Users’ preference for green features in office properties

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the preference of office property users for green features in Lagos, Nigeria. This is with a view to determining the degree of users’ aspiration for green buildings in the country. Design/methodology/approach The study purposively sampled two office properties from the management portfolio of 88 registered estate firms in Lagos. Data were collected using self-administered questionnaire on two users purposively selected from each of the properties. The data were analyzed with the use of frequency distribution, percentages and measures of the users’ preference index. Findings The results revealed that the preference for green features by office property users in the study area was above average (2.5 on a five-point scale). Feature relating to “building ecology, waste and recycling” is the most preferred feature with UPI of 3.970 while those relating to “owner and occupant education” with UPI of 3.558 were least in preference. Practical implications The paper concludes that with the preference of users for green features in the study area, it may be necessary for government to strengthen the existing framework for sustainable development. Also, increased sensitization of investors, users, professionals and other stakeholders in the building industry is pertinent to the success of green building practice in the country. Originality/value This is one of the few studies on users’ preference for green features in emerging economy, particularly in the Nigerian context.

October 2018

“…In summary, the finding of this study showed that tenants were more favourably disposed and willing to pay for green features that confer comforts to occupants rather than those that confer benefits to the environment. This finding is not unexpected and in line with the outcomes of the earlier studies (Komolafe and Oyewole, 2015;Oyewole and Komolafe, 2018) on the preference of users for green features. The implication of this is that the tenants were more inclined to pay for features that confer occupants comforts such as 'Availability of contingency plans for power failure', 'Water saving toilet and baths facilities', 'Access to public transport within reasonable time', and 'Location of air intakes far from sources of pollution', it is recommended that tenants should be educated on the importance of features that are eco-friendly in order to enhance the sustainability of built environment.…”

“…The study also revealed that the features that ranked first and second in terms of TWTPI are 'energy conservation' with TWTPI of 3.12 and 'water, rain water and sewage' with TWTPI of 2.72 respectively. This finding is in line with Oyewole and Komolafe (2018) that property users in the study area were confronted with severe difficulty in the area of power and water supply.…”

“…While a few studies (e.g. Oladokun et al, 2010;Nwokoro and Onukwube, 2011;Oyewole et al, 2012;Komolafe et al, 2016;Oyewole and Komolafe, 2018), have been carried out on sustainable or green building in developing and emerging countries like Nigeria, studies on tenants' willingness to pay for green features are lacking. Meanwhile, sustainability as reasoned by Krosinsky and Robins (2008) has more urgent priorities among world's growing countries.…”

“…In an attempt to bridge the gap in the previous study (Komolafe and Oyewole, 2015), Oyewole and Komolafe (2018) examined users' preference of office properties. The study focused on the users of office buildings in Lagos and found that users' preference for green features in office properties was above average.…”

“…First, the study covers more features of green buildings unlike the previous studies (Park et al, 2013;Simons et al, 2014) that focused on some specific elements. Second, existing studies on sustainability, especially in Nigeria literature (Oyewole et al, 2012;Olaleye et al, 2015;Oyewole and Komolafe, 2018) focused less on tenants' willingness to pay for green features. Office property tenants are viable target for investment in green building and are very important to sustainable development agenda particularly in the area of built environment.…”