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Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals

Received: 27 December 2023    Accepted: 8 January 2024    Published: 23 January 2024
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Abstract

Despite the growing global emphasis on sustainable construction practices and the increasing urgency to minimize the environmental footprint of the construction industry, there remains a critical question mark regarding the preparedness, knowledge, and awareness of certain future professionals – Building Technology Education students. The lack of clarity on whether these students possess adequate knowledge, skills, and a mindset geared towards eco-friendly practices forms the crux of the problem. This study aimed to investigate and address this gap in understanding the sustainability consciousness of Building Technology Education students using a descriptive survey design and adopted the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ) as an instrument for data collection. Cronbach alpha reliability test of the instrument yielded a satisfactory α = 0.841. Findings across knowingness, attitudes, and behaviours related to sustainability, reveal that students demonstrated alignment and agreement, indicating not only a robust understanding of sustainability concepts but also a positive inclination and active engagement in behaviours supporting sustainability initiatives. Moreover, comparing academic years revealed a significant difference in sustainability consciousness between final-year students and those in earlier academic stages. This highlights the evolving nature of sustainability awareness throughout the educational journey, suggesting that sustainability consciousness becomes more pronounced as a student progresses in study. These insights are invaluable for educators, institutions, and policymakers, indicating the need for continuous reinforcement of sustainability education and practices throughout the BTE curriculum to foster a more comprehensive and consistent sustainability consciousness among these future professionals, towards greening the building construction industry.

Published in Humanities and Social Sciences (Volume 12, Issue 1)
DOI 10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12
Page(s) 13-18
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Sustainability, Greening, Sustainability Consciousness, Building Technology Education

References
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[3] Green Building Council of Nigeria [GBCN] (2021). About GBCN. https://gbcn.org.ng/about/
[4] Ahn, Y. H., Cho, C.-S., & Lee, N. (2013). Building Information Modeling: Systematic Course Development for Undergraduate Construction Students. Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 139(4), 290–300. https://doi.org/10.1061/(ASCE)EI.1943-5541.0000164
[5] Darko, A., Chan, A. P. C., Owusu-Manu, D. and Ameyaw, E. E. (2017). Drivers for implementing green building technologies: An international survey of experts. Journal of Cleaner Production. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.01.043
[6] Kibert, C. J. (2013). Sustainable Construction: Green Building Design and Delivery. John Wiley & Son Inc.
[7] WCED. (1987). Our Common Future. Brundtland Report, United Nations World Commission on Environment and Development.
[8] Gericke, N., Boeve-de Pauw, J., Berglund, T., & Olsson, D. (2019). The Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire: The theoretical development and empirical validation of an evaluation instrument for stakeholders working with sustainable development. Sustainable Development, 27(1), 35–49. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.1859
[9] Alsaati, T., El-Nakla, S., & El-Nakla, D. (2020). Level of Sustainability Awareness among University Students in the Eastern Province of Saudi Arabia. Sustainability, 12(8), Article 8. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083159
[10] Berglund, T., Gericke, N., & Chang Rundgren, S.-N. (2014). The implementation of education for sustainable development in Sweden: Investigating the sustainability consciousness among upper secondary students. Research in Science & Technological Education, 32(3), 318–339.
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[16] Heeren, Alexander J., Ajay S. Singh, Adam K. Zwickle, Tomas M. Koontz, and Anna C. McCreery. (2016). Is Sustainability Knowledge Half the Battle? An examination of Sustainability Knowledge, Attitudes, Norms, and efficacy to Understand Sustainable Behaviours. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education 17(5), 613–632.
[17] Kalsoom, Q., Khanam, A., & Quraishi, U. (2017). Sustainability consciousness of pre-service teachers in Pakistan. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 18(7), 1090–1107. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSHE-11-2016-0218
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Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Chukwu, D. U., Okereke, G. K., Ojo, S. A., Okekpa, A. A., Vershima, M. N., et al. (2024). Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals. Humanities and Social Sciences, 12(1), 13-18. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12

