1

TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A GREEN BUILDING COUNCIL

AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM

FOR NIGERIA

by

Prof (Mrs.) Bogda Prucnal-Ogunsote 1, Prof Olu Ola Ogunsote

2,

Arc. Ola Anna Ude 3 and Arc Voitek Bola Ogunsote

4

1 Department of Architecture, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria

2 Department of Architecture, Federal University of Technology, Akure, Nigeria

3 Department of Architecture, Cracow University of Technology, Cracow, Poland

4 Department of Architecture, Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland

ABSTRACT

The conference on promoting Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) in Africa

recently organised by UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, recommended the development of

national and sub-regional green building rating systems, and the establishment of

national or sub-regional Green Building Councils (GBCs) which are non-profit,

member-based coalitions that develop objective, voluntary tools for rating the

environmental performance of buildings. This will promote the use of appropriate

building materials, technologies, services and processes that reduce the impacts of

new buildings on the environment and human health. This paper documents on-going

collaborative research by fourteen Professors of seven Built Environment and

Computer Science professions drawn from eight Universities in West Africa aimed at

promoting the establishment of a GBC for Nigeria and the West African sub-region

and the development of a Green Building Rating System for Nigeria. The objectives

are to, among others, develop a web portal for sustainable building; collect, digitize

and disseminate through the web portal, recent research on sustainable building in

tropical climates; supervise, and provide research support to postgraduate students

conducting research into sustainable building; promote green rating of building

materials; initiate the establishment of GBCs; and promote the development of GBRS

through international conferences and collaboration.

Keywords: Green Building Council, Green Building Rating System, Nigeria,

Sustainable Building, Web Portal

2

1. INTRODUCTION

The commitment of professionals towards environmental sustainability is increasing

in the building industry in Africa and particularly in Nigeria. The 3rd Architects

Colloquium in 2010 and the Archibuilt 2010 Forum were the two largest yearly

events of Nigerian architects organized in the capital city Abuja, which tackled

sustainability issues. According to Prucnal-Ogunsote (2010), more than half of the

sub-themes in the Colloquium were dedicated to maintenance and materials policy

for sustainable infrastructural development, global warming and green architecture.

The Archibuilt Forum offered sessions related to sustainable development of mega

cities in emerging economies while the exhibition promoted renewable and

alternative energy sources.

A conference hosted by UN-HABITAT in Nairobi from May 4 to May 6, 2010 on

“Promoting Green Building Rating in Africa” had a big impact on the African

community. The participants from 20 African countries concluded the conference

with the “Nairobi Declaration on Green Building in Africa” (UN-HABITAT, 2010a).

South Africa assumed a leadership position in sustainability issues which was

evident during the conference and its outcome related issues. It has an e-Journal of

Green Building which is distributed to more than 40,000 built environment

stakeholders each month. The e-Journal enjoys good readership and includes

approximately 12 cutting edge articles in each issue (Green Building South Africa,

2011).

South Africa has the first and only GBC in Africa and it now has the first online

sustainable search engine (Greenfan, 2011), a sustainable product supplier and a

green business community. It gives access to resources related to sustainability issues

of the country; it promotes green products such as green roofing and energy saving

products. It demonstrates green solutions in building and provides news about green

building, and it has many more features. This search engine has many characteristics

of a web portal and it gives a good impression of the anticipated outcome of the on-

going research in Nigeria presented in this paper. This on-going research and paper

address issues related to developing a Green Building Council (GBC) and the

development of Green Building Rating System (GBRS) for Nigeria.

2. WORLD GBC

The World Green Building Council (WGBC) was formally incorporated in 2002 with

its headquarters in Toronto, Canada. Its primary role is to formalize international

3

communications, help industry leaders’ access emerging markets, and provide an

international voice for green building initiatives (UK Green Building Council, 2007).

