Sustainable Design and Construction in Africa

A System Dynamics Approach

Oluwaseun Dosumu, Clinton Aigbavboa

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• ISBN:
  9781351212182
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Architecture
• Subtopic: Architecture General

This book addresses some of the countless challenges faced by developing countries when adopting sustainable design and construction and offers suggestions for the way forward for African development projects.

The authors argue that the pervasive non-consideration of the interrelationship between the elements of sustainable design and construction is the reason for the current failures in sustainable design and construction in developed countries. By treating sustainability as a complex system, the authors provide the missing link between the design and construction of projects in a sustainable way with a view to improving industry and project performance. In doing so the book posits the need for improved sustainability practice in developing countries, lessons for developing countries from the successes and failures of sustainability adoption by developed nations, factors influencing adoption of sustainability and effects of sustainable designs and construction on productivity, human health and the environment at large.

This book will be of interest to construction researchers, practitioners, professional bodies, housing policy makers and government institutions as well as training and funding providers in these areas.

1 General introduction

Introduction to the book

The construction industry is one of the most important contributing sectors to the economy of many developed and developing nations. These contributions are in the form of a substantial increase in the gross domestic product; the provision of direct and indirect employment to skilled, unskilled national and international people; the development of public and private structures and infrastructure for the business and activities of government, corporate organizations, social institutions and individuals; and the promotion of dynamic relationships with other contributing sectors in the form of forward and backward linkages. Despite these contributions, however, the construction industry has continually been confronted with several challenges of poor project delivery among which cost overrun, time overrun and quality deviations were foremost. These challenges have for many years led to the frustration of many clients, profit marginalization for contractors, disputes among project stakeholders, loss of confidence in consultants and contractors, battered reputations of consultants and contractors and discouragement of investments in construction projects by private organizations, design and construction errors, wastage of materials, rework, variation, building collapse and unsustainable development, etc.

Even though ‘sustainable development’ as a subject dates back to as far as 1987 (Brundtland Commission Report) and 1992 (United Nations Conference on Environment and Development), construction researchers continued to direct efforts toward critical success factors, key project performance indicators, contract documentation and project health and safety and maintenance to mention but a few, all in a bid to ensure that projects are completed within targeted cost, specified time and prescribed quality. In the process of trying to solve the problem of poor project performance, new techniques of managing construction projects such as building information modelling (BIM), lean construction (LC), industrialized system building (ISB), modular construction (MC), value management (VM), facilities management (FM), management contracting and public private partnership (PPP) have been discovered. For many years these techniques became the focus of many researchers in developed and developing countries. However, recently, discussions have focused only on sustainable design and construction (Proverbs, Holt, & Cheok, 2000; Garrison & Tweedie, 2008; Lopes et al., 2011; Stasiak-Betlejewska, 2013; Kreider & Messner, 2013; Mydin et al., 2014; Sarhan et al., 2017).

Though many studies (Tirmizi, 2003; Delnavaz, 2012; Ahn et al., 2016) have shown that the new construction management techniques have improved the construction process and its efficiency and effectiveness in one way or another, because of the sharp shift in the focus of construction research to sustainable development (sustainable design and construction), it is not clear whether these techniques have been able to achieve the long desired goal of keeping construction projects within specified cost, designated time and prescribed quality. However, although this question remains unanswered, the paradigm shift in construction research focus is understandable. This is because, even though the exact extent to which the world’s environment has been depleted because of global warming, climate change, depletion of natural and environmental resources, carbon emissions and energy consumption, etc., is not known, there is sufficient evidence in literature to suggest that the future generation may not survive if sustainable development is not put into practice immediately. Hence, the change in project performance criteria from the iron triangle indicators of cost, time and quality performance to those of sustainable design and construction has driven research and practice in the direction of more pertinent issues such as green building construction, the development of smart cities, the adoption of alternative building materials, indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and energy efficiency.

Unfortunately, the developing nations, mostly in Africa, are not moving with the times; the change in construction focus has not diffused into many of these countries at an acceptable standard. This largely relates to issues such as the level of awareness for sustainable development, knowledge of sustainable development and the technologies required for the effective adoption of sustainable designs and construction for projects. Therefore, there is an urgent need to bridge the practice gap between adopters (developed nations) and non-adopters (developing nations) of sustainable design and construction. This is significant because the issue of sustainable design and construction is global in nature and may not be successful without collective practice. This book acknowledges the importance of sustainable design and construction in Africa and is therefore focused on investigating the reasons for its low or non-adoption there with a view to borrowing lessons from the developed nations to help Africa overcome her many challenges in adopting it. To foster the understanding of Africa’s problem with sustainable development, the book moves from the known (conventional building design and construction) to the unknown (sustainable design and construction).