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    ACS Style

    Chukwu, D. U.; Okereke, G. K.; Ojo, S. A.; Okekpa, A. A.; Vershima, M. N., et al. Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals. Humanit. Soc. Sci. 2024, 12(1), 13-18. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12

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    AMA Style

    Chukwu DU, Okereke GK, Ojo SA, Okekpa AA, Vershima MN, et al. Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals. Humanit Soc Sci. 2024;12(1):13-18. doi: 10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12

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  • @article{10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12,
      author = {Daniel Uchenna Chukwu and Godwin Keres Okereke and Samson Abayomi Ojo and Anayo Alagba Okekpa and Mark Nande Vershima and Isaac Chinedu Kechere},
      title = {Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals},
      journal = {Humanities and Social Sciences},
      volume = {12},
      number = {1},
      pages = {13-18},
      doi = {10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.hss.20241201.12},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.hss.20241201.12},
      abstract = {Despite the growing global emphasis on sustainable construction practices and the increasing urgency to minimize the environmental footprint of the construction industry, there remains a critical question mark regarding the preparedness, knowledge, and awareness of certain future professionals – Building Technology Education students. The lack of clarity on whether these students possess adequate knowledge, skills, and a mindset geared towards eco-friendly practices forms the crux of the problem. This study aimed to investigate and address this gap in understanding the sustainability consciousness of Building Technology Education students using a descriptive survey design and adopted the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ) as an instrument for data collection. Cronbach alpha reliability test of the instrument yielded a satisfactory α = 0.841. Findings across knowingness, attitudes, and behaviours related to sustainability, reveal that students demonstrated alignment and agreement, indicating not only a robust understanding of sustainability concepts but also a positive inclination and active engagement in behaviours supporting sustainability initiatives. Moreover, comparing academic years revealed a significant difference in sustainability consciousness between final-year students and those in earlier academic stages. This highlights the evolving nature of sustainability awareness throughout the educational journey, suggesting that sustainability consciousness becomes more pronounced as a student progresses in study. These insights are invaluable for educators, institutions, and policymakers, indicating the need for continuous reinforcement of sustainability education and practices throughout the BTE curriculum to foster a more comprehensive and consistent sustainability consciousness among these future professionals, towards greening the building construction industry.
    },
     year = {2024}
    }
    

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    T1  - Greening the Building Construction Industry: Sustainability Consciousness of Building Technology Education Would-Be Professionals
    AU  - Daniel Uchenna Chukwu
    AU  - Godwin Keres Okereke
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    JO  - Humanities and Social Sciences
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    AB  - Despite the growing global emphasis on sustainable construction practices and the increasing urgency to minimize the environmental footprint of the construction industry, there remains a critical question mark regarding the preparedness, knowledge, and awareness of certain future professionals – Building Technology Education students. The lack of clarity on whether these students possess adequate knowledge, skills, and a mindset geared towards eco-friendly practices forms the crux of the problem. This study aimed to investigate and address this gap in understanding the sustainability consciousness of Building Technology Education students using a descriptive survey design and adopted the Sustainability Consciousness Questionnaire (SCQ) as an instrument for data collection. Cronbach alpha reliability test of the instrument yielded a satisfactory α = 0.841. Findings across knowingness, attitudes, and behaviours related to sustainability, reveal that students demonstrated alignment and agreement, indicating not only a robust understanding of sustainability concepts but also a positive inclination and active engagement in behaviours supporting sustainability initiatives. Moreover, comparing academic years revealed a significant difference in sustainability consciousness between final-year students and those in earlier academic stages. This highlights the evolving nature of sustainability awareness throughout the educational journey, suggesting that sustainability consciousness becomes more pronounced as a student progresses in study. These insights are invaluable for educators, institutions, and policymakers, indicating the need for continuous reinforcement of sustainability education and practices throughout the BTE curriculum to foster a more comprehensive and consistent sustainability consciousness among these future professionals, towards greening the building construction industry.
    
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Author Information
  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

  • Department of Industrial Technical Education, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Nigeria

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