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The purpose of this paper is to evaluate green buildings from the angle of greenness and improve the evaluation system. And the matter-element extension method is used to evaluate the greenness of green buildings, in order to provide useful references for the evaluation system of green buildings.

First, this paper studies the aspects of safety and durability, health and comfort, living convenience, resource-saving, environmental liability and ecological quality, etc. For the first time, carbon emission is included in the evaluation system, 18 key evaluation indexes are determined by using the Delphi method, and the green building evaluation index system is established. Then, the combined weight method is proposed to determine the weight of each evaluation index, and the greenness evaluation model of green building is established with the matter-element extension method. Finally, taking Beijing Daxing International Airport as an example, the evaluation model of green building greenness was established to evaluate the building.

In this paper, the greenness evaluation model of green building established by the matter-element extension method solves the problem of incompatibility between qualitative and quantitative material elements in multi-factor evaluation. It makes the evaluation indexes more accurate and objective relative to the affiliation calculation of the evaluation set and improves the scientific, accuracy and reliability of the evaluation model.

In this paper, for the first time, carbon emission-related indicators are included in the green building evaluation system, which makes the evaluation system more perfect. In addition, a more scientific extension matter-element method is used to evaluate the greenness of green buildings, breaking the previous rough star evaluation method.

From interviews with selected experts and secondary sources, this paper charts the actions that led to Malaysia having its own green building rating tool. It began with the Institution of Architects Malaysia and the Institution of Engineers Malaysia working together in 2008 to come up with the Green Building Index (GBI) specifically suited for the Malaysian condition. The index was launched a year later, the same year that a new prime minister came into office. With greening the economy in mind, he launched a few major initiatives, one of which was the creation of the Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water to replace the Ministry of Energy, Water and Communications and another was the launching of the National Technology Policy. In December 2009, he made the commitment on Malaysia's behalf to reduce carbon dioxide emission at the Copenhagen Summit, thereby cementing his commitment to green issues at the international level. Behind-the-scene lobbying by the private sector resulted in the government explicitly endorsing the GBI by tying GBI certification of buildings to financial incentives. This paper makes the case that the strong cooperation between the private sector and the government over the GBI represents a form of public-private partnership on aspects of collaborative spirit, complementarity of resources, private sector leadership, wide-ranging ramifications over other partnerships across time, timing and sustainability. Other countries intending to come up with their own rating tool can take stock of the Malaysian experience.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which green building features are evident in office properties in Lagos, Nigeria; and consequently determine the degree of compliance with green standards in the country.

The study purposively sampled two (2) office properties from the management portfolio of 88 registered Estate firms in Lagos. Data were collected using physical observation on the properties and interview with two users purposively selected from each of the properties. The data were analysed with the use of frequency distribution, percentages and measures of green features availability index.

The result revealed a low extent of green features incorporation in existing office properties with the value of availability indices on most features falling below 2.5 on a five-point scale. Feature relating to material use and conservation is the most incorporated green feature (mean score of 2.62) while those relating to owner and occupant education were least in incorporation (mean score of 1.895).

From the findings, it is apparent that green retrofitting may be necessary in Nigeria due to the low extent of green practices in existing office properties. Also, reinforcement of existing government policies and increased sensitisation of stakeholders on impact of current building practices are pertinent to green building success in Nigeria.

Most existing studies of similar focus are based in the developed economies where stronger implementation framework exists for green building. Besides, they are mostly based on evaluation of green certified buildings using few criteria. This study differs in that it presents the existing building sustainability practices in a less pronounced green property market, with varying architectural styles using more robust criteria. Information provided is applicable in Nigeria and other emerging economies.

With the impending development of green buildings in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia, managing the criteria within the requirements of the rating tool’s certification shall be the responsibility of the respective parties when these buildings are in operations. In tenanted buildings, a lease agreement spells out the responsibilities of the owner/landlord and the tenants. The paper aims to discuss these issues.

The main aim of this study is to gauge the implementation of green lease among office buildings in Kuala Lumpur. This is made through an initial review of the adoption of green building criteria as well as the determination of the drivers and barriers perceived by office building managers in implementing green lease.

A survey amongst the managers of top grade office buildings in Kuala Lumpur revealed that the majority practiced some of the green criteria outlined in the Green Building Index. It also revealed that the most significant green lease terms commonly acknowledged by the respondents were energy and water-saving consumption as well as recycled material usage.

