potential green building rating systems that are available for adoption in the infrastructure development industry in the world.
Among candidates GBRS include the Comprehensive Assessment System For Building Environmental Efficiency (CASBEE), Leadership In Energy And Environmental Design (LEED), the Building Research Establishments Environments Assessment Method (BREEAM), the Green Mark Scheme formulated in Poland, and Green Globes. To find the best green building rating system for Nigeria to adopt, the study used the qualitative and quantitative paradigms and a statistical analysis of questionnaire responses that were administered on 350 respondents. A competitive assessment of the GBRS resulted in a high score for Green Star that was formulated in South Africa because it integrates different sections of different green rating systems, making it the best for adoption. However, there is need to conduct further research on the application of the rating system to make the Green Star more suitable for use.
Introduction
Despite Nigeria being a successful oil-producing giant in Africa that has led to a significant increase in the countrys GDP, the building and infrastructure development industry is making similar contributions to the economy, which is estimated to be 12.2% growth of the countrys GDP. However, According to Adegbile (2012), the construction industry in Nigeria is still relatively young and undeveloped because of many reasons such as corruption, the ineptitude of workers in the construction industry, poor procurement methods, incompetent contract management programs, project design changes, financing and payment problems of completed works, shortage of materials, non-adherence to contractual conditions, inaccurate estimates, and poor construction engineering methods among other issues.
Daramola, Oluwatoyin and Oladele (2014) assert that much in common exists between the construction industry and the other subsystems of Nigerias economy and the built environment. Such commonalities mean that the effects that occur in the construction industry spread to other subsystems of the economy causing serious concerns. The notable in the construction industry that affect other economic subsystems include poor construction engineering methods, which includes lack of attention to front end activities. The other problems include poor designing, planning and actual construction methods that facilitates the bad effects on the economy. The main cause of the problems, according to Daramola eta al. (2014), is lack of sustainable green construction methods and standards that provide proper guidelines in the construction procedures and standards.
The result has been construction practises and methods that adversely affect the environment by destroying the quality of water at different levels and disturbances made on the environment. In addition, uneconomical and inefficient construction methods, poor quality costs, use of poor quality Portland cement and other construction materials cause degrading effects on the environment. In addition the aggressive impact of chemical agents, the effects of mineral admixtures, the leaching effects of construction materials, and the disposal and lack of reusable materials have compounded to produce serious effects on the environment. In addition, lacking standard practices in the construction processes in urban centers such as using practices such as using localized openings and trenches in urban infrastructure development and maintenance and the poor disposal of primary and secondary aggregates have further added to the burden of construction practices on the Nigerian build environment (Elmasry & Haggag, 2011).
Despite the challenges facing the building and construction sectors, Siew et al (2013) notes that there are many internationally recognized green rating systems for the construction of buildings being strong contenders for adoption in Nigerias built environment. Here, green rating systems provide the baseline for ensuring that sustainable building and construction practices are based on building design efficiency, which lead to water, and energy efficiency (Siew, Balatbat & Carmichael, 2013, p.3). Siew et al. (2013) define sustainable buildings as those that encompass environmental, social and economic standards, together with technical aspects (p.4). However, the green building rating systems provide the technical details for construction workers to follow when constructing green buildings. However, the problems in Nigeria, which demand sustainable construction solutions based on the green evolution include high energy supply where over 40 million liters of diesel o generate electricity and transportation are the main reasons for the large consumption of fuel in the construction industry, which adds to the polluting effects of waste emissions to the environment.
On the other hand, the transport system for moving construction materials from source to construction sites does not conform to green practices because Nigeria has a poor transport infrastructure that contributes to the challenges of implementing a green rating system. The waste management strategies lack the sustainability component because of lack of environmental and sustainability consideration in the planning and design of buildings and infrastructure development. Some of the areas lacking the sustainability components lead to poor drainage of effluent, inefficiently water supply systems, poor planning, disturbance of the subsoil when constructing buildings, and the lack of the sustainability component in many states in Nigeria (Saqalli, Gérard, Bielders & Defourny, 2011).
Typically, buildings and infrastructure projects in Nigeria are the principal sources of environmental destruction because they consume a lot of non-renewable resources such as water, energy, rain forest destruction, and agricultural land. In addition, the resulting infrastructure is not economically sustainable and further demands the use of sustainable practises. The direct impacts on land include air pollution, ozone depletion, climate change and many other problems associate with lack of sustainability practises. The government, on the other hand is defunct of green construction policies and legislation that could provide a framework to facilitate the adoption of sustainable green construction practices, with little buy-in being experienced in both public and private stakeholders.
