Prefabricated construction (PC) has emerged as a global trend due to its touted advantages over traditional construction. However, the widespread adoption of PC faces significant challenges due to immature technology and high costs. This study conducted a systematic literature review to comprehensively analyze policy-related articles on prefabricated construction, with the goal of identifying research gaps. The PRISMA methodology was employed, resulting in the selection of 134 articles from the WoS and Scopus databases, with a cutoff date of November 2024. Through systematic analysis, three main research categories were identified: identifying barriers and proposing corresponding policies, identifying and summarizing policies that can be adopted for the promotion of prefabricated construction, and assessing the effectiveness of existing policies. Based on the analysis, this study presents 36 factors hindering the promotion of PC and summarizes 70 policy factors. Furthermore, it suggests that evaluating policy effectiveness should focus on individual factors rather than overall assessment.

Energy usage is significantly impacted by mosque designs, building envelops, and the use of various ventilation systems. Factors including geographic location, climate, and social and cultural origins have less significant impact on mosque architecture in Malaysia. Given Malaysia's tropical environment, social and cultural factors which might differ by region have a greater impact on mosque architecture than weather. Since Thematic Analysis (TA) is a comprehensive and successful approach in qualitative research, it has been used in this study to deepen our understanding of mosque classifications. In order to create a categorisation model for mosques, the study focuses on occupancy, design features, envelopes, and ventilation systems. Classifying mosques according to these attributes is crucial since they have an impact on energy use.

Construction projects, including building information modeling (BIM)-based building projects, often start the construction phase without being ready, leading to challenges like delays, cost overruns, and inaccurate as-built BIM models. However, current assessment criteria for construction readiness do not address the specific needs of BIM-based projects. This issue can be addressed by examining the interrelationship between critical assessment criteria and their influence on the construction readiness of BIM-based projects. Therefore, this study aims to model the interrelationships among critical assessment criteria and their influence on the construction readiness of BIM-based projects. The study objectives are to identify critical assessment criteria for assessing the construction readiness of BIM-based projects, develop constructs to categorize interrelated critical assessment criteria, and assess the influence of the constructs on the construction readiness of BIM-based projects. To achieve that aim, the study employed a mixed-methods approach, including a systematic literature review, semistructured interviews, and a questionnaire survey. The data is analyzed using normalized mean analysis, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), and partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The result reveals 19 critical assessment criteria for construction readiness of BIM-based projects. These criteria can be grouped into three constructs: Documentation and approval, team capability and coordination, and model development and validation. All three constructs significantly influence the construction readiness of BIM-based projects. Moreover, comparisons with prior research reveal twelve newly identified critical assessment criteria for BIM-based projects. The study results reveal that BIM-based projects have unique assessment criteria for construction readiness. Therefore, this study emphasizes using specific assessment criteria to assess the construction readiness of BIM-based projects. Nevertheless, this study is a pioneer in investigating the construction readiness of BIM-based projects.

This study aims to investigate challenges in achieving adequate construction readiness for building information modeling (BIM) based building projects, using Malaysia as a case study. To achieve this aim, 20 semi-structured interviews with BIM professionals were conducted using the purposive sampling method. Then, the data were analyzed using thematic analysis. The study results revealed that the challenges can be categorized into two themes: BIM-related challenges and project-related challenges. BIM-related challenges include knowledge, infrastructure, modeling, adoption, and awareness issues. Project-related challenges include funding, communication, team management, cooperation, timeline, coordination, and change order issues. These findings imply that although BIM offers numerous advantages, its implementation introduces specific challenges that differ from those faced in traditional construction projects. These challenges often revolve around technological adoption, data management, changes in project workflows, and team dynamics. Therefore, investigating the specific challenges in BIM-based construction projects is crucial for achieving project success. This study adds to the existing knowledge by providing valuable insights into the challenges faced during the pre-construction phase of BIM-based building projects. The insights can be used to develop strategies for ensuring BIM-based construction projects are ready for the construction phase. [Graphical Abstract]

