SOCIAL PROBLEM ON STOREY OFFICE BUILDING ON OCCUPANTS’ SAFETY

SOCIAL PROBLEM ON STOREY OFFICE BUILDING ON OCCUPANTS’ SAFETY

Social Problem

Sustainable building which is sometimes referred to as green building has remained a

subject of discussion in many urban management authorities. The built environment has such an

impact on the national economy, and thus higher attention has been placed on resource efficiency

and environmental impacts associated with construction and operation of structures. There is

increased emphasis towards a more sustainable approach to building design and life cycle

performance continues to gain momentum. Sustainable building practice attempts to identify

how the built environment impacts the natural world and subsequently offers a balance of sound

many cases where building fall and many lives are lost. The fire tragedies that take place cause

many losses as opposed to if the buildings are sustainable through adherence to the building

code. At this point it is clear barriers to sustainable building exist. The barriers are prevalent and

hence the wide spread disorder across the town in Kenya. The barriers range from lack of interest

in or demand for sustainable building from the owners or developers, lack of training and

education in sustainable construction, failure of service fee structures to account for the recovery

of long-term savings, and the higher costs (both real and perceived) of sustainable building

options. Policy makers often wait until something undesirable or catastrophic happens before

they implement controls and policy to resolve issues (Duda 2009). This study was meant to

evaluate factors influencing development of sustainable building in municipalities. It took a case

of Eldoret Municipality since there is evidence of inefficient buildings in the town and in turn

poses negative impacts on social, economic and environmental health of the urban area.

Significance of the Study

It is expected that the study will inform the Management of Eldoret Municipality and others on

factors influencing development of sustainable building in municipalities. The study was

buildings. The study is also expected to increase knowledge in the area of research in strategies

Basic Assumptions of the Study

The study assumed that there exist barriers to the sustainable building in Eldoret

Limitations of the study

One of the limitations of this study was that the findings in Eldoret Municipality may not

be able to be generalized to other urban areas such as Nairobi City and even in other smaller

towns that might need a different approach to the problem under study. Further the study only

addressed strategies to combat the factors that hinder sustainable buildings. The study used

questionnaires, which though appropriate, have their own limitations. Some respondents did not

complete answering the questions, while others failed to provide genuine responses. The

researcher appealed to the respondents individually for their utmost cooperation. The researcher,

however cross-checked the details provided by the respondents with the information got from the

interviews.

strategies adopted by municipalities to cope with barriers achievement of sustainable building.

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