Evaluation of Promotion of Compressed Stabilized Laterite Bricks in Predicting Its Acceptability for Housing Construction

Compressed Stabilized Laterite Bricks (CSLBs) has been canvassed as a viable alternative to sandcrete blocks due to its affordability and sustainability. However, it has not been widely accepted and used for housing construction as a result of certain inhibitors based on peoples' perception. This paper examined the correlation between promotions (one of the inhibitors) of CSLBs in the prediction of its acceptability by the urban populace in Lagos State, Nigeria. Ibeju-Lekki Local Government Area was purposively selected for this study. Structured questionnaires were used to collect data from 180 randomly selected respondents out of which 139 questionnaires were validly completed. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics models. Results of the analysis revealed that adequate promotions of CSLBs will significantly (P<.05)influence its acceptability by the urban populace. In addition, low cost implication and high aspiration for home ownership were identified as other factors that significantly affected acceptability of CSLBs. It is recommended that public awareness campaign and education by government and stakeholders in the building industry is the key to acceptability of CSLBs for housing construction. Keywords: Acceptability, Compressed Stabilized Laterite Bricks, housing, inhibitors, Nigeri

Implications of Constructed Wetlands Wastewater Treatment for Sustainable Planning in Developing World

Wastewater is a necessary by-product of human activities in his built environment. A sustainable wastewater treatment infrastructure plays a very important role in order to achieve best practices in man's built environment. The paper adopted a qualitative research approach to examine the wastewater planning and treatment facilities in Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Nigeria and the implications its processes, products and potentials have for sustainable campus and community planning. It reviewed existing literature providing an overview of wastewater treatment strategies and technologies while highlighting their essential features. Interview of stakeholders responsible for wastewater treatment in the community and on-site case study inspection formed the basis for the result deductions. Physical planning and layout, operation and maintenance cost, infrastructural facilities and equipment to compliment effective functioning of Covenant University Constructed Wetland Wastewater Treatment Plant (CU-CWWTP) were examined. Result showed that the initial cost of erecting a constructed wetland wastewater treatment plant is enormous, but highly cost-effective in terms of operation and maintenance. Furthermore, wastewater is effectively treated and transmitted as dischargeable safe water with advantage of non-toxic fertilizer as an end-product. It is recommended that the CU-CWWTP model should be understudied by community administrators at all governance level with a bid to deploying same for effective wastewater treatment in communities in developing nations

STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF DESIGN STUDIO JURY IN SCHOOLS OF ARCHITECTURE IN NIGERIA

An examination is a formal test of a person's knowledge or proficiency in a particular subject or skill. An often time, the approach of an examination is accompanied by examination phobia on students, which suggests that the examination period is not always a pleasant one. Architectural jury for design studio works is the equivalent of examination for written courses; hence, students perceive it with mixed feelings. Apart from being an examination, the jury also presents an opportunity for students to learn in an atmosphere that can either be jocular, antagonistic or reassuring. Despite the age long tradition of the jury evaluation system, there are few literatures that have assessed the perception of students towards its use and suitability as a means of performance measurement. The purpose of this study is to investigate students’ perception of the jury system as an integral pedagogical process of evaluating design studio works. Data was collected through a survey of two purposively selected schools using a structured questionnaire as instrument of data collection. The respondents were students across the 3rd to 4th and 5th to 6th year of undergraduate and postgraduate study respectively. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings from the study would be useful in the development of national academic policies for Nigerian Schools of Architecture towards improving students’ acceptance of the jury process as a tool for learning and assessment on one hand, and also to improve their performance in the jury on the other hand

IMPACT OF HIGH COST OF ARCHITECTURAL EDUCATION ON STUDENTS’ CREATIVE WORKS PRESENTATION IN A TYPICAL NIGERIAN UNIVERSITY

Worldwide, substantial part of architectural education expenses revolves around the architectural design studio. It is in this environment that students are trained to master and present creative works required as a licensed architect. However, until creativity is presented in a format that is legible and assessable, it remains a conjecture of the mind. Previous studies identified high cost of architectural education as a barrier to the training of future professionals. This paper investigated the extent to which high cost of architectural education impact on presentation of creative works of students in Covenant University, Nigeria. Questionnaires were administered to collect related information from cross-section of students from the second to the sixth level in the 2014-2015 academic sessions. The study identified parents’ response to students’ architectural budget; high education expenses; cost of software and associated hardware; and students’ tendency to resign to fate when they encounter prohibitive expenses as cost factors that have impact on students’ creative works presentation. However, result revealed that high cost of architectural education does not significantly influence students’ decision to either study or continue the course