Purpose - Digital twin (DT) and building information modeling (BIM) are interconnected in some ways. However, there has been some misconception about how DT differs from BIM. As a result, industry professionals reject DT even in BIM-based construction projects due to reluctance to innovate. Furthermore, researchers have repeatedly developed tools and techniques with the same goals using DT and BIM to assist practitioners in construction projects. Therefore, this study aims to assist industry professionals and researchers in understanding the relationship between DT and BIM and synthesize existing works on DT and BIM.Design/methodology/approach - A systematic review was conducted on published articles related to DT and BIM. A total record of 54 journal articles were identified and analyzed.Findings - The analysis of the selected journal articles revealed four types of relationships between DT and BIM: BIM is a subset of DT, DT is a subset of BIM, BIM is DT, and no relationship between BIM and DT. The existing research on DT and BIM in construction projects targets improvements in five areas: planning, design, construction, operations and maintenance, and decommissioning. In addition, several areas have emerged, such as developing geo-referencing approaches for infrastructure projects, applying the proposed methodology to other construction geometries and creating 3D visualization using color schemes.Originality/value - This study contributed to the existing body of knowledge by overviewing existing research related to DT and BIM in construction projects. Also, it reveals research gaps in the body of knowledge to point out directions for future research.

A vertical green system (VGS) proposes numerous benefits, expanding from the principles of sustainable social, environmental and economic development, such as aesthetics, health and ecology. While extensive research exists on VGS in terms of benefits, application, plant selection and design, limited attention has been given to the operational and long-term lifecycle maintenance of VGS, particularly in tropical climates such as Malaysia. Therefore, this paper aims to explore current VGS maintenance practices and issues in the tropical climate of Malaysia. Qualitative analysis was employed to study maintenance practices in commercial and institutional buildings in Malaysia. The qualitative data was then compared with international green wall guidelines to benchmark with current maintenance practices in Malaysia. The study revealed that the absence of a green wall guideline in Malaysia has resulted in a reliance on a limited number of competent experts on green walls, potentially contributing to higher installation and maintenance costs. These findings provide valuable insights into the impact of national guidelines on green wall maintenance practices in Malaysia, assisting building managers and policymakers in formulating appropriate maintenance practices and guidelines.

PurposeCommercial buildings, which include office buildings, are one of the three major energy-consuming sectors, alongside industrial and transportation sectors. The vast increase in the number of buildings is a positive sign of the rapid development of Malaysia. However, most Malaysian government office buildings tend to consume energy inefficiently due to lack of energy optimization. Most of the previous studies focused on the performance of green buildings in fulfilling the green development guidelines. As such, it is essential to study the energy performance of existing government office buildings that were constructed before most energy-efficient standards were implemented to mitigate energy wastage due to the lack of energy optimization. This study aims to analyse the energy performance of existing non-green Malaysian government office buildings and the factors that influence building energy consumption, as well as to evaluate the efficacy of the existing energy conservation measures.Design/methodology/approachThis study was conducted by a literature review and case study. The chosen buildings are six government office building blocks located in Kuala Lumpur, the capital city of Malaysia. In this study, a literature review has been conducted on the common factors affecting energy consumption in office buildings. The energy consumption data of the buildings were collected to calculate the building energy intensity (BEI). The BEI was compared to the MS1525:2019 and GBI benchmarks to evaluate energy performance. SketchUp software was utilized to illustrate the solar radiation and sun path diagram of the case study buildings. Finally, recommendations were derived for retrofit strategies based on non-design factors and passive design factors.FindingsIn typical government office buildings, the air-conditioning system consumed the most energy at 65.5%, followed by lighting system at 22.6%, and the remaining 11.9% was contributed by office appliances. The energy performance of the case study buildings is considered as satisfactory as the BEI did not exceed the MS1525:2019 benchmark of 200 kWh/m2/year. The E Block recorded the highest BEI of 183.12 kWh/m2/year in 2020 due to its north-east orientation which is exposed to the most solar radiation. Besides, E Block consists of rooms that can accommodate large number of occupants. As such, non-design factors which include higher occupancy rate and higher cooling demand due to high outdoor temperature leads to higher energy consumption. By considering passive design features such as building orientation and building envelope thermal properties, energy consumption can be reduced significantly.Originality/valueThis study provided a comprehensive insight into the energy performance of Malaysian government office buildings, which were constructed before the energy-efficient standards being introduced. By calculating the BEI of six government office buildings, it is found that the energy performance of the case study buildings fulfils the MS1525 benchmark, and that all their BEIs are below 200 kWh/m2/year. Malaysia's hot and humid climate significantly affects a building's cooling load, and it is found the air-conditioning system is the major energy consumer of Malaysian government office buildings. This study discusses the efficacy of the energy-saving measures implemented in the case study buildings to optimize energy consumption. Recommendations were derived based on the non-design factors and passive design factors that affected the energy consumption of the case study building. It is envisioned that this study can provide practical strategies for retrofit interventions to reduce energy consumption in Malaysian office buildings as well as for office buildings that are in a similar climate.

