What is it about?
Economically, Malaysia has one of the fastest growing construction industries in the world; however, the necessary balance between socio-economic and ecological systems – to avoid further environmental damage – has not yet been reached by the industry. This paper aims to explore the extent of sustainable development practices (socially, environmentally and economically) in the Malaysian construction industry, focusing on the office building sector. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 30 stakeholders from various backgrounds of the Malaysian construction industry are used to explore their challenges and motivations for pursuing sustainable outcomes.
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Why is it important?
This paper informs the government and regulatory stakeholders, research and education sector, private sector, and clients of the building industry, where the authors currently are and the gaps that the authors have to bridge in order to make sustainability more socially acceptable and integral in the local construction industry.
Perspectives
The study generally finds that in Malaysia, there is a wide gap of knowledge and awareness on sustainable building practices. To close the current gaps of sustainable building practices, it is recommended that specific issues highlighted in this paper to be addressed by the government and regulatory stakeholders, research and education sector, private sector, and clients of the building industry. One possible solution is for a building sustainability assessment framework (covering beyond environmental issues) to be developed to make sustainability more socially acceptable and integral in the local construction industry.
Dr Zalina Shari
Universiti Putra Malaysia
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Investigating sustainable practices in the Malaysian office building developments, Construction Innovation, January 2014, Emerald,
DOI: 10.1108/ci-12-2012-0064.
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