An integrated public art in Putrajaya urban landscape / Alamah Misni and Anwar Suran.

The art found in public space represents a local social and cultural situation, as well as the artistic and aesthetic tendencies. There is a close relationship between the public art and the city landscape. Public art is part of the broader visual environment of buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure. It can promote a sense of place, contribute to legibility or wayfinding, and support efforts to quality urban design. It can be in the form of sculpture, street furniture, mural, and even fountain structure. This research focuses on the user's perception and appreciation of integrated public art in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Data was collected using qualitative and quantitative methods. The case study data collections were conducted through a survey, observation, and distribution of questionnaires. The case study was carried out in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Putrajaya was selected as a case study because it is the new administrative capital of Malaysia that has seen the need to be distinctively outstanding in both its characteristics and development. Putrajaya has revealed the influence of public art in enforcing and strengthening the identity of the city. Subsequently, the recommendation has been made to enhance the planning process and management system by the local authority in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Therefore, this research will help to generate the social awareness and understanding of the effort of integrating public art into the Malaysian urban landscape

An integrated public art in Putrajaya urban landscape / Alamah Misni and Anwar Suran.

The art found in public space represents a local social and cultural situation, as well as the artistic and aesthetic tendencies. There is a close relationship between the public art and the city landscape. Public art is part of the broader visual environment of buildings, landscapes, and infrastructure. It can promote a sense of place, contribute to legibility or wayfinding, and support efforts to quality urban design. It can be in the form of sculpture, street furniture, mural, and even fountain structure. This research focuses on the user's perception and appreciation of integrated public art in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Data was collected using qualitative and quantitative methods. The case study data collections were conducted through a survey, observation, and distribution of questionnaires. The case study was carried out in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Putrajaya was selected as a case study because it is the new administrative capital of Malaysia that has seen the need to be distinctively outstanding in both its characteristics and development. Putrajaya has revealed the influence of public art in enforcing and strengthening the identity of the city. Subsequently, the recommendation has been made to enhance the planning process and management system by the local authority in the Putrajaya urban landscape. Therefore, this research will help to generate the social awareness and understanding of the effort of integrating public art into the Malaysian urban landscape

Effects of vegetation in the thermal performance of housing in a tropical environment / Alamah Misni

In tropical cities, the exterior environment is extremely warm due to the high temperature especially during dry seasons. Solar heat passing through windows and being absorbed through the walls and roofs is the major reason for air-conditioner use. Air-conditioning is the only way to create and maintain a comfortable interior temperature. It has been found that a majority of household spend more than 36.7% of electricity power for cooling and which increases every year. Strategically placed vegetation around a building has long been recognised as a means of cooling. Vegetation can reduce temperature and humidity through shading, evapotranspiration and wind channelling. The appropriate amount, type and placement of vegetation can save the residential cooling demand on a hot and humid day. However the effect of the immediate surrounding vegetation on the cooling load and costs of single dwellings in tropical environment has not been widely recognized and quantified. Monitoring of household electricity use in the two study areas has shown that night time is when most of the air conditioning energy is used, because most households only spend their time at home at night. The critical building envelope surfaces of the house are in east and west side where the sun moves and creates the highest temperature and heat gain to the building in morning and afternoon, and retains the heat until night time. Proper placement of trees, shrubs, vines, groundcover, and turf can greatly reduce the temperature gain to the building and the energy use. The study will determine the potential for energy saving for a single-family house located in a hot and humid tropical environment, through the strategic planting of vegetation

Residential Space-Cooling Energy Use

This study's purpose is to evaluate air-conditioning energy consumption by conducting interviews and recording data from 50 single-family houses. All study houses applying similar styles of tropical architecture and methods of building construction, with the U-values for building materials having moderate levels of thermal resistance. The finding reveals that the majority of households spends more than 37% of their energy costs on cooling during the raining season and estimating to increase by the drought seasons. The greater use of air-conditioners have resulted in an increased purchasing power of the population.Keywords: Single-family house; thermal performance; landscape design; evapotranspirationeISSN: 2398-4279 © 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

Vegetation Produce an Extensive Cooling Effect

This Every garden design is different and has its identity and style, dictated by site, size, microclimate and the preferences of their creators. The recorded data and analysis conducted for this research included the general landscape design, garden size, and data about the five main categories of soft landscaping, includes trees, shrubs, vines, groundcover and turf. In tropical regions, trees are the most important plant structure in a garden. Foliage-canopy structures and vertical woody species distribution are important factors, as they can influence shading, evapotranspiration and the channeling of the wind.Keywords: Single-family house, thermal performance, landscape design, evapotranspirationeISSN 2398-4279 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.

