Reviews of past literature indicate lack of visual privacy in the design of terrace housing in Malaysia, especially for urban Malay occupants with regulations and principles governing the privacy and modesty of self, family and house. However, previous studies did not specifically elaborate about the characteristics of visual privacy from Islamic perspective found lacking in the designs. The aim of this study is to examine how the current terrace housing design affects behavioural and daily life of urban Malay family, with regards to visual privacy and visual access satisfaction. The study, utilizes method in-depth interview and space syntax analyses. Findings indicates specific design aspect which effects the visual privacy satisfaction of Malay family. In addition, data highlight discrepancy of urf’ (customs) and design, resulting in lack of use of certain spaces and elements provided in the design.

Streets are the most ubiquitous public spaces, serving a multitude of functions which tied to an extremely narrow range of historical, geographical and cultural settings. Streets record and determine the history of city form, more than any other element of the urban infrastructure. It has attributors in making it a successful street with its own unique identity. However, in the present situation these attributes are almost eroded by the uncontrolled development and modernity. Streets in Malaysia's royal town are no exception from this issue. This paper attempts to review the attributes of the physical components in contributing to street character of Kuala Kangsar, the royal town of Perak, Malaysia. The study covers a thorough literature review of physical components and its elements to determine the most important components captured. From this in-depth review, the study managed to identify three prominent physical components which strongly influenced the physical character of street in royal town. The study reveals that building, landscape and street pattern are the most extrusive components among others. These physical components will create physical qualities such as attractiveness, visibility, permeability, legibility, human scale and safety in creating street characters that symbolize the historical and cultural context. Therefore, establishing these attributes help to preserve the unique and invaluable historical heritage that has become the identity of the place.

Comfort in an urban environment includes pleasant state of physiological, psychological and physical harmony between a human being and the environment, it is about the users’ satisfaction of the place. Fast expanding of urban development changes the street function and gives priority for vehicles, which effects in the urban fabric and cultural life of the city. It makes the walking environment in the street difficult and uncomfortable. Hence, the main aim of this paper is to explore the appearance of physical elements that contribute towards the comfortable character of a successful traditional street environment. The case study was conducted on Rainbow Street in Amman the capital city in Jordan. Mixed-method was used in this study which involved direct observation (visual and behavioral) and user perception (questionnaires and in-depth interviews). The result shows that physical elements that contribute the comfort character can be categorized into two main categories: landscape (pedestrian amenities and sidewalk) and building (building condition and building opening), therefore these elements must be taken into account in designing new street to increase the level of comfort for the street users.

Fast expanding of urban development changes the street function and gives priority for vehicles, which effects the urban fabric and cultural life of the city. It makes walking in the street difficult and uncomfortable. Hence, this research aims to explore the influence of landscape features towards comfort character of traditional streets in Amman, Jordan. The case study was Rainbow Street in Amman, the capital city in Jordan. Mixed-method approach was used in this study, which involved direct observation (visual and behavioural) and user perception (survey and in-depth interviews) techniques. The data was analysed through thematic analyses for qualitative data and descriptive statistics for quantitative data. The results show that landscape features that contribute towards comfort character could be divided into two main categories, namely, pedestrian amenities and sidewalk. This should be taken into consideration in the design of the existing and future streets in Jordan. � 2018 by MIP.

Malaysia, like other developing countries, is still in the progress of understanding the sustainable housing. However, efforts to implement sustainability, particularly in the housing sector, have slowly and progressively developed and have become an important innovation to be incorporated into every aspect of life. Housing, an essential aspect of life, is also significant for sustainable development. According to GBI Sdn Bhd, the rating for the housing sector to get recognition and certification of green buildings is very few. Many housing developers have claimed that their development has been recognized, and accorded recognition by various parties, as sustainable housing. Although housing developers have made sustainability a key theme for their housing development they do not seem to meet the criteria for sustainable homes. There are also those who seem to sell the concept of sustainable housing as a bait to get more home buyers to purchase their homes. Is the application and introduction of a few sustainable elements enough to entitle them to claim the sustainable status? What criteria, and to what extent, do developers have to fulfill before they are accorded sustainable development status? This paper will discuss the current issue on housing development and the elements of sustainable housing. It will focus on developing indicators to determine the level of sustainable status. It will also identify the importance of sustainable housing development and discuss the conceptual approach and issues pertaining existing sustainable housing in Malaysia.

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.

