Sustainable Building Construction in the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies of the Central Region of Ghana

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NOVEMBER 2015
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Abstract
Building construction plays a vital role in the economic, social and infrastructural development of a nation. Activities of building construction has however been characterized with immense contribution to air, water and land pollution and hence has great impact on the environment. There is rising global need to preserve the depleting environment which demands the activities of building construction to adopt sustainable principles to contribute to continuous human development for the current generation and the future as well. It was in line with this global need that this research was undertaken with the aim of promoting the construction of sustainable buildings by the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) in the Central Region of Ghana. The objectives were to assess the construction of buildings by the MMDAs, identify challenges to the construction of sustainable buildings by the MMDAs and identify strategies for promoting the construction of sustainable buildings by the MMDAs. A survey was conducted using questionnaires to collect data from selected staffs of the MMDAs. The data collected was analyzed using descriptive statistics and Relative Importance Index (RII). An average mean score of 2.7 revealed the lack of sustainability in the buildings constructed by the MMDAs. The study also identified the lack of financial resources, ignorance or misunderstanding about sustainability, fear of higher initial cost of sustainable buildings, restrictions posed by public procurement regulations and lack of demand for sustainable buildings as the major challenges to the construction of sustainable buildings by MMDAs. The study further found that the construction of sustainable buildings can be promoted by the introduction of financial incentives to MMDAs that achieve sustainable targets. In addition, there is the need to revise contract conditions and contract specifications as well as educate public officials to understand the need and benefit of sustainable construction.  
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A thesis submitted to the Department of Building Technology, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Science in Construction Management.
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