The Common Carbon Metric

The World Green Building Council’s strategy to promote the global reduction of

carbon emissions is to enforce the Common Carbon Metric. This is a protocol for

measuring energy use and reporting greenhouse gas emissions from building

operations (Plate 1). The Common Carbon Metric will enable the grading the energy

usage for all buildings irrespective of geographic location or function. Using the

Common Carbon Metric will aid member countries in reducing carbon footprint and

meeting the Carbon Emissions Commitments (Bldgsim, 2011; UNEP SBCI, 2011).

The Common Carbon Metric will enable the realisation of cost-effective carbon

mitigation potential of buildings, which accounted for around 40% of the world’s

energy use and 33% of global greenhouse gas emissions (German Sustainable

Building Council, 2009). It is piloted by the leading green building rating tools, and

made available to all those who are dedicated to promoting the understanding and

development of a green, low-carbon and sustainable built environment. The metric is

recognised by the UNEP Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative.

3. GREEN BUILDING COUNCILS IN AFRICA

The conference on promoting Green Building Rating Systems (GBRS) in Africa

recently organised by UN-HABITAT in Nairobi, recommended the development of

national and sub-regional GBRS, and the establishment of national or sub-regional

GBCs which are non-profit, member-based coalitions that develop objective,

voluntary tools for rating the environmental performance of buildings. This is to

promote the use of appropriate building materials, technologies, services and

processes that reduce the impacts of new buildings on the environment and human

health. The membership status of African’s countries in the WGBC is listed in Table

1. Currently, only South Africa has an established Green Building Council (UN-

HABITAT, 2010b).

4

Plate 1: Common Carbon Metric Protocol. Source: UNEP SBCI (2011).

Table 1. Membership status of African countries in World GBC.

Country Name of the Council Membership Status

Botswana Botswana Green Building Council Associated group

Ghana Ghana Green Building Council Associated group

Kenya Kenya Green Building Council Prospective GBC

Mauritius Mauritius Prospective GBC

Nigeria Nigeria Green Building Council Prospective GBC

South Africa Green Building Council of South Africa Established GBC

Source: World Green Building Council (2011a).

5

4. TOWARDS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A GREEN BUILDING

COUNCIL FOR NIGERIA

The body that should be consulted when establishing the GBC is the World GBC. To

date this body was able to keep track of the global development. Compared to other

continents, Africa is still in its infancy and is encouraged through the organisers of

the UN-Habitat Nairobi Conference to host their resources on GBC on their website

for consistency. Initially, as a resolution of the conference, the African Network was

to be temporarily hosted by the Green Building Council for South Africa (GBCSA)

but after consultations with the World GBC they were advised to host their resources

on their website - so everything is focused in one place, and accordingly the World

GBC now has a page for the Africa Regional Network with the address

www.worldgbc.org (Kehew, 2010).

Nigerian initiators can follow the step-by-step instructions on establishing a GBC as

presented by the World Green Building Council (2011b). The guide provides an

introduction to GBC formation, describing the major activities involved (Plate 2). It

provides a functional framework for the establishment of national GBC’s. The

document comprises of chapters explaining how to establish a core founding group,

develop a business plan, form a founding board, and secure initial funding and many

other key chapters. The interested parties after submitting the Expression of Interest

and upon its acceptance gain access to detailed multiple tools that support each

activity which comprise of spreadsheets, case studies, guides and others.

In addition to this, a national input is very important and this paper focuses on how to

guide the interested parties and prioritize the national resources by introducing the

concept of a regional portal for sustainable building and GBRS in Nigeria.

6

Plate 2: World Green Building Council Roadmap. Source: World Green Building

Council (2011b).

7

5. SELECTION PROCESS FOR A GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM

The Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) is developing an energy and

water benchmarking rating tool for existing buildings. The council reports that this

tool, which still has to be launched, will eventually plug into the Green Star SA

rating tool for existing buildings, which will serve both the private and public

sectors. According to GBCSA technical executive Manfred Braune, “The energy

and water benchmarking tool is still in the early stages of scoping and development,

while the GBCSA is in the process of selecting a technical consultant to undertake

the intensive research and development work on the project” (Green Building

Council of South Africa, 2011).

