UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

LIVING LABS

Transforming Research into Action (VOL. 1)

UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA

LIVING LABS

Transforming Research into Action (VOL. 1)

Editor

Sumiani Yusoff

Sustainability Science Research Cluster University of Malaya

Kuala Lumpur ● 2017

Published by

Sustainability Science Research Cluster

Level 7, Research Management and Innovation Complex

University of Malaya,

50603, Kuala Lumpur, MALAYSIA

Copyright © 2017 Sustainability Science Research Cluster

All rights reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in retrieval system, or

transmitted, in any form or by any means – for example, electronic, mechanical,

photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior permission from

Sustainability Science Research Cluster.

Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia Cataloguing-in-Publication

Data

University of Malaya Living Labs / Editor Sumiani Yusoff

ISBN 978-967-488-003-3

Printed and bound in Kuala Lumpur by

DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions expressed in this book are solely those of

the authors and do not represent the views of the University of Malaya or the

Sustainability Science Research Cluster.

Content

Foreword i

1 Zero Carbon Building Assessment for UM

Chancellery Building and Other UM Office Buildings

Ali Mohammed Alashwal, Muhammad Azzam Bin Ismail,

Karam M. Al-Obaidi, Sharifah Noor Nazim Syed Yahya,

and Mohammed Hatim Al-Sabahi

1

2 Carbon Abatement Module for University of Malaya

Eco-Campus: Addressing Urban Heat Island and

Climatic Change Impact

Suzaini Mohamed Zaid, Nurshuhada Zainon, Nik Elyna

Myeda, Hazreena Hussein, and Eeswari Perisamy

26

3 Issues and Challenges in Organizing an Effective

Campus Energy Saving Culture

Zul Ilham, Adi Ainurzaman Jamaludin, Nurul Emy Idayu

Zulkifli, Muhammad Faizal Kamar, Fathiah Mohamed

Zuki and Rohana Jani

39

4 Smart Modular Electrical Energy Monitoring and

Management System

Mohd Yazed Ahmad

48

5 Safe Disposal of Unused Medications - Working

towards A Green Pharmacy in University of Malaya

Medical Centre

Sim Si Mui, Lai Siew Mei Pauline, Tan Kit Mun, Lee Hong

Gee, Che Zuraini Sulaiman and Wong Yin Yen

58

6 University of Malaya Zero Waste Campaign: Integrated and Sustainable Waste Management

System Development in University of Malaya

Sumaini Yusoff, Keng Zi Xiang, and Nur Syuhada

71

7 University of Malaya Zero Food Waste Campaign - A

Head Start

Norbani Che-Ha and Saad Md Said

86

8 Construction Recycling Waste Centre for

Sustainable Drainage Construction

Hussein Adebayo Ibrahim, Soon Poh Yap, Johnson

Alengaram, and Kim Hung Mo

100

9 Real-time and Automated Traffic Data Inventory and

Monitoring System Campus

Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah, Rahizar Ramli and Farah

Fazlinda Mohamad

113

10 Sustainable Transport System in University of Malaya

Campus: Study on Improving the Campus Shuttle Bus

Service and Promote Non-Motorised Transport

Mode

Yuen Choon Wah, Mohamed Rehan Karim, Aminah Wati

Abdullah, Yong Adilah Shamsul Harumain, and Mastura

Adam

125

11 Working towards A Sustainable Means of Campus

Transportation

Onn Chiu Chuen, Mohamed Rehan Karim, Sumiani

Yusoff, Ong Zhi Chao, Wan Asma Diana Wan Roselan,

and Lim Zhen Jie

141

Notes on Contributors 156

Index 163

i

Foreword

In the Name of Allah Most Beneficent Most Merciful.

As Salam and Greetings,

University of Malaya Living Lab Grant Programme, or simply known as UM Living

Lab is a strategic partnership between the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research &

Innovation) and DVC (Development). The philosophy behind the Living Lab idea

is to convert university campuses to Living Labs which involves using the

university’s research capabilities to solve sustainability issues relating to its

infrastructure and practices. Living Lab, in UM’s context, fosters applied research

and education by using the campus to test real-time sustainability solutions,

offering opportunities to UM stakeholder to translate research into action and

enabling the university’s fabric to achieve greater engagement through practical,

hands-on, and a more well-rounded educational experiences.