Siew et al. (2013) emphasise that certifying construction projects based on standard rating systems adds accountability and integrity to the construction processes leading to the protection of the environment. Certification results into several tangible benefits such as high performance cost effective buildings, better returns on investment, better market for green products, better, and good indoor air quality among others. Green buildings result into lower capital costs compared with the conventional construction methods that are evidently being used in Nigeria, low operating costs, better marketability, better health and productive gains, new business opportunities, and high resource efficiency (Otegbulu, Osagie & Afe, 2011). Here the underlying element is to conform to a reliable rating system. Here, the basic use of a rating system is to ensure standards are put in place against which internationally accepted construction methods are followed to create structures with better credentials and to make better commercial value for buildings using effective construction processes.
However, rating systems are used to ensure compliance to standards and technical specifications when construction is done to ensure sustainable development. Sustainable development can only be achieved if the development processes satisfy the needs of the current generation without putting into jeopardy the ability of the future generations to satisfy their needs (Otegbulu et al., 2011, p.10). Developers and stakeholders use the rating systems to ensure that construction projects are done according to the needs of the people, economic capital, and the environment to create value for stakeholders and not just a restricted few. The overall objective is to achieve low energy consumption, better indoor air quality, low emissions, and highly efficient waste management procedures.
A focused survey by Adegbile (2012) of over 600 green rating systems and projects in the world show that professionals who undertake infrastructure development projects use different rating systems and projects to ensure stringent compliance with existing technical specifications and regulations on emissions, structural designs, and consumption and use of non-renewable resources. However, Adegbile (2012) asserts that the problem in Nigeria is different because most of infrastructure development projects lack sustainability because of lack or failure to use sustainable (green) building rating systems. Investigations by Nduka and Ogunsanmi (2015) revealed that the problem is compounded by lack of expertise, institutionalised policies for green sustainable construction, awareness, deficiency in human resource and client knowledge, and effective waste management policies. The effects are compounded by lack of lack of a sustainable (green) building rating system for infrastructure projects, creating a gap to be filled in this study. To address that gap in knowledge, this study will be guided by the following aims and objectives.
Statement of the problem
The purpose of building and infrastructure rating system are to enable all stakeholders to rate and improve the performance of buildings. However, the problem is that Nigeria lacks a green building rating system, making the construction of buildings to environmentally unsustainable. However, there are many green rating systems for adoption exist such as the building research establishments environments Assessment method (BREEAM), comprehensive assessment system for building environmental efficiency (CASBEE) and Leadership in energy and environmental design (LEED) among others, the adoption of which to address the economic, cost issues, and sustainability in infrastructure development and buildings being the main problem of the study. However, the lack of rating systems leads to the question on: which sustainable green construction system is appropriate for Nigerias construction industry?
Aim
To assess the adoption of a sustainable building rating system for the execution of infrastructure projects in the Nigerian Construction Industry.
Objectives
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To establish the nature and operation of green building rating systems internationally.
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To investigate the pros and cons of adopting green building rating system.
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To establish various stakeholders perspectives and expectations toward green building rating system.
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To determine the GBRS the Nigerian construction industry should adopt.
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To propose a road map for the implementation of green building rating system by the Nigerian construction industry.
Significance of the study
The research project is significant because the results could be used to determine the best GBRS that could be used to solve the problem of construction practices in the infrastructure development in Nigeria.
Literature Review
Introduction
Sustainable development is an area that has a global meaning on the construction industry because it is viewed as one the major players that influence the social, economic and environmental landscape of developed and developing countries (Gray, Kouhy & Lavers, 1995). In addition, the consumption rate of virgin materials by the industry has led to a significant depletion of the resources and the discharge of large amounts of waste products into the environment, leading to greenhouse gases that pollute the environment. Many countries use construction projects as a standard measure of sustainable development especially because of the rapid increase in construction projects in many developing countries. However, because of the high demand for construction projects and the adverse effects such projects have on the environment, the demand for sustainable construction methods has increased significantly.
Sustainable development can also be defined as the process of maintaining and improving the quality of nature and life-support systems while developing current economic, social and environmental conditions of the world by carrying out sustainable activities to safeguard the environment for future generations. The successful use of sustainable construction methods is summed up in the prudent use of available resources for sustainable construction practises to protect the environment and enhance social progress, increase peoples income, improve the quality of life, and create jobs (Moktar, 2012).
