CHAPTER 2

SUSTAINABILITY IN BUILT
ENVIRONMENT
WHAT? WHY? WHEN? WHO?
WHERE? HOW?
 THE GUIDANCE FLOWCHART
2.1: SUSTAINABLE ?

2.2: SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ?

2.3: SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION ?

2.4: MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVES

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United Nations
New York, 2004

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US crude oil prices (based on average prices paid by US refiners for
all grades of oil based on EIA data) converted to 2012$ using CPI-
Urban data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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World’s Energy Supply by Source

Energy consulting
firm: Ecofys 8
 2.1: SUSTAINABLE

Our planet has enough for everyone’s need, but

not enough for everyone’s greed
(Mahatma Gandhi).
 WHAT? - SUSTAINABLE
• The ability to maintain at certain rate or level.

Attaining sustainability does not mean the eradication

of adverse impact, which is an impossible vision at
present, but rather the reduction of it to a certain
reasonable level.

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 2.2:
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
WHAT? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• A philosophy called ‘sustainable development’ was
introduced in 1987 inBrundtland Report.
• Maintaining a delicate balance between the human
need to improve lifestyles and feeling of well-being
on one hand, and preserving natural resources and
ecosystems, on which we and future generations
depend.

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 WHAT? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (cont.)
• “Creating and operating a healthy built
environment based on resource efficiency and
ecological design” Charles J. Kibert
• “The balanced uses of resources on a global scale
including physical elements, human elements,
and national political context” Ronald Rovers
• “The development which meets the needs of
present without compromising the ability of
future generation to meet their own need”
Bourdeau
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WHY? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
• WHY?
– to alter or improve our conventional way of
development into a more responsible approach
which can satisfy our needs for development
without harming the world we live in.

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 WHY? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (cont.)
• Climate change: Long-term climate changes
have been observed across the globe. Changes
are happening as a result of human activity,
including man-made greenhouse gas
emissions.

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WHY? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
(cont.)
• Human activities!!

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 WHY? – SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT (cont.)
• Human activities!!

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 Sustainable Approach

Current Trend

Globalisation & Global

economic crisis

Increasing Pressure

Sustainable
Construction as priority

Paradigm shift from traditional to sustainable approach (Yang et al. 2005)

PRINCIPLE OF SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

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CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT
…all the same, only details varied

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CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT (cont.)
• Economic Sustainability
– various strategies that make it possible to use
available resources to their best advantage.
• Environmental Sustainability
– reducing the amount of waste produce or using less
energy, but is concerned with developing processes
that will lead to businesses becoming completely
sustainable in the future.
• Social Sustainability
– encompass human rights, labor rights and corporate
governance.

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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY DEVELOPMENT:
• Economic: OBJECTIVES
1. Consider life-cycle cost
2. Internalize external costs
3. Consider alternative financing mechanism
4. Develop appropriate economic instruments to promote sustainable consumption
5. Consider the economic impact on local structure
• Environment:
1. Increase materials efficiency by reducing the material demand of non-renewable goods.
2. Reduce the materials intensity via substitution technologies
3. Enhance materials recyclability
4. Reduce and control the use of dispersion of toxic materials
5. Reduce the energy required for transforming goods and supplying services.
6. Support the instruments of international conventions and agreements
7. Maximize the sustainable use of biological and renewable resources
8. Consider the impact of planned projects on air, soil, water, flora and fauna
• Social:
1. Enhance a participatory approaches by involving stakeholders
2. Promote public participation
3. Promote the development of appropriate institutional frameworks
4. Consider the influence of the existing social framework
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5. Assess the impact on health and the quality of life
 2.3:
SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
 WHAT? – SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

• Subset to the philosophy of “Sustainable Development” is

“Sustainable Construction”.
• Sustainable construction, which has been dubbed ‘green
construction’.
• The term “sustainable construction” was originally proposed
to describe the responsibility of the construction industry in
attaining “sustainability”.
• Kibert proposed that sustainable construction means
“creating a healthy built environment using resource-efficient,
ecologically-based principles”.

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WHY? - SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION

• Construction activities!!
– Before: through materials
– During: energy consumption
– During: the pollution
– After: waste!!

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 WHY? - SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
(cont.)
Before Construction
Utilization or earth
resources for the
production of construction
materials (e.g. fossil, wood,
cement, hydrogen, air,
water, ore etc.)
Transportation to/from
factory involving fuel
consumption and causing
pollution and green house
emissions.
During & After
During Construction
Construction
 Clearing of forest, and Contributing to:
land for development.  High energy usage
 Environmental  High CO2 Emissions
pollution (air, water,
 Large water usage
land)
 High Solid waste
 Large Solid Wastes
generation generation
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WHY? - SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
(cont.)

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WHO? - SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
• “Sustainable Construction”; the responsibility
of the construction industry to attain
sustainability.
• Construction Industry; those providing design,
consulting and construction services.

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HOW? - SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

• Sustainable Construction; it requires

willingness to explore new territory in
construction approach and prepare to
adopt new products, ideas and practices.