Practically, UM Living Lab serves as a knowledge/action research-platform for

UM as the process owner to gradually improve the sustainability of their

operations. In this more focused, systematic collaborative, and trans-disciplinary

in nature approach, UM researchers will join hands with relevant stakeholders in

UM to systematically improve UM’s performance in these areas, according to

specific targets or Key Performance Indicators. UM Living Lab researches have

produced numerous tangible sustainability outputs in the form of actual campus

environmental, economic, and social improvements, thus supporting and

complementing UM eco-campus agenda and realising the University Malaya Eco-

Campus Blueprint (UMECB) goals for sustainable development.

This publication is one out of the two volumes written jointly by UM Living Lab

researchers from a diverse range of disciplines including science, engineering, arts

and social sciences, medicine and rehabilitation, and built environment. It serves

as an intermediary for the researchers to impart their knowledge to the readers,

not only within University of Malaya, but also beyond our campus’ territory.

The first volume consists of 11 articles written focusing on the topic of energy

management, waste management, and transportation management while the

second volume consists of 10 articles focusing on water management,

biodiversity, and community engagement issues. All research works are

coordinated under the Sustainability Science Research Cluster as the

Administrator of UM Living Lab.

ii

It is my hope that this publication will go some way towards garnering further

interest in the trans-disciplinary Living Lab approach. The Living Lab mode,

although relatively new compared to traditional research approach, is quickly

gaining attention worldwide where innovative solutions are needed. Thus, we

need to seriously pursue not only scientific and technological advancement, but

also translational and transformative research to deal with the significant global

challenges we face in the 21st century.

Lastly, it is acknowledged that the major part of this work was conducted under

the framework of UM Living Lab which was primarily funded by the University

of Malaya’s Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research and Innovation) office. It has also

received support and partial funding from the Deputy Vice Chancellor

(Development) and the Department of Development and Estate Maintenance,

University Malaya.

Associate Professor Dr. Sumiani Yusoff

Dean

Sustainability Science Research Cluster

University of Malaya

1

1

Zero Carbon Building Assessment for UM

Chancellery Building and Other UM Office

Buildings Ali Mohammed Alashwal1, *, Muhammad Azzam Bin Ismail1, Karam M. Al-

Obaidi1, Sharifah Noor Nazim Syed Yahya2, Mohammed Hatim Al-Sabahi1

1Center for Building, Construction and Tropical Architecture, Faculty of Built

Environment, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Department of Development and Estate Maintenance (JPPHB), University of

Malaya.

*Corresponding author: alialashwal@um.edu.my

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate University of Malaya (UM) Chancellery

building in terms of energy usage and indoor environmental quality (IEQ). A

triangulation research method was used to achieve this objective. The data was

collected using physical measurements of thermal comfort and electricity

consumption in the building. In addition, a questionnaire survey licensed by the

Building Use Studies (BUS) was distributed to all staff in the building to obtain

their perception of the building conditions including comfort, productivity, and

health. The last method included a validation of the results using the Integrated

Environmental Solutions-Virtual Environment (IES-VE) simulation. The results of

a typical floor of the building indicated variability of indoor air temperatures and

high levels of relative humidity (between 55% to 85%). Besides, the results of the

BUS survey identified the critical conditions that need attention including

temperature range (colder), temperature stability (unstable), artificial light (too

much), air humidity (humid), air freshness (stuffy), glare from lights (too much),

and glare from sun and sky (too much). These conditions have an influence on

staff health and productivity as shown by further analysis of the data. Based on

these findings, it is recommended to change the operation time of the a/c,

increase temperature, enhance ventilation and restrict humid air in AHUs to

reduce humidity, install internal sun-shading screen with light shelves to bring

2

more daylight, and coat the internal side of curtain wall glazing with low U-value

material to reduce infrared and internal cooling load. The recommendations,

although are restricted by the building conditions, can contribute to energy

reduction and achieving better internal comfort for occupants in the Chancellery

building.

Keywords: BUS survey; Eco-campus; IES-VE simulation; Indoor thermal

comfort; Living Lab; University of Malaya

Introduction

The concept of zero energy or zero carbon building is generally defined as a

decreased vitality needs through productivity (Torcellini et al., 2006). This idea

exists since the mid-twentieth century after the development of sunlight based

house as one of the endeavours towards zero fossil energy goals (Butti and Perlin,

1980). However, it is challenging to reduce energy without compromising the

indoor environmental quality (IEQ) in the building especially in hot and humid

areas such as Malaysia. In such environment, the issue of warmth stress is

significantly a serious issue (Kjellstrom et al., 2009; Kjellstrom et al., 2013). Hot

and humid conditions at working places may prompt a scope of warmth-related

side effects or sicknesses like overwhelming sweating, lack of hydration, low

circulatory strain, and salt lopsidedness prompting sharp muscle agony (Bates

and Schneider, 2008; Forsthoff et al., 2001; Hayashi and Tokura, 2001; Mitchell

et al., 1976). As employees spend most of their day in office buildings, IEQ of a

space directly affects the comfort and personal satisfaction. The comfort

conditions have a direct influence on employees’ performance (Lan and Lian,

2009; Seppänen and Fisk, 2006; Wyon, 1997). Subsequently, in office buildings,

there is an immediate connection between IEQ of encased spaces and

productivity of the office inhabitants (Mofidi and Akbari, 2017).