This literature review is a summary of the findings by different authors on the development of infrastructure projects and the construction practises used in the building industry and how building rating systems as a framework for the best practises in the industry by factoring issues such as cost, environmental, and sustainability practises. Sustainable green buildings are designed and developed or renovated by using design processes that enable engineers to reduce destructive effects on the environment and natural resources based on the life cycle cost of the building (Greider & Garkovich,1994). The nature and operation of internationally accepted green building rating systems is that they enable the construction industry to enhance green credentials. In addition, the rating systems enable construction managers review the constraints and benefits of adopting green building rating systems by assessing the stakeholders perspectives and expectations toward green building rating systems. The results provide a roadmap on the best GBRS the Nigerian construction industry should adopt and the road map to use for the implementation of green building rating system in Nigeria.
Nature and operation of green building rating systems internationally
Green standards are defined as a set of guidelines and criteria against which a product can be judged (Oyedepo, 2012). Miller, Spivey and Florance (2008) maintain that the guidelines provide a ground for serious considerations on how to integrate green sustainable construction practices and methods that factor green environmental considerations into the construction of buildings and other infrastructure development projects. Examples include meeting the planning requirements for the construction of residential and sustainable green buildings, ensuring that any service within such buildings is provided at low cost, being energy efficiency, linking with adjoining buildings, complying with building regulations, sustainably using the building, and provisioning good lighting during the day.
Nwokoro and Onukwube (2011) maintain that most buildings in Nigeria were constructed without much regard to the environmental requirements for energy efficiency, making most of the buildings to be the sources of greenhouse gases because of the in-house activities such as heating, coking, and waste removal. However, Gowri (2004) claims that such buildings can be renovated by using sustainable green construction methods that factor product safety, price, and availability of the resources. In addition, the green rating system can be used to improve the performance and energy efficiency of new and renovated buildings using the best green rating system. Typically, the common standards related to building practices and infrastructure development are created through consensus processes by organizations such as ANSI, ASTM, or ASHRAE (Gowri, 2004, p.34).
However, Castro-Lacouture, Sefair, Flórez and Medaglia (2009) argue that the governance of such standards are supported by the international Standards Organization (ISO) on which consensus is established based on the norms and rules to be used for the in the construction of buildings. According to Castro-Lacouture et al. (2009), the rating systems and certifications are important because the direct impact of using energy to build houses, for renovation, repurposing, demolition, and for occupancy and other activities on the environment are progressively becoming adversarial and rapidly causing severe environmental challenges in developed and developing nations including Nigeria.
However, Nigeria, like any other country has started to experience the impact of climate change and that makes it mandatory for the country to mitigate the polluting effects of construction activities on the environment by improving the construction practices in all aspects of the planning, design, and cost effectiveness when constructing buildings. Gowri (2004), Castro-Lacouture et al. (2009), and Nduka and Ogunsanmi (2015) proposed the adoption of a rating system that could be derived from the best international green building rating systems to help the countries and especially the construction industry in Nigeria to ensure sustainability of the design and construction built environment. Here, Rutherford (2007) proposed environmental considerations that include designing and building local amenities according to the standards and principles proposed for green design and construction practices. In addition, some of the considerations include accounting for the topographical use of land, subsoil conditions, the natural contour of land, natural water ways, lake and bonds, shape of the proposed building and land, the natural vegetation and trees, services available, and approach and access to roads and paths, and proposed future developments.
Gowri (2004) identified the push for sustainable construction on countries as the major reason for international bodies to develop different rating systems to fill the gap. Some of the international standards and systems that have been developed and practically applied on the built environment include the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) and the Building Research Establishments Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) in the U.K and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the USA among others (Nduka & Ogunsanmi, 2015).
Principles of green design and sustainable development
The results of a study by Anastas and Zimmerman (2003) show that the principles of green design and sustainable development provide the baseline for the development of green rating systems that are suitable for the building industry in many countries and can be adopted as guidelines in Nigerias construction industry. According to McDonough, Braungart, Anastas & Zimmerman (2003), the key principle of green and sustainable design are used to minimise urban sprawl that is evident in many Nigerian cities and towns, protect valuable land, steer construction activities clear of habitats and green space to avoid the destruction of the environment. Kibert (2012) contends that an issue such as constituting a multidisciplinary team for their contributions to a holistic thinking of a sustainable site selection is critically important under the green design principles. The multidisciplinary team contributes a lot of expertise and skill to develop an integrated design, which is iteratively constructed with ideas contributed by the team members throughout the phases of the building construction life cycle.
