Construction sector views of sustainable building materials

Abstract

This paper examines building materials used in construction in Nigeria and asks whether local and conventional building materials are perceived by construction stakeholders to be more environmentally sustainable than innovative building materials. The reason for the investigation stems from a lack of clarity about which of these building material classifications is more environmentally sustainable. The study also aimed to establish whether stakeholders accept the claims made by manufacturers about the environmental sustainability of their building products. The environmental sustainability of the selected building materials was measured using indicators and metrics developed from the literature. The study established that there are no significant differences in the level of environmental impact among the four classes of building materials considered (local, conventional, recycled-content and innovative). In general terms, the cohort of innovative building materials/products is perceived to be ‘greener’ than local innovative building materials, which are considered to be environmentally better than conventional building materials. Based on the findings, this paper concludes that construction industry stakeholders do not acknowledge claims made by manufacturers about the environmental sustainability of their building materials.