Browsing by Author "Asman, Gifty Efua"

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    Guidelines for environmentally sustainable building practices at the design stage for office buildings
    (AUGUST, 2016) Asman, Gifty Efua
    The aim of the study was to provide empirical evidence on what defines environmental sustainability at the design stage for the built environment as a basis for developing guidelines for Environmentally Sustainable Building Design Practices (ESBDP) for office buildings. The specific objectives were: to assess the awareness of Ghanaian building consultants on environmentally sustainable building design practices; to identify the critical components of environmentally sustainable building design practices; to identify the need for the adoption of environmentally sustainable building practices at the design stage; and to propose guidelines for the implementation and attainment of environmentally sustainable building designs practices. It employed the mixed research method including literature review, interview and questionnaire survey. Data collected were analyzed using Content Analysis, Mean Score Ranking, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA)and Relative Importance Index (RII). The results of the study revealed that there is awareness among the construction professionals on the concept of environmentally sustainable building practices at the design stage. It further revealed that environmentally sustainable building practices at the design stage have five major components namely: energy efficiency and conservation, water efficiency and conservation, materials conservation, waste reduction, reuse and recycling and humane adaptation. Moreover, it was discovered that the implementation of environmentally sustainable design practices in the construction industry commencing at the design stage is driven mainly by the need to preserve the environment and its resources, ensure the safety and well-being of occupants and the need for value for money. In addition, it proposed the following guidelines for the implementation of environmentally sustainable iv building design in the construction industry. These include building regulations should be updated to include standards of environmentally sustainable building design practices; environmentally sustainable building design practices should be inculcated into the tertiary education curriculum for the building sector; the principles for ESBDP should be passed into law and made a statutory requirement; professional bodies must have environmentally sustainable design policies to be adopted by their members on all their building projects; and consultants should continue to educate their clients on the need for environmentally sustainable building design practices. Hence, the study recommends that, clients should be briefed on the benefits of ESBDP to help them understand and make informed decisions during the design stage of the building. It is further recommended that future research should focus on environmentally sustainable building practices at the construction stage thereby examining the implementation of the design components whether sustainable practices integrated at the design stage are fully operational and functional.