Previous studies have demonstrated the effects of workplace conditions on the

working environment (Arngrïmsson et al., 2004; Bates and Schneider, 2008;

Bridger, 2008; Dutta and Chorsiya, 2013; González‐Alonso et al., 2008;

Wesseling et al., 2014). The thermal comfort in the workplace is influenced by

different components, such as thermo-physical properties of the building

materials, ventilation, and space usage. In fact, individuals or occupants play a

critical rule of a building's vitality utilisation. Occupants use different cooling or

warming mechanisms to accomplish comfort. Kofoworola and Gheewala

(2009) indicated that the vitality utilisation rates are higher amid the

operation hour contrasted with the non-operational hour. Fisk et al.

(2011) assessed that every year 17 to 26 billion dollars monetary benefits

are achievable by enhancing the IEQ of offices over the United States.

3

Due to the increase of the environmental issues, a research on reducing carbon

emission and energy is essential in different aspects. The main goal of this

research is to develop a Zero Carbon Building assessment guideline for office

buildings in Malaysia. The research considers reducing carbon footprints without

compromising IEQ of the building. Apart from this main goal is to evaluate the

thermal comfort and energy consumption of office buildings in Malaysia. The

Chancellery building in UM was chosen due to its green area location with low

building density and perfect north and south orientation. The Building Energy

Index (BEI) of this building is approximately 120 kWh/m2/year, which can be

reduced further to achieve the title of zero energy building. The methods used

in this study include physical measurements of thermal comfort and energy

consumption and questionnaire survey to assess building conditions and thermal

comfort. Based on the results and simulation modelling, a set of

recommendations has been proposed in this study. The following section

provides an overview of some studies about zero energy building and thermal

comfort.

Literature Review

Elements influencing the utilisation of building vitality can be divided into two

types, which are, non-configuration elements and inactive plan components

(Chan, 2004). The non-configuration elements are the variables influenced by

inhabitance and administration, ecological guidelines, and atmosphere (Huat and

Akasah, 2011). In the first element, occupancy and administration, occupants play

important role to keep running of a building's imperativeness usage. Inhabitants

use different method of cooling or warming to attain comfort. There are four

wide points to consider, which are compel of building inhabitance, sort of

development, customer perspective, and organisation and affiliation. In addition,

environmental standards incorporating the air temperature in the building are

kept up by circulating air through and cooling load. Some office structures and

lodgings keep up indoor temperatures as low as 18 °C to 20 °C when the

comfort temperature is around 24 °C. Thus, it is common to see occupants

wearing sweaters in some offices in Malaysia. The climate influences the vitality

utilisation in a building mainly by affecting the space cooling and warming

necessities (Huat and Akasah, 2011).

Besides, passive design factors that impact the building's usage rate are size and

shape; presentation; masterminding and outline; thermo-physical properties; and

window systems (Bridger, 2008). For size and shape, Wilkinson and Reed (2006)

found that little office building has a low essentialness usage rate appeared

differently in relation to inconceivable office structures. A higher imperativeness

use rate is brought on by the greater space ought to have been cooled or

warmed. Generally, presentation and building layout affect cooling and warming

of the building as well as ventilation. Aziz and Adnan (2008) demonstrated that

organisation and configuration of a building are important factors in reducing the

4

building energy usages. This is because a broad space requires greater

imperativeness for its cooling or warming proposes. The statures of a rooftop

and space volume are among the segments impacting the essentialness use.

Moreover, thermo-physical properties, warm resistance, and warm limit are

impacted by the properties of materials. A study conducted by Zhang et al. (2006)

exhibits that the room worked with high warm resistance dividers expends bring

down vitality contrasted with low warm resistance divider. Warmth and cold can

enter the working space through translucent materials, such as, windows.

The indoor conditions are influenced by the thermo-physical properties of the

materials. In addition, comfort of occupants is related to the properties of the

building materials used (Hyde, 2013). For example, materials having lower warm

conductivity, warm diffusivity and absorptivity, have less temperature swing

inside surface of the dividers contrasted and materials with high warm

conductivity (Ozel, 2011). Some building materials that have low warm

conductivity, such as, nylon, polystyrene foam, polyurethane foam, do not

provide the perfect warm comfort especially when used for flooring in hot and

damp conditions. The envelope of a building is a separator from the outside

condition and also a protection from external conditions affecting the building

(Givoni, 1969).