The range and spectrum of the choices of rating systems can be appreciated by the

study for selection of a sustainable rating system for the General Services

Administration (GSA) in USA which provides a summary of the information found

for each sustainable rating system. The aim of the study was to select sustainable

design tools which could be used for GSA projects and which will necessarily set

parameters to:

improve quality,

decrease the life cycle environmental impact, and

optimize life cycle costs of the buildings.

The selected tool (GBRS) must support long-term performance for an innovative and

flexible future. GSA must evaluate its buildings consistently using one system in

order that the projects can be compared equally with:

other GSA buildings,

other Federal buildings, and

the U.S. building market.

According to Fowler and Rauch (2006) using one sustainable building rating system

allows for comparisons and benchmarking of existing buildings as well as a

mechanism to track GSA’s progress toward designing and operating the best

buildings for their occupants.

The research considered systems marketed between January and May 2006 which

were analysed through extensive reviews of over 100 references and rigorous

analysis. Their overview gives a broad spectrum of rating systems and directs the

focus towards sustainable rating systems (Table 2) and identifies others as not

appropriate (Appendices A, B and C).

8

Table 2. Sustainable Building Rating Systems recommended for GSA.

Sustainable Building Rating Systems Development Basis

BREEAM (Building Research Establishment's Environmental Assessment Method)

Original

BREEAM Canada BREEAM

BREEAM Green Leaf BREEAM, Green Leaf

Calabasas LEED LEED

CASBEE (Comprehensive Assessment System for Building Environmental Efficiency)

Original

CEPAS (Comprehensive Environmental Performance Assessment Scheme)

LEED, BREEAM, HK-BEAM, IBI

Earth Advantage Commercial Buildings (Oregon) Undisclosed

EkoProfile (Norway) Undisclosed

ESCALE Undisclosed

GBTool Original

GEM (Global Environmental Method) for Existing Buildings (Green Globes) – UK

Green Globes Canada

GOBAS (Green Olympic Building Assessment System) CASBEE, LEED

Green Building Rating System – Korea BREEAM, LEED, BEPAC

Green Globes Canada BREEAM Green Leaf

Green GlobesTM US Green Globes Canada

Green Leaf Eco-Rating Program Original

Green Star Australia BREEAM, LEED

HK BEAM (Hong Kong Building Environmental Assessment Method)

BREEAM

HQE (High Environmental Quality) Undisclosed

iDP (Integrated Design Process) Original

9

Sustainable Building Rating Systems Development Basis

Labs21 Original

LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)

Original

LEED Canada LEED

LEED India LEED

LEED Mexico LEED

MSBG (The State of Minnesota Sustainable Building Guidelines)

LEED, Green Building Challenge '98, and BREEAM

NABERS (National Australian Built Environment Rating System)

Undisclosed

PromisE Undisclosed

Protocol ITACA GBTool

SBAT (Sustainable Buildings Assessment Tool) Original

Scottdale's Green Building Program Undisclosed

SPiRiT (Sustainable Project Rating Tool) LEED

TERI Green Rating for Integrated Habitat Assessment Original

TQ Building Assessment System (Total Quality Building Assessment System)

Original

Source: Fowler and Rauch (2006).

Analysis and usefulness in the Nigerian context

Concluding on the multitude of possible approaches in selecting a GBRS, it is

obvious that detailed and well-funded research is much needed to produce an

appropriate solution for Nigeria.