Michael (2013) argues that a collaborative effort is required to establish a culture of integrated design that can explore different design aspects to come up with a suitable sustainable design. The rationale is that coordination and collaboration are very important elements to consider when working in an integrated team. Typically, there should be consensus on what to use for development tools and materials and how to clarify communication roles within a development and design team for sustainable green solutions. In addition, it is important to determine designing goals and objectives and to develop an acknowledgement of the teams commitment to sustainability. The design team must agree on the scope of the building by defining the services to be provided when the building is used. In addition, once the design has been accepted and the construction of the building starts, performance targets should be laid down that target reusability, recycling of existing materials, reduction of water consumption and disturbance to the environment, effective soil displacement methods, and reduction of storm water runoff (Kibert, 2012).
For sustainable design to be effective, it is important for the Nigerian companies in the construction industry and policy makers to ensure that existing buildings are renovated to enable the occupants to use the existing space more efficiently (Campbell, 1996). According to the principle of sustainable green design, it is important to re-use existing buildings and reconsider building brownfield sites when renovating many of the buildings that are in a state of disrepair in Nigeria. One of the key strategies is to design a flexible building with to ensure that it can be re-used in future to extend its lifespan (Medineckiene, Turskis & Zavadskas, 2010).
Researchers propose that using recycled materials provides builders some with additional benefits such as cost effectiveness and the preservation of the environment. According to the principles of sustainable construction, engineers must consider everything that is recycled from the recycled concrete aggregates, blended concrete using fly ash, and use of recycled content material such as steel.
On the other hand, the use of biodegradable materials such as wood is important because they do not have a lingering effect on the environment but can be degraded using biological means (Anastas & Eghbali, 2010). It is important for the builders to evaluate the environmental impact of the materials used in the construction of buildings to ameliorate their effects on the environment. It has been suggested that construction should be done by considering the use of products that are easy to use and those which are non-energy intensive. In addition, sustainable construction of suitable buildings can be done by using materials that produce the minimum impact on the environment and consume little energy when being separated or recycled (Medineckiene et al., 2010).
When constructing buildings, it is incumbent for the contractor to account for the transportation of construction materials that form part of the green construction practices. Here, the cost of transportation becomes part of the embodied energy of the building by using locally available materials to reduce the cost of transportation to support the regional economy and the income of the local people.
On the other hand, it is important to factor the schematic design of a building to ensure that it is consistent with sustainable design construction practices and outcomes. Typical areas to check include the compliance with the project goals, sustainable guidelines, preservation of vegetation and soils, and preservation of water. Opportunities for sustainable use of water include recycling, capture, and reuse (Medineckiene et al., 2010). Other opportunities include storm water management, ability to capture the rainwater, and doing preliminary calculations to determine the amount of water available.
Design guidelines for sustainable outcomes
Brophy and Lewis (2011) recommended in their research that constructors should use minimal grading to ensure that the fill and cut are balanced when preparing the ground for the construction of a building. It is important to select vegetation that is locally available and easily adapted to the conditions at the site of the construction project. According to Buys and Hurbissoon (2011), it is important to apply vegetation that does not need the application of water to be sustained. Here, it is important to ensure that water use is optimized by harvesting rain water and managing storm water properly. In addition, it is important to follow sustainable material management guidelines correctly and the landscape elements should be designed so that they can be reused later when the building has been deconstructed (Ding, 2008). In addition, it is important to use sustainable and certified products and energy efficient fixtures when renovating buildings.
Indoor Environmental Quality
According to Godish (2010), the principle of indoor environmental quality is important to consider for the sustainable construction of buildings. Indoor environmental quality is the principle used to describe the quality of the internal environment of the building where people live (Ding, 2008). Some of the factors that are used to determine the quality of the internal environment include the quality of air, the acoustic conditions of the internal sections of the building, the thermal and lighting conform, and the daylight views from the building (De Giuli, Da Pos & De Carli, 2012). However, buildings used for residential purposes differ enormously in their construction characteristics such as the design, size, the building materials, and quality of construction, cladding, and the conditions of the site where the building is erected. However, it is recommended that a building design that affords the best possible conditions for the occupants is necessary to create high quality environment (Yu & Crump, 2010).
