BACHELOR’S IN QUANTITY SURVEYING (AP224)

FACULTY OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND

SURVEYING

BQS 514
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 3: RESEARCH REPORT

PREPARED BY:

NAME: NABILAH BINTI FUZI

MATRIC NO. 2022484944

GROUP: 3A

LECTURER:
DR. WAN FAIDA BINTI WAN MOHD AZMI
TABLE OF CONTENT
1.0 RESEARCH TITLE………………………………………………………………………………1

1.1 KEYWORD………………………………………………………………………….……1

2.0 ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………...……………..……1

3.0 INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………………2-3

4.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT…………………………………………………………….……….3-4

5.0 AIM OF RESEARCH…………………………………………………………………….………4

6.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVES………………………………………………………….…………4

7.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS…………………………………………………………….………..4

8.0 SCOPE OF RESEARCH…………………………………………….………………………….4

9.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY……………………………………………………………..….5

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………......6-7

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1.0 RESEARCH TITLE

The research title for this study is the Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) impact on the
occupant of Green Building in the long run within Malaysia. For a sustainable design
in architecture, one of considered principle is humane design which to provide clean and
fresh air; thermal, visual, and acoustic comfort; operable windows; and visual connection
to exterior (Shariar et al.,2017; Licina et al.,2021). Research on how to improve IEQ
performance is by giving a specific mandatory requirement (Lee et al.,2019) while some
said that IEQ satisfaction can be measures by a set of data collected from the relocation
of the same occupant at conventional building to green-certified building (Licina et al.,
2021).

1.1 Key Word

I. Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ)
II. Green Building
III. Impact to occupant

2.0 ABSTRACT

In the process of getting the title of green building, there is a rating tool made by the
authority to suits their climate norms and local building practices (Yong N. H. et al, 2021).
Approval on certificate proceed only after Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) parameters
achieved a certain score (He Y. et al,2022). Regardless having building rate score system
like GBI, BREAM or LEED, achieving a solid 80% satisfaction is hard (Licina et al, 2021).
Therefore, this paper aims to show the impact of IEQ score to the occupant’s productivity
through an extensive review on case study and journal mostly collected from Science Direct
and Emerald Insight strictly range from 2017 to 2022. The findings revealed out of nine
element available, thermal and indoor air quality (IAQ) has the most influence on the
occupant comfortability and it usually cause by less control given to the occupant especially
on Double-skin façade (DSF) and blinds specifically in tropical country which proven cause
an additional cost from overuse of energy to overcome the thermal load. Next, lack of
knowledge about IEQ value from the developer to end-user is also explain why IEQ is still at
an average level. From this study, policymaker could make a few changes on the building
rate score standard in the Green Building Index (GBI) to ensure a good indoor environment.

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3.0 INTRODUCTION

According to Cambridge Dictionary, building is a structure with a roof and walls which we
believe exist even before the human civilization. As the time goes by, there are three things
need to be put into our concern which is climate change, growth of population as in 2050 we
are expecting more than half of the population in that country would move to the city; and
usage of base resources (Shariar et al.,2017; Yang et al.,2017). Green Technologies can be
associated to resource-saving and sustainable for building industry (Juan et al.,2022; Wang
et al.,2018) while green buildings present with characteristic such as efficient use of energy
and water systems, creating a better quality of life for everyone around them (Illankoon et
al.,2017).

Licina et al. (2021) stated that most of green building certification like Building Research
Establishment Environmental Assessment Method (BREEAM) from UK and Leadership in
Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) in the US shared the same aspiration which to
alleviate climate change and to promote human comfort. Malaysia has its own rating tools
which is Green Building Index (Oheri et al.,2018). Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) is a subset
to green building rating systems (RSs) (Cedeno-Laurent et al.,2018). These researchers
agree that nine elements usually present in any rating system and as a whole to any healthy,
green building (Cedeno-Laurent et al., 2018;). They are ventilation, thermal health, indoor air
quality (IAQ), moisture, water quality, safety & security, lighting & views, noise, and dust &
pests. Human also have rights regarding a healthy indoor environment which issued by World
Health Organization (WHO).

Figure 1: 130, Principles of Healthy Indoor Air from World Health Organization

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 To attain all this element into the green building, stakeholders involved especially
developers and designers should put a consideration with any practice-specific design
strategy that make the IEQ accessible with the operation, maintenance, renovation, and
demolition (Shams et al., 2017). According to Teng (2019), green building also helps to
promote health and interior comfort. Research has found that the most significant
requirement of IEQ parameters is energy that affects human physiology and influence
human psychology. Healthy community can be form using what the green building has to
offer as a tool in providing a high-quality indoor environment (Cedeno-Laurent et al.,2018).

4.0 PROBLEM STATEMENT

Issues regarding Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) implementation through green building is
the five-quality applied for IEQ parameter which is lighting quality, thermal comfort, air quality,
acoustic quality and external view. These are factors to gain the “green-building certified” title.
Licina (2021) state that noise and thermal comfort give the most negative impact on the
occupant’s productivity while Esfandiari (2017) conclude that IAQ shows a poor percentage of
satisfaction from the occupant. Building rate score system such as GBI, BREAM or LEED was
reported that despite having their certification, to obtain 80% standard satisfaction score from
the occupant is a rare encounter or hard to achieve (Licina et al, 2021).

