Mould prevention strategies for library buildings in tropical climate / Suriani Ngah Abdul Wahab and Md Yusof Hamid

This paper presents mould prevention strategies that should be applied in the library buildings. Library constructed in tropical climatic conditions must be moisture controlled from fungi or mould growth on any potential material. In order to identify the magnitude and the causes for mould growth, comprehensive research was carried out within three libraries in Malaysia universities. Aspergillus, Penicillium, Stachybotrys's and fungal had been identified as a common mould growth found. Thus, the growth of mould on the building elements such as walls and floors carpets, books, air conditioning parts of the surrounding library areas will be inevitable unless prevention strategies applied. Four strategies have been identified as possible mould prevention strategies in the library buildin

Solar village in Malaysia – a route map for financing mechanism

Abstract. Malaysia’s development has been largely financed from its fossil fuels resources that come principally from the South China Sea. This has enabled electricity to be distributed equitably throughout society and improved the quality of life for people in Malaysia. However, the depletion of fossil fuel resources and the international conflict over South China Sea territorial ownership may leads to inadequacy of supply in the future, and may give direct impact to people in the rural areas. Malaysia’s greatest potential for solar energy comes from photovoltaics (PVs) and the large roofs of village houses offer significant potential to contribute electricity both nationally and to the local communities. However, this technology is still unfamiliar to the people living in local villages due to the subsidised electricity by TNB and high capital costs of PV systems. This paper investigates whether establishing a “solar village” is feasible in Malaysia. Through a cost feasibility analysis, the potential of harnessing solar electricity for local villages in Malaysia has been demonstrated. A novel mechanism has been presented that allows rural households to own PV panels, rent the grid cables and to share surplus electricity within the community through a three (3) way financing routes map

Sampling and identifying of mould in the library building

Despite the growing concern over mould and fungi infestations on library building, little has been reported in the literature on the development of an objective tool and criteria for measuring and characterising the mould and fungi. In this paper, an objective based approach to mould and fungi growth assessment using various sampling techniques and its identification using microscopic observation are proposed. This study involved three library buildings of Higher Institution Educational in Malaysia for data collection purpose and study of mould growth. The mould sampling of three libraries was collected using Coriolis air sampler, settling plate air sampling using Malt Extract Agar (MEA), IAQ MOLD Alexeter IAQ-Pro Asp/Pen® Test and swab sampling techniques. The IAQ MOLD Alexeter IAQ-Pro Asp/Pen® Test and traditional method technique identified various mould species immediately on the site, and the microscopic observation identifies common types of the mould such as Aspergillus, Penicillium and Stachybotrys's. The sample size and particular characteristics of each library will result in the mould growth pattern and finding

A field study of mould growth for Institute Higher Education library buildings in Malaysia

This paper is part of a PhD field study that focuses on the importance of conducting a visual inspection and evaluation of the indoor climates in libraries. Libraries contain a large amount of stored books that require a stable relative humidity to guarantee its preservation. Mould can survive and grow when indoor relative humidity is high and fungus is present all the time in the air that we breathe. Recording data through visual inspection and field studies. Its recorded the indoor relative humidity, temperature and lighting to assess mould growth problems. The assessment technique for this paper is based on guidelines survey and literature review. Visual inspection found few symptoms of mould growth that related to the amount of moisture appeared when the relative humidity in the library increases. Finally, the recording data for temperature and relative humidity demonstrate the result show that the stable indoor climate in the library building.</jats:p

Indoor Thermal Environment in Tropical Climate Residential Building

Indoor thermal environment is one of the criteria in sustainable building. This criterion is important in ensuring a healthy indoor environment for the occupants. The consideration of environmental concerns at the early design stage would effectively integrate the sustainability of the building environment. Global climate changes such as global warming do affect human comfort since people spend most of their time and activities in the building. The increasing of urban population required additional housing for households, as well as places to shop, office and other facilities. Occupants are now more conscious the importance of sustainability for a better quality of life. Good thermal environment is essential for human wellness and comfort. A residential environment will influence residents’ health and safety. The global warming increase the earth’s temperature and greenhouse emission to the atmosphere cause adverse effects to the outdoor environment. Residential developments modify the materials, structure and energy balance in urban climate effects of human economic activities. As an indoor environment is influenced by the outdoor condition, the factors affecting indoor thermal environment are crucial in improving a comfortable and healthy environment in residential building. The microclimatic of a site such as temperature and relative humidity, and wind movement led to the variation of indoor thermal environment in the building

Solar Village in Malaysia – A Route Map for Financing Mechanism

Malaysia’s development has been largely financed from its fossil fuels resources that come principally from the South China Sea. This has enabled electricity to be distributed equitably throughout society and improved the quality of life for people in Malaysia. However, the depletion of fossil fuel resources and the international conflict over South China Sea territorial ownership may leads to inadequacy of supply in the future, and may give direct impact to people in the rural areas. Malaysia’s greatest potential for solar energy comes from photovoltaics (PVs) and the large roofs of village houses offer significant potential to contribute electricity both nationally and to the local communities. However, this technology is still unfamiliar to the people living in local villages due to the subsidised electricity by TNB and high capital costs of PV systems. This paper investigates whether establishing a “solar village” is feasible in Malaysia. Through a cost feasibility analysis, the potential of harnessing solar electricity for local villages in Malaysia has been demonstrated. A novel mechanism has been presented that allows rural households to own PV panels, rent the grid cables and to share surplus electricity within the community through a three (3) way financing routes map

Analysis of mould growth contamination in library building

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the mould growth and yeast contamination in libraries building. The mould growth causes identified during an investigation and visual inspection of Library PTAR building. The mould contamination level had been measured using 3M Petrifilm Rapid Yeast and Mould Count Plate. The objective of the measurement is to detect environmental concentration for indoor library environment using swab contact monitoring procedures and air sampling procedures. The result recorded yeasts and moulds colonies on the 3M Petrifilm with variably pigmented colonies with certain characters. The yeasts colonies recorded are small, tan colonies with defined edges and no foci while the mould colonies are with diffuse edges and centre foci. They are large, crowd, sporulate and overlap each other on the plate. The result confirmed high contamination count using swab contact, and low contamination recorded using air sampling procedure