Thermal Performance of Horizontal Fixed Sun Shading Device

Earlier investigations on passive cooling methods applied software modelling, and the findings were not confirmed through field measurement. Hence, this study applied a stationary experiment on a real structure and weather conditions employing horizontal sun shading (SDH). The purpose of this study was to compare the performance of fixed passive sun-shading devices put on to the bare façade of three-story terrace shophouses in Malaysia. The experiment findings revealed that SDH significantly improved the internal thermal environment by lowering the average monthly indoor air temperature (Ta) by 0.98 K and the peak temperature by 2.11 K. SDH is also effective during the warmest sunny days, lowering 1.23 K on average for the day. Meanwhile, SDH reduced the temperature in the control room by 5.40 K during the warmest peak time. When it came to indoor mean radiant temperature (Tmrt), SDH performed better than the control room in the very hot peak over a month (2.38 K) and on the highest temperature of the day (7.70 K). Finally, it can be inferred that SDH worked better from late at night until early in the morning, cooling the room temperature faster. This quiescent choice is one of the best for enhancing a building's internal thermal performance while also possibly contributing to a decrease in operational energy consumption

Malaysian PBL Approaches: Shaping World-Class TVET Skills towards IR 4.0

An Industrial Revolution 4.0 promoted by Malaysian government entitles the rapid growth of manufacturing sector thus promotes a multi-level of workforce and skilled work force needed to satisfy the rapid technological development application. The challenges arise on preparing the individuals to meet with the current business at adequate skills level and the student need to be prepared in such way satisfied the business expectations. Looking into this situation, this paper aims to study the concept of correlation between active learning method known as Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Method and required employability skills in TVET. As an initiative to enrich the future opportunity on empowering TVET skills, this study assumes that there is positive relationship between employability skills and PBL approaches in improving student’s quality and skills. The method of study involves documentation analysis on previous research to proves the importance of employability skills in enhancing student’s competencies and the effectiveness of Problem-Based Learning Method in preparing the students to meet the expectations. The main findings of this study claimed that there was a positive relationship between employability skills and PBL learning method. Result acknowledge that PBL has the ingredients to help develop employability skills and student’s behavior. Through PBL, students learn to become more associates in the teaching and learning processes as they take responsibility throughout the learning process. It would suggest that the educational institution should emphasize the needs of the industry and students by creating awareness and guiding the students in self-analysis and in acquisition of skills

Aplikasi GIS di dalam pemilihan lokasi "Vertical Park": kajian kes di Kuala Lumpur

Creating the public spaces for the community has become a crucial need in this nowaday urban township.The advantages in terms of enhacing the social, economical and the environmental issue are undeniable. However, the process of creating this public spaces that required huge amount of area become the main restriction especially in the urban township area. The increasing land value contributed to a new and inovative idea of designing the new concept of having a park which known as a ’Vertical Park’. To bring forward the idea of all the ameneties and facilities that are basically have in the public spaces but in a vertical development to save spaces. However, the most potential site that can comply to all the special requirements needed have to be determined properly, hence the Geographic Information System (GIS) will come in handy to solve the matter. Based on the criterias that have been listed in order to determine the suitable area, several outcomes or potential suggested site has been detected within the area of Kuala Lumpur (Jalan Prima Dua,Metro Prima,Kepong) by using this Geopgraphic Information System

Construction material selection criteria for timber gridshell application: a literature review

Timber gridshells have the potential to be a sustainable and cost-effective solution for long-span applications and free-form architecture. Despite this, their overall use has been limited, and there is a lack of research focusing on their construction materials. This literature review aims to investigate timber gridshells and their construction materials to identify the criteria used in selecting suitable materials for gridshell applications. A review of peer-reviewed scientific articles, books, and theses was conducted to gather information on timber gridshells, construction materials used in gridshells, timber used in active bending structures, and building standards. The research findings identified six main factors that are important when selecting a suitable material for timber gridshell application: structural strength and strength grading, bending strength and behaviour, bending strength/bending elasticity ratio, durability, commercial availability, and cost. These findings are also discussed to identify the characteristics that make a material suitable for timber gridshell applications, depending on the gridshell’s context, whether in a tropical or international context. This review serves as a necessary reference for architects and engineers when selecting materials for their timber gridshell projects, providing insight into the selection criteria for construction materials and sharing information on the material properties of suitable timber gridshell materials