A Comparative Study on the Indoor Thermal Performance of New and Old Mosques

The study focus to compare the indoor thermal performance level between a new mosque and old mosques. Specific objectives are to identify the criteria that support sustainable practice, to analyse the indoor thermal performance using thermal monitoring tests and to propose strategic approaches for mosque design to achieve good indoor thermal performance towards sustainable practice. The data was carried out by experimental and observation. This data have been analyzed by Origin 6.0. Results show that the significant different between old and new mosque in indoor thermal performance. The main finding is influenced by the practice of passive design includes the building orientation and location, opening and building envelopes. Buildings should be correctly oriented to minimize solar gain and maximize natural ventilation.Keywords: Mosque; passive design; sustainable practice; thermal performance.© 2017. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia

The Effects of Surrounding Vegetation, Building Construction and Human Factors on the Thermal Performance of Housing in a Tropical Environment

Increasing energy consumption is having a detrimental effect on the environment. This issue combined with rising energy costs, is motivating people to reduce energy consumption. Moderating a building’s surrounding microclimate naturally through strategic landscaping has the potential to benefit the environment, save energy, save money and provide comfortable living environments. The urban heat island effect is a well documented phenomenon, which influences the climate of most of the major cities around the world. It occurs when the air temperature in densely built urban areas is higher by 2°C to 8°C compared to the temperature of the surrounding rural environment. This issue is of particular concern in tropical areas, which experience high temperatures and humidity all year round. In these areas, solar heat passes through a building’s envelope via glazed windows and the walls and roofs resulting in uncomfortable interior spaces. The increased purchasing power of the population has resulted in greater use of air-conditioners to create and maintain a comfortable indoor temperature. This study found that the average household uses up to 37% of their electricity consumption for cooling. Careful planning of exterior spaces can help reduce energy consumption for cooling by reducing the adverse impact of some climatic factors. Strategically placed vegetation around a building has long been recognised as a means of cooling. It can reduce temperatures and humidity through shading, evapotranspiration and wind channelling. The aim of this study was to examine and quantify the relationship between surrounding vegetation, and the thermal performance of housing in a hot-humid tropical environment. The primary objective was to determine the energy saving potential of vegetation for the tropical residence. The secondary objective was to investigate the effect of vegetation on modifying the outdoor temperature around a single-family house in a hot-humid climate. Monitoring of household electricity use in the two Malaysian cities, Shah Alam and Putrajaya, has shown that at night time, when families are at home, is when airconditioning is used the most. Building surfaces on the east and west side are most affected by the sun, gaining and storing heat throughout the day until night time, when it is released into the house as the outdoor temperatures cool. Planting the right species, size and shape of trees, shrubs, vines, groundcover, and turf in strategic positions around a garden can greatly reduce the temperature around buildings. This in turn reduces the energy used for air conditioning. This study found that strategic landscaping, which resulted in shading and encouraged evapotranspiration and wind channelling, could reduce electricity use and costs by as much as 20%. The physical characteristics of buildings including their construction, size and age, combined with their landscape designs were looked at in 50 private houses in Malaysia. Measurements were taken from several outdoor and indoor locations around the houses. The findings showed that strategic design of landscaping could reduce heat build-up in a house, by shading, evapotranspiration and wind channelling by as much as 4°C for the exterior and 3°C for the interior spaces. These results demonstrate how strategic landscaping can assist in creating a favourable microclimate in a house, which will help reduce energy consumption. Its effect can extend beyond the residential to have a positive influence on an area’s macroclimate and at a regional scale

Assessing the Thermal Performance of Negeri Sembilan Traditional Malay House towards Sustainable Practice

Traditional Malay house has characteristics of the passive thermal design that naturally practices climatic design strategies. Currently, Urban Heat Island (UHI), causing an increase in energy consumption for cooling purposes, especially in the residential sectors. Consequently, modern building construction has a poor passive thermal design. This study aims to assess the thermal performance of Negeri Sembilan traditional Malay house towards sustainable practice in the tropical environment. The main finding shows that house openings allow natural cross-ventilation, while less strategic house orientation towards climate factors and lightweight materials used contributes to the uncomfortable of the interior spaces reaches as much as 35ºC during the peak time of the day. This study highlights ideas and knowledge in improving the construction technology for modern architecture to produce an effective indoor thermal performance in a tropical environment.       Keywords: Malay House; Traditional Architecture; Thermal Performance; Tropical; EnvironmenteISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.191

The Effect of Landscaping on the Thermal Performance of Housing

The heat island effect influences most of the major cities around the world. This urban phenomenon occurs because air temperatures in densely built urban areas are higher than the temperatures of the surrounding rural countryside. In tropical cities, the exterior environment is already extremely warm due to high air temperatures, especially during dry seasons. However careful planning and development of exterior spaces can reduce the adverse impact of these temperatures. This paper investigates the effect of landscaping on the thermal performance of housing in a hot-humid tropical climate. The climatic parameters, physical characteristics of building construction, and landscape design of three private houses in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia were measured and surveyed. The study focuses on the potential impact of shade trees and different types of foliage on the thermal performance of houses of different ages. Sets of instrument were placed in several outdoor and indoor locations around the houses. Result show that the outdoor air temperatures of the well-landscaped houses were usually lower compared to the minimallylandscaped house. The main findings show that well-designed landscaping around single-family houses could potentially reduce heat build-up by shading, evapotranspiration, and wind channelling by as much as 3°C

Exploring Civic Ecology Practice: Composting program in Subang Jaya

Active engagements in ecology practices are platforms which lead to good ecological behaviour and consciousness (Kamaruddin et.al., 2013). This study aims to explore urban community stewardship or civic ecology practice of doing composting in an urban municipality, i.e. Subang Jaya Selangor, Malaysia in the context of practice theory (Schatzki, 2000). The variables were analysed using the chi square test of independence and factor analysis procedure. The findings highlight how elements, such as competencies, meanings and physical resource, define the practice and support urban stewardship. Family and friendship networking, collaboration with others and civic consciousness were crucial in motivating the participants and support program sustainability.Keywords: Environmental stewardship; Civic ecology; Sustainable waste managementeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2019. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v4i12.177