Cross-Laminated Timber (CLT) and the potential for adoption in construction projects

Abstract

Cross-laminated timber (CLT) is a versatile and eco-friendly building material that may be utilized in a variety of applications. It is however rarely utilized on construction projects in Nigeria. Thus, the study sought to establish the level of adoption of CLT and identify key drivers to its adoption in the Nigerian construction industry in an attempt to keep up with the global trend of adopting more sustainable construction practices and materials. A survey research approach was employed to gather data from 137 construction professionals who were selected using the snowball sampling technique in Lagos and Ogun States, Nigeria. A structured questionnaire instrument was designed to gather data from the respondents. A combination of Microsoft Excel and the Statistical Packages for Social Sciences was the software used to aid data analysis. The statistical tools deployed for the analysis were frequency, percentages, percentage mean adoption, relative importance index, and ranking. The findings revealed that the top four highly important drivers for the adoption of CLT are aesthetics, prefabrication, lightweight, and cost competitiveness. Besides, the findings also revealed that CLT was mostly applied as partition walls, door leaves, shelving units, and countertops. The study concludes that CLT is not engaged in as many as 20 building areas and components. This indicates that the construction industry is yet to embrace the eco-friendly features of CLT in building projects. The study therefore recommends that practitioners should endeavor to employ CLT in the building areas and components where they are not engaged to fully optimize CLT's eco-friendliness in building projects. This may be accomplished by conducting workshops, and trainings as well as domesticating the necessary technologies to fully harness its potential. Keywords Adoption Alternative building metarial Construction project Cross-laminated timber Sustainability