Sustainability : A major challenge facing the expanding cities in the developing countries is that posed by the provision of adequate housing for their ever increasing population policies and strategies aimed at addressing the problem have continued to change In the simplest form sustainable is defined as, 1., Capable of being sustained 2. of ielating to, or being a method’ of harvesting or using a resource so that the resource is not depleted or permanently damaged... (Mertiam — Webster, 1994) Sustainability is*concerned-with how to maititain and even improve the quality of hiiman life withir: the carrying capacity of supporting ecosystenis, Sustainability is not only limited to the physical and built environmént but to such areas as Agriculture, trade, economy and the like but our focus is on the sustainable development as it affeets the Building industry and the built environment. According to the Brundtland feport “Humanity has the ability to make development sustainable’ ~ to ensure that it meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generation to ‘meet iheir own needs....” (WCED, 199058). The Earth summit in Rio: de’ Janeiro in 1992 proposed a global Agenda 21 :which, every participating country Was advice to bring out a local ‘Agenda 21 Which goal is to halt and reverse the environmental damage to our plane? and to promote environmentally sound and sustainable development in all.countries of the earth, Sustainable Building ' An entire building may be» disaggregated into physical and societal processes that form complex subsystem of the whole system. System is classified as either closed in which all the component processes interact only with one another and not influenced by other external processes. An open system on the other hand does interact with other systems external to itself. , At implies that a closed system will have no impact outside itself while an open system impact on the environment with which it interacts, A building thus is an open system. Sustainable building ‘design should aim to provide a balanced solution, offering optimum working/living conditions, alongside reduced environmental impact, both now and in the future, The'life cycle of a building must be viewed as a whole to determine the sustainability or otherwise of the building the life cycle of any building can be broken down into four distinct stages. a Production of the building — initiation and design, manufacture of materials and components and their assembly. b, The use of the building with its requirements for, operation and maintenance; Fi The renovation/rehabilitation/recycling of the building which parallels the production process; di, The demo! in of the building with the reuse or waste of materials and component,A sustainable building must therefore at every stage gf its erection be Such that will not negate the environment nor jeopardize the health of the people In the production of the building, the energy involved in both extraction and manufacturing process of the components and materials used must be put into consideration the use of recycled materials be emphasized also. The overall energy used in the real construction need to be minimal if the building is to be sustainable, and whilé’ the building is in use the durability of the materials, Ability to minimize, every requirement for lighting and ventilation are parts of what makes a building sustainable, A sustainable building in the aspect of cost will need not cost more by given adequate attention to de il, using standard dimensions, simple structural layout and the use of modular/pre-constructed elements, these help,to reduce construction waste. To make sure, that the nation is producing more sustainable building and other physical infrastructures, two vital issues must need be addressed w! ‘h are Sustainable Architecture and Sustainable Construction, Sustainable Architecture The “architecture* that the nation used to know does not really consider the issues of sustainability or the Sustainable environment. architecture involves a combination of values including i environmental aesthetics, political and moral. It is about, using the architectures, imagination and | technical knowledge to engage in a central aspect of the practice, designing and building in harmony with our environment. It is a revised conceptudlization of architecture in response to a myriad of contemporary concerns about the effect of human activity. Sustainable architecture” is worrying less about what nature can do to us and more about what we have done to nature. This marks the transition from predominance of external risk to that ‘of manufactured tisk, Building production contributes directly and substantially to manufactured tisk because of the: amount of raw materials, energy, and capital they devour and the pollutants . they “emit, Sustainable architecture , through design is the practice of creating healthier and more resource efficient model of construction, rehovation, operation, maintenance and even demolition, Sustainably designed and constructed buildings aim to lessen their impact on the environment. Sustainable Construction Sustainable construction is defined as the creation and responsible management of a healthy, built environment based on resource coefficient and ecological principles. It is an integrative and holistic process aiming io restore harmony between the natural and the built environment, and create ; settlements thit affirm human dignity and encourage economic equity. Generally ,the issues that are encompassed by sustainable construction are;L. Resource Energy consumption ° Water use Laid use Materials selection 2. Healthy Environment Indoor Environment Quality Exterior Environmental Quality 3. * Design Building design Community Design 4. Environmental Effects Construction The construction industry is responsi le for roughly 40 pet cent" of all resources consumption and 40 percent of all Breenhouse gas emissions). Construction activities, waste production (including whether.through the manufacturing of materials or through the operational activities. of ‘ctual constructi n, also “lead to a number of other environment problems which include loss of arable land, release of toxins into. the biosphere deforestation, noise and dust pollution. Construction and operating buildings requires enormous amount of energy, water and materials and creates large amount of waste. Actually buildings significantly alter the