Through the identification of the barriers to implement green lease, the most significant barriers identified were related to cost and financing. Having identified these obstacles, appropriate action can be taken to bring forward green lease awareness amongst the various stakeholders in the office building sector in ensuring the successful operation of green buildings.

Green building development practices reduce carbon footprint and promote sustainability in the built environment. To foster green building construction in Malaysia, several strategies and sustainability metrics like the Malaysian Carbon Reduction and Environmental Sustainability Tool (MyCREST) have been established. Yet, the implementation of green office building development in Sarawak still remains low. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to develop MyCREST Embedded Framework (MEF) for enhancing the adoption of green office building construction in Sarawak.

To achieve the research aim, document analysis of the overarching MyCREST Reference Guide was conducted. Then, questionnaire was used to survey 120 green construction professionals in Kuching, the capital of Sarawak. Afterwards, data from the questionnaire was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science software version 22. As a result, the significant strategies for enhancing the adoption of green office building construction in Sarawak were identified, and ranked hierarchically using the Relative Importance Index.

The established significant strategies include: government policies and incentives, sustainable technological practices, defined process for executing green building projects and adequate information for the public. Moreover, this study recommends MyCREST as the suitable Green Building Assessment Tool for developing green office buildings in Sarawak due to its integration of carbon reduction strategies with sustainability indicators.

This study is limited to Kuching; hence future study should be extended to other cities in Sarawak.

Based on the findings, the MEF is developed to enlighten the industry practitioners on the approaches that will elevate green office building development in Sarawak.

The purpose of this paper is to identify green envelope building components of residential buildings applicable under hot and humid climates and to analyze the effect of these components on building value.

The authors place an emphasis on green envelope components that influence building value and which are derived based on their integration into a building envelope structure that is applicable under hot and humid climates. This is performed through identification of green benefits of each green envelope component based on literature reviews and in relation to green criteria listed by the Malaysia Green Building Index (GBI). Consequently, a quantitative analysis has been conducted to determine the effect of these green envelope components on building value by means of a questionnaire distribution among 550 property valuation practitioners in Malaysia. However, in order to certify respondents’ credibility, the authors analyzed questionnaires answered by property valuation practitioners with experience in green valuation.

The findings show that there are ten green envelope components currently certified under GBI Malaysia and applicable for hot and humid climates. There are three green envelope components that can increase property values, specifically: solar photovoltaic, green living wall and green roof. However, eight of the green envelope components have no effect on building value.

Due to the relative immaturity of the green building market in Malaysia, the authors were unable to analyze the actual percentage of increment on building value as conveyed by each green envelope component.

This paper aims to provide understanding of the effect of individual green envelope components on building value rather than merely the value of green buildings in general. It proves that green building envelope components do in fact contribute to an increase in green building values. As the green building market in Malaysia is still in its infancy, this study is significant in that it prepares the Malaysian green building market to attain a new level by providing valuation practitioners with awareness of green building values and new knowledge concerning the effect of individual green components on building values. Hence, it is anticipated that this study can assist property valuation practitioners in conducting valuations of green buildings in the future.

Global warming and climate change is one of the biggest issues facing humanity in this century; its effects are felt on the highest peaks of Mount Everest to the low-lying islands in the India Ocean. This century marked the highest amount of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted, breaking records of the past 650,000 years, and we have pushed the climate to “a point of no return”. Much of the climate contribution has been linked to humanity’s thirst for higher living standards and lifestyle, which has led to higher consumerism, depletion of earth’s resources, production of massive waste and carbon emissions. Fast forward from the sustainability agenda of Brundtland set in 1987 and the increasing demand for energy consumption to cater for the current global inhabitants, many “green” efforts have been taken by the building industry to reduce the overall environmental impact. This purpose of this study is to compare energy performance of a conventional office building with a green certified building.

This paper tries to bridge the performance gap by comparing measured operational energy consumption and carbon emission of Green Building Index (GBI)-certified office buildings in Kuala Lumpur, to determine whether “green buildings” are performing as intended in reducing their environmental impact.

This paper highlighted and compared operational energy consumption and carbon emissions of a GBI-certified office with a conventional office building in Malaysia. The paper also discusses the performance gap issue and its common causes, and aims to compare predicted energy and operational energy performance of buildings.

