Faizul Azli Mohd Rahim

THE CHALLENGE OF LABOUR SHORTAGE FOR SUSTAINABLE CONSTRUCTION

In line with the principle of sustainable development, construction projects ought to be developed to bring benefits across all aspects, namely economic, social, and environmental. One the other hand, being a complex, fragmented and schedule driven industry, construction projects are frequently subject to problems that constrain their execution. Since construction is a labour intensive industry, the shortage of labour has become the crucial risks that hindering the construction project in achieving sustainability. This paper, in reviewing the concept of sustainable construction, also addresses the influential factors concerning the labour shortages in the construction industry and discusses how these challenges can be managed in producing sustainable construction labours.

Critical View on Daylighting Through Solar Bottle Bulb

Abstract Daylighting is often integrated into a building as an architectural statement and for energy savings. However, the benefits from daylighting extend beyond architecture and energy savings. Solar bottle bulb is an invention that is highly effective and cost effective enough to be used in huge numbers for those without sources of interior lighting. This invention is very easy and excessively cheap, requires only a bottle, some roofing materials, water and minimal amount of regularly found chemical and no electricity is needed. This paper reviews the critical retrospect of daylighting through the solar bottle bulb perspective. It highlights the need for solar bottle bulbs use within the underprivileged areas of the world and the importance of this invention as a pathway towards sustainability. This paper presents a review on the designs, principles and applications of the invention that have startled the poor people into a new way of life. The review consists of the assessment of journals, books, newspapers, reports and online sources in the field of daylighting and solar bottle bulb.

The viability of implementing dispute board in Malaysia

This paper is performed mainly to introduce Dispute Board (DB) as the one of the many Alternative Dispute Resolutions (ADRs) to be applied into the Malaysian construction industry to reduce and minimize the amount of disputes. This research is carried out by interviewing nine respondents which consist of registered Quantity Surveyors. Litigation and arbitration has been widely applied in Malaysia for dispute settlement. Both methods, however, do become more tedious and arduous processes to go through to resolve disputes. Mediation, on the other hand, has been a new alternative for dispute settlement in the Malaysian construction industry. Nevertheless, arbitration and mediation have not yet made a big impact in the numbers of disputes arising in the Malaysian construction industry. Therefore, this paper unveils the viability of implementing Dispute Board as a better and more efficient method of ADR that is determined in the outset of the project. Dispute Board is able to reduce the amount of disputes arising in the Malaysian construction industry.