The indoor environmental aspects of classrooms in secondary school buildings need to be determined to ensure that they meet the users’ basic requirements. Students’ efficiency and learning productivity can be affected if the classroom’s indoor environment is of poor quality. The question raised here: how can we ensure that the comfort level provided to building users in terms of indoor aspects is up to their satisfaction? Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) is an instrument to examine the success of building design and performance after occupancy. It indicates users’ satisfaction and comfort level related with the indoor environment. Considering users as a benchmark, there is a large potential for improvement in buildings’ indoor environmental aspects. As reflected by the title, the study’s main purpose is to evaluate students’ satisfaction and perception of their classrooms’ comfort level along with recommendations to enhance the quality of their indoor environment. The survey method applied in this study is by distributing questionnaires to 382 students in classrooms where physical measurements were taken to determine how environmental aspects affect these students. This is because these students are highly correlated with the level of comfort and productivity in the classroom. To enhance physical satisfaction during the learning process, semi-structured interviews consisting of 35 experts in related fields were selected, of whom 17 experts are those with a technical background while the remaining 18 experts are from non-technical fields. The results of this interview will be integrated in finding the best methods to improve Indoor Environment Quality in the classroom. The paper recommends the adaptation of POE in order to evaluate the indoor environmental aspects of classrooms as significant learning spaces in school buildings that need to be managed and monitored continuously.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to reveal the significant factors that contribute to the development of the assessment framework for wheelchair accessibility to National Heritage Buildings.Design/methodology/approach: A qualitative approach was conducted via semi-structured interviews and go-along interview (Accessible Audit) through selected multiple case studies to reveal the main factors that contribute to the development of the assessment framework for wheelchair users in National Heritage Buildings in Malaysia. There are four National Heritage Buildings (gazetted under National Heritage Act, 2005) selected for this research.Findings: The findings revealed a few significant factors comprising the physical built environment, organizational behavior and structure, financial resources, and existing legislation.Research limitations/implications: This research is limited to wheelchair users and National Heritage Buildings, which was conducted through semi-structured interviews and go-along interview (Accessible Audit).Practical implications: This research investigates the standpoints of both the National Heritage Building operators and the wheelchair users pertaining to accessibility in National Heritage Buildings with regard to their respective roles as management and users.Social implications: The research demonstrates the importance of social participation effects on the accessibility in National Heritage Buildings based on empirical evidence in highlighting operators’ and wheelchair users’ challenges toward enhancing their accessibility.Originality/value: This research will be a great contribution to the development of the assessment framework for wheelchair accessibility in National Heritage Buildings in Malaysia, including accessibility for pushchair, elderly, and pregnant women.

Public Private Partnership (PPP) in Malaysia aims to stimulate economic growth and overcome the weakness of conventional system. Over the years, many critics have been reported along the massive growth of PPP project development. Within that context, this study provides a review of issues and challenges for PPP pertaining to project performance in Malaysia. The study also attempts to investigate four performance measurement models around the globe as a basis for improvement of PPP in Malaysia. A qualitative method was used to analyse literature review from previous published literatures while comparative analysis was carried out within the models to identify their advantages and disadvantages. The findings show that the issues and challenges occurred were related to human, technical and financial factor that could hinder the implementation of PPP project in Malaysia. From the analysis, KPIs, guideline / framework, risk allocation, efficiency & flexibility are perceived as dominant issues. Finally, the findings provide an informed basis on the opportunity areas to be considered for improvement in order to achieved project effectiveness.

There is growing concern in Malaysia over the need to reduce energy consumption; however, locally relevant planning and management tools, i.e., energy management frameworks for green buildings, are in their infancy. A total of 10 energy management strategies for commercial office buildings were identified in the Malaysian Green Building Index (GBI) with six measurements considered as relevant to the planning phase and four considered relevant during the operational reviewing and monitoring phase. In comparison to energy management strategies in the international literature, the GBI tool shows room for improvement to achieve optimum energy efficiency performance. Based on the international literature, further improvement is introduced to the current energy management strategies. A total of nine additional energy management strategies were identified to develop a more comprehensive energy management framework. These strategies were tested using three case studies, i.e., certified green building, noncertified green building, and conventional building, to examine the extent to which facilities management has implemented these measures. Findings from these case studies show that energy indexes alone are insufficient to determine energy efficiency and that the proposed energy management framework can assist operators to improve energy efficiency performance. This paper also reports on green technologies that did not work properly during the operational phase. It was also found that measures to engage occupants in energy conservation goals were not effective. Future research is necessary to investigate the occupants’ behavior and perceptions of energy efficiency to provide a more effective energy management framework.

Purpose: This paper aims to assess factors that affect carbon sequestration on green roofs.Design/methodology/approach: The most current academic literature related to carbon sequestration and green roofs carbon sequestration performance was reviewed.Findings: Factors affecting carbon sequestration were discussed and classified into the following factors: plants, physical and maintenance factors. The authors’ findings are significant because they can be used to optimize green roofs performance for carbon sequestration.Originality/value: Factors affecting carbon sequestration will optimize intensive green roofs performance.

This paper discusses aspects of the literature considered in the Indoor Environmental Quality (IEQ) to study in the architecture studio. Studio-Based Learning (PBS) has been widely practiced for the architecture program and is emphasized as one of the learning needs for the purpose of design ideas. Indoor environmental quality includes thermal comfort, ventilation, noise, suspended materials in the air and the chemical content composition. For the architecture studio, aspect of thermal comfort is taken into account, with the additional parameters of air quality, disturbances, control, appearance, general atmosphere and lighting.