No abstract

Green building (GB) constructions seeks to address housing demands of the growing populace with better qualities, energy efficiency, using recycled and recyclable materials, improve building lifespan and health of occupants. But GB adoption lags in developing countries. This study focused on driving the adoption of GB constructions in developing countries through capacity building strategy: survey of Enugu State, Nigeria. Structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 135 building workers in educational and industrial sectors across the registered construction companies and higher institutions in Enugu State. Mean and rank were used to answer the research questions, while t-test was used to test five null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. Results revealed that there is need for capacity building in: GB design, GB site, GB construction, GB operation and maintenance, and GB construction and demolition waste management. Cluster t-test analysis showed discrepancies in the agreement of educational and industrial sector workers on GB design and GB construction needs. The implications for not adopting GB are continual conventional constructions with maximal exploitations and resource depletion. Thus, there is a gap in knowledge where sustainable development advocates, government and pioneers of green construction practices could channel efforts toward assisting the developing countries.

The study focused on construction waste reduction awareness as a step within Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. The method of collaborative action research was used with a questionnaire as an instrument. Data collected from 61 participants were analyzed using descriptive statistics (percentage, mean, and t-test) and multiple regressions. Results revealed that there were graduates of different degree levels and non-graduates working at the construction sites, where 4.9 % and 27.9 % had PhD and Master degrees, respectively. Improper material storage was agreed to be the main cause of construction waste, while the most effective reduction measure was applying source reduction through the calculated procurement. Multiple regressions revealed that awareness was significantly positively predicted by gender, qualification and status. However, both cause and reduction of construction waste were noted to be human related, thereby necessitating a campaign against construction waste at various sites, with the aim of raising motivated and inspired change agents.

Background: Construction work can negatively affect artisans’ mental health in the form of stress. This research investigated the effect of cognitive behavioral intervention on occupational stress among Nigerian construction trade artisans in the building construction sector. Methods: In this randomized controlled study involving 3 waves of data collection, 140 construction trade artisans who presented with high occupational stress symptoms at the study onset were assigned randomly to either a treatment condition (n = 70) or to a waitlist control condition (n = 70). The study involved pre-treatment and post-treatment assessments and a 3-months follow-up. The artisans’ occupational stress questionnaire and artisans’ dysfunctional thoughts at work scale were the data collection instruments. Results: Results revealed a significant effect of group on artisans’ occupational stress and dysfunctional thoughts at work. Also, significant effects of time on artisans’ occupational stress and dysfunctional thoughts at work were recorded. Finally, group × time interaction effects on artisans’ occupational stress and dysfunctional thoughts at work were significant. Conclusion: Cognitive behavioral intervention effectively reduced occupational stress symptoms and dysfunctional thoughts at work among Nigerian construction trade artisans compared with a waitlist control condition.

This paper focuses on school production unit/consultancy services with special reference to its many-sided beneficial requirement that is overly neglected in TVET institutions. The study adopted survey research design. Questionnaires were used to seek opinions of TVET technical college teachers and lecturers in tertiary TVET institutions on functional TVET school production units/consultancy services and the challenges hindering the establishment. The functional production units/consultancy services in TVET institutions in the study include poultry farms, fishery, clothing and textile, catering craft practices, data processing, among others. Contrarily, feed production, salesmanship, cosmetology, leather goods manufacturing and repair, GSM maintenance and repair were not functional at all in all the institutions surveyed. Challenges found to hinder school production/consultancy services of TVET institutions were: lack of organizational vision for productivity (3.39±0.63), poor perception of school production units/consultancy services (3.36±0.65), lack of manpower to drive the establishment (3.24±0.66) and perceived problems of integrating industries in TVET programmes (2.96±0.94). The study concludes therefore, that the benefits of school production units/consultancy services in TVET institutions are enormous, making it a fundamental requirement that should not be neglected. Thus, overcoming the challenges hindering the establishment of school production units/consultancy services will reflect in the quality of graduates turned out into the society and would eventually minimize to the barest minimum the need to retrain TVET graduates by employers.