ASSESMENT OF INTEGRATING SUSTAINABILITY in BUILDING CONSTRUCTION PROJECTS: A CASE of HARAR TOWN

Abstract

The present world condition is a consequence of the increasing consumption of resources whose depletion exceeds what is physically possible to sustain. The construction sector is a considerable contributor to this resource depletion. Sustainable construction is a vital requirement to safeguard the world for future generations. With the balanced requirement of environmental, economic and social objectives in construction projects intensifying, the need for integrating sustainability in construction project has drawn attention. In the study area Harar lack of integrating sustainability in building construction projects affects the environment, society, and economy of the town. Thus, the paper aims to assess the integration of sustainability on building construction projects by assessing integration of sustainability level, practice, & framework of integrating sustainability; and evaluate the impacts in lack of integrating sustainability in building construction projects of Harar. A comprehensive literature survey would be carried out to develop a conceptual linkage of building construction projects, integrating sustainability, and its impacts on lack of integrating in building construction projects. The research design used in this study was descriptive and explanatory survey types using quantitative and qualitative method. This was followed by a questionnaire survey for 21 building construction projects in Harar and the gathered data was analyzed using statistical package for social science (SPSS) and Excel then interpreted according to the research objectives. The finding of the study revealed understanding of integrating sustainability in Harar building construction projects is not at the required level, & its application and practice is not satisfactory. The finding also indicates ineffective economic, environment, and social integration of sustainability throughout the life cycle of building construction projects. Moreover, majority of building construction projects are not typically assess integration of sustainability based on assessment frameworks, guides, legislation, standards, and tools in triple bottom line (TBL) sustainability dimensions and stages of building construction projects. Furthermore, lack of integrating sustainability in Harar building construction projects had been impacts on economic, environmental, and social dimension, and also unable to achieve benefits from integrating sustainability. Therefore, it is established that there is a huge requirement to increase integration of sustainability practice, attain benefits from holistic integration, and reduce impacts on lack of integrating sustainability in Harar building construction projects.