10

6. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM

FOR NIGERIA

Prucnal-Ogunsote, Okwoli and Ude (2011) defined green and sustainable

architecture and evaluated the usefulness of a number of GBRS in the Nigerian

context. Among them are the Building Research Establishment Environmental

Assessment Method (BREEAM) and the Leadership in Energy and Environmental

Design (LEED). The authors also gave an overview of energy rating software and

tools such as the CarbonLite program, as well as energy modelling software and

tools in sustainable building design such as ENERGY-10. They discussed challenges

and strategies for their incorporation in Nigerian scenarios through education. This

however was the first attempt in categorizing the resources from which Nigerian

GBRS may be initiated. The magnitude of the problem calls for much wider and

broader cooperation and the on-going research presented in the next section will

provide many more answers to the problem and guide in final decisions of

appropriate bodies and of a prospective Nigeria Green Building Council (NGBC).

Recommendation

To make it easy to communicate a building’s sustainable achievements with the

others, the authors of this presentation recommend that a particular Green Building

Rating System should be adapted for Nigeria, or a new one should be developed.

This implies that the selecting process should be carefully established and this may

be possible if all stakeholders of the building industry and affiliated professions will

participate. This may be done through a regional portal as explained below.

7. THE REGIONAL PORTAL FOR SUSTAINABLE BUILDING AND

GREEN BUILDING RATING SYSTEM IN NIGERIA

A web portal was defined by Ogunsote, Prucnal-Ogunsote and Ola-Ude (2010) as a

place where people go to get information about a multitude of subjects, and even to

chat, send email, shop online and form online communities. A web portal is a site

that functions as a point of access to information on the World Wide Web. Portals

present information from diverse sources in a unified way. The use of web portals

makes searching for information easier and faster, while the integration of online

communities into portals promotes academic discourse and social interaction. The

use of wiki applications encourages contributions by visitors to the portal, thus

giving the portal’s content exponential growth potentials, a universal outlook and a

democratic countenance.

11

Ogunsote, Ogunsote and Prucnal-Ogunsote (2008) at the E-Learning Africa 2008 3rd

International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training in Accra,

Ghana, proposed ArchNetNG - a web portal for Nigerian architecture, an online

community for the Nigerian architect, planner, urban designer and for everything that

is Nigerian in architecture. The web portal presented in this section is a

documentation of the Education Trust Fund (ETF) research proposal by the Federal

University of Technology, Akure (Ogunsote 2011).

The development of a web portal is necessitated by the demand for sustainable

building and the on–going research in Nigeria involves eight ECOWAS universities,

fourteen scholars and seven professions (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Participation of academics, professions and research institutions in the

research.

7.1 Research Aim

The aim of this research project is to develop a web portal for sustainable building

and GBRS in Nigeria. It also seeks to leverage this resource for postgraduate

research into sustainable development towards achievement of the vision 20-20-20

goal of providing sustainable physical infrastructure in Nigeria.

12

Figure 2: Aim of the Research.

7.2 The Objectives of the Research

The objectives of the research are to:

1. Develop a hosted, domain-specific, environmental, regional portal for

sustainable building in Nigeria.

2. Provide the following services through the web portal: directory services,

library services, online publications, news services, building laws and

regulations, professional forums, blogs, chat rooms, members’ areas,

email, applets, website hosting services, advertising services, customised

search engine and mirroring of popular web resources.

3. Collect, digitize and disseminate through the web portal, research done in

Nigeria in the last 50 years that are relevant to current research on

sustainable building in tropical climates. This will cover research in the

following disciplines: architecture, building, civil engineering, computer

science (social software development), electrical engineering, estate

management, mechanical engineering, meteorology, project management,

quantity surveying and urban and regional planning.

4. Develop a framework for the green rating of local and imported building

materials and provide intellectual support for the establishment of a

Nigerian Green Building Council and also develop a Green Building

Rating System for Nigeria.

13

5. Supervise and provide research support to PhD and MPhil/MTech/MSc

students in conducting research into sustainable building in tropical

regions by leveraging the materials available through the web portal.

6. Organize two international conferences and two workshops with themes

directly related to sustainable building in tropical regions and produce

two books of readings from the presentations made during the

conferences as well as reports from the workshops.