The strategies and technologies to use to construct a building with good indoor quality include the use of materials that do not emit gaseous products into the environment when they have been used for finishing, sealing, and furnishing the floors and walls. Typically, the same procedure and standards can be applied for the construction of residential buildings which have the same construction requirements. The areas of constriction include wiring, floor finishes, ventilation, plumbing, windows, and crawling space. For instance, when constructing a building, it is important to ensure that it is energy efficient (De Giuli et al., 2012). Energy efficiency can be achieved by applying wet cellulose to cavities in new construction, but should not be applied on walls because it can cause mold infestations. However, it is important to construct a building more tightly to reduce infiltration of air into the building. De Giuli et al. (2012) argue that it is important to consider other additional factors such as exposure of the building to the external environment such as exposing occupants to the toxic indoor contaminants, occupants and occupancy behavior because they are responsible for generating a lot of contaminants such as the production of bio-effluents related to the preparation of food and other activities that consume energy.
It is recommended that good construction practices factor the windows and the ventilation or openings made that are made to a building to ensure sustainable green buildings. However, the windows are not the same, but differ from one building to the other. A good window is used to keep wind, rain, and water away from the building and provide a natural route for air to flow into and out of the building. However, it has been established that windows are the main sources of loss of energy from a building (Yudelson, 2010). Most of the buildings in Nigeria have windows that easily develop moisture in the interior surfaces leading to the loss of large amounts of energy through the windows. In addition, because windows break the continuity of the cladding in a building, they increase the chances of losing energy into the environment and reducing the thermal comfort of the occupants.
However, Smith (2013) maintains that windows should be constructed in a manner that they provide dedicated sources of air from the external environment without compromising the heating and cooling system of a building. In addition, it is important to provide the breaks by use of windows with breaks to prevent the moisture and water from penetrating into the window because moisture can interfere with the heating and cooling system of the building (Von Paumgartten, 2003). In addition, a building should be maintained to avoid the flow of water and moisture into the cavities especially when the building has grown old.
Smoke is another problem that contributes to a poor quality internal environment. Researchers show that occupants of buildings in Nigeria are vulnerable to the effects of potentially toxic indoor contaminants when exposed for 12 hrs. The contaminants include waste gases from the combustion of fuel and antigens such as cockroach that are sprayed inside the building (Smith, 2013). Exposure becomes worse because of the poor ventilation systems and the practice of closing of windows when heating and cooling occurs in a building. However, it is important to ensure that the ventilation systems such as windows are designed to ensure that they allow fresh air into the building without allowing for the loss of heat and other forms of energy. According to Smith (2013), it is important to keep out air having with smoke particles from getting distributed into other rooms within a building to keep the quality of air quality in those rooms good. A building should be designed in such a way that the internal source of smoke can easily be detected and the problem causing the smoke located and addressed as quickly as possible (Smith, 2013).
Sustainable site strategy
One of the strategies to achieve sustainable development is to use development methods at construction sites to reduce the pollution of air by reducing greenhouse gas emissions (Smith, 2013). One of the strategies that have been suggested is to use low energy consuming construction methods from the manufacture and processing of building materials to the disposal or recycling of materials. In addition, it has been suggested that sequestration of carbon in soils helps to reduce the level of expulsion of greenhouse gases into the environment. However, it is important to set performance goals and benchmarks to ensure that are based on green rating systems and green construction principles to ensure sustainable practices are followed in the construction and infrastructure development industries (Yu & Crump, 2010).
Greenhouse gasses
Typically, greenhouse gases are due to carbon dioxide concentrations increasing in the air trapping the heat energy form the sun, leading to an increase in global temperatures and global warming. However, sustainable construction methods have been suggested that can be used to reduce the heat island effects and reduce carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere as one of the green approaches to protecting the environment (Oyedepo, 2012).
It is estimated that construction of buildings is one of the largest consumers of materials and energy, taking up to 40% of the global energy and materials, justifying the amount of carbon dioxide produced from such processes. According to Oyedepo (2012), it has been estimated that 70% of the energy is consumed in buildings and the construction industry, which is one of the greatest employers in the world. Some of the strategic approaches suggested to reduce carbon dioxide emissions include using resources that can be regenerated as quickly as they are used, constructing a building by using locally available materials such as solar energy, using
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