Hazreena Hussein

Energy audit and prospective energy conservation - Studies at residential college buildings in a tropical region

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the efficiency of electricity use and potential of electricity reduction at 12 residential colleges located at University of Malaya Campus, Kuala Lumpur.Design/methodology/approach – The work presented applies an energy audit when energy consumption data were collected and analysed for a five‐year period. The total savings of electricity used at residential colleges were identified through the difference between average total energy use in a year (kWh) and minimum electricity usage.Findings – The study finds that residential colleges with special features of building layout and arrangement performed better with regard to electricity consumption due to the prior groups superior utilisation of day lighting and natural ventilation. The floor area of the rooms, volume, density, enclosure and facade design, including window design, window area, and window‐to‐wall ratio also influenced the total electricity usage of the residential college buildings. Also, thro...

Satisfaction and perception of residents towards bioclimatic design strategies: Residential college buildings

Successful implementation of bioclimatic design strategies not only reduces energy use, but more importantly increases the resident’s satisfaction. A post-occupancy evaluation, a form of survey method, was used in assessing the satisfaction and perception of residents in two residential colleges, at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. Both Case Study A (CS-A) and Case Study B (CS-B) represent the uppermost and moderate implementation of bioclimatic design strategies. The results showed that 414 questionnaires were retrieved fully filled by occupants at CS-A while 155 respondents from CS-B returned their questionnaire. The questionnaire was based on a 5-point Likert scale. Respondents were asked to rate the levels of satisfaction and perception with various aspects of the building, including the immediate environment. A detailed survey on thermal comfort had also been done by adopting the predicted mean vote index. As initial findings, the implementations of bioclimatic design strategies at the selected residential colleges were able to provide comfort for the residents.

Energy performance: A comparison of four different multi-residential building designs and forms in the equatorial region

Building sector has been identified as a major energy consumer with nearly half of the worlds energy used is associated with providing environmental conditioning in buildings. Approximately, two third of this is for heating, cooling and mechanical ventilation. Therefore, there is a need for optimizing the building design which collaborates with surrounding environment in enhances the energy conservation programme. Energy consumption evaluation and audits for buildings is the most important step that can contribute to energy conservation. As preliminary studies to this research, four low-rise residential college buildings with specific layout were selected in finding the relationship between green/passive building strategies and energy performance. The study initial approach was to critically analyse the design of the selected buildings through scaled drawings and site visits. Comparison of the two were carefully made to obtain current and post renovation conditions and surroundings as most of the drawings were drawn 30 to 40 years back. The elements of bioclimatic design were implemented as matrixes or criteria, particularly on natural ventilation and day lighting. Then, the energy performance was crucially audited to find out Building Energy Performance (BEP) acknowledged as energy use per unit floor area, and Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) to elaborate the kWh/m2/year of each residential college for five years duration. As initial findings, the implementations of appropriate green building strategies is able to provide positive impacts to the overall energy performance of the residential colleges.

Sensory gardens: Assessing their design and use

This article investigates the design and use of sensory gardens by evaluating their zones and how they are utilized. Preliminary site studies were undertaken in 14 sensory gardens around the UK, followed by more detailed data collection at two case-study sites. The aim was to discover features that enable user behaviours and use of spaces in sensory gardens. The data collection included interview, observation and behaviour mapping, which is used in conjunction with affordance theory. The findings from the data analysis also draw on Moore and Coscos multi-method approach.

Examining the Methods for Investigating Behavioral Clues of Special-Schooled Children.

This article discusses the authors’ use of a combination of methods to understand the engagement of special needs children with design features in sensory gardens at two schools in Britain. In addition to observation and behavior mapping, we interviewed landscape architects, teachers, and therapists to anticipate the children’s behavior when experiencing sensory gardens. We report how these groups’ anticipations differed from what we observed. While the groups anticipated that aesthetic value relates significantly to users’ behavior in the garden, we observed that sensory value has a stronger bearing on the behavior. The potential of this finding is important for design studies.

Patterns of seated activity in sensory gardens among children educated in special schools

This study investigated the seated activity among children educated in special schools and their adult carers in two sensory gardens in the United Kingdom. Seated activity was established whether the seating was used as intended or whether users preferred to sit on other attributes during their learning session. The objectives of this study are to explore opportunities for users’ activity and their engagement with the attributes, whether activity is possible or if opportunities are not being actualised because of barriers. Observation and behaviour mapping methods were carried out alongside affordance theory. The outcome suggests that the number of users, the number of attributes and the total area of the zone did not relate to the median time spent per user; rather, it was the richness of the attributes that did so.