ABSTRACT
The integration of smart building technologies presents a transformative opportunity for the construction industry, promising enhanced efficiency, sustainability, and resilience within the built environment. This research encapsulates a comprehensive investigation into the awareness levels, influencing factors, challenges in cost estimation, and preferred estimation methods. It introduces the research context, highlighting the significance of smart building technologies in addressing contemporary challenges faced by the construction industry. It delves into the conceptual framework underpinning smart buildings, explores key technologies and their applications, and discusses the benefits and challenges associated with their adoption. While it focuses on research methods, delineating the geographical scope, research design, target population, sampling techniques, data needs and sources, research instruments, method of data collection, method of data analysis, and ethical considerations. The research endeavors center on the urban landscape of Benin City, Nigeria, targeting construction professionals engaged in projects within this locale. It presents the results and discussion of findings, offering insights gleaned from the analysis of data collected through structured questionnaires. It elucidates the awareness levels among construction professionals regarding smart building technologies, identifies influencing factors, discusses challenges in cost estimation, presents preferred estimation methods, and provides a nuanced discussion of the implications for the construction industry. It synthesizes the key insights, draws conclusions regarding the implications for the construction industry, and proposes actionable recommendations aimed at enhancing awareness, overcoming challenges, and driving successful integration of smart building technologies. Additionally, it identifies areas for further research to advance knowledge and understanding in this domain. This research encapsulates a comprehensive investigation into smart building technologies within the construction industry. Keywords: Adoption, Cost estimation, Resilience, Smart building technologies, Sustainability, Technology applications, Urban landscape.
