Awareness and Application of Green Building Concepts by Construction Industry Stakeholders of Sub-Saharan African Countries

Abstract: The notoriety of the construction industry regarding its impacts on the environment has brought to limelight the need for green buildings (GB). GB practices have become topical as the best vehicle for addressing these negative impacts by reducing CO2 emissions, minimising water and energy consumption amongst other benefits. Ignorance of the implementation of green building concepts (GBCs) in developing countries like Ghana accounts for a very slow pace of uptake as opposed to the developed country counterparts. This paper investigates the awareness and application of GBCs among Ghana Construction Industry (GCI) stakeholders. The data for the study was elicited via questionnaire survey of 292 stakeholders. The results indicate 88.4% of the respondents have previous knowledge of GBC with 69.2% of them indicating GB is environmentally friendly. The study revealed GCI stakeholders’ awareness of GBC is high with energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality recording the highest awareness rates of 97.6% and 93.8% respectively. The extent of application of GBCs in Ghana is moderate with energy efficiency and indoor environmental quality highest with relative importance indices of 0.680 and 0.660 respectively. It found the One Airport Square building, Accra is the most popular GB in Ghana. The internet is the most effective medium of disseminating and creating awareness of GB. The findings of this study is useful for stakeholders desirous to improving the momentum of GB uptake in the GCI. This study adds to the body of knowledge as the first study on GB in Ghana context involving all major stakeholders.