Ventilation is a crucial quality in overhauling warm comfort. Ordinary ventilation

can be transformed into an important bit of the building envelope by displaying

any of the going with ventilation segments viz., wind scoop, wind tower, chimney,

twofold façade, chamber, ventilation chamber, embedded channel or possibly

ventilation opening in the outside (Hamza et al., 2011; Moosavi et al., 2014). New

advancements that improve air circulation include standoffish or low-

imperativeness systems like Earth-to-Air Heat Exchanger (EAHE) and the

daylight based smokestacks (SC), by ventilating air to the indoor spaces, using

the ground's potential warm cut-off (Bansal et al., 2009; Musa, 2009; Tittelein et

al., 2009; Zhang and Haghighat, 2005). Daylight based chimneys are represented

to be astoundingly suitable in hot airs with their high cooling limits and in

conjunction with trademark ventilation they can help create control (Hirunlabh

et al., 1999; Khedari et al., 2000).

Research Methodology

The Chancellery Building is a central administration building for the University of

Malaya (UM), in which different administrative divisions are centralised in one

building. The building was completed in the early 2011 and came into full

operation by mid-2011. The building was originally designed as open plan concept

with middle and side cores. Eventually, the open plan office layout evolved into

semi open plan due to the specific needs of the administrative divisions. The

eleven-story building houses administrative offices, meeting and seminar rooms,

an art gallery, and sub-basement carpark. The building, which total built-up area

5

is approximately 18,993m2, is occupied by a variety of administration divisions

with the total occupancy of about 400 people. Due to its administrative purpose,

the usage of the building is quite predictable in which, it is expected that activities

will generally commence at 8 am and subsides at 6pm from Monday to Friday.

Minimum activity is expected during Saturday, Sunday and public holidays. One

hundred percent of energy consumed by the study building is in the form of

electricity supplied by the national electricity provider.

To assess the conditions of UM Chancellery building in terms of energy usage

and thermal comfort, a triangulation methodology was used to collect the data

using physical measurements and questionnaire survey. Figure 1 shows the

research methodology flowchart of this study. The following sections discuss the

methods used in this study.

Physical Measurement

Questionnaire Survey

Data Analysis IES Simulation

Modeling

Final Recommendations

Evaluation of UM Chancellory

Internal Conditions

IES Simulation Modeling

Descriptive and Benchmarking

Hierarchical Multiple Regression Analysis

BUS Method

Electricity Consumption

Data Loggers (HOBOs)

Recommendations to reduce energy and achieve OIEQ

Figure 1: Research flowchart

Physical Measurements

The measurement of internal conditions was conducted using Data Loggers

(HOBOs) to mainly measure air temperature, relative humidity, and illuminance.

The indoor environmental conditions of six levels of the Chancellery building,

namely, 2nd, 3rd, 6th,7th, 8th and 9th were evaluated through a period of one week

for each floor. The researchers installed eight HOBOs in each floor at the height

of 900mm above the floor with a careful consideration of their locations in the

office spaces. Each floor of the building can be divided into two sections based

on the air conditioning (a/c) distribution. Note that each floor has two Air

Handling Units (AHUs) located in the eastern and western sides of the floor as

shown in Figure 2. Therefore, four HOBOs were located in each section and

6

distributed in selected locations in each section. The investigation was conducted

from December 2016 to the end of January 2017. Based on initial data analysis,

level 6 was deemed to have some issues related to comfort such as glare,

temperature comfort and air freshness compared with other floors of the

building. Therefore, and for the sake of brevity, the results of level 6 were

presented in this chapter.

Figure 2: Typical floor (level 6) of UM Chancellery Building.

In addition, the researchers measured the actual electricity consumption of the

central a/c plant as well as a selected Air Handling Unit (AHU) at Level 7 of the

building using PEL103 power loggers for one month. Although the period of

energy monitoring was much longer than the indoor environmental monitoring,

the monitored period was long enough to establish a pattern of electricity

consumption by the central a/c system. In order to contextualize the electricity

recordings, the researcher referred to the published electricity use report for

this building.

