Adoption of Sustainable Design Strategies in Mid-Rise Office Buildings In Abuja: Awareness, Integration, Barriers and Drivers

Hakeem Hassan Yahya; Emokpae Murphy Erebor; Joseph Audu; Benjamin Moral

doi:10.56201/ijemt.vol.12.no8.2026.pg119.128

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Adoption of Sustainable Design Strategies in Mid-Rise Office Buildings In Abuja: Awareness, Integration, Barriers and Drivers

Hakeem Hassan Yahya, Emokpae Murphy Erebor, Joseph Audu, Benjamin Moral

Abstract

The commercial building sector is a major contributor to global energy consumption and environmental degradation, particularly in rapidly urbanising tropical environments such as Abuja, Nigeria. Mid-rise office buildings of four to eight storeys are common in Abuja's Central Business District , yet many depend heavily on energy-intensive mechanical cooling and artificial lighting because their designs respond inadequately to local climatic conditions. This study examines professionals' awareness of sustainable design strategies, the extent to which these strategies are implemented, and the barriers and drivers that influence their adoption in mid-rise office buildings in Abuja. A mixed-methods research design was adopted; empirical data were collected from 55 built-environment professionals, architects, structural and services engineers, and facility managers, and supplemented with case-study assessment of regional office typologies. Descriptive analysis indicates that awareness is moderate for continuous building-envelope insulation, sustainable landscaping and geothermal heat-pump systems. In practice, however, implementation is uneven and concentrated on accessible measures such as landscaping (Mean = 3.69) and greywater recycling (Mean = 3.67), while more fundamental envelope and daylighting strategies, light shelves (Mean = 1.96) and daylight-harvesting (Mean = 2.00), remain poorly implemented. The principal barriers are concerns about reliability and maintenance (Mean = 4.53), limited technical expertise (Mean = 3.67) and resistance to change (Mean = 3.60), while Integrated Project Delivery (Mean = 3.93) and anticipated improvements in occupant health and productivity (Mean = 3.55) are identified as important drivers. The study concludes by proposing architectural and policy measures for translating the provisions of Nigeria's Energy Efficiency Building Code into effective practice in tropical office design.

Keywords

sustainable architecture; energy efficiency; mid-rise office buildings; bioclimatic design; Abuja commercial real estate; passive cooling.

References

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Adoption of Sustainable Design Strategies in Mid-Rise Office Buildings In Abuja: Awareness, Integration, Barriers and Drivers

Abstract

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