Next, another hot debated topic is the installation of double-skin facade (DSF) that seems
not practical for ventilation and thermal comfort (M. Qahtan,2019; Ye,2022). This system is
made to make use of solar heat gain from the tropics weather (M. Qahtan, 2019). According
to a study made by M. Qahtan (2019), with the tropical climate of Malaysia, having DSF is
almost useless as even though the outdoor temperature decreases, the indoor temperature
would remain the same or worse increased. The application of double-glazing surfaces and
direct sun radiation clearly has impact negatively in thermal comfort of IEQ. Li et al., (2019)
state that, country that has warm climate throughout the year has proven in various studies
causing an increment in cooling load in the building thus, cause additional cost regarding the
energy use to overcome the thermal load.

Moreover, full involvement of all classes of building sector is needed which allows them to
coordinate with their expertise to achieve an integrated and a well-build structure (Cedeno-
Laurent et al.,2018). From designers, contractors, authorities, and end-user need to give their
approach on a certain matter (Shariar et al., 2017). In construction, miscommunication always
occur due to no frequent interaction between them. Li et al., (2019) said that POE need to
include parties involve in the development including the government, architects, regulatory

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agencies, etc. because they can share their thought on how to enhance green building more
in the future.

5.0 RESEARCH AIM

The purpose of conducting this research is to show that high satisfaction of IEQ proven to
increase the occupant’s productivity and well-being with a certain standard stated by the
Green Building Index (GBI). In order to fully compliment the purpose, literature review is crucial
in this research to help deepen the understanding of the impact of IEQ to the occupant in a
long period of time.

6.0 RESEARCH OBJECTIVE

Based on the problem statement and issues, the objective of this research was as follow:

I. To identify the main problem in each element of IEQ that usually cause
uncomfortableness to the occupant’s well-being
II. To examine the implementation of DSF in a green building built in Malaysia
III. To investigate the cause of high productivity level of the occupant in the green
building

7.0 RESEARCH QUESTIONS

Based on the problem statement and issues, the research question as follow:

I. What characteristic can be defined as a high percentage of IEQ

II. What can industry player do to ensure high IEQ is achievable using the GBI
III. Does occupant have the control for indoor environment performance such as DSF

8.0 SCOPE OF RESEARCH

This research is based on specifically in about Indoor Environment Quality (IEQ) impact on
the occupant of Green Building in the long run within Malaysia.

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9.0 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This case study has decided to apply the qualitative research strategy. Qualitative is chosen
cause of how we do not have an assigned time to collect our sample through quantitative
research. It is not specifically labelling the process in order to make sure information is easily
can be accessed with a proper motivations and reasoning. At the end of review, reader could
get what author mean or probably issue or topic from an individual perspective. Hypothesis
also can be made using qualitative but then would be confirmed by using quantitative
research.

Constructing a survey’s flow also include a group of people that their attitude, word, or
opinion regarding IEQ parameter which could seem unfamiliar. With qualitative, discovering
would help with how occupant of the green building can be affected by the IEQ score based
on GBI standard. Hypothesis can be generated even before getting any data to prove
empirically.

A critical review of the case study and journal also been used in this study. In a systematic
manner, there are two stages. The first stage, the keyword used in the search engine are
green building, indoor environment quality (IEQ) and impact on occupant on both website
Emerald Insight and Science Direct. The second stage would be sorting the year which range
from 2017 to 2022 so the information is not too difference for reference purpose. Document
also tick on open access making easier to choose relevance case study or journal.

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 REFERENCES

Carpejani, G., da Silva Neiva, S., Deggau, A. B., & de Andrade Guerra, J. B.S.O. (2020).
Resilient and green building design/construction. Encyclopedia of the UN Sustainable
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Cedeño-Laurent, J. G., Williams, A., MacNaughton, P., Cao, X., Eitland, E., Spengler, J., &
Allen, J. (2018). Building evidence for Health: Green Buildings, current Science, and future
challenges. Annual Review of Public Health, 39(1), pp. 291–308.

Esfandiari, M., Mohamed Zaid, S., & Ismail, M. A. (2017). Investigating the indoor
environment quality parameters and their relationship with occupants’ satisfaction in office
buildings: A Review. Journal of Design and Built Environment, 17, pp. 181–194.

Illankoon, I. M. C., Tam, V. W. Y., Le, K. N., & Shen, L. (2017). Key credit criteria among
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Juan, Y.-K., Lee, P.-H. (2022). Applying data mining techniques to explore technology
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pp 1-13, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2021.103669

Lee, J. Y., Wargocki, P., Chan, Y. H., Chen, L., & Tham, K. W. (2019). Indoor environmental
quality, occupant satisfaction, and acute building‐related health symptoms in Green Mark‐
certified compared with non‐ certified office buildings. Indoor Air, 29(1), pp. 112–129.
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Li, Y., Darkwa, J., & Su, W. (2019). Investigation on thermal performance of an integrated
phase change material blind system for double skin facade buildings. Energy Procedia, 158,
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Licina, D., Wargocki, P., Pyke, C., & Altomonte, S. (2021). The future of IEQ in Green
Building Certifications. Buildings and Cities, 2(1), pp. 907–927.

Licina, D., & Yildirim, S. (2021). Occupant satisfaction with Indoor Environmental Quality, sick
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