Godwin Uche Aliagha

Modeling construction cost factors in the Klang Valley area of Malaysia

Factors that should be taken into consideration during the economic evaluation of the building have a direct impact on the total project cost. Literature reviews on construction cost factors reveal that researches in this area have been conducted in various parts of the world decades ago. Nevertheless, none of these studies has substantively estimated the causal relations among the construction cost factors. As a result, this paper presents a research proposal to evaluate and model construction cost factors particularly in the Klang Valley area of Malaysia by using the structural equation modeling approach. The resulting construction cost factors models will be validated in terms of convergent and discriminant validity, construct reliability, and goodness of fit.

Perceptions of Malaysian Office Workers on the Adoption of the Japanese Cool Biz Concept of Energy Conservation

Energy efficiency and conservation in buildings are major concerns and priorities for the Malaysian government. The Japanese Cool Biz concept and campaign has proven to be effective in reducing and conserving energy during the summer period, and other countries are beginning to adopt it. Malaysia, as a country with hot weather throughout the year, may have lots to gain from the concept; particularly in the energy management of office buildings. However, Cool Biz is not well known in Malaysia and the perception of Malaysian office workers toward the Cool Biz concept remains unclear. This study seeks to identify the Cool Biz elements that can contribute to and complement energy conservation efforts, and seeks the opinions of Malaysian office workers toward the concept. The study adopts a discriminant analysis methodology to determine if there are significant differences of opinion among gender category, age groups and races in Malaysia on the Cool Biz concept. The findings showed that overall, Malaysians find Cool Biz a good concept. However, there were significant differences in opinion among the social groups. The most significant differences in opinion were within the race category vis-a-vis Malay, Chinese and Indian office workers.

A Preliminary Survey of Factors Influencing Project Cost Estimating Practice in the Klang Valley of Malaysia

The objective of the survey which was conducted in the Klang Valley of Malaysia was to prioritise factors that are considered by building contractors in estimating the construction cost of buildings. Respondents selected by simple random sampling have been asked to assign a one-to-five rating for each of the total of 79 cost factors identified from the literature review. The result of the preliminary survey of factors influencing project cost estimating practice of building contractors has indicated that only 35 cost factors have been regarded by the respondents from small, medium and large building construction companies as highly relevant for building construction projects. ‘Client requirements on quality’ was found to be the most significant cost factor influencing the construction cost of buildings.