Purpose This paper explores the patterns of the current needs of users' social characteristics in post occupancy evaluation (POE) associated with the environmental performance of green buildings using systematic literature review (SLR). This paper aims to establish a conceptual nexus between environmental performance mandates and the current needs of the users' social characteristics. Design/methodology/Approach This paper adopts a SLR approach designed using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses for 21 articles that were selected as qualitative synthesis in this study. The search parameter for the selected articles in this review was limited to publications in three databases, Scopus, Web of Science and Emerald, between January 2016 and January 2023, with the help of qualitative software ATLAS.ti 9© in the presentation of the network codes. The initial literature search has retrieved 99 papers which sequentially excluded 42 papers due to exclusion criteria, and the researcher was left with 57 papers. Out of 57, 14 papers were then removed due to duplication of records found in the Scopus and Web of Science databases, and 43 articles were further screened for qualitative synthesis. A thorough critical appraisal was applied to ensure that only selected papers were included, consensus was achieved among the authors and 22 papers were excluded. The qualitative synthesis has finalized 21 studies, and they are selected as confirmative findings. Findings Using network codes presentation of ATLAS.ti 9©, the result shows that the social characteristics are influenced by the evaluated building category and the users' category – the stakeholders (owners, designers) and the occupants. New-fangled elements in environmental performance mandates are legitimacy and accessibility. The users’ social characteristics are derived from the category of users, where the stakeholders (designers, owners) are relatively a novel benchmark in meeting the POE objectives towards environmental performance. The least attention on the users’ social characteristics based on the findings shows that image, experiential (conjoint), happiness, interactive behaviour, morale and values are depicted as the social current needs in the environmental performance using POE. However, all stakeholders and the building occupants’ social characteristics must have a confirmative relation to the performance mandates, especially for newly performance mandates elements: legitimacy and accessibility. Research limitations/implications The research limits the literature search between the recent January 2016 and January 2023 in Scopus, Web of Science and Emerald databases. Limiting the year of publication to the recent years is important to select and rank relevant scientific papers which encompass the reviewed subject. Other limitations include the selection of papers focusing on the POE approach and environmental performance as the main subject of evaluation. Other evaluation purposes that are not related to environmental objectives are excluded in this study. Originality/value The characteristics of the social elements become a challenging subject in meeting the environmental performance needs as they lean more towards intangible elements. The novelty of the findings is drawn from the new pattern and current needs of users' social characteristics in POE for environmental performance.

Accurate digital twins are crucial in improving facility management. However, facility owners often encounter inaccurate digital twins due to incorrect as-built Building Information Modeling (BIM) models. By understanding the attributes of correct as-built BIM models, it is possible to reduce the production of inaccurate digital twins. This study aims to establish a framework of attributes for developing as-built BIM models. To achieve this, a systematic review of published articles using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) technique was conducted to identify relevant attributes for developing as-built BIM models. Next, a comprehensive conceptual framework was established for the development of as-built BIM models. Through the analysis of 50 articles, nine attributes of as-built BIM models were identified and grouped into three categories: data quality, data interoperability, and data security. Data quality encompasses accuracy, completeness, ease of understanding, coordination, consistency, and up-to-date. Data interoperability includes accessibility and compatibility, and data security pertains to security. The study findings could provide valuable guidance to industry practitioners and policymakers in developing strategies for producing correct as-built BIM models, ultimately improving the production of accurate digital twins and enhancing overall facility management.