7. Provide a platform for collaboration by the academia with government

agencies, non-governmental organizations, building materials

manufacturers and building contractors and other stakeholders for the

promotion of sustainable building practices and for the dissemination of

research findings.

7.3 Project Goals

The development of a green building rating system for Nigeria will require

collaboration between various disciplines in the academia, the building industry and

government agencies. There is need to provide a platform where there can be

exchange of ideas and information to promote best practices and to avoid duplication

of effort. Given the diversity of interests and the large geographic area involved, the

most appropriate network should be cybernetic. This project has 5 primary goals

(figure 3).

1. The primary goal of this research is to foster collaboration by creating a web

portal -- an Internet resource that provides information from diverse sources

in a unified way -- to collect information about research and researchers in

the area of sustainable building, organise these documents, and make them

available in a comprehensible yet comprehensive manner.

2. Creation of a current and accurate database for sustainable building. The

relevance and comprehensiveness of documents available through the web

portal can be promoted by emphasizing extensive coverage of academic

institutions, government agencies, non-governmental organizations, building

contractors and building materials manufacturers in Nigeria. This will help

identify areas where there is urgent need for research and documentation and

14

thus guide the allocation of project topics to postgraduate students attached to

the project.

3. Publicising and promotion of the resources available to encourage full

participation by all stakeholders through mailing lists, chat rooms, members’

area, seminars, conferences and interviews publicised on radio and television.

4. Human capital development through the training of a group of experts in

sustainable building by supervising and supporting postgraduate students.

5. The development of a green building rating system and the establishment of a

green building council for Nigeria.

Figure 3: Clustering of goals.

15

7.4 Distribution of Universities participating in the research:

There are seven universities participating in the research project (Figure 4).

1. Federal University of Technology, Akure

2. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

3. Federal University of Technology, Minna

4. University of Jos, Jos

5. Federal University of Technology, Yola

6. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

7. Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma

8. Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi

Figure 4: Geographical spread of participating universities.

8 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This research project is quite unlike the standard laboratory or survey based research

where a few hypotheses are formulated and the researcher designs a method of

testing whether they are true or false, and probably also examines the relationships

between cause and effect. This research is more like prototyping or product/service

development. The acceptance of the resulting prototype or product is subject to the

16

preferences of the end-user, and while a prototype or product can be deemed to be

successful, it can never be perfect since there is always room for improvement with

advances in technology and knowledge. Bruseberg and McDonagh-Philp (2000)

recommend the following methods for user-centred design research.

1. Corporate planning – design planning.

2. Preparation and understanding of the problem.

3. Idea generation.

4. Concept selection.

5. Embodiment and detail design.

Power Decisions Group (2009) further specified the following stages for new product

development:

1. Concept generation.

2. Concept evaluation.

3. Concept spin-off and development.

4. Quantitative concept testing.

5. Prototype development.

6. Pre-launch market test.

8.1 Steps involved in developing a Green Building Rating System

The recent conference on development of green building rating tools for Africa

deliberated on the processes involved in developing a green building rating tool. The

tool development structure is made up of a technical working group, consultants and

sponsors. The process starts with a pilot tool development followed by a pilot and

feedback period. The first version of the tool is then launched. This is followed by

revisions.

8.2 Approaches and methods

With the active participation of over a dozen members of the research team, dozens

of academic institutions and research institutes, dozens of postgraduate students, and

hundreds of other stakeholders, all working on several objectives sometimes

simultaneously, the most difficult task is probably coordination and keeping the

project on track to achieve the stated objectives within the projected time frame. In

this situation it is necessary to develop a strategy, set clear goals and use an incentive

system in mobilizing participants to achieve specific targets. Team work is essential,

and it is important for each participant to understand how his or her contribution will

advance the overall goals.

