Fly ash is an industrial solid waste that has found application in concrete production for minimization of CO2 emission. The introduction of fly ash into concrete and the replacement of the conventional fine aggregate with laterite can be viewed as an attempt to convert industrial waste material cum locally available fine aggregate to a purposeful use. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive experimental investigation on the strength characteristics of green laterized concrete with fly ash. The physical and chemical properties of fly ash and laterite were studied to evaluate its possible influence on both fresh and hardened state of cement and laterized concrete. A total of 120 cubes of 100 mm dimensions were cast and cured in water for 7, 14, 21,28 and 56 d of hydration. The results show that the 28 d density dropped from 2467 kg/m3 to 2300 kg/m3 andthe compressive strength from 21.94 N/mm2 to 15.02 N/mm2 for 20 % of fly ash content with 0 % - 30 % laterite introduced. The compressive strength decrease with increase in laterite content; the strength of the laterized concrete increases as the curing age progresses.

Islamic religious school is an institution that integrates Quran hafazan (memorization) in the curriculum. Between 2011 to 2017, estimated that 900 new Islamic religious schools were established in Malaysia due to high demands. Designing a classroom layout that receives sufficient daylight is important because it influences the students’ task performance such as reading and writing. The standards recommend that any classrooms require an illuminance level between 300 lx to 500 lx when measured at working plane height between 800mm to 900mm, although the working plane height of rehal used for hafazan is between 250mm to 300mm. This study focused on the illuminance level measured at rehal working plane height for Arabic handwriting as a hafazan learning task in two selected standardised classrooms at Kolej Genius Insan. The students were required to rewrite the modified Balsam Alabdulkader-Leat (BAL) Arabic eye chart, where the students’ Arabic handwriting performance were evaluated based on their word per minute (wpm) scores. Both classrooms’ average illuminance level were 507 lx to 603 lx, which were too high based on standards and guidelines. The average Arabic handwriting scores for both classrooms were 9.4 and 12.6 wpm, which shows that the inefficient average illuminance level has caused the students’ performance to be very low. It can be concluded that the existing standardised classroom layout design was not suitable for hafazan learning tasks at rehal working plane height. Thus, the classroom layout design for Islamic religious schools needed further studies, which implicated the unsatisfied built environment of the classrooms and the school education for Islamic religious schools in Malaysia.

Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia is expected and plans to be transformed into a sustainable campus. Efforts to implement sustainable element are slowly and progressively developed and has become an important innovation agenda incorporated in sustainable development in every aspect of life in the university campus. To realize this transformation, it has started with an idea to study a potential of using the renewable energy. The Renewable Energy Policy Network, REN (2007), reported that the potential wind energy generating capacity has increased by 28 percent and the solar energy surged to 52 percent. The energy efficiency and renewable energy under the Eight Malaysia Plan (2001 - 2005) and Ninth Malaysian Plan (2006 - 2010) focused on targeting for renewable energy to be significant contributor and for better utilization of energy resources. An emphasis to further reduce the dependency on petroleum provides for more effort to integrate alternative source of energy. Wind is one type of renewable energy that can be developed to generate free and clean energy replacing the one that cannot be renewed and cause the pollution such as fossil fuel. Therefore, the purpose of this research is done to determine whether it is suitable for Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia to use wind as alternative source to generate energy replacing the use of electricity by Tenaga Nasional Berhad in the future In order to implement the Kampus Barakah a study of the possibility of adopting a renewable energy was done.

Given the long lifetime and high cost of the built environment, it is imperative that we plan for and create communities that are robust in the face of climate change. Occupancy detection systems are widely used to monitor and detect events for building management purposes. Effective adaptation in the built environment needs to be supported by robust policy and a range of incentives to ensure delivery on the ground and likewise the need for artificial intelligence (AI) to help in these intervention is of utmost importance. This study proposed the use of an indoor occupancy detection using ultrasonic and Carbon Dioxide Sensors to help determine the usability of energy by occupants in a buildings space. Current research has presented solutions to improve occupancy detection and estimation to enhance building performance. The majority of these solutions use occupant static or dynamic data and indoor metrological data to generate automated occupancy detection and estimation models to manage HVAC operation to ensure significant energy saving through programmable microcontroller via wi-fi or mobile application. These solutions have been proven to be economical through improved overall HVAC energy consumption efficiency compare to a traditional thermostat. However, recent investigation shows these solutions suffer from false human occupancy detection and poor estimation strategy. Incorrect detection was caused by technological hardware and research limitations. The estimation strategies are based on estimation and approximation without acknowledging the base of the assumption and resulting in excess energy consumption, especially when space is occupied by less designated occupancy. This study proposed a sensor fusion mechanism to accurately collect and analyze occupancy information to accurately classify occupancy as a space presence. The experimental analysis shows 89% accuracy of human occupancy detection without compromising occupancy privacy