A theoretical appraisal on a greener approach towards sustainability in the construction industry

The urgency for green construction has been associated with the nimbly deteriorating environment in the last decade due to the need for infrastructure development delivered by the construction industry. The present paper assesses the basic concept and methodology of ecological economics (EE) in comparison to that of the traditional or conventional economic model of promoting sustainability in the construction industry. The research was conducted through the use of credible secondary based (literatures) sources. The literature reviewed revealed that previous sustainable methods were centred primarily on buildings and environmental protection. Conversely, EE is a moderately new development in sustainability that has been created incompletely because of the restrictions of ecological matters relating to the economics of the construction industry. Moreover, the study revealed the various components of EE and how they differ from a traditional approach. The components were: sustainable scale, inter-generational equality and true economic efficiency amongst others. The study also addresses the diverse nature of the relationship between ecosystems and economic disciplines in a broader spectrum. Similarly, this relationship is the primary source of many ecological problems facing the construction industry today due to previous economic models that neglected the ecological aspect.