ISSUES IN SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION AND ENVIRONMENTAL PRESERVATION: Some Implications of Trends in Local Construction Materials’ Prices

Abstract

This study aimed to show that the trend in prices of construction materials renders their increased exploitation more attractive and by implication less sustainable, through the derivation of an index of prices of selected materials and comparison with the inflation index. The findings of the paper are however limited by the unavailability of data on the volume of construction materials exploited. Data on prices of three local construction materials (sand, gravel and timber) was collected from documented information kept by construction firms. A survey mounted in December 2006 through July 2007 yielded information on quantities of timber sold in Minna. The study adopted 1999 a base year for an annual index of material prices. It was concluded that fluctuations in the general price levels accounted for only up to 39% of the variations in the prices of construction materials, and at current levels of demand for construction materials, environmental degradation is inevitable in the absence of countermeasures. The integrated planning of urban centres was advocated, such that areas that will in the near future be used as recreational lakes or rubbish tips can be allocated for use as borrow pits and sand mining sites at the present time.