*Perspective Chapter: Imperative of Nigerian Demographics for Green Housing DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.108794*

## **Table 1.**

*Population growth from 1960 to 2050.*


## **Table 2.**

*Growth in housing deficit trend.*

on the environment. Increased population density has created unequal distribution of the population. The urban centers are overpopulated with attendant slums, environmental degradation and poor-quality housing. The cities and villages on the other hand are left unattended and under developed. Deforestation and desertification are major environmental problems plague the country. Housing provision is

reported to be the largest contributor to land degradation and greenhouse gas emission. Construction waste generation and management are poor and indiscriminate. Secondly, the age distribution of Nigerian demography leaves much for concern. Large percentage of the population are below 65 years of age. The median age is 22.7. This age group are growing and requiring housing. Majority of this young population are millennial. Given the global economic development and the impact of climate change, the need for a sustainable building development is more critical to the survival of this generation. Thus, the need for quality housing increases.

Efforts to provide quality housing dates back to the pre-colonial era [3, 7]. Since then, various housing development policies were promulgated with various setbacks. It is on record that these housing schemes fell short of achieving the expected result at different times. The successive housing development policies did not consider the environmental impact and the need to reduce the foot print of such housing developments. Lighting and ventilation are not priorities of such policies while consideration for regional priorities are lacking. The policies did not consider sustainability issues such as the life cycle cost implication of the buildings, user satisfaction and comfortability, indoor environmental quality. Many of the housing policies use prototype building structures. A prototype used for housing units in the northern part of the country is also used for the southern part with high rainfall and relative humidity. The north of Nigeria is in the Sahara region while the south is tropical in nature. Housing development programs contains provisions for infrastructure facilities but they lack consideration for minimizing energy and water consumption. The excessive population growth creates great demand for energy and water resources. With a large population of growing young people and general reduction in the globally available resources, Nigeria need to begin the implementation of green principles for future housing.

The various housing schemes failed to achieve desired goals due to high cost of construction and high economic impact of such developments. The buildings were beyond the reach of an average Nigerian [8]. Despite the abysmal performance, the various housing schemes; public and private, by organizations or individuals have continued to do untold damage to the environment. Little or no consideration is given to occupational cost to the user and comfortability. The housing sector is said to be the major generator of green-house gases, the major cause of deforestation giving the expanse of land required for construction. Housing provision destroys the natural eco system resulting in various environmental challenges such as flooding, erosion and heat highland. The sector consumes about 48% of the world's resources and energy for construction and maintenance [9–12]. There is no specific figure on housing contribution to carbon emission in Nigeria. However, as signatory to various international conventions such as the Inter-Governmental Panel on climate Change (IPCC), the government plans to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions by 20% by 2030, when compared to "business-as-usual" levels [13]. The various housing schemes did not also consider the economic implication of such houses. A future house must be environmentally, socially and economically sustainable through the adoption of green housing schemes.

The demand for more housing in the urban centers lead to environmental degradation, increased cost of land due to scarcity and consequent increase in building cost. The social implication is that there is more demand for labor force in the building sector in the urban areas. Most of these labors force that cannot afford reasonable housing live in slums and the shanties.in contrast, is the massive reduction of economic activities in the rural areas as there are no meaningful demand for building
