HUMAN FACTORS ISSUES IN MALAYSIAN GREEN BUILDING DEVELOPMENT: A REVIEW
Author: Tsau Kar Yen, Izran Sarrazin Mohammad, Rohaya Abdul Jalil, Abdul Hakim Bin Mohammed
Abstract: This paper reviews the importance of incorporating human factors and ergonomics (HFE) in the development of Malaysian green buildings. Apparently, the development of green buildings is often focussed on achieving energy efficiency, low carbon emission, and lower operation and maintenance cost. However, green buildings should not only be environmentally and economically sustainable. Instead, it should also be socially sustainable. Social sustainability is connected to HFE and this could help to improve the quality of green development. It is imperative to consider HFE in green buildings as it is a discipline related to the understanding of the interaction among humans and other elements of a system in order to optimise human well-being and overall system performance. However, many tend to overlook the importance of human factors in green buildings and this may lead to some of the green features failed to be implemented, performed or not utilised in a way that maximises the performance of green buildings, thus restraining the green features’ usability and their potential benefits. Therefore, based on literature review, this paper reviews the need to incorporate human factors in the green building development and how this could benefit to improve the performance of green buildings in the Malaysian context. The findings show that HFE is still in its infancy stage in Malaysia. HFE is mostly implemented in the workplace focusing on occupational safety and health to reduce musculoskeletal disorder, risk, absenteeism and illness. The findings presented in this paper could create awareness among the practitioners on the benefits of creating flexible and ergonomic green buildings that accommodate building users, promote a healthy, comfortable and productive environment.
Keywords: Green Building, Human Factors and Ergonomics (HFE), Green Building Performance