The book is organized into 12 chapters arranged logically and systematically in four parts. Part One deals with the introduction and motivation for writing the book. It also describes the meaning of building design and construction, and the purpose for which the book is written. Part Two describes the current (conventional) practice of building design and construction in Africa by discussing the procedure and measures of construction project success. It also depicts the current practice of design and construction in African countries by extracting its inherent loopholes to drive home the need for sustainable design and construction. Part Three caters for the practice of sustainable design and construction in developed countries. It describes the advantages, disadvantages and challenges of the practice of sustainable design and construction with a view to extracting lessons that could be learned by African countries in their quest to practise it. Part Four of the book makes a contribution on how African countries can adopt sustainable design and construction by examining the barriers to its adoption with a view to making suggestions on how they can be overcome. The methods by which countries in Africa can adopt sustainable design and construction are classified as external and internal. External methods deal with the various ways by which the developed countries can assist African countries to overcome the challenges, whereas internal methods deal with the ways in which Africa can help herself to confront the challenges.

Chapter 1 introduces the reader to the book and explains building design and construction generally, as well as contract documentation, characteristics of building design and contract documents and the aim and objective of the book. Chapter 2 comprises detailed discussions of the conventional building design and construction process, the shortcomings of conventional building design, the need for sustainable building design and construction and the integrated design and construction process (IDCP). In Chapter 3 the various project success criteria of conventional building design and construction are discussed and the reason why sustainability is and should nowadays be the dominant project success criterion for every nation, including those in Africa (despite the challenges), is explained. In Chapter 4 the various procurement methods used for construction projects are examined in detail and in Chapter 5 the concept of sustainability in design and construction is described by explaining what sustainable design and construction actually means as opposed to the misconceptions found in certain quarters. The origin of sustainable design and construction, its objectives, its elements, its characteristics and benefits to the construction industry and to the world as a whole are covered in detail. In Chapter 6 the sustainable design and construction assessment tools used by developed countries to rate green buildings are discussed. Chapter 7 details the successes (implementation strategies) recorded for sustainable design and construction by the adopters (developed countries) by means of examples from cases of successfully completed sustainability-certified buildings. On the basis of these explanations, those lessons that can be borrowed by Africa are highlighted and discussed accordingly. Chapter 8 is devoted to the failures of sustainable design and construction as practised by the developed countries in spite of their green building certification and the lessons that can be learnt by Africa from these.

Chapter 9 concentrates on the factors (drivers) influencing the adoption of sustainable design and construction. These factors are classified according to the players involved in the adoption process. Chapter 10 is devoted to the effects of adopting sustainable design and construction by the construction industry in terms of both advantages and disadvantages. The advantages and disadvantages of sustainable design and construction are mentioned in accordance with the roles of the key players or actors. Chapter 11 examines the challenges faced by Africa in adopting sustainability. The chapter highlights the uniqueness and peculiarity of the African situation in her quest to practise sustainable design and construction.

Chapter 12 suggests practical ways forward for countries in Africa to adopt sustainability in design and construction. These suggestions are based on the uniqueness of the African construction industry as opposed to that found in developed countries as well as the need for development of a green building assessment tool that is different from those used in developed countries.

It is important to note that every chapter of this book contains an abstract, keywords, summary and references to facilitate research and further reading.

Project design and construction

Many meanings have been advanced for the concept of project, depending on the field of its application and the desired goal. Despite the differences in the definitions, they share certain characteristics such as time frame and specificity of event. In the construction industry, project is usually considered to mean a planned set of connected tasks that are bound to be executed over a certain period and within specified cost and other boundaries. Hence, a project is usually a temporary endeavour that has time lines and defined resources. In this book, a project as defined in the context of the construction industry shall mean a construction project.

