Hindrance and Benefits to Green Building Implementation: Evidence from Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract The clamor for sustainable development and reduction of greenhouse gases led to the green concept which, in recent times, has gained significant momentum. To encourage the widespread development of green buildings, an understanding of the awareness, benefits, and hindrances for their adoption is necessary. This is relevant now that concerns over climate change have led to an increasing global demand for sustainability within the built environment. While the discourse is still rather muted in Nigeria, this study will contribute to the ongoing effort to raise public awareness regarding green building development and the potential benefits by evaluating the opinion of professionals regarding the subject matter. Structured questionnaires were distributed among five different professions in the built environment and information sourced includes the level/mode of awareness, benefits and bottleneck, and support for its development. The survey results showed that 43.48% of the professionals advocated for the development of green construction in Nigeria. The benefits and bottlenecks were ranked according to their perceived importance. The study recommends public enlightenment on green education, enforcement of mandatory training, formulation and implementation of policies directed towards green building acceptability. This will help promote and protect the built environment, and reduce health hazards posed by conventional development.