This study investigated climate-responsive design strategies employed in Orthodox church buildings within Enugu Metropolis, Nigeria, a region characterised by a temperate-humid climate with distinct wet and dry seasons, high temperatures, and intense sunshine. These climatic conditions pose significant challenges for building design, often leading to excessive heat gain and humidity issues. Climate-adaptive architecture, which integrates natural climatic factors into building design, offers a potential solution by minimising reliance on mechanical cooling and promoting indoor comfort. Focusing on religious buildings, which often accommodate large congregations and consume substantial energy for climate control, this research aimed to identify and evaluate effective design approaches for addressing local climate requirements and enhancing climate resilience as well as proffer recommendations for future building projects. A survey design was employed, utilizing observation schedules and questionnaires to collect data from six selected churches within Enugu Metropolis, with a minimum of a 1000-person seating capacity. The findings revealed that while all surveyed churches demonstrate a good response to the tropical climate, the Cathedral Church of Good Shepherd exhibits the highest performance across various parameters, including thermal comfort, natural airflow and air quality, effective shading from the Sun, and visual appeal through landscape elements and water conservation. The study concluded by providing recommendations for enhancing climate responsiveness in future church building designs in Enugu and similar tropical climates such as optimal building orientation, natural ventilation, appropriate material selection, shading devices, rainwater harvesting, and integrated landscaping.

Demography has been identified as the foremost determinant of housing needs and provision. This is because the characteristics of individuals, families and groups of individuals influence their demand for housing and related services. This paper examines the role of demographic factors in housing needs and provision in Nigeria. The study focuses on the Nigerian housing system, the Nigerian housing needs, and the interplay between demography and housing provision. It highlights the importance of understanding demographic trends such as age, income, marital status, and gender to effectively address the housing deficit in Nigeria. The paper concludes by offering recommendations for policymakers and housing providers on how to incorporate demographic factors into housing policies and programs, emphasizing the need for sustainable practices in housing development and maintenance. Some of the recommendations in the paper include establishing a comprehensive and reliable housing database, conducting regular and accurate census and housing counts, developing affordable housing programs that cater to the specific needs of different demographic groups, and promoting and sustaining the development of social rented housing and shared ownership schemes. The paper also recommends that efforts should be made to address cultural and traditional practices that hinder women's access to land and housing ownership.

The building industry remains critical in enabling the three pillars of sustainability, namely: people (social sustainability), planet (environmental sustainability), and profit (economic sustainability). Unfortunately, the Nigerian building construction sector, as with other economies, is fraught with systemic ethical challenges that undermine its potential. By thematically analysing 49 related studies using the PRISMA framework, this study reviewed ethical values and unethical practices, identified core ethical principles relevant to the construction industry, and outlined prevalent unethical behaviours in the sector, including bribery, fraud, money laundering, bid-rigging, and health and safety negligence. It concluded by emphasising multifaceted stakeholder actions from clients, professionals, regulatory bodies, government agencies, and the public to promote ethical conduct and improve the technical integrity and sustainability of construction projects in Nigeria.

While environmental psychology theories support the therapeutic potential of the outdoor environment in hospitals, studies are predominantly from Western cultures. Little is known about such associations in a socio-culturally and economically diverse setting. This study investigated the influence of patient characteristics and ward attributes on patients' perceptions of the therapeutic value of outdoor environments in four tertiary psychiatric hospitals in southeastern Nigeria. Using a quantitative cross-sectional design, data were collected from 123 inpatients with three validated tools and analyzed using quantile regression: the Inpatient Demographic and Admission Self-Report Questionnaire, the Socio-Spatial Ward Attribute Checklist, and the Perceived Influence of Ward Attributes on Outdoor Therapeutic Experience Scale. Quantile regression analysis revealed that specific ward attributes, including layout, dominant outdoor view, social density, outdoor access modality, and nursing station configuration, were significant and meaningful predictors of perceived therapeutic value. In contrast, patient characteristics such as age, length of stay, and history of admissions were non-significant predictors, while gender had a statistically significant but negligible practical influence. This reinforces the dominant role of spatial design in deriving therapeutic value from outdoor environments, but with nuanced interpretations. Findings contribute to an emerging discussion on privacy and restorativeness, highlighting social dynamics in shared psychiatric wards and a conditional preference for grey outdoor views. The study offers context-specific, evidence-based design guidance for low-resource mental health systems seeking to enhance autonomy, dignity, and recovery through socially and culturally relevant environmental interventions.

The integration of information technology in the built environment is intended to enable the efficient use of energy without compromising the comfort of humans. However, these devices and systems require a constant supply of energy, adding to the already high demand. In an attempt to promote zero additional energy-demand practices, this study explores the application of the direct and reversible property of smart photoluminescent material in the generation of artificial light at night (ALAN), where low-level light (LLL) is required for the identification of hazards. To achieve this, the energy transformation capacity of europium- and dysprosium-doped strontium aluminate (SrAl₂O₄:Eu²⁺, Dy³⁺) in the generation of visible light via photoluminescence was investigated. The performance of the material as a photoluminescent (PL) tape and component in PL paint was documented after activation by sunlight, inspired by evaluation tests and the Standard Test Method for Photopic Luminance of Photoluminescent Markings. From the single preliminary observation, tape luminance from initial tests in August 2020 declined from derived 8550 mcd/m² to 3150 mcd/m² at 10 min and 60 min respectively; then in September 2021, from derived 11,700 mcd/m² to 4500 mcd/m² at 10 min and 60 min respectively, after an additional tape layer was applied in a separate campaign. The 10- and 60 min checkpoints evaluate how well the tape holds its brightness over time. For the paint, symbol recognition remained visible up to 90 min and became indistinct after 120–150 min after activation, supporting qualitative symbol discernibility under the stated test conditions. The coating dried hard in 25 min, set to touch in 12 h, and retained afterglow after 24 h water immersion and exposure to 0 °C and 42 °C. These exploratory, non-replicated results demonstrate persistent afterglow and qualitative symbol discernibility under the stated laboratory conditions and support further controlled evaluation for low-light built-environment applications.