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 HOW? - SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION
(cont.)
• The direction of the construction industry is now shifting
from developing with environmental concern as a small
part of the process into having the development process
being integrated within the wider context of
environmental agenda.

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 EXAMPLES OF SUSTAINABLE PRINCIPLE:
DEVELOPMENT VS CONSTRUCTION
The Principles of
Sustainable Development
Putting people at the centre
Taking a long term perspective
Taking account of costs and
benefits
Creating an open and supportive
economic system
Combating poverty and social
exclusion
Respecting environmental limits
The precautionary principle
Using scientific knowledge
Transparency, information
participation and access to justice
Making the polluter pay
The Interpretation of Sustainability Principles
within Construction Industry
Show concern for people by ensuring they live in a healthy,
safe and productive built environment and in harmony with
nature
Safeguarding the interests of future generations while at the
same time, meeting today’s needs
Evaluate the benefits and costs of the project to society and
environment
Creating a system which can flourish trades, improve
collaboration and resource efficiency
Improving the quality of buildings and services, create jobs
opportunities and promote social cohesiveness
Minimising damage to the environment and its resources
Assessing risk and uncertainties before any action and rectify
possible damage at source.
Using technology and expert knowledge to seek information
and in improving project efficiency and effectiveness
Opportunities to improve access to information and
encourage ethics and professionalism
Legislation compliance and responsibility
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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION

• The concept of sustainability must be

applied into construction industry to
influence the manner in which a
project shall be conducted to strike a
balance between conserving the
environment and maintaining
prosperity in development.
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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)
Environment

E E

E S E

E S E S

Present Construction Proto- Truly Sustainable System

System Sustainable
System

Evolving from Traditional to Sustainable Construction

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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)
• The concept of sustainable construction
governs three main pillars:
– environmental protection,
– social well-being and
– economic prosperity.

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 CONCEPT OF
SUSTAINABILITY
IN
CONSTRUCTION
(cont.)

Abidin, 2005

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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION –
1. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
• The built environment refers to the activities
within the construction project itself, which may,
if not handled effectively, have a serious adverse
impact on the environment.
• Conserving natural resources. Although builders
have little influence over the extraction of
natural resources, they can help discourage this
activity by demanding less non-renewable
natural resources, more recycled materials, and
efficient use of energy and mineral resources.
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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION –
2. SOCIAL WELL-BEING
• Social well-being concerns with the
benefits of the workers and the future
users.
• This aspect is concerned with:
– human feelings: security, satisfaction,
safety and comfort, and
– human contributions: skills, health,
knowledge and motivation.
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 CONCEPT OF SUSTAINABILITY IN
CONSTRUCTION –
3. ECONOMIC PROSPERITY

• Micro economic focuses on the factors or

activities which could lead to monetary
gains from the construction.
• While macro economic relates to the
advantages gained by the public and
government from the project success.

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 PRINCIPLES OF IMPLEMENTING
SUSTAINABLE IN CONSTRUCTION
1. Minimize resource consumption (conserve)
2. Maximize resource reuse (reuse)
3. Use renewable or recyclable resources (renew/recycle)
4. Protect the natural environment (protect nature)
5. Create a healthy, non-toxic environment (non-toxics)
6. Apply life cycle cost analysis and true cost (economics)
7. Pursue quality in creating the built environment
(quality)

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 PRINCIPLES OF IMPLEMENTING
SUSTAINABLE IN CONSTRUCTION
(cont.)
Based on Kibert’s “Principles Concepts of
Sustainable Construction”

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 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION:
SOME STRATEGIES
1. Procurement: Specific procurement strategies to ensure sustainable construction
requirements are addressed.
2. Site / Environment: Methods to reduce the environmental impact of construction on the
project site and surrounding environment are identified.
3. Material Selection: Identifies environmentally friendly building materials as well as harmful
and toxic materials that should be avoided.
4. Waste Prevention: Methods to reduce and eliminate waste on construction projects are
identified.
5. Recycling: Identifies materials to recycle at each phase of construction and methods to
support the onsite recycling effort.
6. Energy: Methods to ensure and improve the building’s energy performance, reduce energy
consumed during construction, and identify opportunities to use renewable energy sources.
7. Building and Material Reuse: Identifies reusable materials and methods to facilitate the
future reuse of a facility, systems, equipment, products and materials.
8. Health and Safety: Methods to improve the quality of life for construction workers are
identified.
9. Indoor Environment Quality: Methods to ensure indoor environmental quality measures
during construction are managed and executed properly. 41
 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION:
POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATIONS? ANY
SUGGESTION?
Construction Project Management Facilities Management
Construction Management
Site Management
SEVERAL SUSTAINABLE
STRATEGIES:
1.Procurement
2.Site / Environment
3.Material Selection
4.Waste Prevention
5.Recycling
6.Energy
7.Building and Material Reuse
8.Health and Safety
9.Indoor Environment Quality

Construction
3+4+5+6+7+8+9 Decommissioning
Planning Design Procurement Site activities Handover
5+7 Liability period 6+7
3+5+6+7 3+4+5+6+ 1 started 5+7
7 2+4+5+7+8+9
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 BENEFITS OF SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION
• The concept of green building costs lower than
conventional method and saves energy.
• Sustainable buildings will contribute positively to
better quality of life, work efficiency and healthy
work environment.
• Sustainable construction will enable the
construction players to be more responsible to
the environmental protection needs without
neglecting the social and economic needs in
striving for better living.
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 More information..

