Leveraging on Building Characteristics for Household Flood Adaptation

Buildings are designed to provide passive climate adaptation and protection for occupants against harmful environmental conditions. Today, many households in sub-Saharan Africa are subjected to physical, social and economic losses from flood impact. As flood risk and associated impacts continue to grow in the built environment, there is need to evolve strategies to advance the resilience of these vulnerable communities. Unfortunately, there are limited empirical studies on buildings’ role in flood risk reduction in these regions. This study sought to bridge this gap in knowledge by examining currents levels of awareness of household flood adaptation strategies, and the influence of specific building characteristics on household flood adaptation. The study takes a cross-sectional research design approach involving data collection through a questionnaire survey from 47Architectural Educators in ARCON accredited Schools of Architecture in Lagos, Nigeria. The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. Results indicate a high level of awareness of household flood adaptation strategies. Also, findings suggested that building’s floor height and drainage systems have the most influence on reducing flood impact to vulnerable households. The highlighted building characteristics can thus be leveraged on to optimize buildings’ function in the flood adaptation process. Recommendations are also made on the way forward based on the results obtained from the study.