The global increase in carbon emission from buildings is driving greater urgency towards carbon neutrality. A number of strategies have been developed worldwide that include energy management and building-integrated photovoltaics but these are implemented independently. There is a need for integrated approach towards better energy monitoring and benchmarking. The aim of the research is to develop an electronic energy benchmarking system (e-EBS) for public buildings in Malaysia as dashboard on energy consumption, carbon footprint, and green rating score with strategies for improvement. This is done by integrating energy auditing with the Penarafan Hijau JKR (pHJKR) building rating scheme, and the JKR Energy Online System (JENOSYS). The benchmarking system would analyse energy data and give the rating with recommended energy-saving strategies for building owners. The tool for analysis and benchmarking was selected by comparing the coefficient of determination (R 2 ) of regression model with multi-layer perceptron, a type of neural network. The neural network model was found to have a slightly higher sensitivity level (R 2 =0.95) compared to the regression model (R 2 =0.93) and selected to develop a standard baseline of energy consumption for buildings in e-EBS. The following step is the validation of e-EBS by creating more energy benchmarks based on building category.

The Facilities Management (FM) industry is seeing expansion and growth in Malaysia; nevertheless for the industry to elevate to a new level of success, it must overcome various technological barriers that have slowed its adoption of technology. The purpose of this research is to gain an understanding of the key technologies that the Malaysian market is prioritising and, consequently, to determine whether the industry is keeping pace with technological advancement. This study analysed the significance of ten (10) essential FM technologies and five (5) deployment FM areas with specific focus on real estate and commercial property sector in FM. The research employed purposive sampling to assemble an expert panel, and then used a questionnaire with a five-point Likert scale to conduct a Delphi study to evaluate the relative importance of each technology and implementation area. Each member of the expert panel was interviewed separately, and the survey was distributed to each of them. According to the findings, CMMS is identified as the technology with the most significant function as data and information management, and maintenance and operations management, whereas BAS is a significant technology for energy management. In conclusion, the research demonstrated that technology adoption in Malaysia is concentrated on legacy technology, hence emerging technology has not yet been considered due to factors such as untested use case, high risk on return on investment, the complexity of new technology and lack of organisational support. The implication of this study shows that adoption is still in its infancy stage; consequently, additional awareness, collaboration between academia and industry, investment in training, and prospects for industry efficiency and productivity are required. While the focus of the research is confined to real estate and commercial property, additional research can be conducted on other segments of the FM industry in Malaysia, including healthcare and education.

In the 21st Century, disasters have severe negative impacts on cities worldwide. Given the significant casualties and property damage caused by disasters, it is necessary for disaster management organizations and the public to enhance urban disaster management. As an effective method, BIM (Building Information Modeling)–GIS (Geographic Information System) integration can significantly improve urban disaster management. Despite the significance of BIM–GIS integration, there is rarely the adoption of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management, which significantly hinders the development of the quality and efficiency of urban disaster management. To enhance urban disaster management and reduce the negative impact caused by disasters, this study is developed to perform a systematic review of the utilization of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management. Through the systematic review, the capabilities of BIM–GIS integration in disaster prevention and mitigation, disaster response, and post-disaster recovery are reviewed and analyzed. Moreover, the data acquisition approaches, interoperability, data utilization and analysis methods, and future directions of BIM–GIS integrated utilization in the disaster management process are also discussed and analyzed. Through this study, the public and urban disaster managers can effectively familiarize themselves with and utilize the capabilities of BIM–GIS integration in urban disaster management, thereby improving the urban disaster management efficiency and the survival rate of disaster victims worldwide. For BIM and GIS software developers, this study can support them to familiarize themselves with the methods and trends of BIM–GIS integrated utilization in urban disaster management and thus optimize the development of software for BIM and GIS.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to assess the level of energy efficiency (EE) practices and worshippers’ comfort experience towards energy consumption of a selected energy retrofitted mosque. This study identifies whether the work was done on ad hoc or planned basis and to gauge the success level of the retrofit work. Design/methodology/approach Mixed method was used in this study. A selected mosques with a capacity of more than 1,000 worshippers under the Class A of classification places of assembly with operating hour ranging from 45 to 65 h and the penarafan hijau jabatan kerja raya (pHJKR) rating tool as a benchmarking for EE assessment is used. A total of 45 respondents were involved in this study to obtain their perception on comfort experience in mosque. Meanwhile, energy audit and walk-through surveys were conducted to obtain data on energy consumption. To identify whether the work was done on ad hoc or planned basis and to gauge the success level of the retrofit work, pHJKR rating tool and efficiency standard MS1525:2019 are used for benchmarking in keeping with sustainability guidelines. Findings The results of this study indicated that the EE score achieved by the mosque is good while there are still rooms for improvement to increase the higher score to the pHJKR’s EE benchmarking tool. Research limitations/implications EE is one of the most important agenda under sustainable development initiatives. Part of the initial government strategy is to encourage the use public buildings in demonstrating initiatives for sustainable development to justify high capital resources investment. Mosque buildings have huge potential for this purpose because as religious public buildings for the majority Muslim community, their operations are fully funded from public funds. Selection of mosques is also driven by its unique intermittent energy consumption pattern, while early mosques adopted natural ventilation, modern mosques are often designed with mechanical ventilation (air conditioning). Practical implications An encouragement on government initiative towards sustainable development can be escalating by producing exemplary building for intermittent use pattern categories by mosque as a model. Social implications Sustainable development especially in EE becomes normal practices and energy and impact towards environment possibly be saved. Originality/value Sustainable development especially in EE becomes normal practices and energy and impact towards environment possibly be saved. This research is based on supportive national agenda by assessing EE measure for development of energy management in intermittent use buildings (mosque).