1. Towards sustainable construction: promotion

and best practices
2. Sustainable Construction in Malaysia –
Developers’ Awareness
3. Issues and Challenges in Sustainable
Construction in the Built Environment: Malaysia
Construction Industry Initiatives
4. Sustainability Factors in Industrialised Building
System

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2.4: MALAYSIAN PERSPECTIVES

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 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN
MALAYSIA
• ‘Malaysia’s Vision 2020’ published in 1993: one of the
basic visions that emerged is for the country to be
ecologically sustainable.
• The issue of sustainable development has emerged as
one of the top issues in the Eight Malaysia Plan (2001 –
2005): the government gave high priority to research
and development as one of their strategy for
sustainable development.
• The Construction Industry Development Board
Malaysia (CIBD) also gave concerted efforts in dealing
with sustainable issues through extensive researches.

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 SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION IN
MALAYSIA (cont.)
• The subject of sustainability continues to be
one of the important agenda of the
government since it has been identified as one
of the five key thrusts in the Ninth Malaysia
Plan, which was unveiled on the 31st March
2006.
• Many local universities (government & private
entities) shows interest in researching on the
sustainable issues in construction.

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EXAMPLES IN MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION
• Tanarimba at Janda Baik, Pahang.
• DDC Project (Demonstration and Documentation Centre for
Sustainable Urban Household Energy Usage), launched in 2004 by
the Centre for Environment, Technology and Development,
Malaysia (CETDEM).
• Malaysia Energy Centre (PTM) on zero energy office building (ZEO)
at Bandar Baru Bangi, Selangor.
• The Planning and National Development Doctrine (DPPS), served as
the foundation for the planning and development of Putrajaya and
Cyberjaya.
• A total of 32 physical planning guidelines were established by the
Town and Country Planning Department (TCPD) to ensure
sustainable development of area such as coastal areas, islands,
open space, housing, retention ponds, solid waste disposal areas,
conservation of trees and for environmentally sensitive areas.

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 EXAMPLES IN MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)
• Tanarimba at Janda Baik, Pahang.
– sustainable housing project
– blends man-made and natural elements
– exciting concept of ecologically sensitive community
development
– introduces the world to eco-tourism opportunities in Malaysian
highlands
– has been dubbed as the forefront of the ecological movement in
construction

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http://www.tanarimba.com.my/concept.html
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 EXAMPLES IN MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)
• Menara Mesiniaga, Subang Jaya:
– Sky gardens that serve as villages
– Spiraling vertical landscape
– Recessed and shaded windows on the East and West
– Curtain wall glazing on the North and South
– Single core service on hot side -East
– Naturally ventilated and sunlit toilets, stairways and lift lobbies
– Spiral balconies on the exterior walls with
– full height sliding doors to interior offices

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 Hong Kong Science Park – Solar Glass

Here’s an example of day lighting at the Hong Kong Science

Park. Notice that the light is filtered through translucent skylights
and clerestories in a central atrium, thus reducing glare and
overheating. The top of the building has shades, see them after
Sunshades are extensively incorporated into the the jump:
external facades to shield direct sunlight penetration,
reducing heat gain to the office so as to reduce
electricity consumption for air conditioning
PUNGGOL ECO-TOWN, SINGAPORE

• At Punggol Eco-Town, the elements

of nature will be harnessed in line
with the concept of “green living by
the waters”
• Integrated public transport system
• Charging stations for electric cars
• Cycling lanes
• 3.2 megawatt solar farm pumping
straight into the grid and eliminate the
use of batteries. [see the Star 5 Oct
2010 p. T3]

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Hong Kong Science Park – Solar Glass

The installation of BIPV panels can pursue new clean

energy technologies, reduce consumption of natural
resources and cut emissions to the atmosphere. It can
save approximately 250MWh of electricity consumption
annually.

BIPV panels have been fitted to the facade, the louvers and the roof canopy
of the Buildings in Phase 1. The BIPV is connected to the electricity grid
and have an approximately 200 kilo-Watt output.
 ZEO Building, Bangi – Another example

• Zero Energy Office (ZEO) houses the

Malaysia Energy Centre . It was built
with a targeted building energy index
[BEI] of as low as 50 kWh/m2 per
year; and with the use of renewable
energy to bring the building to a zero
energy status.
• ZEO is the only such building in
Malaysia that integrates energy
efficiency and renewable energy in
one working demonstrator building.

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THE DIAMOND BUILDING [THE HEADQUARTERS OF ENERGY COMMISSION OF
MALAYSIA –[ BEI of 61KwH/m2] AND THE PRIME MINISTER’S DEPARTMENT
[RETROFIT TO GREEN STANDARDS], PUTRAJAYA

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EXAMPLES IN MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)

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EXAMPLES IN MALAYSIA: SUSTAINABLE
CONSTRUCTION (cont.)
…it can reduce up to…

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