The Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria (CORBON) has urged professionals in the construction industry to prioritize the creation of environmentally sustainable buildings as a measure to mitigate the threat of climate change.
The Chairman of the Council, Samson Opaluwah, gave this advice during a workshop for members of the Nigerian Institute of Builders in Facilities Management (NIBFM) held recently in Lagos.
He said this on the heels of several windstorms that have destroyed houses in several states, including Ogun, Plateau and Kwara States.
At least 85 houses were destroyed, and 1,000 people were displaced following the devastating impact of the rainstorm on their homes.
Opaluwah admitted that there was an upsurge of climate change in the world, underscoring the role of facility managers in ensuring the safety of infrastructure and properties.
“The sort of thing that happened in Lagos and Ogun States cannot be divorced from the climate change that is being experienced in the world, and what we can use to address climate change is green buildings.
“They are environmentally friendly homes. Homes that will not use too much carbon because carbonation is the norm, where you will deflate the ozone layer,” he said.
Also, he revealed that only the Federal Capital Territory and two other states had embraced the council’s Projects Monitoring & Evaluation Unit (PMEU), which was established to prevent the hazards of building construction.
He called on other state governments to leverage PMEU, describing it as the council’s public service to the country.
“We have, therefore, offered our hands in partnership with the Federal and State Governments to ensure sanity on the building construction sites throughout the country through the establishment of our Projects Monitoring & Evaluation Unit.
“We urge both national and subnational governments to take advantage of this offer to manage their building sites effectively,” he remarked.
The NIBFM National Chairman, Olufemi Akinsola, noted that the workshop was designed to train several professionals in the building spectrum, ranging from quantity surveyors to architects and engineers, in the new area of facility management.
“They asked us to train the members in facility management. Whether you have a building, architecture, or engineering degree, do not serve as a facility manager. It only provides a background that can upskill you to become a facility manager,” he declared.
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