Developing Visual/Protocol 1 Sustainable Condition Assessment (BSusCA) Tool for Non-Residential Existing Building

Abstract

Global warming and the destruction of the environment are presumed to be the most serious environmental problems. In Malaysia, a lot of people have responded to green building assessment tools, which has led to a growth in green building construction. Sustainable development assessment towards building is an approach that can fulfil demands without neglecting future requirements. Presently, “Non-Destructive Inspections” is a protocol 2 assessment that directly measures sustainable building standards. However, it is unclear how a key idea of sustainable construction has proven its value in the assessment framework since it does not use any prelims in rating a sustainable building. Truthfully, prelims help building stakeholders make precise decisions and plan for the future based on the current state of the building. Otherwise, stakeholders may confront a variety of challenges such as unplanned incidents, the difficulty of the qualifying process, and urgent priority work, particularly if they are unfamiliar with the certification framework. The aim of this research is to overcome the gap of sustainable development assessment protocol 2 by developing a Visual/Protocol 1 Inspection Method for the Building Sustainable Condition Assessment (BSusCA) system. The assessment is generated with an appropriate formula for a pre-assessment benchmarking tool. Hence, it will allow practitioners to understand the minimum requirements for achieving green building certification. This research only focused on the Non-Residential Existing Building (NREB), which includes Chowrasta Market (Pasar Chowrasta) and Kompleks Dato’ Kailan. This study adopted a mixed-method approach by means of questionnaires, case studies, interviews, surveys, and direct observations. The collected data was compared to the literature review. First, significant components of government assessment (pHJKR and SIRIM) and private benchmarking tools for existing building criteria (GBI) were compared. The outcomes indicated that achievement point benchmarks should at least reach 50% in each tool. Second, sub-criteria between pHJKR and GBI assessment tools for a reliable inspection were identified. GBI achieved the targeted benchmarks of ≥50 with an extra 5 points, whereas pHJKR’s targeted benchmarks were ≥74 and achieved with an extra 13 points. Based on these analyses, a Visual/Protocol 1 Inspection Method for the BSusCA system was created with six (6) different criteria. In addition, thematic analysis was used to look at the results of the interview about the BSusCA, and professionals concluded that this case study should be continued for the benefit of stakeholders and practitioners.