Public School Buildings in Lagos, Nigeria: Renovations, Renewable Energy Retrofits and Implications for Technology- based Education

Abstract

Renovation of existing building stock across several building types has continued to generate interest in built environment research. It is a way of restoring aging building stock to good condition thereby reducing the need for new buildings and ultimately contributing to sustainability through resource efficiency. Residential and non-residential buildings have been found to be high energy consumers and by implication, carbon emitters. School buildings which form part of the non-residential building stock account for a significant share of energy consumption and carbon emissions of the building sector. As a result of the relatively large stock of buildings erected prior to the enactment of energy efficiency regulations in many jurisdictions, renovation is often seen as an opportunity to improve the energy performance and efficiency of old buildings. Given the conditions of public secondary school buildings in Lagos State, Nigeria and bearing in mind the poor access to energy prevalent in the study area, this paper examines ongoing school buildings renovation programmes with a view to ascertaining the extent to which the renovation efforts contribute to sustainability practices especially through the promotion of renewable energy retrofits. The study employed qualitative research methods to identify school buildings renovated between 2010 and 2020 within the six education zones of the study area. Archival studies, interviews and observation methods provided the data for the study. Content analysis was deployed in the analysis of data collected. The result of the study showed that huge opportunities for the installation of renewable photovoltaic retrofits abound in the buildings studied as exemplified in the huge roof footprints and relative heights of the buildings. The study also found that emphasis was more on making the school buildings durable, functional and secure. Even though opportunities for renewable energy retrofits exist in the renovated buildings, very few school buildings considered had such installations. Hence, most school buildings still relied on the national grid for electricity supply. Given the epileptic supply from the grid, most of the schools resorted to fossil fuel fired generators for electricity supply with dire implications for sustainability. The findings point to the need to make school building renovations more holistic by incorporating the energy efficiency component of building renovation. Keywords: energy retrofits, Lagos, renewable energy, renovation, school buildings DOI: 10.7176/JEP/13-17-05 Publication date: June 30 th 2022