CLIMATE, WEATHER AND BUILDING COLLAPSE

ABSTRACT

Climate change has become a reality and so has building collapse. Global Reports have already shown serious changes in rainfall volume and timing resulting in heavier floods or in other situations more intense temperature waves.  The science that deals with understanding and employing ethical processes in our daily activities in order to mitigate the negative effects of climate change caused by man's activities is referred to as Green Building or sustainable development. It is sometimes also called sustainable building/design. The idea of sustainable comes in three forms; Environmental sustainability, Economic/ Financial/cost sustainability and Social sustainability i.e. User friendliness/comfort/ health. The challenge of building collapse in  Nigeria is clearly an issue that traverses these three aspects.  This paper examines the occurrence of building collapse in Nigeria from the consultant's view point with a view to highlight the importance of adopting green building practices by Architectural Consultants as the leaders of the building team. Documented cases of building collapse in Nigeria within the past decade are reviewed, the stated causes are highlighted. Furthermore, industry bespoke practises on building collapse mitigation across the globe are studied. These include specifically America, Europe and Asia. A comparative analysis of the sustainable approaches adopted in these climes is drawn. In conclusion, it is recommended that the Nigerian Architect must imbibe these methods to see a future with less or absolutely no cases of building collapse. Keywords: climate change, building collapse, sustainable design, professional ethics, consultants' responsibilities.

MAKING OF A MODEL SATELLITE TOWN FOR ABUJA(STAGE 1)

So having said that, lets take a look at the progress so far. Just as i recommended in my book(LEARNING TO BE AN ARCHITECT) I've been reading and searching deep to get a firm gasp of what is required in a satellite town as well as to justify the need for it in Abuja.

A lot of documents on the internet have given various enlightening meanings for the term as an English phrase as well as an element of urban design.

But here's my own simple definition;

a satellite town is a smaller community mostly consequential but sometimes planned, mostly residential but sometimes lightly commercial too, located close to a larger metropolis connected via available transport channel and which may or may not contribute to the economic viability of the bigger city but largely solves the problem of its urbanization.

I have also aswered a number of important questions such as, what are the xtics of a satellite town, what is the origin of satellite towns, why do we need a satellite town in abuja, what has the government to say about this need, what sustainable approaches could be implemented, and of course what are the town planning standards for allocation of amenities in an urban area?

In this light, I have studied three satellite towns ; satellite town Lagos, Nigeria, Gurgaon, India and Chengdu Tianfu, China. Of the three the most remarkable one has been that of china's Chengdu and that is the one I have shared here.

image: The satellite city chengdu tianfu, Chian. excerpts from my Research work.(go here to read more about the design.)

The concept is absolutely sustainable and is hopefully going to inspire my own design to a great extent. Some of the salient features of this modern self-sustaining town include;

· It has a well designed cultural and performance center
· pedestrian-ism is greatly encouraged: one can walk from any part of the city edge to the centre in less  than 15minutes
· 48% less energy and 58% less water. 
· 89% less landfill waste
· Generate 60% less carbon dioxide.
· commercial,Residential,Office,Light manufacturing & a medical campus are included in the town making it easier to live and work there,
· ECO-PARKS


Next I have to carry out a site suitability analysis. This would involve identifying potential sites for the proposed town, and will culminate in selection of the most viable one.