Exploring Green Design Strategies In A Proposed Benue International Cargo Airport, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

In recent years, there has been a substantial growth in the agricultural products from Benue state which can be harnessed to foster the upkeep of the nation's teeming population as well as increase revenue generation through export. One viable way to enable these products get to other parts of the world is by air, air cargo refers to the transportation of goods via aircraft Airport operations are associated with negative environmental impacts which include resource consumption, gas emissions, noise nuisance, waste production, poor local air quality, water contamination and biodiversity loss. As a result of this researchers are looking for ways to reduce the overall consumption of resources and production of waste to increase profit camings and mitigate the negative impacts of airports on the environment. Going by this premise, the aim of this research is to undertake an in-depth study of green design strategies in view of designing a sustainable international cargo airport for Benue state. The research was carried out to answer questions of existing green design strategies in literature, green design strategies adopted in Nigerian airports, sustainability awareness of airport workers and the current indoor environmental conditions of Nigerian airports. In achieving the objectives of this study, a mixed method of research was adopted. The sample size was drawn systematically from a study population of all the airports in Nigeria. Data was collected via four strategies namely, review of pertinent literature, case study survey, observation of green design metrics and questionnaire surveys issued to airport workers and users to ascertain their level of awareness and evaluate satisfaction of indoor environmental conditions respectively. The data obtained was analysed with a combination of content analysis and SPSS statistical package, descriptive statistics was used for result presentation Results revealed that the use of Alucobond was consistent in all the airports while water conservation, alternative energy sources and natural ventilation were grossly neglected. The airport workers are fairly aware of the sustainability strategies and users of airports reported that indoor environmental conditions of Nigerian airports are satisfactory. From a sustainable perspective, this study emphasizes the need to take into account green strategies in the design of airports and it reveals a number of strategies that can be easily implemented to curb environmental degradation and circumvent operational cost of airports.