Syed Ahmad Farhan

Challenges for Implementation of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Malaysian Construction Industry

The construction industry of Malaysia is very dynamic in nature and the adoption of new technological advancements and construction methods has been a prime concerns for its key players and stakeholders. However, the adoption of BIM in such a dynamic industry is observed to be limited and its implementation has not been as successful as it should have been. The study focuses on the identification and prioritization the factors challenging the implementation of BIM in Malaysian construction industry. The data has been administrated through designed questionnaire by identifying the factors / barriers, by literature review, for implementation of BIM in construction industry. The prioritization of such factors is expected to help the major stake holders to address the issues according to their priority which will save lot of previous time and financial with smooth implementation of BIM in Architecture, Engineering and Construction (AEC) industry in future project.

Effect of silica aerogel on the thermal conductivity of cement paste for the construction of concrete buildings in sustainable cities

The objective of this paper is to evaluate the effect of silica aerogel on the thermal conductivity of cement paste for the construction of concrete buildings in sustainable cities. Samples consisting of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC), free water and different volumes of silica aerogel were prepared and cured for three (3), seven (7) and 28 days. Compressive strength tests were performed on samples at three (3), seven (7) and 28 days of curing. Porosity and thermal conductivity tests were conducted on samples at 28 days of curing. The lowest thermal conductivity measured was 0.076 W/mK, which was achieved by sample mix with 20 ml of silica aerogel (M20), which represents a 93.58% reduction in thermal conductivity relative to the control mix. The highest permeable porosity measured for cement paste incorporated with silica aerogel was 25.6%, which was also obtained by sample M20. However, the highest compressive strength measured was 54.33 MPa, which was obtained by sample mix with 10 ml of silica aerogel (M10) at 28 days of curing. The addition of silica aerogel as filler in cement paste can reduce the thermal conductivity of cement paste at the expense of reduced compressive strength and increased permeable porosity.

Critical review of published research on building insulation: Focus on building components and climate

A critical review of published research papers on building insulation in seven selected construction journals from 2000 to 2010 is presented. Data are obtained by performing a series of searches on Scopus using relevant keywords. Findings conclude that despite climate change becoming a major issue in recent years, there is still a lack of research activities on building insulation, especially within hot and humid climatic conditions. Most of the research papers found focuses on wall insulation in cold climate. Research in this area needs to be activated and expanded since building insulation is a major component in energy-efficient buildings, in which its application is very important for mitigation of climate change.

Embodied Carbon of Buildings: Tools, Methods and Strategies

Embodied carbon can be defined as the “CO2 emissions produced during the extraction of resources, transportation, manufacture, assembly, disassembly and end-of-life disposal of a product”. Calculation of the carbon footprint of buildings is important to promote the construction of low-carbon buildings that release significantly less CO2 compared to conventional buildings. However, researchers and practitioners in this area tend to disregard the embodied carbon and pay more attention to the operational carbon when calculating the carbon footprint of buildings. This paper reviews the current state and trend of research on the embodied carbon of buildings with focus on the tools, methods and strategies employed and makes recommendations for future research direction.

Effect Of Silica Fume And MIRHA On ThermalConductivity Of Cement Paste

Increased usage of air-conditioners in buildings leads to higher levels of electricity and energy consumption. Thermal insulation improves energyefficiency of buildings by retarding heat flow through building envelopes and thus reducing indoor cooling load. This research investigates the potential of two cement replacement materials, which are silica fume and Microwave Incinerated Rice Husk Ash (MIRHA), incorporated in cement paste as thermal insulation. Samples of cement paste with varying volumes of silica fume and MIRHA were prepared and evaluated on their thermal conductivity values. Their viability as building materials were then evaluated by measuring their permeable porosities and compressive strengths at three (3), seven (7) and 28 days of curing. Results show that higher dosage of silica fume and MIRHA in cement paste lead to lower thermal conductivity but negatively affect compressive strength and permeable porosity. MIRHA reduces thermal conductivity more efficiently than silica fume but leads to a faster decline in compressive strength and increase in permeable porosity. The lowest thermal conductivity value obtained in this experiment was 0.4273 WmK, which was achieved by samples with MIRHA incorporated at 25% of cement paste volume.

Housing developers and home owners awareness on implementation of building insulation in Malaysia

Buildings account for 40% of energy consumption. In a hot humid climate zone a great deal of this energy is consumed in cooling and air-conditioning. Thermal insulation provides a practicable and cost-effective means of reducing system electricity consumption and CO2 emissions. Building insulation refers to any construction material in a building used as insulation for thermal purposes. This term also applies to acoustic insulation, fire protection and impact insulation. This paper presents a study on awareness of housing developers and home owners on the utilization of insulation materials in the building industry. The research aims to address and determine challenges facing the implementation of building insulation techniques in Malaysia, where currently houses with insulation represent less than 2% of the total stock of 4.5 million units. In this study two methods have been implemented i.e.(1) a quantitative survey in the form of two different sets of structured questionnaires for housing developers and end users, and (2) qualitative research in the form of a semi-structured interview targeting various professionals and stakeholders from the construction industry. The study suggests that around 75% of house occupants use airconditioner units to improve the indoor thermal comfort and only 22% of the respondents were aware of the effects of insulation on thermal performance of ...

Thickness Optimization of Kapok Fibre Insulation below Roof Pitch of Residential Buildings in Hot-Humid Climate with Mathematical Formulation

Kapok fibre possesses high thermal resistance and can retard the rate of heat flow into the building through the roof. Reduced heat flow into the building leads to reduction in the use of room air-conditioners that improves indoor thermal comfort, leading to lower electricity bills. Additionally, the cost of insulation increases with its thickness. Therefore, determining the optimum thickness of insulation is essential to maximize the cost savings over the service period of insulation. In this study, a house model design with a floor dimension of 3 m by 3 m, room height of 2.5 m and roof slope of 45° is employed to determine the optimum thickness of kapok fibre insulation for a placement below roof pitch of residential buildings under hot-humid climate and it is associated with cost savings. The findings suggested that a maximum cost savings of RM1148.84 can be obtained at the optimum thickness of 0.0604 m.

Prospect of Adopting Kapok Fibre as Roof Insulation

Interest on building insulation has started to develop among the research community in recent years. Kapok fibres have the potential to become a roof insulation material because of its low thermal conductivity. This paper reviews studies on kapok fibre as insulation material. It is revealed that there were no reported findings on the application of kapok fibre as roof insulation.Thorough study is highly recommended in this area since kapok fibre has good thermal and acoustic properties.