BUS Methodology

Besides the physical measurements, it is important to measure occupants’

opinion regarding their comfort level. The sense of comfort and satisfaction can

differ from one culture to another (Humphreys, 2005). For this purpose, the BUS

methodology (Building Use Studies, 2011) was used to measure the occupants’

perception of the building conditions. The BUS methodology is one of the most

widely used survey to study buildings performance (Gou et al., 2013). This

method uses questionnaire survey and provides benchmark dataset for the study

to compare the building performance with a globally recognized benchmarking

and threshold. The BUS survey consists of background of respondents, building

overall (design, needs, space, image, safety, etc.), working requirements of staff,

comfort (temperature, air, noise, lighting, overall comfort), productivity at work,

health, personal control of building conditions, response to problems regarding

comfort conditions, effect of building conditions on behaviour, and staff travel to

7

work. The questions in the BUS survey include multiple-choice questions as well

as open-ended questions to provide comprehensive response. For this study, the

survey was prepared in English with a separated translation set in Bahasa Melayu.

In total, 387 questionnaire forms were distributed by hand to all the staff of the

building.

Figure 3: Benchmark test indicator for slider graphic

(source: BUS Methodology, 2017)

The data was analysed using descriptive analysis approach using mean values. A

tri-coloured ‘milestone’ represents the benchmark test result, where a red

diamond signifies that the studied building is significantly worse than the

benchmark, an amber circle indicates that there is no difference with benchmark

and a green square denotes that the studied building performs significantly better

than the benchmark (Figure 3). The milestones were determined depending on

the position of the studied building score on the slider. On the slider, a critical

region is defined by the region within the upper limit of the scale mid-point or

benchmark and the lower limit of scale mid-point or benchmark. A score that

sits within the critical region will return an amber circle milestone. Scores that

sit to the outside right of the critical region will return a green square while the

opposite score position will return a red diamond.

To determine the influence of building conditions and comfort on productivity

and health, the data was analysed using the hierarchical multiple regression

analysis (Gelman and Hill, 2006). In this method, the influence of some variables

can be controlled to provide more accurate prediction of building conditions and

comfort on the studied variables such as health (Petrocelli, 2003).

IES-VE Simulation Modelling

The last method involved simulation modelling of the building using the

Integrated Environmental Solutions-Virtual Environment (IES-VE). This method

is used to compare the simulation output with the real measurement of thermal

comfort of the Chancellery building. IES-VE represents one of most reliable

simulation tools in the field of energy efficient design, particularly for building

Significantly worse

Significantly better

No difference

8

systems. IES-VE meets the requirements of ASHRAE Standard 140 and CIBSE

AM11 (Al-Obaidi, 2015). The simulation program is recommended for the

Malaysian conditions by the Green Building Index (GBI, 2013) and the Building

Energy Efficiency Technical Guideline for Passive Design (BSEEP, 2013). Several

studies validated the accuracy of the selected software, a procedure commonly

referred to as calibration was performed on the simulation model. The findings

of the simulation by Al-Tamimi and Syed Fadzil (2011), Lim and Ahmad (2015)

and Lim and Heng (2016) investigated the accuracy of IES-VE with field

measurements. The results obtained from IES-VE, including solar radiation

(irradiance and irradiation), air temperature and air velocity that showed a high

level of reliability in the tropics.

Results

Physical Measurement and IES-VE Results

The behaviour of indoor air temperature is significantly various in each location

of the 6th floor even though the cooling loads were fixed at 24°C. As shown in

Figure 4, the differences in temperature are noticeable and ranged from 21°C to

27°C during weekdays (with occupants + cooling load) while it ranged from 24°C

to 30°C during the weekend and public holiday (without occupants + without

cooling load).

Figure 4: Readings of indoor air temperature for 7 days in level 6

(HOBOs results)

18

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D0

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Furthermore, the readings showed that the difference of maximum air

temperature between weekdays and weekend ranged between 2°C to 3°C. In

addition, the HOBOs located 1m from the windows were higher 2°C compared

to HOBOs located in deep locations during weekdays and increased to around

3°C during weekend. The differences of temperature during working hours could

reach to 2°C and sometimes to 3°C in comparison between different HOBOs

locations. This observation indicated that the variances between with and

without cooling loads is ranged and sometimes slightly exceeded the Malaysian

comfort temperature between 24°C to 28°C. The results of IES-VE simulation

(Figure 5) indicated that physical measurements and IES-VE results are similar,

which indicate the validity of simulation results. In general, the results indicated

that the indoor environmental condition was unstable during the weekdays and

even weekends, which concluded that Chancellery building envelope is easily

affected by the outdoor environmental condition.