17

8.3 Distributed management

The management of the project will be shared among all research team members who

will be responsible for their institutions, geographical area, fields of specialization,

and postgraduate students. This responsibility will be matched by control over

approvals and expenditures that fall within these domains. The regular coordination

meetings and monthly reports to the principal researcher will allow reallocation of

duties and resources to meet specified targets when it becomes inevitable. The

deliberate overlap of domains is expected to encourage team work and to compensate

for any temporary shortfalls in performance by a research team member.

8.4 Web portal design specifications

The web portal is envisaged to be a hosted, domain-specific, environmental, regional

portal. It is hosted because it is designed and maintained by a group, instead of by a

government, corporation or association. It is domain specific because it concentrates

on the sustainable building and it is regional because it contains local content from

Nigeria and the West African sub-region. The services proposed include directory

services, library services, online publications, news (competitions, conferences,

software reviews, featured architects and projects), building laws, professional

forums, blogs, chat rooms, members’ area, email, website hosting services,

advertising services, customized search engine and mirroring of popular web

resources. Most services will be accessible to all visitors, although specific

operations will require registration.

The portal will provide a single point of access to specialist information through a

secure web browser. This will eliminate the need to conduct separate searches across

various systems.

Architects, planners, urban designers, landscape architects, engineers and other

consultants in the building industry form the main target audience of the portal.

Students, lecturers, contractors, federal and state agencies, building materials

manufacturers and other service providers in the building industry are an equally

important target audience. This population is mainly defined by occupation,

profession, geographic location, interest, education and level of computer literacy.

The graphical layout of the portal will be simple and revised periodically to keep up

with user expectations and technology. Generally, there will be advertisement bands

on the top and right of every page, while links to external web pages will as much as

possible be displayed in a window and not on the whole screen. Advertisements will

18

be context-sensitive but as unobtrusive as possible. Display on handheld devices,

such as mobile phones and tablets, is planned for future versions.

8.5 Data collection

The data collection in this research project falls into three categories:

1. Collection of data by postgraduate students and researchers for specific

research topics.

2. Collection of data for dissemination through the web portal.

3. Collection of data for developing a green building rating system.

In the first case, the data collection methods will be specified for each project in the

proposal which will be approved by the research team.

Collection of data for dissemination through the web portal will mainly employ the

web portal for capturing this data. The starting point is obtaining lists of staff from

academic and research institutes, and request for Curriculum Vita through mailing

lists created from these lists. This will be used to generate a database of researchers

and publications. These publications will then be collected by direct request or

purchase from the authors and publishers, purchase on the open market, and

borrowing from libraries. This will be supplemented by Internet searches, requests

for collection listings from libraries, advertisements in online editions of popular

newspapers requesting for contribution of research papers, interviews, and

questionnaires. These questionnaires will be administered by postgraduate students.

The hosting on online journals by the web portal will also allow the capturing of not

only current publications, but also archive issues. These publications will be mainly

books, journals and monographs, but will also include drawings and audio-visual

media.

Collection of data for development of a green building rating system will be

incorporated into the research conducted by selected PhD students who will

determine the most appropriate techniques subject to the approval of the research

team.

8.6 Instruments for data collection

The instruments used for data collection will depend on the category of data being

collected as described in the section data collection above. These instruments will be

designed for specific projects and will include questionnaires, interview forms, etc.

19

8.7 Meetings and consultations

Meetings and consultations with research team members, postgraduate students, and

other stakeholders will be an important source of data. Apart from face to face

meetings and consultations, there will also be online meetings: chat rooms, bulletin

boards, members’ areas, blogs, etc.

8.9 Sampling techniques and sample size

The choice of sampling technique and sample size will be determined by the nature

and characteristics of individual research projects.

