Evaluation of thermal and solar performance in atrium buildings using sequential simulation

Nowadays complex atrium design is becoming popular in city skylines that bring natural lighting to create more pleasant indoor environment. Atriums with complex skylight design and lack of knowledge in building thermal performance in relation to transmitted solar radiation through skylight contribute to greenhouse effect. This has imposed high-energy consumption for cooling load particularly in warm humid regions. In order to obtain good thermal performance of atrium with appropriate skylight design, scholars in atrium studies have suggested that designers should test, simulate and evaluate the thermal performance of atrium building at the early design stage. This paper aims to investigate thermal and solar performance of atrium skylight design in warm humid region. Three thermal analysis software with different capabilities in evaluating thermal and solar performance of skylight forms, positioning and orientation were utilized. Five types of atrium design were modelled and simulated using Ecotect, EnergyPlus and solar radiation simulation model. The results have revealed that different software has different capabilities in measuring thermal and solar performance in atrium skylight design. Each software was used sequentially to provide results in stages starting from verifying variables, identifying critical climatic regions, measuring initial and validating accurate energy use for heating and cooling load until amount of solar received on atrium roof surface, geometry and curvature been achieved. This research could guide designers and engineers to understand the capabilities and reliability of selected thermal and solar analysis software in simulating and evaluating atrium’s thermal and solar performance at early stage design in order to identify appropriate low energy atrium design. © The Author(s) 2019

Understanding the Human Dimensions of Recycling and Source Separation Practices at the Household Level: An Evidence in Perak, Malaysia

Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire surveys from 100 households, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’ participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external factors: poor accessibility to services, lack of tangible incentives, and absence of restriction in consumption). Elicited data indicated that a satisfactory level of intentions, knowledge, and willingness, together with good habit and quality persuasion (internal factors), were required to drive good behaviour. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were formulated to promote gradual yet solid transformation of the waste management system, tapping on existing initiatives by considering additional parameters upon the gap in households’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviour

Understanding the Human Dimensions of Recycling and Source Separation Practices at the Household Level: An Evidence in Perak, Malaysia

Recycling and source separation (R&SS) are believed to have been the first attempt to minimise waste. This research adopted mixed methods that followed sequential quantitative then qualitative data collection, combining questionnaire surveys from 100 households, semi-structured interviews, and participatory observations to study the human dimension of waste generation and management. Scoring Assessment (with modified Bloom’s Cut Off point) indicated that households had moderate knowledge and positive attitudes yet poor behaviour, and these three components indicated no linear associations, tested using Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. However, age group, marital status, educational level and living duration showed statistical significance with households’ participation in source separation through Chi-Square Test. Meanwhile, observation data showed that waste management mechanisms and environment had inefficiently supported households’ participation in R&SS practices (external factors: poor accessibility to services, lack of tangible incentives, and absence of restriction in consumption). Elicited data indicated that a satisfactory level of intentions, knowledge, and willingness, together with good habit and quality persuasion (internal factors), were required to drive good behaviour. Subsequently, a series of recommendations were formulated to promote gradual yet solid transformation of the waste management system, tapping on existing initiatives by considering additional parameters upon the gap in households’ knowledge, attitude, and behaviour

The Effects of Colour Content and Cumulative Area of Outdoor Advertisement Billboards on the Visual Quality of Urban Streets

Visual comfort has a critical effect that significantly influences public appreciation of urban environments. Although colour is an integral part of billboard design, little empirical evidence exists to support some of the popularly held ideas about the effects of colour on task performance and human psychological wellbeing. Thus, attempting to set a threshold level of allowed undesirable visual stimuli in each urban setting is considered to be essential in achieving a satisfactory level of visual quality. Therefore, this research investigates the effects of colour content of outdoor advertisement billboards on the appreciation of urban scenes by the public. This research utilises pictorial survey, R.G.B bivariate histogram technique, and an areal cumulative analysis of a group of collected pictures within one of Kuala Lumpur’s high streets. Results of the pictorial survey are cross analysed against the results of the pictorial RGB content analysis and pictorial outdoor advertisement (OA) cumulative areal analysis to indicated a strong correlation between environmental colour content, OAs’ cumulative area, and visual comfort. The study suggests that the lack of guidelines and regulations of the color content of outdoor billboard advertisement design could potentially be detrimental for the public’s appreciation of urban environments. Future research initiatives are encouraged to develop a visual quality assessment framework that contributes to the image and identity of the city of Kuala Lumpur