Figure 5: Readings of indoor air temperature for 7 days in level 6 (IES-VE

simulation results)

The study also investigated the condition of relative humidity in different

locations of the 6th floor (Figure 6). The results clearly presented that each

location suffered from an unstable indoor condition during 7 days. The readings

showed that the levels of humidity were almost similar between weekdays (with

occupants + cooling load) and weekends (without occupants + without cooling

load). The optimum level of humidity should be ranged between 40 to 55% to

provide comfort level for occupants (Fanger, 1970). However, the readings

indicated that the range was between 55 to 85% during weekdays and weekends,

which represent non-comfort condition. The simulation results indicated similar

pattern in relative humidity readings. These results clearly pointed a problem

with cooling systems that deliver high level of humidity and added more loads on

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10

the indoor environmental condition. In fact, this issue contributes to creating

many health problems to the occupants and represents waste in terms of energy

and carbon emission.

Figure 6: The readings of relative humidity levels for 7 days in level 6

(HOBOs results)

Figure 7: The readings of relative humidity levels for 7 days in level 6 (IES-VE

simulation results)

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11

Furthermore, the readings of illuminance in this floor showed significant

differences between HOBOs locations (Figure 8). The results indicated that

HOBOs near to the windows with a distance of 1m recorded very high readings

that exceeded 2000 lux during the weekdays as well as weekend. However, the

readings of HOBOs located within 10m from windows were between 180 to

200 lux, which is considered low for office activities. The simulation results show

the measurement of illuminance during three times of the day; 09:00am,

12:00pm, and 03:00pm. The uneven distribution of illuminance inside office

spaces can contribute to several issues such as glare, reflection, and stress. These

issues are related to visual comfort and may affect the productivity of users.

Figure 8: The readings of illuminance levels for 7 days in level 6

(HOBOs results)

0

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12

Figure 9: The readings of illuminance levels for 7 days in level 6 during 9am,

12pm, and 3pm (IES-VE simulation results)

12 pm / 8 Dec. 2016

3 pm / 8 Dec.

2016

9 am / 8 Dec. 2016

13

Electricity Measurement Results

Figure 10 shows pattern of electricity consumptions for both locations namely

the main central a/c and the AHU in Level 7. It is apparent that the electricity

consumption pattern is consistent throughout the one-month monitoring period.

There were slight variations in the timing of operational hours due to manual

switching of the controls. In addition, there were slight variations in electricity

use when the outdoor weather condition changed between dry and high

precipitations. Overall, the power logger at the main a/c switchboard recorded

a total of 117,251 kWh of electricity used for a/c for the whole building for the

month of January 2017 or 65.19% of the 179849 kWh total Chancellery

electricity use as reported by the Deputy Vice Chancellor (Development).

Figure 10: Electricity consumption of central air-conditioning system

for 1/8/17 to 1/14/17

BUS Survey Results

The total number of returned and completed questionnaire forms is 208, making

a 54% response rate. The participants of the survey represent all the departments

of the building, which provided a good chance to evaluate the overall building

conditions. Most of the participants are working 5 days a week (90.1%) and the

rest are working between one day (0.5%) to one full week (3%). Most of the

participants are spending 8 hours in the building on a normal working day (45.6%)

and the rest are spending 7 hours or less (14.2%), 9 hours (25.5%), 10 hours

(13.2%), and 12 hours (1.5%). In addition, most of the participants (32%) are

spending 8 hours per day working with a computer screen. Those who spend 5

hours or less are 20.2%, 6 hours 17.7%, 7 hours 15.3%, 9 hours 13.3%, and 10

hours 1.5%. The other demographic information of the respondents is shown in

Table 1.

020000400006000080000

100000120000140000160000180000

12

:00

:00

AM

2:0

0:0

0 A

M

4:0

0:0

0 A

M

6:0

0:0

0 A

M

8:0

0:0

0 A

M

10

:00

:00

AM

12

:00

:00

PM

2:0

0:0

0 P

M

4:0

0:0

0 P

M

6:0

0:0

0 P

M

8:0

0:0

0 P

M

10

:00

:00

PM

kWh

1/8/2017

1/9/2017

1/10/2017

1/11/2017

1/12/2017

1/13/2017

1/14/2017

14

Table 1: Demographic information of the respondents

Age

Change behaviour

because of building

conditions

This building is the

normal base

Gender of

respondents

Setting near a window

Period of working in

the building

Work area/group

occupancy

As stated before, the 6th floor of the Chancellery building was chosen to present

some of the finding of this study. In this floor, the total number of respondents

was 41. The results of thermal comfort of the floor are shown in Table 2. The

benchmarking results indicate how good or bad the conditions in the Chancellery

building are compared with other buildings benchmarked by the BUS

methodology. For instance, temperature range is not good as it is colder than

the benchmark (red colour). While other colour represents no difference from

the benchmark (amber colour) or green (better than the benchmark). Other

results that are not shown here include the overall conditions of the building,

cleaning, control over cooling and heating, control over noise, control over

ventilation, building design and others. However, the full results of the building

conditions with the benchmarking assessment based on BUS methodology can

be found in the Appendix.