Numerical Investigation of Buoyancy Effect Associated with a Continuously Moving Horizontal plate

This work presents numerical studies of the effects of buoyancy force parameter, Bf, coupled with viscous dissipation on the convective heat transfer in a fluid-filled rectangular cavity. The cavity is bounded by a hot horizontal plate maintained at temperature Tw and moving continuously at velocity Uw. It is also bounded on the left vertical and lower horizontal sides by cold isothermal walls and an adiabatic vertical wall on the right. The cavity was filled with quenching medium. The study was carried out for different quenching media such as oil with Prandtl number, Pr = 10, air with Prandtl number, Pr = 0.7 and liquid metal with Prandtl number, Pr = 0.01, for various bouyancy parameters in the range 5 x 10-3 ≤ Bf ≤ 10-2, fixed Eckert numbers, Ec = 1.0 and mixed convection parameter, Gr/Re2 = 1.0, in order to characterize the nature of the flow patterns and energy distribution. The flow governing equations including the momentum and energy equations were thereby solved using the finite difference method. The results are presented in the form of profiles for temperature, velocity and local Nusselt numbers. The results show that the buoyancy force parameter has significant influence on the velocity and temperature profile for a Prandtl number higher than unity at fixed viscous dissipation. Further results show that an increase in the buoyancy force parameter for a Prandtl number greater than unity leads to a significant increase in the maximum velocity attainable in the cavity. The results would be useful as baseline data for manufacturing and material processing industries involved with wire drawing, continuous rolling and glass fiber productions. Keywords: Buoyancy effect, Finite difference scheme, Heat transfer, Isotherms, Mixed Convectio

Predicting Revolutionary Pedagogic Practices from Architectural Design Studio Culture Habitus of the Selected Nigerian Universities

Encapsulated within the envelope of the architectural studio are the design studio culture activities and attitudinal patterns exhibited in the nuclei of the learning environment of architecture schools. The connecting thread between architectural revolutionary pedagogic practices and studio Culture is still tied in most architecture schools. Evidently, up till now, little or no empirical documentation has been done in line with predictors of revolutionary pedagogical practices in schools. This study investigated the design studio culture as a predictor of revolutionary pedagogic practices to demystify the myths and complexities enshrined around the studio habitus. The methodology engaged a survey design strategy; the primary data were collected using observations, oral-focussed group interviews, and questionnaires. At the same time, the secondary data was collected from the archives, government reports, records and literature. Also, the design studios, students and teachers were used as the sampling frame. The unit of analysis was from 300,400 or 500; and M. Sc1 and M.Sc2 Classes; inclusive of design studios Teachers, Mentors and Instructors. A purposive sampling technique was adopted at multi-stage stratified levels. SPSS was used as analytic apparatus to analyse Responses from the Teachers and Students, while content analysis was used to evaluate the interviews and observations. The findings showed that the most significant predictor of Revolutionary Pedagogic Practices was studio Culture Spectrum in three (3) hierarchical orders: (i) the Demystification of studio culture, (ii) Motivational Factors and (iii) Studio Culture ethics and Code of conduct. This study established that the different Revolutionary Pedagogic studio practices employed in the four selected schools operated in different Orders of Studio Culture. We recommend that the stakeholders review the studio programmes and demystify the studio culture. This is to motivate the students with the repackaging of ethical code of conduct and guidelines and integrate a Culture-Oriented Revolutionary curriculum needed for competency rating and high-stake achievements certification in the life-long professional work ethics in Nigeria and other Nations of the World

Predicting Revolutionary Pedagogic Practices from Architectural Design Studio Culture Habitus of the Selected Nigerian Universities