Initiatives such as “green” or “sustainable” design have been at the forefront of architecture, while green assessment tools have been used to predict the energy performance of a building during its operational phase. There is still a significant performance gap between predicted or simulated energy measurements to actual operational energy consumption. The need to measure actual performance of these so-called “green buildings” is important to investigate if there is a performance gap and whether these buildings can perform better than conventional buildings. Understanding why the performance gap occurs is a step in reducing actual and predicted energy performance in buildings.

This paper aims to assess a measurement model of green cleaning for green buildings in Malaysia. Being one of the contributors to the indoor environmental quality performance, green cleaning has become one of the significant aspects that need to be considered for the well-being and performance of a building, particularly in a green building's operations and maintenance performance. Green buildings without green cleaning practices would hinder the benefits that should be rendered economically, socially and environmentally. However, the absence of clear green cleaning components and requirements in Malaysia has become a motivation to undertake this research.

A questionnaire survey involving cleaning service providers and green building index (GBI) facilitators was carried out, and the data was then analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling. However, this paper will only be focusing on the measurement model assessment.

Most of the green cleaning components and requirements are acceptable in the model except integrated pest management (in the cleaning procedure component) and hand soaps (in the product and materials component) due to lower factor loadings. Therefore, these two requirements were removed from the measurement model.

Due to a paucity of professionals in the field of green cleaning, the researchers have selected GBI facilitators and cleaning service providers as respondents for this research. The researchers assumed that GBI facilitators are aware of acceptable products and materials for green buildings; meanwhile, cleaning service providers know what is the best cleaning technique and process that helps in achieving cost and resource efficiency. This research also assumed that the green cleaning components identified can be applied to any type of green building, regardless of the differences in needs in each type of building.

This discovery will give the industry, particularly cleaning service providers and green building management teams, a first look at the green cleaning components and requirements.

This paper fulfills the need to study how green cleaning helps in achieving the benefits rendered by green buildings.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the level of energy saving behaviour between green and conventional office buildings in Malaysia to determine if people in green buildings perform better energy saving behaviour than people in conventional buildings. The paper specifically focused on use of technology, computer usage and potential energy savings from that use. The paper then examines what strategies are used to encourage energy saving behaviour for building occupants.

Questionnaires were distributed to occupants in the buildings to evaluate the extent of energy saving behaviour practiced, and identify potential strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour.

The findings show better energy saving behaviour practice in green buildings and the paper show why this is the case. The recommended strategies to encourage energy saving behaviour are discussed, and include means of raising education awareness on energy efficiency among the occupants. This can be done through distribution of guidelines, posters, pamphlets and e-mails. Occupants can also be given live updates on the energy usage of the building. Briefing on the objectives and goals of the organisation’s commitment to energy efficiency can be given to newly employed staff. As seen in this paper, these multiple strategies have shown to be successful in encouraging energy saving behaviours.

To date, energy saving behaviour has been given less focus in improving green building performance. There is limited research that compares energy saving behaviour between green and conventional commercial buildings in Malaysia. The findings provide a better understanding on occupants’ behaviour in energy conservation and suggest strategies for future recommendation.

The purpose of the study is to consolidate a set of indicators for assessing design and construction phase strategies for reducing operational greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. They will also estimate the quantity of operational GHG emission and its associated reduction over assessment period.

Five steps framework adopted include defining the purpose of the indicators and selection of candidate indicators. Others are defining the criteria for indicator selection, selecting and defining the proposed indicators. Relevancy, measurability, prevalence, preference, feasibility and adaptability of the indicator were the criteria used for selecting the indicators.

The study consolidated public transport accessibility, sustainable parking space, green vehicle priority, proximity to amenities and alternative modes as indicators for design and construction phase strategies. Transportation accounting and carbon footprint (CFP) and their associated reduction are indicators for operational GHG emission while plan and policy is an indicator for policymakers and stakeholders.

The study shows that providing correct indicators for assessing direct and indirect GHG emission with easy to obtain data is essential for assessment of built environment. Stakeholder can use the indicators in developing new rating systems and researchers as an additional knowledge. Policy makers and stakeholders can use the study in monitoring and rewarding the sustainability and activities of building related industries and organisations.

The study was conducted at the Center for Energy and Industrial Environmental Studies (CEIES) Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia and utilises existing rating systems and tools, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and GHG protocol reports and guides and several other standards, which are open for research.