15

Table 2: Thermal comfort results with benchmarking of the BUS methodology

Variables Mean

Std.

Error of

Mean

Std.

Dev.

Vari-

ance

Benchmarking

Results

Temperature

overall 4.58 1.154 0.187 1.331

Green (above the

benchmark -

comfortable)

Temperature

range (hot-

cold)

4.92 0.166 1.010 1.021 Red (above the

benchmark - cold)

Temperature

stability 4.69 0.188 1.173 1.377

Red (above the

benchmark - unstable)

Air

movement 4.19 0.139 0.845 0.713

Green (above the

benchmark - draughty)

Air humidity 4.21 0.126 0.777 0.603 Red (above the

benchmark - humid)

Air freshness 4.24 0.157 0.955 0.911 Red (above the

benchmark - stuffy)

Air smell 3.89 0.184 1.134 1.286 Amber (no difference

with the benchmark)

Air overall 4.63 0.174 1.102 1.215

Green (above the

benchmark –

satisfactory)

Comfort:

overall 4.83 0.133 0.844 0.712

Amber (no difference

with the benchmark)

Perceived

health 4.54 0.172 1.072 1.150

Green (above the

benchmark - more

healthy)

Perceived

productivity

6.72

(17.2%

)

0.270 1.685 2.839 Green (above the

benchmark - increased)

Artificial light 4.25 0.163 1.032 1.064 Amber (no difference

with the benchmark)

Glare from

lights 4.08 0.184 1.163 1.353

Red (above the

benchmark - too much)

Natural light 4.10 0.185 1.172 1.374 Amber (no difference

with the benchmark)

Glare from

sun and sky 4.18 0.208 1.318 1.738

Red (above the

benchmark - too much)

Overall

lighting 4.53 0.193 1.219 1.487

Amber (no difference

with the benchmark)

16

Influence of Building Conditions on Productivity and Health

To provide more thorough results of the building conditions, the researchers

studied the influence of thermal comfort on productivity and health. As shown

in Table 3, the influence of overall comfort of the building on productivity is

about 60%. However, the significant F change of the model was not supported

at significant level (7.8% probability level). On the other hand, the influence of

thermal comfort on health was more significant compared with productivity. The

combination of air movement and overall lighting contribute to 75% of health

variance in the 6th floor. Based on the results of the benchmarking in Table 2,

both air movement and lighting overall have green and amber benchmarking

results, which shows the positive impact of good conditions on the health of the

staff.

Table 3: Results of hierarchical multiple regression analysis of the 6th floor

Depen-

dent

Variabl

es

Indepen-

dent

Variables

Beta Sig. VIF Adj.

R2

R2

Cha

nge

F

Cha

nge

Sig.

F

Cha

nge

Dur

bin-

Wa

tson

Produc

tivity

Sitting

next to a window (control)

0.560 0.007 1.747 0.379 0.598 2.121 0.078 2.394

Health

Air move-ment

0.497 0.040 1.68

0.685 0.751 5.239 0.001 1.771 Lighting

overall 0.709 0.003 1.64

Reducing Energy and Enhancing Indoor Environmental Quality

As observed through indoor environmental monitoring of this building, it is found

that the conditioned air within the building is damp. The BUS survey findings

revealed dissatisfaction among the staff about the indoor temperature and

humidity level. The recorded relative humidity range of 60%-80% has to be

rectified to ensure good levels of health and productivity of the occupants.

Aggravating this situation further, both central a/c and VRV systems which serve

the entire building are fed with moist external air and equally humid returned air

from the central a/c ducts limiting the ability of the a/c systems in reducing the

high RH levels. This inefficiency is also contributed by the consistently low indoor

temperatures as recorded during the monitoring period especially in the

mornings before the office operational hours except for Level 9. Although not

entirely sealed, the building envelope retained the cool indoor air for significant

time.

