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

A. M. Al Yacouby*, Mohd Faris Khamidi, Y. W. Teo, M F Nuruddin, S A Farhan, S. A. Sulaiman, A. E. Razali

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contribution

    8 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    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 air-conditioner units to improve the indoor thermal comfort and only 22% of the respondents were aware of the effects of insulation on thermal performance of their houses. The implementation of building insulation will have an immediate impact on reducing total energy demand and mitigating GHG's emission in Malaysia.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationManagement of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards III
    EditorsC A Brebbia, S S Zubir
    PublisherWIT Press
    Pages219-230
    Number of pages12
    Volume148
    ISBN (Electronic)9781845645328
    ISBN (Print)978-1-84564-533-5
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 2012
    Event3rd International Conference on Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards - Selangor, Malaysia
    Duration: 13 Dec 201115 Dec 2011

    Publication series

    NameWIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment
    PublisherWIT PRESS
    Volume148
    ISSN (Print)1743-3541
    ISSN (Electronic)1746-448X

    Conference

    Conference3rd International Conference on Management of Natural Resources, Sustainable Development and Ecological Hazards
    Country/TerritoryMalaysia
    CitySelangor
    Period13/12/1115/12/11
    OtherRavage of the Planet

    Keywords

    • building insulation
    • energy consumption
    • hot humid climate
    • Malaysia
    • thermal comfort
    • PERFORMANCE
    • ENERGY
    • ROOF

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