Exploring sustainability practices in pre-construction planning for energy-efficient building projects

Abstract

This study investigates the integration of sustainability practices during the pre-construction planning phase of energy-efficient building projects in Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was administered to construction professionals, including architects, engineers, builders, project managers, and sustainability consultants. A total of 100 valid responses were obtained. Descriptive statistics and regression analysis were conducted using IBM SPSS Statistics (version 27). The findings show that environmental impact assessments, and land-degradation mitigation, are the most frequently implemented pre-construction sustainability measures, while sustainable material sourcing and local content adoption are less prioritised. The study contributes empirical evidence to the sparsely explored pre-construction phase in the Nigerian built environment and highlights the need for enhanced policy support and professional capacity-building to improve the adoption of sustainable practices. Although the empirical evidence is drawn from Nigeria, the findings offer transferable insights for other developing and emerging economies facing similar regulatory, institutional, and capacity constraints in integrating sustainability during the pre-construction phase of energy-efficient building projects. The study therefore contributes to global discourse on early-stage sustainability integration and SDG-aligned construction practices.