Penang/ Georgetown's Shophouse Facade And Visual Problems, Analytic Study

The architectural form of Penang/Georgetown shophouses is now threatened by urban development, which involves many kinds of visual problems causes. The purpose of this study is to clarify these problems, review the visual properties of shophouse facade, and how the visual problems affect the exterior design of shophouse facade. The research background contains historical information about Georgetown World Heritage Site (GTWHS) and shophouse styles, the possible causes for visual problems associated with historical areas, along with other studies about architectural form analysis. However, a graphic analysis applied on shophouse facade styles, applying the architectural formal ideas on them, after that, each visual problems cause is linked to architectural feature affected by it, in order to determine the negative impact made by them. Lastly, points of recommendations established to preserve the original typology of shophouse facade

Assessment Framework of Building Facade in Optimizing Indoor Thermal Comfort of Green Building Index (GBI) Certified Office Building

During the past decade, the construction industry has seen a new trend in the development of “green” or “sustainable” construction concept around the world with vast support from prominent organization, together with the introduction of sustainable building codes. The establishment of green building certification systems worldwide is seen as one of the most efforts in the emerging green building movement. In order to support the development of the “green” and “sustainable” concept in Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI) was launched by the government on 21 May 2009 that created to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness of environmental issues. However, the construction industry seems to have focused only on findings the "right mechanism" for an environmentally sustainable "final result" in order for the building to be certified as green with the lacking of continuous assessment on the building performance after the certifications. This study is purposely conducted to investigate the performance of various rated Green Building Index (GBI) Non-Residential New Construction office buildings and the influence on Indoor Thermal Comfort (ITC) of the selected buildings. The aim is to develop an assessment framework for optimum green building architectural façade to be used for office buildings in Malaysia as well as to analyse the occupants’ perception, satisfaction and performance in the selected Green Building Index (GBI) rated office indoor environment. This research is still in its infancy; therefore the paper is focused on research aims, research scope and methodology, and expected deliverables for the proposed research

Using Green Roof Concept As A Passive Design Technology To Minimise The Impact Of Global Warming

Global warming phenomenon or climate change has grabbed people attention worldwide. This phenomenon leads to many environmental issues including, higher atmospheric temperatures, intensive precipitation and increase greenhouse gaseous emission. Sea level rising, melting of ice sheets, drought, hurricane are also the effect of global warming

Interior Semantics Of The Lobby/Waiting Area In General Hospitals; A Preliminary Study

Semantics is the study of meaning in communication. The communication interprets in the study is between human and the artefacts in the immediate surrounding

A Review On The Influence Of Building Façade In Relation With Post-Occupancy Comfort Of Green Building

Green buildings represent sustainable design and construction that require a holistic interaction between all components of a building that are environmentally responsible throughout a building’s life cycle from the beginning until the completion. A green building should deliver its occupants with a comfortable indoor environment that will satisfy their comfort needs and enhance the productivity while working in the building. Previous literature reveals that indoor environment quality (IEQ) evaluation in green rating standards such as the LEED United State and BREEAM United Kingdom; do play a significant role in the certification process of green building. The indoor environment quality (IEQ) comprises of several main aspects such as temperatures, humidity, noise, lighting, space design, structural systems and last but not least the building envelope design of roof and building facade. Consequently, establishing the thermal comfort of building occupants is a challenging area that often relate to high energy use for heating and cooling. Thus, it is believed that the sustainable design strategies such as green roof and effective façade design that suits with the climate can be used to enhance indoor environment quality (IEQ). Hence, this will improve the occupant comfort, satisfaction and work performance in a certified green building. However, this remains an inconsistent relationship, which requires additional empirical support. Despite the widespread adoption of a certified green building image and benefits, the actual impacts of these green environments have on occupant comfort satisfaction remains unclear because they rarely assessed at the post-occupancy period of the certified building. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to review the literature that claims to link the occupant's comfort of the green building to the indoor environment and architectural façade design. This paper adds to the debate by identifying the need for appropriate selection of building façade in optimizing the occupant's thermal comfort of green building

An overview of the challenges in Malaysian green construction / Asniza Hamimi Abdul Tharim ... [et al.]

Green building means to refine and improve the design, construction and management practices so that building will last longer, cost less and contribute to healthy living. It also brings significant effects in protecting natural resources and improving the built environment. However, the green development approach often faces challenges and obstacles in terms of the implementation of the new procedures and technologies. The main objective of this paper is to explore the challenges encountered by the project manager in managing green building in Malaysia. Thus, this paper will also provide an overview on the Malaysian green assessment context thatis known as the Green Building Index (GBI). The Green Building Index (GBI) is an index on environmentally friendly building with the ability to save utility costs and preserve the quality of the external and internal environment. Therefore, it is crucial to identify the challenges in implementing the green building construction and management for the benefits of the building assessment. To achieve the main purpose of this paper, questionnaire surveys were conducted among project managers in the Klang Valley, Malaysia. Data obtained was then analyzed by using the SPSS software and the outcome fromthesurvey indicates eight main challenges in greenbuilding management in Malaysia faced by the project managers. Most of the respondent agreed that the most substantial challenge faced by the project manager in managing a green construction is the time factor. This result is similar to the findings from previous research which indicates that longer time is needed in pre-construction of the green construction projects

A Field Investigation of Thermal Comfort Parameters in Green Building Index (GBI)-Rated Office Buildings in Malaysia

This field investigation of thermal comfort parameters in Green Building Index (GBI)-rated office buildings employing various façade-shading devices compared thermal performance in terms of four main variables: indoor air temperature, indoor relative humidity, mean radiant temperature, and indoor air velocity. Over five days of fieldwork at each building, the four variables of interest were measured, recorded, and analysed using Excel graphs. The results show that the thermal comfort performance of each building was acceptable within the parameters of the GBI Non-Residential New Construction (NRNC) Tools for Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ). In general, observed values were good for three of the four thermal parameters: indoor air temperature, indoor relative humidity and mean radiant temperature. However, indoor air velocity fell below the acceptable range as defined by the GBI NRNC Tools. One possible reason for this negative outcome is low air exchange from the air conditioning systems in the selected buildings

Assessment Framework of Building Facade in Optimizing Indoor Thermal Comfort of Green Building Index (GBI) Certified Office Building

During the past decade, the construction industry has seen a new trend in the development of “green” or “sustainable” construction concept around the world with vast support from prominent organization, together with the introduction of sustainable building codes. The establishment of green building certification systems worldwide is seen as one of the most efforts in the emerging green building movement. In order to support the development of the “green” and “sustainable” concept in Malaysia, Green Building Index (GBI) was launched by the government on 21 May 2009 that created to promote sustainability in the built environment and raise awareness of environmental issues. However, the construction industry seems to have focused only on findings the “right mechanism” for an environmentally sustainable “final result” in order for the building to be certified as green with the lacking of continuous assessment on the building performance after the certifications. This study is purposely conducted to investigate the performance of various rated Green Building Index (GBI) Non-Residential New Construction office buildings and the influence on Indoor Thermal Comfort (ITC) of the selected buildings. The aim is to develop an assessment framework for optimum green building architectural façade to be used for office buildings in Malaysia as well as to analyse the occupants’ perception, satisfaction and performance in the selected Green Building Index (GBI) rated office indoor environment. This research is still in its infancy; therefore the paper is focused on research aims, research scope and methodology, and expected deliverables for the proposed research