KWAME NKRUMAH UNIVERSITY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, KUMASI AN EXPLORATORY STUDY INTO PROMOTING SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN GHANA THROUGH PUBLIC WORKS PROCUREMENT BY OMANE KOFI WILSON (Bsc. MARKETING) A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE DEPARMENT OF BUILDING TECHNOLOGY, COLLEGE OF ART AND BUILT ENVIRONMENT IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN PROCUREMENT MANAGEMENT NOVEMBER, 2015 i DECLARATION I hereby declare that this submission is my own original research and that, to the best of my knowledge, it contains no material previously published by another person or material which has been accepted for the award of any other degree of this University or any other institution. References from the works of others have been duly acknowledged. OMANE KOFI WILSON …………………… …………………… Student Signature Date Certified by: Dr. EMMANUEL ADINYIRA …………………… …………………… Supervisor Signature Date Certified by: Dr. B.K BAIDEN …………………… …………………… Head Of Department Signature Date ii ABSTRACT Sustainable construction is very important so far as the world’s population continues to grow. Population growth comes along with increase in construction works and its impact on energy consumption, waste production and water consumption. Sustainable construction will create an avenue that will encourage public works procurement officials to use construction methods to increase economic growth as well as reduce the impact of construction on the environment. This will bring attendant benefits such as employment creation and a much healthy environment. This research applied the use of self- administered questionnaires to assess the level of knowledge of sustainable construction among works procurement practitioners, to identify some challenges in sustainable construction and recommend measures for improving on sustainable construction in Ghana. A survey was conducted among procurement officials from 3 local governments’ authorities in Accra with a sample size of 39, through convenience sampling. The research revealed among others that there is some level of awareness on sustainable construction among the public officials but was not widespread. It was also discovered that there was a lack of legal and regulatory framework to compel procurement officials to implement sustainable construction practices. Challenges such as the lack of research into sustainable construction, little incentives for procurement officials, lack of public awareness, lack of interest in sustainability issues, poverty and perceived high cost of initial investment were identified. The research also recommended the intensification of education on sustainable construction practices, increase research on sustainable construction and a clear policy with some amendment in the Public Procurement Act (Act 663) as some measures to improve sustainable construction in public works procurement. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT First and foremost, my sincere gratitude goes to the Almighty Lord who provided me the wisdom, knowledge and strength to go through the entire program successfully. This report also owes an immense debt of gratitude to Dr. EMMANUEL ADINYIRA, senior Lecturer at the Department of Building Technology, who guided me through this research. My profound thanks go to all lecturers of the Department of Building Technology for their care throughout the entire program. I will also like to thank my respondents from the Adentan Municipal Assembly, La Dadekotopon Municipal Assembly and the La Kwantanang- Madina Municipal Assembly for their input and corporation. Notwithstanding the difficulty of my questionnaire, these people offered their precious time and did answer almost every question. May God replenish all that they lost for my sake. iv DEDICATION This study is dedicated to my parents, siblings and friends. v TABLE OF CONTENT DECLARATION --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ii ABSTRACT -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --------------------------------------------------------------------------- iv DEDICATION ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ v TABLE OF CONTENT ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ vi LIST OF TABLES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- x LIST OF FIGURES ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- xi CHAPTER ONE ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1.1 General Introduction -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 1.2 Statement of problem ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 1.3 Aim of the study ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2 1.4 Objectives of the study ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1.5 Research questions ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1.6 Scope of the study ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 1.7 Significance ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 4 1.8 Organization of the study -------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4 CHAPTER TWO --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 LITERATURE REVIEW ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 6 2.1 Introduction ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 6 2.2 Sustainable procurement --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7 2.3 A guide to developing a sustainable public procurement policy ----------------------------- 8 2.3.1 Good procurement is sustainable procurement ----------------------------------------------- 9 2.3.2 Leadership ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 9 2.3.3 Policy through procurement -------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 2.3.4 Enabling delivery -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 10 2.3.5 Implementation ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 11 2.3.6 Monitoring results and outcome --------------------------------------------------------------- 11 vi 2.3.7 Legal Review for effective sustainable procurement policy ------------------------------- 11 2.4 Scope and content of the Legal Review --------------------------------------------------------- 12 2.5 Prioritizations Exercise ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 13 2.5.1 Agree and identify areas of priority in sustainable development. ------------------------- 14 2.5.2 Expenditure analysis; ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 15 2.5.3 Assessing opportunities and areas of risk; ---------------------------------------------------- 15 2.5.4 Finally prioritizing products and services. -------------------------------------------------- 16 2.6 Market Readiness Analysis ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 16 2.6.1 Relationship to other stages and studies ------------------------------------------------------ 17 2.6.2 Scope and content of the Market Readiness Analysis -------------------------------------- 17 2.7 Impact of construction on the society ----------------------------------------------------------- 17 2.8 Sustainable construction --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 18 2.9 Implementing sustainable construction --------------------------------------------------------- 19 2.10 Benefits of sustainable construction in public works ---------------------------------------- 20 2.11 Sustainable construction principles ------------------------------------------------------------ 21 2.12 The challenges to sustainable construction --------------------------------------------------- 24 2.12.1 Lack of capacity in the construction sector ------------------------------------------------- 24 2.12.2 Turbulent economic environment ------------------------------------------------------------ 24 2.12.3Poverty and perceived high cost of initial investment ------------------------------------- 25 2.12.4 Lack of accurate data --------------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 2.12.5 Lack of interest in the issue of sustainability ----------------------------------------------- 25 2.12.6 Resistance to technology ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 2.13 Sustainable design -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 26 2.14 Components of sustainable construction in design stage ----------------------------------- 27 2.14.1 Site ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 27 2.14.2 Energy -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 27 2.14.3 Water --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 28 2.14.4 Materials -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------