8.10 Analysis and organization of data

Analysis of data for each research project will be carried out by postgraduate

students and researchers that collected the data using methods approved by the

research team. The organization of data will depend on the nature and quantum of

data collected, but it will also depend on feedback from end users. The use of

distributed databases is essential to meet the standard requirement of searches and

refreshing of web pages not taking more than ten seconds. Postgraduate students will

be assigned specific topics in the development of data collection methods, database

design, user interface design, site security and achievement of reliability through

redundancy. They will be assisted by technologists and computer programmers

employed for the project, and in special circumstances, by external consultants.

8.11 Dissemination of research findings

The research findings will be disseminated mainly through seminars, conferences,

workshops, and interviews on radio and television. The web portal will also be

designed to ensure that the site is ranked high by popular search engines when search

terms related to sustainable building in Nigeria and West Africa are entered. Other

methods will include use of mailing lists, subscriptions by visitors to monthly e-

bulletins, chat rooms, blogs and members’ areas.

8.12 Seminars

Seminars will be organised regularly to present the proposals, data from field work

and data analysis of postgraduate students. These seminars will be hosted by the

institution where the student is registered, but the paper and comments will also be

posted online on the web portal.

20

8.13 Conferences

Two international conferences will be organised around the theme of sustainable

building and green building rating systems. Emphasis will be on research findings.

Online participation and video recording of all proceedings will be made available

online through the web portal.

8.14 Broadcasting of interviews on radio and television

Monthly or quarterly interviews on radio or television by a member of the research

team or PhD student to discuss the project will be arranged.

9. DESIRED OUTPUTS

The measurement of the success of the research will be by the following parameters:

1. Development of a vibrant and expanding intellectual community built

around the web portal.

2. Access to current information about sustainable building and the building

industry in the study area.

3. Development and testing of a green building rating system.

4. Establishment of green building councils.

10. CONCLUSION

This paper gave an overview of all the issues related to the development of GBC and

GBRS for Nigeria and it demonstrated through the on-going research how to foster

the progress associated with this development.

In establishing the Nigerian GBC, it was concluded that the initiators can follow the

Guide by the World Green Building Council by using the step-by-step instructions

published on their website. National input is very important and this paper

demonstrated how to guide the interested parties and prioritize the national resources

by introducing the concept of a regional portal for sustainable building and GBRS in

Nigeria.

To make it easy to communicate a building’s sustainability achievements with the

others, the authors of this presentation recommend that a particular GBRS should be

adapted for Nigeria, or a new one developed. This implies that the selection process

should be carefully established and this may be possible if all stakeholders of the

building industry and affiliated professions participate. This may be done through the

proposed Regional Portal. In addition, in view of the multitude of possible

21

approaches in selecting GBRS, it is obvious that detailed and well-funded research is

much needed to develop an appropriate solution for Nigeria.

Finally the last emphasis is on the timing: THE TIME IS NOW.

9. REFERENCES

Bldgsim (2011). Tools for better and more Sustainable Building Design: Common

Carbon Metric. Retrieved from: http://bldgsim.wordpress.com/2010/06/25/

common-carbon-metric-protocol-for-measuring-energy-use-and-reporting-

greenhouse-gas-emissions-from-building-operations/

Bruseberg, A. & Deana McDonagh-Philp, D. (2000). User-Centred Design Research

Methods: The Designer’s Perspective. Department of Design and

Technology, Loughborough University. Retrieved from

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download;jsessionid=37240595088F2FE

A8C79ADB10A8A7192?doi=10.1.1.99.7523&rep=rep1&type=pdf.

Fowler K. M. & Rauch E. M. (2006). Sustainable Building Rating Systems

Summary. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. Retrieved from:

http://www.pnl.gov/main/publications/external/technical_reports/PNNL-

15858.pdf

German Sustainable Building Council (2009). Global Green Building Organisations

Agree Common Carbon Metrics. Retrieved from

http://www.dgnb.de/de/news/presseinfos/detail.php?we_objectID=3218.

Green Building Council of South Africa (2011). Council Developing New Rating

tool. Retrieved from: http://www.gbcsa.org.za/home.php

Green Building South Africa (2011). The South African eJournal of Green Building.

