IN a renewed effort to incorporate design, construction and operational practices that significantly reduce or eliminate the negative impact of development on the environment and people, experts have called for cooperation among professionals in the housing industry.

They believe that green buildings have lower operating costs, are more efficient, future-proof, provide a higher rate of return and have been shown to promote wellness, healing and productivity.

The experts made their different submissions at the Buildmacex Exhibition and Seminar, held at Eko hotels &Towers, Victoria Island, last week, attended by architects, quantity surveyors, builders, and others professionals.

Speaking on the Professional Builders and Green Building Development in Nigeria, President, Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB), Mallam Tijjani Shuaib,” said that super effective management and teamwork have characterized successes of many green building projects.

His words: “No one professional can do it. There is perhaps no better place of cooperation than in the green building development where the builder’s production expertise is required in the early stage of feasibility of the projects. Projects are not completed before greening – greening starts at inception to meet rating standards.”

He noted that the construction sector is one of the largest consumers of energy produced, saying that the adopting of good policies will facilitate the achievement of growth in the development of sustainable buildings and a better future for the country.

According to him, fuel wood is used by over 60 per cent of Nigerians living in rural areas with an estimated 50 metric tones of fuel wood consumed annually, a situation he described as a great threat to the environment particularly where the high rate of deforestation is not matched by a corresponding high level of forestation.
“There is also very little being done in the area of sustainable waste disposal. Indiscriminate dumping of waste by individuals and organizations is rife; only in the recent past has Lagos State government embarked on the implementation of a waste management strategy.

Focusing on the stakeholders and good policies will facilitate the achievement of growth in the development of sustainable buildings, he said that the Nigerian Institute of Building and the Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria have continued to foster the training and practice of Builders as the critical link in building production. The core practice of a builder is building production management.

For the President of Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyor (NIQS), Mallam Murtala Mohammed Aliyu, to ensure green buildings and infrastructure, costing is very important at the conception of such projects.
According to him, in the developed economies, they ensure green building and its sustainability, by being conscious of their environment where flooding, hurricane, melting of ice in Arctic region and such occurrences produce negative effects.

He said: “Globalisation has taking over on our daily living, including habits. The kind of accommodation we live, food we eat and general culture must be incorporated in our quest to green environment. What we see in abroad must be domesticated to suit our environment.
“For example, type of houses in the riverine areas of Balyelsa, may not be applicable to housing in Lokoja and other parts of the country. Similarly, buildings we are copying in abroad may not be suitable for our own climate. So, to ensure green building, there is need for domestication of whatever we borrow from the advanced countries. That is the only way to ensure green buildings.”

Speaking on the interface between Architecture and Interior, President, Nigeria Institute of Architects, Waheed Brimmo, affirmed that architecture has always involved all aspects of interior work from inception such as interior architecture, interior design and interior decoration.

According to Brimmo, interior architecture is the design of a space, which has been created by structural boundaries, and the relationship of human interaction within these boundaries. Besides, he said it could also be the initial design and plan for use, then later redesign to accommodate a changed purpose, or a significantly revised design for adaptive reuse of the building shell.

He noted that old buildings could be redesigned and modified for new uses that require structural alteration and reconstruction of the interior space.

The architecture thus creates the interior architecture. Interior design is the art or process of designing interiors; it entails work within the envelope that is based on the conceptual and intended use of the space.

It is the process of creating an experience of the interior space by the use of surface treatment to achieve a look and feel as well as function of the space, while also involves both hard and soft fixtures that form the space”, he said, adding that interior decoration, as the word decoration defines, is the furnishing or adornment of a space with fixtures of a certain fashion not essentially following a design concept.

Decorators aim to make a space beautiful and pleasant and do not require any structured training.
“The proponent of organic architecture was a designer of everything possible within the building that could be designed. His prairie buildings exposed the concept of open plans for the very first time in modern architecture the interface between architecture and interior design and decoration are really blurred in the hands of a master architect and designer.

It also can leave room for others to collaborate and partner with the architect in creating new forms, as we see in the era of futuristic buildings that might end up in outer space colonies in the future”, Brimmo said.