Developing a criteria for measuring the environmental performance of construction activities in Ghana

Construction is the mainstay of every economy and contributes immensely to the gross domestic product. Its contribution toward the development of any nation cannot be under estimated. Despite the massive benefits drive from this construction activities it impacts negatively on the environment throughout the life cycle of development. These impacts occur from early work on-site through the construction period, operational period and to the final demolition when a building comes to an end of its life. This sector has purported to be considered as one of the main sources of environmental pollution and waste in the world. It has massive direct and indirect effects on the environment. The Economy of Ghana is experiencing widespread construction projects which increases the pressure on the environment and generate various waste. Environmental protection is an important issue in developed and developing countries which must be taken into accounts. Construction is not an environmentally friendly process by nature as indicated by some researchers. The study aim to develop a criteria for measuring the environmental performance of construction activities in Ghana. Giving more drive to the study, emphasis was laid on the following objectives which formed the core component of this study; assessing the major impact of construction activities on the environment during the construction process, determining the perceptions of construction experts (structural engineers, architects and quantity surveyors ), consultants and contractors concerning the influences of construction activities on the environment in Ghana, determining the most significant factors that influence material waste production during construction as well as proposing and validating a workable criteria for measuring the environmental performance of construction activities in Ghana. The main tools for the collection of data included questionnaires, interviews and site observations. The target population for the data collection included structural engineer‟s project managers architectural and quantity surveying firms. Statistical package for social scientists (SPSS version 20.0) was employed to analyze data obtained. Relative Importance Index was also applied. The resultant outcome from the analysis indicated that consumption of large amounts of energy during the processing of materials, construction processes and in the use of constructed structures, dust and gas emission released during the production and transportation of materials, disruption of people living in the vicinity of construction projects through traffic diversion, noise pollution and others, Production of substantial volumes of waste and Waste water discharge are most important factors that impact on the environment during the construction process. Similarly Raw materials consumption was determined by all respondents under the resource consumption group of environmental impacts as the principal environmental impact of construction activities in Ghana. The study revealed that poor delivery method, poor product knowledge, inclement weather and lack of training account for material waste generation during construction. It is therefore recommended with a cue from this study that, the national building regulations should be reviewed to take into consideration of environmental regulations. Similarly, all forms of construction activities should be subjected to an environmental impact assessment to determine the potential impacts and also come up with some measures before they are executed

Source: KNUST