TITLE:
Strategies for Sustainable Environmental Management of Construction Activities in Ghana
AUTHORS:
Simon Ofori Ametepey, Samuel Ansah, William Gyadu-Asiedu
KEYWORDS:
Construction Industry, Environmental Management, Strategies, Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Development
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Building Construction and Planning Research,
Vol.8 No.3,
September
22,
2020
ABSTRACT: The Ghanaian construction industry continues to improve by the recent
intensification of infrastructure development by government and the private
sector. Nonetheless, this is happening with a strong focus on economic
development to the detriment of the environment these activities affect. This
paper focuses on identifying the strategies by which sustainable environmental
management could be structured to mitigate the impact of construction
activities in Ghana. A mixed-method research approach was adopted. Quantitative
data were collected from 83 practitioners in the construction industry, while
qualitative data were elicited from 18 Construction and Environmental
Management practitioners. The mean scores indicated that all the 20 strategies
for integrating environmental concerns into construction activities in Ghana
were considered significant by the respondents. The empirical findings of the
study indicate that for environmental concerns to be effectively integrated
into construction activities in Ghana, a concerted effort will be required from
the various actors within the construction industry. These include the role of
clients in selecting environmentally conscious service providers, designers
focusing on environmentally friendly construction materials and methods,
reduce, recycling and reuse of waste materials, the commitment of government towards
sustainable development, and well-structured educational campaigns to promote
environmentally sustainable construction activities.