environment. Building consiruction consumes 40 percent of the raw stone, gravel and * sand used globally each year and 25 percent of the virgin, wood, accounting for 40 percent of. the energy and 16 percent of the water used annually worldwide, a iti Reuse and recycling of construction and demolition materials is another component of a larger holistic practice called sustainable “or green building construction. This means reducing, reusing, and eeycling most if not all materials that remains after @ construction or renovation project. Sustainable construction can practices include salvaging dimensional lumber from the project, using aggregates reclaimed from: crushed concrete or grinding drywall amendment, Balancing short aid long-term needs is the heart of most environment problem. Short and medium term needs are much more demanding then the long tertn consideration of most development but sustainable architecture and construction will help in meeting the short term needs while incorporating long term craps for use on site as a soil. considerations. It is of high importance that , sustainable architecture and construction will result in a sustainable built environment with reduction in the cases of building under construction collapse or building in_use collapse. It will reduce the cost of maintaining the building and reduce the energy bill of any building, . For the built environment of a nation like Nigeria to fully benefit from sustainable architecture and | construction, some construction practices in industries which have gained acceptance in most developed countries will be of immense importance, Design for the Environment Tt is. a systematic integration of environmental considerations into product and process design. This approach to sustainability examines a product'sentire life eycle and uses design methods and tools to improve the environmental efficiency ‘ of product/processes ‘by optimizing raw materials * consumption and ‘energy use, improving waste management and pollution prevention, improving products performance and quality, cutting costs and increasing innovation, These are achieved in the following way Raw materials: resource conservation should be aimed at rather than resource depletion, usage of materials that have low impact on the environment than those that negatively impact the environment. Manufacturing: Cleaner production and energy efficiency. helps the environment and do not jeopardize the health of the populace. Product(facility's end of life: Reduction of waste emanating from. product's end of life and also designing for reuse of the product / building components and recycling of recyle able materials In case of non-recycleable materials, the design . should be for safe disposal Life Cycle Assessment Most of the built environment of developing world takes no cognizance of the effects of buildings and other physical facilities on the environment and ultimately on the people, Assessing the life cycle of any proditct and building in this case is looking at that product from initiation stage to the inputs that make up the product in this ease building, checking all materials and components, what effect do their sourcing, transporting and processing has on the énvironment. That is examining the product's iv “environmental and economic aspects and potential impact throughout the building’s lifetime including raw material extraction, transportation, manufacturing, use and disposal. This assessment also looks into the outputs i.e what the building in use releases to the environment and people like emission to air, water and the waste it generates. A positive assessment of- any building ie for the construction process and completed building to be assessed as sustainable, it must carry forward the * intent of the design, maintaining the performance of the systems and renovating and retrofitting. The life afier use, which may be remodeling, deconstruction or demolition of the building should result in a source of materials for new construction with the initial components being able to be recycled or | safely composted.EMBODIED ENERGY . EMBODIED ENERGY IN A BUILDING : The émbodied energy in a building is the amount of energy consumed by all the processes involved in the prodiiction of a building — from the acquisition of raw materials to the delivery and placement of the final product, into the building. It includes the energy used in mining, manufacturing, transportation, construction, and administrative functions. | EMBODIED ENERGY IN A PRODUCT ‘ ‘The embodied energy in a material or product is the amount of energy used in its production, including the administrative functions related to its production. It does not include the energy used in the product’s ‘transportation to the construction site and its installation in the building. CURRENT LAWS ON EMISSIONS AND MANUFACTURING Several federal and state laws *currently control toxic emissions from products during and after manufacturing. Similarly, laws also exist to’ control, regulate, and monitor the entire raw-material use, manufacturing, and use cycle of products. The goals of sustainability, however, aim for even‘higher standards. , REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE - THREE:TENETS OF SUSTAINABILITY Reduce, reuse and recycle, are considered to be the three most important tenets “of susiainablée construction, These tenets are listed in order of their importance. The first tenet (reduce); in fact, far outweighs that of the other two in importance. . 7 Although a great deal of stress is currently being placed on reusability and recyclability, the same level of concem is lacking for appropriate sizing of buildings, automobiles, and other items of human consumption. Regardless of how successful we are with reusability and recyclability, sustainability will not be achieved without seriously addressing the reduction tenet, ' A worrying st about buildings is the gradual increase in the average size of new homes builtin the United States during the past three decades. in 1970, a typical new house was 1,500. In 2005, the corresponding size is 2,300 ft? — an increase of approximately 50%. At the same time, the average family size has become smaller. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RENEWAL AND RECYCLING i The difference between the renewal and recycling of a material is subtle, Renewal refers to the process * of recycling that occurs in nature, Recycling is a deliberate process.