Development of Affordable Building Construction with Appropriate Green Materials in Nigeria

Abstract

In developing countries such as Nigeria, there are significant problems with a shortage of affordable housing for low-income earners. The high cost of traditional building materials has been identified as one of the major factors driving up construction costs in recent years.  However, in the present day situation, incorporating green building materials that are appropriate and sustainable for building construction would offer excellent solutions for overcoming high construction costs. The surveying instrument was created and distributed to building professionals who are members of various professional bodies in the building sector. In north-central Nigeria, the research was conducted on all the available green materials. Surveyed instrument was prepared and distributed to building professional experts that are registered member of various professional bodies in the building sector. The extensive literature review and survey of relevant GM pinpoints various green materials and reveals that the adoption of GMs can result to lower cost of operation since they typically require little or no further process before being used for construction works. Throughout the north-central sector, 400 questionnaires were distributed. For the data analysis, 350 completed questionnaires were used.The study was analysed and a model was developed using the Analysis of Moments (AMOS) software and the structural equation model (SEM). The findings reveal that earth bricks, stone/rocks, timber, bamboo, thatches, straw fibre, and rice husk are all viable green building materials. As a result, low-cost housing units would result from the use and incorporation of green materials in building construction.