Indoor air pollution is rapidly becoming a major health issue worldwide. The quality of indoor air inside building
is important not only for occupants’ comfort but also for their health. Although researches are still under way to
better define the nature and extent of the health implications for the general population, recent studies have shown
significant amounts of harmful pollutants in the indoor environment. Poor indoor air quality (IAQ) has been tied to
symptoms like headaches, fatigue, trouble concentrating and irritation of the eyes, nose, throat and lungs. In this study,
occupants’ comfort satisfaction on IAQ of a museum building environment in a tropical climate will be studied. IAQ
aspects which will be considered as parameters are chemical contaminants, gaseous pollutant and comfort factors
(temperature, humidity and air movement). Museum, archives, library, heritage building and gallery are the types of
buildings that can be considered as heritage building environment. At the initial stage, a pilot study will be conducted
to identify the current IAQ conditions inside those selected buildings.
Indoor air quality has been a major public concern recently. Several health effects are related to this problem.
Findings from several studies have shown MVAC system as the main contributor for IAQ problem. Good practice of
maintenance and servicing is important to maintain MVAC system, especially the filter. Good air filtration for MVAC
system is needed to make sure adequate air is received by the occupants. This paper illustrated a recent study of air
filtration for MVAC system especially for several industries that used MVAC system in their premises. This paper also
proposed an air filtration study for a better air quality. Several Acts and Regulations related to Safety and Health were
identified to create the framework for the proposed study. Air filtration technique was used in this preliminary study
to set up guidelines to create safe and clean indoor spaces for workers and occupants.
Rapid urbanisation and industrialisation have had an adverse and deep impact on the environment contributing to global warming and climate change. These thermal environmental problems can be even more challenging to people living in regions with warm and humid climatic conditions throughout the year, such as Malaysia. This paper analyses wind characteristics and outdoor thermal comfort index at the hottest temperatures based on data recorded hourly between 2012 and 2014 for two cities in East Malaysia, namely Kuching (Sarawak) and Kota Kinabalu (Sabah). Wind characteristics were analysed using only wind velocity and direction, while the level of outdoor thermal comfort was measured using Universal Thermal Climate Index (UTCI). The results showed that hourly average wind velocities for Kuching and Kota Kinabalu were 1.84 m/s and 2.15 m/s respectively while the highest average wind velocities was 10.1 m/s and 12.4 m/s respectively. No wind movement (i.e. 0 m/s) was recorded for both locations. The prevailing annual wind flow is generally from South-Southeast (150°) in Sarawak and from East-Southeast (110°) in Sabah. It was also found that both Kuching and Kota Kinabalu experienced strong and extreme heat stress conditions with UTCI levels of 44.8°C and 49.8°C respectively. Thus, it can be concluded that, East Malaysia faces strong and extreme heat stress conditions. This study is an original contribution on the subject of outdoor thermal environment in Malaysia, Further research to better understand outdoor thermal environmental problems is recommended.
Concrete and masonry waste are the main types of waste typically generated at a construction project. There is a lack of studies in the country regarding the cost implication of managing these types of construction waste To address this need in Malaysia, the study is carried out to measure the disposal cost of concrete and masonry waste. The study was carried out by a site visit method using an indirect measurement approach to quantify the quantity of waste generated at the project. Based on the recorded number of trips for waste collection, the total expenditure to dispose the waste were derived in three construction stages. Data was collected four times a week for the period July 2014 to July 2015. The total waste generated at the study site was 762.51 m3 and the cost incurred for the 187 truck trips required to dispose the waste generated from the project site to the nearby landfill was RM22,440.00. The findings will be useful to both researchers and policy makers concerned with construction waste.
The building sector consumes about forty percent of world energy, making energy efficiency in existing buildings an important issue. This study has been undertaken to investigate energy consumption of a building that has been redesigned to incorporate energy efficient features. It was found that the introduction of energy efficient features has helped to achieve savings up to 46% of the total spent on energy particularly based on electricity bills.