This research focuses on the opportunity to integrate a few components of Islamic Building Principles (IBP) to improve the spatial quality of low-cost vertical housing in Malaysia, especially Projek Perumahan Rakyat (PPR) housing in Malaysia. As everyone is aware, PPR homes were able to meet the basic requirement in terms of housing and meet the basic need of occupants as a shelter. However, several major problems continue to exist, keeping the spatial quality in most PPR homes less than ideal. Therefore, this study examines which IBP components are most effective in enhancing spatial quality in PPR homes. The IBP elements act as a benchmark indicating Islam as a way of life. The major goal of this study is to determine which of the Islamic building principles (IBP) are important to a vertical housing development in Malaysia and to evaluate the extent to which these principles or Islamic guidelines have been incorporated to the existing vertical housing in Malaysia. Throughout the research, a literature review and systematic visual observation approach were used to achieve both research objectives. The main findings of this study shows that… (add 1 sentence of main finding). With the implementation of IBP elements and maqasid shariah as a guideline for housing design, the well-being and quality of life of much needed focus can be enhanced and improve.

Illuminance in spaces is important criteria in rating building performance. These also a strategy to develop some passive design criteria to meet the occupant visual comfort. The aim of this study is to investigate the fluctuation of the illuminance level and the impact of daylighting in an optimum performance zone. This study also investigates the effects of occupant density whether affect the illuminance level in two selected office buildings. Qualitative survey has been conducted on the occupant's perception toward visual comfort and obtaining the comparison on the glare effect by using IESVE computer simulation while visual test has been conducted involving selected workers. The maximum occupant density and physical conditions; window to wall ratio of 25%, 40% and 70% of typical office space were identified by using IESVE simulation. Findings from experiment of visual performance and daylighting simulation showed more than 50% occupancy in typical office room with 70% of WWR affected the extend of the daylight zone and the acceptable of illuminance level is not achieved. There high contract between 50% of the occupancy in a room is also changed the illuminance level of more than 26%. The findings contribute towards the improvement of an acceptable visual comfort ranges and design recommendations for optimum performance zone in a single office space in Malaysia. � 2018 Web Portal IOP. All rights reserved.

The purpose of this research was to assess the value of empowering Faculty of Education students in pledging and carrying out "Acts of Green" over a four-month period. Three themes were explored including perceived personal benefit, empowerment and commitment, and attitudinal shift towards environmental education. All three themes focused around pledging to an Act of Green. The Canadian One Million Acts of Green initiative was inspired by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation television host George Stroumboulopoulos and encouraged individuals to make a personal environmental pledge resulting in changes to improve our environment and reduce greenhouse gases. The participants in the study included 320 pre-service teachers of which 80.3% (n=257) responded to the on-line anonymous survey. Significant gains were shown in the three focus areas of the study: 1) the respondents, all of whom choose their own personal Act of Green (as opposed to being told what to do) increased their commitment to follow through (89.5% (n=230)); 2) developed a positive attitude towards teaching environmental education in their classroom (91.8% (n=236)); and 3) a vast majority of the respondents would Common Ground, Jeff Scott, All Rights Reserved.

Natural daylight is a renewable energy source that is important in photobiology study which looks into the effect of light to living organism. Students' visual comfort satisfaction due to efficient daylight in a classroom are highlighted in the physical of the building and learning space such as windows and openings. One of the factor that influences the design of classrooms environmental condition. Environmental condition consideration includes the daylighting requirement for classrooms. Various standards and guidelines on daylighting consideration have been developed in Malaysia including the recommendation on Window-to-Floor Ratio (WFR) and illuminance level. However, the recommended WFR may not achieve the recommended illuminance level. This paper evaluates whether the recommended WFR design achieve the recommended acceptable illuminance level. Two classrooms in Kolej Permata Insan, Nilai, Negeri Sembilan with different orientation were selected for the study. Integrated Environmental Solution (IESVE) simulation software is used for daylight evaluation. The WFR of the two selected classrooms were set to the recommended 20%. Simulation results shows that the illuminance level for both classrooms are higher than recommended. The simulation also shows that the daylight distribution in the classrooms are not uniform, thus creating inefficient daylight condition. Therefore, the WFR recommends further studies with additional of daylighting design strategy considerations. � 2018 Web Portal IOP. All rights reserved.

Purpose – Retrofitting and rehabilitation are part of the conservation approach in Heritage Building Conservation Guideline 2016 in Malaysia. Heritage buildings can be retrofitted to preserve their culture and history while being given a new lease. Rehabilitation is a preservation requirement that is more flexible since it assumes that the structure has already deteriorated to the point where repairs are required to prevent further deterioration. Although the strategies of these two approaches are different, their combination resulted in sustainable heritage building maintenance. This long-term maintenance strategy is necessary, especially for Malaysia’s numerous heritage schools, which have serious maintenance problems as a result of infrequent maintenance, repairs, and funding shortages. Design/methodology/approach – This study involved secondary data from an intensive literature review along with a comparative study from articles review and context analysis. A comparative study was conducted to determine the typical issue with heritage school buildings and the best maintenance practice for these structures. Finally, it involved a SWOT analysis study of retrofitting and rehabilitating heritage school buildings will be discussed in this study as well. Findings – The findings of this study will focus on developing a strategic planning framework and maintenance for heritage school buildings in Malaysia to achieve sustainable maintenance. It will also highlight sustainable maintenance best practices for heritage school buildings in Malaysia. Finally, SWOT analysis will go over the pros and cons of retrofitting and rehabilitation for these buildings. Originality/value – This paper put forward the requirements of strategic planning in heritage school buildings and outlines the significance of sustainable maintenance for educational buildings. It is an alternative for cost savings that has not been extensively investigated in previous studies.