Purpose This study aims to leverage the implementation of building information modelling (BIM) in facilities management (FM), and thus the integration of BIM and FM are explored. It looks at identifying the information needed to implement BIM application in FM, to determine the level of implementation of BIMFM as well as to recommend BIMFM application mapping for building life cycle. Design/methodology/approach This study applied qualitative methodology, upon which a purposive sampling to 16 interviewees were conducted among professionals involved in any BIM, FM, BIMFM projects. Final analysis was conducted using thematical analysis by ATLAS.ti software. Findings The types of information required to implement BIMFM range from managerial information, commercial information, technical information and all full life cycle data. The implementation of BIMFM is agreed as beneficial, as it builds up efficiency of building performance, able to close gap of loses information, helps to improve FM in terms of data management, mitigates the problems, identifies priority defects and to enhance the FM processes. Respondents also believed that the causes where there is no implementation of BIMFM is in the situations where things are in order and when it becomes very expensive. Originality/value This paper has managed to gather the essential elements toward leveraging the implementation of BIMFM in digital construction project which are in the means of information types, the needs of BIMFM implementation and towards the end drawing the BIMFM implementation plan framework that could be used as a reference for the practitioners and industry.

Computerised Maintenance Management System (CMMS) is a widely recognised software in Facilities Management (FM) that provides numerous advantages to facility managers by enhancing productivity at work. The objective of this research is to provide insight and assess the factors influencing the acceptance of CMMS among facility managers in Malaysia. As a result, an improved comprehension of CMMS technology acceptance can be formed, as well as a better understanding of other FM technology adoption. Multiple factors influence CMMS acceptance, and this study used a quantitative technique to verify the hypothesis, using the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in conjunction with a Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Model (PLS-SEM). In addition, 125 facility managers completed an online survey that was utilised to collect primary data. The quantitative and structural models were analysed using PLS-SEM. Based on the study's findings, perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) have a favourable impact on behavioural intention (BI), which influences actual usage (AU) of CMMS. The research aims to improve awareness of the degree of acceptance of CMMS among facility managers and to contribute to FM organisations' better understanding of future technology adoptions.