Strategi kelestarian dalam bangunan tinggi

Penulisan ini akan memfokuskan perbincangan berkenaan strategi yang perlu diambil kira dalam merekabentuk sebuah bangunan pencakar langit yang berpandukan senibina lestari. Ini menunjukkan bagaimana perpindahan teknologi di dalam area pembinaan telah diguna pakai dalam sistem bangunan pencakar langit untuk mencapai prestasi terbaik. Ini kerana proses merekabentuk bangunan tinggi melibatkan pelbagai bidang termasuklah komponen senibina, struktur, dan sistem HVAC (heat, ventilation and air conditioning). Beberapa contoh bangunan generasi baru yang menitikberatkan kelestarian dalam bangunan dijadikan sebagai rujukan kajian kes. Kajian ini telah menyimpulkan bahawa bangunan tinggi akan menggunakan tenaga yang tinggi, golongan pereka pada generasi akan datang akan beralih kepada strategi rekabentuk “tenaga sifar” secara berperingkat. Dalam pendekatan ini, iklim setempat menjadi salah satu daripada kelebihan untuk rekabentuk bangunan yang menjadikan bangunan itu sendiri sebagai sumber tenaga. Tidak mustahil pada satu masa nanti, bangunan tinggi akan menghasilkan tenaga tambahan yang boleh dijual kepada pusat janakuasa bandar

A review: urban heat island and its impact on building energy consumption

Civilization and urbanization are the two key demands of humans in the 20th century. Over the last few decades, a considerable number of the human population have moved to urban areas. This phenomenon has led to an explosion of the population in some of the major cities around the globe, including in Saudi Arabia. Urban Heat Island (UHI) is a climatic condition in which urban settlements experience increased air temperature than their neighboring rural counterparts. The UHI is attributed to the anthropogenic modification of land surfaces, population growth, urban development, and its consequential production of waste heat, which is endangering human health and the environment as well as the quality of living. Series of factors have been responsible for UHI, including building orientation, material albedo, land use, high-rise constructions, and human activities. The present study investigates the significance of the UHI features and their relation to building energy consumption. A list of contributing factors to UHI was identified and analyzed. The study suggests that there is a positive relationship between urban greening and urban material concerning energy consumption. Thus, this is a potential study gap that needs to be addressed to analyze the impact of UHI, particularly in the context of Saudi Arabia

Indoor environmental comfort in student hostel at Malaysia’s public university : a literature review

This paper aimed to review existing literature on student hostel building facilities and its room’s indoor environmental comfort condition in Malaysia’s public university. This study is structured by brief analysis on relevant studies located globally and subsequently, focusing more on studies located in Malaysia. An overview of the subject matter is presented to provide insight. These are supported by reviews of published papers from the last 15 years (2005-2020) in relevancy to the subject area which includes important sub-areas. The literature search was conducted via academic search engines such as Google Scholar, Taylor and Francis Online, ResearchGate, Emerald Insight, Academia, SpringerLink, and ScienceDirect. Terms relevant to the subject area such as “Student Hostel”, “Hostel”, “Hostel Facilities”, “Student Accommodation”, “University Accommodation” and “University Facilities” are used for the literature search using the academic search engine. In achieving a more accurate search specific to a University’s student accommodation (hostel building), a manual filtration was conducted to comb through the search results achieved from the academic search engines. The result of this literature review is a brief compilation of 18 global studies and focused on 29 studies in Malaysia, which are further classified/ grouped to form the structure of the paper. The review covers sub-areas such as building occupant’s indoor environment health-related issues, comfort, and satisfaction. This review is significant and necessary as its input function as a continuous monitoring study for this field, enriching the current body of knowledge and may be a point of reference for future studies

