Sustainable Construction: Comparative Advantages of Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) Fascia in Housing Delivery in Nigeria

Abstract

Various environmental challenges posed by the application of non-sustainable construction materials and techniques and higher cost of same in the recent time have made the search for better and cheaper alternatives a crucial task in the provision of housing in Nigeria. As a product of research and technological advancements, modern eco-friendly building materials are currently emerging to satisfy the requirements of sustainable developments and mitigate environmental challenges. One of such materials is the expanded polystyrene or EPS. This paper focuses on sustainable construction with emphasis on the comparative advantages of expanded polystyrene fascia over the conventional concrete fascia in the delivery of housing in Nigeria. The data for the research were obtained through primary sources of data gathering. This involves primary stage of purposeful selection from two cities namely Abuja and Akure, Nigeria, where the material (EPS) was extensively used in housing estates. Analysis of the findings from the two housing estates selected as case studies, reveal that EPS fascia demonstrates faster construction time, flexibility of design, lesser number of labor to be engaged, higher strength, cheaper cost and higher sustainability potentials over the conventional concrete fascia used for similar housing units in same locations. While it was discovered that there is little or no availability of the material in most Nigerian building markets due to lack of awareness among the various stakeholders and practitioners in the building industry, it x-rayed the need for a paradigm shift from the conventional system of building characterized by waste, cradle to grave (demolition) and global warming to a waste-free, recyclable, eco-friendly and cheaper alternative way of building construction.

Keywords: Concrete fascia, Expanded Polystyrene (EPS) fascia, Green architecture, Housing, Sustainable construction,