Encapsulated within the envelope of the architectural studio are the design studio culture activities and attitudinal patterns exhibited in the nuclei of the learning environment of architecture schools. The connecting thread between architectural revolutionary pedagogic practices and studio Culture is still tied in most architecture schools. Evidently, up till now, little or no empirical documentation has been done in line with predictors of revolutionary pedagogical practices in schools. This study investigated the design studio culture as a predictor of revolutionary pedagogic practices to demystify the myths and complexities enshrined around the studio habitus. The methodology engaged a survey design strategy; the primary data were collected using observations, oral-focussed group interviews, and questionnaires. At the same time, the secondary data was collected from the archives, government reports, records and literature. Also, the design studios, students and teachers were used as the sampling frame. The unit of analysis was from 300,400 or 500; and M. Sc1 and M.Sc2 Classes; inclusive of design studios Teachers, Mentors and Instructors. A purposive sampling technique was adopted at multi-stage stratified levels. SPSS was used as analytic apparatus to analyse Responses from the Teachers and Students, while content analysis was used to evaluate the interviews and observations. The findings showed that the most significant predictor of Revolutionary Pedagogic Practices was studio Culture Spectrum in three (3) hierarchical orders: (i) the Demystification of studio culture, (ii) Motivational Factors and (iii) Studio Culture ethics and Code of conduct. This study established that the different Revolutionary Pedagogic studio practices employed in the four selected schools operated in different Orders of Studio Culture. We recommend that the stakeholders review the studio programmes and demystify the studio culture. This is to motivate the students with the repackaging of ethical code of conduct and guidelines and integrate a Culture-Oriented Revolutionary curriculum needed for competency rating and high-stake achievements certification in the life-long professional work ethics in Nigeria and other Nations of the World

Difference in grading parameters in architectural schools and its impact on the competency rating of future professionals

ArchitecturaleducationinNigeriaisdividedintoatwo-tiertrainingsystemoffourandtwoyearsfor undergraduateandpostgraduatestudy,respectively.Afterthecompletionofpostgraduatestudy,a studentisdeemedcompetenttotaketheprofessionalpracticeexamination.Successinthis examinationqualifies astudenttoberegisteredasanarchitect.Thecompetencyratingoffuture professionalsinarchitecturalschoolsinNigeriaisdeterminedthroughajurysystemofscoringbased on predeterminedgradingparameters.However,thegradingparametersadoptedbyassessing authorities(academicprofessorsandpractitioners representingtheprofessionalbody)differ.The difference inthegradingparametersemployedbythe twoapprovedassessingauthoritiesinNigeria was investigatedinthisstudy.CovenantUniversityinNigeriawasusedasacasestudy.Thegrading parameters andscoresforthe2013academicsession werecomparedtodeterminesimilaritiesand differences,whichmighthaveaffectedthecompetencyratingofstudents.Descriptivestatisticswas employed toanalyzethedataobtained.Resultsshowedasignificant differenceinscoringbythetwo authorities.Thisdifferencehadasignificantconsequenceonthecompetencyratingofstudent

DETERMINING THE INDIVIDUAL SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SECTOR IN HOUSING DELIVERY IN NIGERIA

One of the greatest challenge confronting both rural and urban residents in Nigeria is the need to provide adequate shelter. This study examined the individual significant contribution of the public and private sector in public-private partnerships (PPP) in housing contracts in Ogun State, Nigeria. A field survey was conducted in government ministries (public sector) and some selected professionals (private sector) within the study area. Information gathered from both primary and secondary data was used to determine the significant contribution of the public and private sector in housing delivery. Questionnaires were distributed through systematic sampling method to 58 respondents in both private and public sector participating in PPP housing production in the study area. Result showed that the significant contribution of the public sector in PPP housing provision in Nigeria is the provision of land while the private sector contributes significantly high percentage of finance, manpower and technical support. The study recommended that for successful implementation of PPP housing projects, all tiers of government must strive to complement the weaknesses of the public sector with the strengths of the private sector. Furthermore, since the private sector provides bulk of the finance for PPP housing projects, government should provide a more conducive economic environment to attract more private sector investors

UNEARTHING THE LINK BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC STATUS AND WALLING MATERIAL SELECTION FOR AFFORDABLE HOUSING IN SOUTHWEST NIGERIA

The walling material component constitutes a substantial part of the building envelope with consequent implication on overall housing cost. This study examined the impact of socio-economic status (SES) of respondents on walling material selection preferences for affordable housing in southwest Nigeria. Data was collected in a cross-sectional field survey through administration of structured questionnaires on randomly selected respondents in four Local Government Areas (LGAs) of three States in Southwest Nigeria. Data obtained was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics with results presented in tables and figures. The result showed a high aspiration for homeownership amongst respondents. The result also showed that lesser cost implication of walling materials does not translate to acceptance and use. Most importantly, the results showed high significant relationship between SES and choice of walling material for affordable housing. The study recommends that selection of walling should be responsive to the SES of households to make housing affordable. Study is also useful for guiding formulation of affordable housing policy in Nigeria that is responsive to the SES of households in the study area