Fabric of a town is an accumulation of historical scenes. Historic towns are regarded as a treasured inheritance. Royal towns in Malaysia is significant to unique heritage identity. Streets in royal town are significant urban elements that indicates the characteristics and attributes of a setting that define their physical and functional aspects. The aim of this study is to analyze the physical components and qualities that influenced the street aspect of the royal town in Kuala Kangsar. It discusses the background of the town, literature review on traditional street characteristics and analyzing physical elements as attributes in revealing physical qualities that ultimately form a unique and distinctive street character in the royal town. The research employed mixed methods, of combining qualitative and quantitative analysis to strengthen the conclusions and heightened its knowledge and validity. This paper will share its findings based on research's pilot study through questionnaire, observation, interviews and historical document analysis. The royal heritage town was analyzed to illustrate the objectives and all attributes were cross-investigated to determine what are the essential physical elements that have contributed to these qualities. The study concludes that attractiveness, visibility, human scale, enclosure, permeability, legibility and special activities are the significant physical qualities that shaped the character of streets in the royal town. Each physical quality is manifested by the physical elements that becomes the catalyst in creating a successful path.

Purpose – The existing concept in the building rating scheme especially in developing countries was more focused on the environment, economic, social and culture. The new approach of the classroom condition index (CCI) assessment scheme has its uniqueness in environmental and social aspects because of high building performance in secondary school buildings. The requirements set by the Ministry of Education Malaysia include providing a conducive learning environment, especially for students who are considered as the main users of classrooms in school buildings. Currently, the school administration needs to manually record the condition of the classroom to increase its comfort level. The lack of a structured scheme for classroom assessment makes it difficult for school administration to focus on the overall classroom condition (physical environmental aspect) in the school building. The purpose of this study is to develop a framework for classroom conditions by proposing a CCI assessment scheme for a secondary school building in Malaysia. Design/methodology/approach – Mixed methods were used to carry out the study. The first stage of this study concentrates on developing a system for CCI that relates to physical elements in the classroom. This is done by reviewing the literature on the classroom physical performance, as well as a comparison between several building rating systems locally and abroad. The structure of the proposed CCI scheme is grouped into four main themes, namely, space management quality (SMQ), building condition (BC), indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and teaching and learning quality (TLQ). In addition, there are 12 categories and 23 indicators listed under this theme. The second stage focuses on formulating assessment categories with their relevant performance indicators. This phase undergoes a validation process by conducting a survey (questionnaire) toward the classroom’s main users, which are students and teachers. This is to ensure the accuracy of classroom conditions in the school building. A semi-structured interview was also conducted among building experts. They are building surveyors, building engineers, building designers and building performance experts to support the main findings in the second stage. Relative importance (RI) index approach has been applied to show the indicators weighting and ranking are used as data collections method by using Statistical Package of Social Science software to examine the RI of each category and indicator, respectively. Findings – The findings show that prominent RI and balanced weights are formed from these four main themes. They are SMQ (19.9%), BC (26.6%), IEQ (33.2%) and TLQ (20.3%). The outcome of this study will contribute to a detailed assessment scheme for CCI at the secondary school building. The contribution of the CCI Assessment Scheme is more comprehensive and holistic than the conventional assessment process for BCs. It focuses specifically on classroom space as it is the most important area to achieve a high level of comfort comparing to other spaces in the school building. This holistic approach encompasses all types of classrooms. The concept of one tool fits all is seen as no longer a relevant adaptation in this context. This proposed tool is to be used only for the classroom (as the name CCI implies) and it cannot be used for the other types of spaces, for instance, teacher room, library, meeting room, toilet, canteen and, etc. This is because different spaces represent different physical indicators to be classified. This, in turn, contributes to a conducive learning environment for students in the school. Originality/value – This paper provides the current information, knowledge and findings related to the classroom physical indicators in developing the assessment scheme for the classroom environment. It will assist both technical and non-technical experts to clarify the current condition of classroom physical performance that ideally may affect the students’ learning environment. The novelty of CCI development is not only on the adopted method but it also includes the ideas on next generation model of rating system that ideally need specific indicators and weighting to be generated into an intelligent computerized system.