Retrieved from: http://www.greenbuilding.co.za/content/green-building/

ejournal.html

Greenfan (2011). Online Sustainable Product Supplier and Green Building

Community. Retrieved from: http://www.greenfan.co.za

http://forum.unhabitat.org/followup-to-conference-46-may-

2010_topic20.html

Kehew, R. (2010). Follow-up to Conference (4-6 May 2010): Letter by Bruce

Kerswill, Executive Chair, Green Building Council for South Africa.

22

Ogunsote, O. O., Ogunsote, B. V. & Prucnal-Ogunsote, B. (2008). ArchNetNG:

Leveraging Web 2.0 Technologies for Self-Propagation of Open Resources

for Architectural Education in Extended-Family Cultures. Proceedings of the

E-Learning Africa 2008 3rd International Conference on ICT for

Development, Education and Training. Accra International Conference

Centre (AICC), Accra, Ghana, May 28 – May 30, 2008.

Ogunsote, O.O. (2011). Development of a Web Portal for Sustainable Building and

Green Building Rating System in Nigeria. ETF Research Proposal by Federal

University of Technology, Akure.

Ogunsote, O.O., Prucnal-Ogunsote, B. & Ude, O. A. (2010). Methods and Resources

for Web-Enhanced Architectural Research in Nigeria. Journal of the

Association of Architectural Educators in Nigeria (AARCHESJ), 8:1, 39-55.

AARCHES, Owerri.

Power Decisions Group (2009). Strategic Brand Research: Use New Product

Marketing Research Methods that Deliver Results. Retrieved from

http://www.powerdecisions.net/new-products-marketing-research-matrix/.

Prucnal-Ogunsote, B. (2010). Two Largest 2010 Nigerian Architects’ Gatherings

Focused on Sustainability. News SB11 Helsinki. Retrieved from:

http://www.sb11.org/sb11-helsinki/news/reporting-from....html.

Prucnal-Ogunsote, B., Okwoli, F. J. P. & Ude, O. A. (2010). Progress and Prospects

of Promoting Sustainable Architecture through Education in Nigeria.

Proceedings of the Architects Registration Council of Nigeria (ARCON) 3rd

Architects Colloquium. Theme: Architecture and the National Development

Agenda III. 19 – 21 April 2010, Abuja.

UK Green Building Council (2007). Report on Carbon Reductions in New Non-

Domestic Buildings. Report from UK Green Building Council, Department

for Communities and Local Government. Retrieved from

http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/ 5057/1/5057.pdf.

UNEP SBCI (2011). Common Carbon Metric for Measuring Energy Use &

Reporting Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Building Operations. Retrieved

from: http://www.unep.org/sbci/pdfs/UNEPSBCICarbonMetric.pdf.

UN-HABITAT (2010a). Nairobi Declaration on Green Building for Africa.

Retrieved from http://www.unhabitat.org/downloads/docs/

8313_12630_GreenBldgRatingAfricaFINAL.pdf.

23

UN-HABITAT (2010b). News: African Professionals Push Green Building Agenda.

Retrieved from: http://www.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=8310&catid=

5&typeid=6&subMenuId=0.

World Green Building Council (2011a). GBC Directory: Membership Status for

Africa. http://www.mt.worldgbc.org/green-building-councils/index.php?

status= &region=Africa&option=com_countryfinder.

World Green Building Council (2011b). World Green Building Council Roadmap:

An Introduction to Green Building Council Development. Retrieved from:

http://www.worldgbc.org/files/pdf/roadmap%20-%20final.pdf.

24

APPENDICES

Appendix A. GBRS Pre-Screened from the Analysis.

Source: Fowler and Rauch (2006).

25

Appendix B. GBRS Pre-Screened from the Analysis.

Source: Fowler and Rauch (2006).

26

Appendix C. GBRS Pre-Screened from the Analysis.

Source: Fowler and Rauch (2006).