Purpose This paper aims to evaluate the level of compliance of fire safety with the legal requirements in Malaysia government hospital buildings by evaluating via fire risk management. Design/methodology/approach Five government hospitals were selected. These five hospitals were selected due to the location of Penang, which is one of the fast-growing states in Malaysia (Salleh, 2019; Ebekozien, 2019). This state is the second most densely populated state after Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, with an average distribution of 1,490 persons per square km. This higher population caused the higher demand on the health-care services by the public (DOSM, 2016). The observation and building audit processes are as described. Hundreds of photos were taken for qualitative analysis, and all fire safety elements were measured for the descriptive analysis for each hospital. The framework of audit elements is created based on the Life Safety Code: NFPA 101 (2018), UBBL 1984: Part VII (Fire Requirements) and Part VIIII (Fire Alarms, Fire Detection, Fire Extinguishment and Fire Fighting Access). The cross-sectional descriptive evaluation is conducted in the case studies building in accordance with Life Safety Code of NFPA, also known as NFPA 101. To conduct the study, the information needed to assess the fire safety status was extracted from the CFSES software based on the NFPA 101 standard and prepared and compiled by the researcher as a checklist. In the next stage, gathered information was analysed using Computerised Fire Safety Evaluation System (CFSES) software. This method was developed based on the NFPA 101 standard and evaluated the fire risk from four dimensions of containment, extinguishment, people movement and general safety. This software gives the risk assessment results in three areas of fire control, exits and general safety. To assess the fire risk of the commercial buildings after entering the background information (height, age, number of stories, etc.) in the software, the software first calculates the score that the building should obtain in the three aspects of fire control, exit routes and general safety (minimum score required). Findings The utmost zones in the case studies (44.3%) occupied by limited mobility are located at low-rise buildings or at the first floor to third floor of the hospital buildings. Hospitals managements lacked in creating the maximum exit route and egress the occupants to disclosed the building during evacuation, it correlates to the patients' mobility positions strategy to assign their categories that fell on effortless mobilisation. Surveyed hospitals were built with the non-combustible materials, even though four of the case studies were built before 1984. Hospitals were equipped with hazard separations and vertical smoke pores, and in most of the zones, sprinkler system is installed only in the corridors, equipped with communication system and system of communication with fire and relief organisations and has a fire detection and alarm system throughout the building. Results of fire risk assessment on four groups of elements were tested via CFSES revealed from 122 zones of surveyed hospitals; 102 or 84% of zones give the highest failed rate to comply the NFPA 101 requirements in terms of people movement in the building. The high-occupied Penang General Hospital contributed as the highest case study for not complying with the minimum requirements in all dimensions: people movement elements (41 zones), fire containment (31 zones), fire extinguisher (31 zones) and general safety (20). Fire extinguishment (62 zones) recorded the highest numbers of zones that complied with NFPA 101 (2013). The overall results of the fire risk assessment suggested that in terms of the fire control, egress and general safety aspects, the fire risk assessment score was unacceptable (failed) in all hospital buildings studied, and in the three areas mentioned, the general safety, egress/exit routes and fire control were in a worse status in terms of the score obtained in the software. None of the surveyed hospital received the minimum safety score in the three areas mentioned. The involvement of Emergency Response Team is crucial to overcome this egress or fire exit requirement and parameters. Research limitations/implications Several limitations exist in this research that cannot be controlled. Firstly, the occupancy rates only determined during peak hour. Accessibility into hospital compound permitted only during daytime. Secondly, the fire safety audits and fire safety risk management in this research are not being conducted by a professional architect or engineer and as a result must be relied on the direct inspection checklist to create valid results. Thirdly, this research has some limitations which need to be noted but does not affect the robustness of the study’s findings. This study focuses only on five selected public hospitals in one state of the northern region of Malaysia and excluded data gathering from all other parts of Malaysia. The perception of hospital operators regarding fire safety issues from different state hospitals may allow comparisons. Practical implications The findings of this paper should make a key practical contribution to the body of knowledge. In practice, the proposed framework should expand the knowledge of public hospital fire safety management plan concerning the level of fire safety compliance with the requirements in government hospital buildings and develop a fire safety management plan framework for government hospital buildings. Social implications This paper develops an early framework component related to the occupants’ safety which gives the basis for future research in hospital fire safety settings as it imparts early investigation into the consequence of investigating the phenomenon from the operators’ perspective as an attempt to improve public health-care fire safety performance in hospitals. Originality/value This paper has created a few measurement tools that can be applied among public hospital buildings stakeholders to perform the fire safety audit and risk management and rate the performance of Fire Safety Management in public hospitals.

In recent years, green buildings have gradually become a worldwide trend. Compared with traditional buildings, green buildings have advanced requirements and standards in their operation and maintenance phase. In such a context, some studies proposed that building information modeling (BIM) is an effective method to improve green buildings’ operation and maintenance quality. The aim of this study is to perform a comprehensive review of the BIM capabilities in the operation and maintenance phase of green buildings through a systematic literature review. To achieve this aim, the PRISMA protocol was used to perform this systematic review. The whole systematic review was conducted between January 2022 and April 2022: 128 articles were included. In the process of study, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as bibliographic repositories. Through this study, it can be determined that BIM capabilities can be utilized in the facility management of the green building in the following aspects: safety and emergency management, maintenance and repair, energy management, security, retrofit and renovation, space management, and asset management. Secondly, these BIM capabilities were discussed, and the challenges and shortcomings of BIM capabilities in the operation and maintenance phase of green buildings were reviewed. Finally, a comprehensive overview of BIM capabilities in the facility management of green buildings was developed, and suggestions for future study were provided.

