Appraisal of environmental sustainability studies in the quantity surveying curriculum

Abstract

The construction industry requires professionals that are environmentally sensitive to sustain the built environment for future generation. This is necessary due to the rising environmental degradation from various construction activities. Tertiary institutions could be the appropriate platform to instil these ideas in aspiring construction professionals. This study assessed Quantity Surveying (QS) curriculum of Polytechnics to examine the courses taught and to assess whether there are courses in the curriculum that are related to environmental sustainability studies. Also, questionnaires administered to lecturers and students of QS departments was used to examine the concept and awareness of environmental sustainability taught in the institution. The study established that generally, taught courses in QS departments of Polytechnics have little or no environmental sustainability factored into them. Furthermore, cumulative mean and regression analysis were used to evaluate the data obtained from the questionnaire. The analysis established that the respondents affirmed that the QS curriculum does not create awareness of environmental sustainability, having a cumulative mean score of 2.04 for lecturers and 2.28 for students which is within the cut-off point of 1.5 to 2.5 (Disagree). Based on the regression analysis, it was established that the correlation between the lecturers’ and the students’ responses was significant having a R result of 0.95. The regression analysis explicated that the lecturers can explain the students’ views having a R2 value of 0.90. The review of QS curriculum to include environmental sustainability studies is paramount in producing QS professionals that are environmentally inclined in training.

Keywords: Environmental Sustainability, Quantity surveying, Higher institutions and Curriculum