Project design is the process of providing all the necessary information required for the successful execution of a construction project. The information is meant to satisfy clients’ requirements as well as public, welfare and safety requirements. Owing to the many aspects of a building (architectural, structural, services and the like), a construction project is bound to have more than one design. These designs usually include architectural, structural, mechanical and electrical designs. Project designs are typically in the form of drawings and technical specifications. By law, project designs are required to be prepared by competent personnel who are certified by a recognized regulatory body in the required field. Competency is usually determined by formal education, experience in the required field and the ability to succeed in oral and written examinations. Project designs are required to translate the intentions of a client into drawings and specifications that can be used by the contractor for the actualization of the client’s dream project.

Project construction, on the other hand, is the process of utilizing project design to help clients achieve their goals. Building construction involves the assembly of different building materials to construct a building. Apart from assembling materials, project construction also involves the management of resources such as finances, equipment and skilled and unskilled workers. The complexity of the activities involved during project construction means that it needs to be managed by an experienced person, usually referred to as a project manager. The project manager is responsible for connecting and balancing the activities of the design and construction personnel. Under normal circumstances, the design is supposed to fit perfectly into construction with minimal or no discrepancies. However, this is usually not the case in the current method of construction practice as many construction projects end up being mere shadows of their intended designs (see Chapter 2).

Project design and contract documents

Project design, construction and contract documents are usually used interchangeably by construction professionals and other stakeholders. However, there is a notable difference among the three. It is important to clarify this difference at this stage in the book to avoid misconception of meanings further ahead. Project design documents are the documents prepared by design professionals such as architects, structural engineers and electrical and mechanical engineers, etc. They are basically drawings (architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical) and specifications that depict the pictorial and written requirements that relate to the materials and equipment to be used for a construction project.

Construction documents are also often misconstrued to mean the same as contract documents. However, construction documents, also called working documents, include all the documents that are used by project clients to obtain bids from contractors and subsequently used by contractors to obtain price quotations from subcontractors. These documents include the drawings, technical specifications, construction schedules and priced or unpriced bills of quantities, etc. They exclude documents that involve a signed agreement between the client and contractor to execute a project.

Contract documents, on the other hand, are construction documents plus the general conditions of contract, contract agreement and contract, etc. In this book contract documents shall mean all the documents that are signed by the client and contractor and handed over to the contractor for the execution of the same project at the time he or she moves to the site for construction. Contract documents expressly state the responsibilities of the client and contractor. They are also legally binding on both parties (client and contractor).

Characteristics of design and construction contract documents

For a construction project to succeed, the contract documents must be detailed and explicit. Therefore, it is expedient that a construction lawyer be engaged to review the contract before it is signed by the client and contractor. The following are the characteristics of design and construction contract documents (Merritt & Ricketts, 2000; Merritt & Ricketts, 2005):

• Full names, addresses, and signatures of the client and contractor must be represented.

• Project duration must be clearly stated.

• Contract sum and terms of payment must be spelt out.

• Work schedule must be known.

• Order or authority on the contract must be known and documented.

• The quality of materials and performance criteria must be clear.

• The bearers of anticipated risks must be clearly stated.

• Right and remedies of parties to a contract during dispute must be stated.

• The procedure for smooth operation of the contract including treatment of variation must be stated.

• The meaning of project success must be clearly defined in the contract.

The implication of these characteristics on sustainable development is fully discussed in Chapter 3.

Aim and objectives of the book

There are many publications, including books, journals, conferences and opinion papers, relating to sustainable development, sustainable construction and the sustainable building process (Du Plessis, 2007; Halliday, 2008; Yu, 2012; Kibert, 2013; Sinha, Gupta, & Kutnar, 2013; Castanheira & Bragança, 2014; Ahn et al., 2016). These studies aimed to solve specific problems...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright page
• Table of Contents
• List of illustrations
• Acronyms and abbreviations
• Preface
• 1. General introduction
• 2. Conventional versus integrated design and construction process
• 3. Success criteria of construction projects
• 4. Procurement of construction projects
• 5. Concept of sustainability and sustainable design and construction
• 6. Sustainable design and construction assessment tools
• 7. Implementation strategies of sustainable building design and construction: Lessons from adopters
• 8. Failures of sustainable design and construction: Lessons from adopters
• 9. Factors influencing the adoption of sustainable building design and construction
• 10. Effects of sustainable design and construction on humans and their environment
• 11. Challenges of sustainable design and construction in Africa
• 12. Way forward for Africa in the practice of sustainable design and construction
• Index