Optimization techniques (OT) are tools to find the best solution during a decision making process. Each of these techniques has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on their objectives and focus areas. Early application of OT was recorded as early as the 1930s with the introduction of the Monte Carlo Method, which is widely used in business studies. The idea was conceived due to poly-objectives, or multi-objectives, in identifying the best solution. OT theories and methods have evolved to cover various fields of study. This paper aims to provide a brief review of OT through a comparison of the pros and cons of each OT technique. The findings emphasize the suitability of each technique for different applications in various fields of study. Finally, this study aims to select the most suitable OT for building performance for energy optimization. In conclusion, the summary of findings and recommendations from Tables 2, 3, and 4 need to be combined during the process of selecting the most suitable OT. Regardless of the various categories and their multiple applications, it is the summary of characteristics of each optimization technique that determines their suitability for adoption depending on the research objectives, strength of the researcher, and availability of data. ANN is suitable for optimization for building energy performance covering energy use, energy cost and energy prediction which offer a high level of accuracy. However, it is a complex model that requires historical data input and can produce only short-term predictions. For broader optimization objectives which cover energy load, a hybrid of ANN and kNN is recommended. Doi: 10.28991/CEJ-2022-08-04-014 Full Text: PDF

This paper explores the green building attributes that significantly influenced rental depreciation for conventional buildings from expert perspectives using Malaysia as a case study. The objectives of this study include: (1) identifying the green building attributes for rental depreciation and (2) prioritizing the green attributes via the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) technique. To achieve these objectives, firstly the study identified the green building attributes from the literature and from green building guidelines. The attributes were then validated by expert valuers via a semi-structured interview. Secondly, the attributes were utilized to develop the AHP-designed questionnaire and used to gather feedback from real estate experts. Ten (10) responses were analyzed using the descriptive and AHP techniques. This study has identified the rank of prioritized green building attributes, where the findings suggest the central role of indoor environment quality (EQ), where it ranked the highest in contributing to conventional purpose-built office (PBO) rental depreciation, followed by energy efficiency (EE), green site planning and management (SM), materials and resources (MR), innovation (IN), and water efficiency (WE). The findings allow researchers and practitioners to create strategies for reducing the impact of conventional building rental depreciation and obsolescence due to green building attributes.

With rural revitalization being established as the national policy in China, the environmental quality and residential comfort of rural settlements has received widespread attention from the whole society in China. However, due to the over-exploitation of resources and the uneven development between urban and rural in China, the environmental conditions and residential experience in rural settlements in China are still relatively backward. To prompt the environmental quality and residential comfort of rural settlements in China, it is necessary to optimize the planning and design of rural settlements in China. As a multi-function method, Building Information Modeling (BIM) can significantly contribute to the planning and design of rural settlements in China. To optimize the environmental quality and residential experience in rural settlements in China, this study is developed to perform a systematic literature review of the BIM capabilities in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China. To achieve this aim, the PRISMA protocol was used to perform this systematic review. The review and discussion of this study were conducted between June 2022 and September 2022. In this study, Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus were adopted as the main databases, and 189 articles were reviewed. Through this systematic review, it can be identified that BIM capabilities have significant advantages in the following aspects of the design and planning of rural settlements in China: Data storage and management; 3D modeling and visualization; Disaster prevention and environmental analysis; Cost estimation and optimization. Furthermore, through the discussion and analysis of research results, it can be concluded that BIM capabilities can perform their benefits in the rural settlements’ design and planning through their following characteristics: knowledge management, simulation, and modeling. Based on the research results, it can be identified that knowledge management capabilities in BIM can effectively provide information support and knowledge assistance throughout the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China. BIM’s simulation and modeling capabilities can simulate and demonstrate the rural environment and their internal structures in rural settlements’ design and planning phase to achieve their environmental optimization, residential comfort improvement, clash detection, disaster prevention, and expenditure reduction. Moreover, the challenge and future directions of BIM capabilities in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China are discussed and analyzed. This study can effectively promote and optimize the BIM utilization in the design and planning phase of rural settlements in China, to better enhance their environmental quality and residential experience.