Capacity of professionals in delivering sustainable construction in Nigeria

Abstract

Construction activities greatly contribute to environmental degradation and increased carbon footprint in the atmosphere. The need to mitigate these impacts has instigated the adoption of sustainable practices such as green building in various developed and rapidly developing countries. This study, therefore, measures the knowledge of Nigerian built environment professionals in the field of sustainable construction with a view to appraise how the local construction industry is performing in delivering sustainable development. The scope of the research is delimited to the construction professionals in Ondo state, Nigeria. This research adopted the survey research design and descriptive statistic was used to analyze the data which was sourced from the construction professionals via a close-ended questionnaire. Findings from the study revealed that a substantial percentage of the construction professionals in the study area do not really understand the fundamentals of sustainable construction practices thus impeding them from deploying it to construction projects. It is therefore recommended that efforts should be intensified in educating and developing construction professionals on the practicability of sustainable construction, so they can fully exploit the technology and ensure sustainability in the built environment.