Impacts of Courtyard Geometrical Configurations on Energy Performance of Buildings

The courtyard is an architectural design element often regarded as microclimate modifiers.  It has the potential of improving comfort conditions within the outdoor courtyard space and the enclosing indoor spaces. Harnessing the optimum benefits of courtyards depends on several conditions namely the orientation and configurations of the courtyards, as well as the treatment of the external surfaces of the enclosing building envelopes. As three variables of orientation, number of floors and wall envelope have not been investigated in a single study, therefore, this parametric study was performed to investigate the microclimatic influence of varying courtyard geometric configurations and its enclosing facades in hot and humid climate using IES<VE> simulation tools.  The study observed the environmental impact regarding thermal performance and energy consumption of the enclosing indoor spaces.  The results suggest optimum conditions to harness the potential of courtyards to lower energy consumption of buildings in the tropics.Keywords: courtyard; thermal performance; energy consumption; simulationeISSN: 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.v4i10.1637

Contribution of the Built Environment towards Elderlies’ Quality of Life and Risk of Falling

Recent study trends on elderlies range from improving their quality of life to reducing the risk of falling. This paper investigates current concerns on the risk of any untoward fall or injury of elderly residents in public housing due to the rising number of the elderly population. This study aims to analyze published literature with a focus on finding a non-semantic relation on the built environment with the elderly quality of life and risk of falling. Results show that a pleasant environment could introduce social activities in which significantly improves the quality of life and reduce fall risk among the elderly population.Keywords: elderly; quality of life; fall risk; environment.eISSN: 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.v4i12.193

Users’ assessment on interior environment of a hospital outpatient unit in Malaysia / Zanariah Abu Samah, Norhati Ibrahim and Mohd Hanif Abd Wahab

Assessment on the physical design of healthcare facilities from the perspective of the patient and their family members (user) is the method to understand their expectation, preferences and experiences. This paper reports the study conducted on an outpatient unit in Malaysia, focusing particularly on the interior design characteristics. The study adopted post occupancy evaluation technique that combines baseline analysis, occupancy survey and walkthrough observation methods. The study findings indicate that the case study, which has served the public for more than 20 years, is performing moderately on all interior design aspects. Users’ assessments did not score any of the facility “good” in terms of their interior quality, suggesting the desire for improvement to the current facility