AN ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING ON ANTHROPOMETRY AND ERGONOMIC IN SHELTER DESIGN EXECUTION

Anthropometry and ergonomic are the basic knowledge of design in the process of creating a functional and innovative humanistic products. The purpose of this study was to assess the nderstanding of the aspects of anthropometry and ergonomic as a fundamental knowledge of design among the first year UKM architecture students. This measure was administrated with 23 students (9 males, 14 females) on their final design project for KKSB 1116 (Architectural Design 1) course. Measurements were conducted through comparison of their understanding on both the basic knowledge of theory and its application in their shelter design. Results indicated that there were significant differences in pre- and post-test of their understanding regardless of their former educational background. Series of interventions in the learning processes boosted the level of understanding of the students. At the end of the design project, all students generally showed a high level of understanding in both aspects and achieved the course’s outcomes (COs)

Potentials and challenges of bio-composites materials as engineering structures in ecological slope protection: a review

Ecological slope protection technology has gained popularity as a sustainable and eco-friendly approach for slope restoration and conservation. The integration of ecological considerations into slope protection techniques has resulted in more sustainable and environmentally friendly solutions. In order to advance the development of ecological self-cycling, this study conducts a comprehensive review of the latest advancements in ecological slope protection technology materials. A systematic literature search was conducted using four databases (Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and Google Scholar) and based on the keywords: ecological slope protection; slope protection; bio-composite material; bio-material; eco-material; eco-friendly building material; mycelium based material; natural fiber composite and biochar. This article provides a detailed discussion of the fundamental types of ecological slope conservation and the properties of materials used in ecological slope protection technology. The usage of environmentally friendly innovative materials has overtaken traditional engineered structures as the primary mode of ecological slope protection innovation. In particular, this study focuses on the structural basis of ecological slope protection, conducting a comparative analysis of the properties of existing bio-composites and evaluating whether they could replace the base structure of ecological slope protection. The findings of this study will contribute to the development of more sustainable and effective ecological slope protection techniques, thereby promoting ecological conservation and restoration

Kesan penggunaan unjuran melintang kepada pencahayaan siang bilik kuliah di bangunan pentadbiran, Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia

ABSTRAK Pencahayaan siang merupakan faktor penting bagi bilik kuliah dalam memberi keselesaan terutamanya dari aspek penglihatan. Selain itu, ia turut mengurangkan beban penggunaan elektrik dengan mengurangkan kebergantungan terhadap pencahayaan buatan. Namun begitu, tingkap yang menggunakan kaca telus cahaya kebanyakannya menerima sinaran matahari ke ruang dalaman dan menyebabkan silau dan ketidakselesaan kepada kualiti visual. Maka, kaedah-kaedah dalam mengawal kemasukan sinaran adalah penting untuk mengatasi masalah tersebut. Antara kaedah yang digunakan adalah melalui aplikasi unjuran tingkap dari jenis menegak, melintang dan petak. Walau bagaimanapun, kajian ini hanya memfokuskan kepada penggunaan unjuran dari jenis melintang sahaja. Kajian ini akan menganalisa kualiti pencahayaan di bilik kuliah sedia ada dan mengkaji kesan unjuran kepada kualiti pencahayaan di bilik kuliah. Bilik kuliah yang dikenali sebagai Bilik Seminar di Fakulti Kejuruteraan dan Alam Bina (FKAB), dijadikan sebagai kajian kes dalam kajian ini. Lazimnya, bilik tersebut digunakan untuk penyampaian kuliah untuk aktiviti pengajaran dan pembelajaran. Kaedah-kaedah yang digunakan untuk pengumpulan data adalah melalui pengukuran secara lapangan dan secara simulasi menggunakan perisian Sefaira. Pengesahsahihan perisian simulasi juga dijalankan dengan membandingkan pengukuran lapangan dan data dari simulasi. Kajian mendapati penggunaan unjuran tingkap melintang tunggal adalah kurang efektif bagi bilik kuliah di Bangunan Pentadbiran FKAB. Dengan mengkaji nisbah unjuran melintang yang paling efektif, ianya dapat menyumbang kepada reka bentuk bangunan yang lebih lestari dengan dapatan cahaya siang yang lebih baik terutamanya untuk pembelajaran dan pengajaran