17

Despite this positive situation, the central a/c system is set at the regulated 24°C

driving the internal temperature down and creating thermal discomfort among

the occupants. This running temperature is set by the building technicians and

the occupants do not have any control on the central a/c setting. Compounding

this situation is the intricate distribution of conditioned air by central a/c and by

the VRV system to partitioned rooms. Normally, only a single system is utilized

and conditioned air is allowed to disperse throughout each floor. However, this

building has two a/c systems with the ducted VRV system installed for rooms for

afterhours office work. Although the central a/c is similarly sized throughout the

building, the internal cooling load differs from floor to floor due to difference in

number of occupants and varying presence of partitioning and varying coverage

of conditioned air by the VRV system. Yet, the temperature setting is still the

same.

Due to restrictions posed onto the research to not make any intervention on

the façade of the building, the researchers devised a less invasive plan to reduce

the internal cooling load, reduce the electricity consumption to achieve a lower

carbon emission plus improve the thermal comfort of the occupants. Firstly, the

researcher identified level 7 of the Chancellery as a suitable location for interior

architectural interventions. Specifically, part of the Registrar’s Office, the UM

Legal Unit, and the QMEC Meeting Room are zoned together for an intervention

due to negative responses in the BUS survey and poor indoor environmental

recording. These offices also have smaller open plan areas and are physically

segregated from the rest of the floor, clearly demarcating the central a/c AHU

distribution zone.

Secondly, the internal side of curtain wall glazing at the selected area will be

coated with Kristalbond to cut up to 90% of the infrared ray from daylighting

that will reduce the internal cooling load. In addition, an internal sunshading

screen with light shelves is designed and tested on IES-VE will be installed behind

the same curtain wall glazing to bring as much daylight as possible to back of the

selected area as possible while allowing the end-users to adjust the level of

daylight at desk level using installed blinds. The occupants can then switch on or

off the existing T5 artificial lights (which are energy-efficient) as required for

ample illumination.

The researchers are also not permitted to alter the distribution of a/c diffusers

and existing artificial lighting points. Nevertheless, the temperature setting of the

AHU at this selected location will be increased according to ongoing IES-VE

simulation (with lowered internal cooling load). Furthermore, the fresh air supply

from the outside to the identified AHU will be restricted with a set of louvers

controlled by timer to only be opened between 1100 and 1500. This is when the

18

external relative humidity levels are low due to high external temperatures. The

louvers will shut at other times and the AHU will only chill the returned air from

the return duct. This will reduce the energy needed to chill the air with existing

low temperatures and to dehumidify the returned air. In essence, the conditioned

air will be dryer than but not as cold as previously recorded and this will hopefully

yield less health problems among the occupants and higher productivity.

As for electricity consumption, the researchers at this juncture decided to only

implement a reduction in the central a/c operating hours to only between 0900

and 1600. The existing operational hours are between 0730 and 1730 but the

monitored indoor temperatures were still below 24°C up to 1000 in the

mornings. In the evenings, recorded indoor temperatures remained below 24°C

until 1900. Therefore, a timer will be installed at the main a/c switchboard to

control the operating hours accordingly as opposed to current practice of

control by building technicians. Regular operating hours will yield consistent

electricity consumptions.

It is estimated that the reduction of 3 hours in the operating hours will result in

15,829 kWh of electricity consumption reduction due to a weekly savings of

approximately 13.5% (Table 4). When calculated against the whole building

electricity consumption, a total of 18,712 kgCO2 Eq of carbon emissions can be

saved. It is estimated that the January 2017 electricity use is 155,569 kWh with

the new central a/c operating hours. According to the monthly electricity use

reports, the average total use of electricity for the Chancellery from January

2017 to March 2017 was 190,945 kWh, thus the projected yearly consumption

is approximately 2,291,340 kWh/year and the gross floor area is 19,257.7 m2.

The resulting BEI for this building is estimated at 118.98 kWh/m2/year. As a

result, the 3 hour operating time reduction reduces the BEI to 96.94

kWh/m2/year. This BEI estimation is relatively low as compared to the Diamond

Building in Putrajaya, which is 56 kWh/m2/year, as observed on Tuesday 18 April

2017 and against typical office buildings estimated at 210 kWh/m2/year. As a start,

this measure will not improve the thermal comfort of occupants who complained

that the indoor temperatures were too cold but it will definitely reduce

electricity consumption and reduce the humidity in the conditioned air. Further

electricity use can be reduced by increasing the operating temperature of the

central a/c to 26°C. This is plausible but will be determined with detailed

estimations and simulation of indoor temperatures.

19

Table 4: Monitored central air-conditioning system electricity use at main

switchboard 1/8/17 – 1/14/17 and suggested change to operating hours

Electricity use for

operating hours (kWh) Electricity

savings

(kWh)

Savings

percent

age (%)

Carbon

reduction

(kgCO2

Eq)

0730-

1730

0900-

1600

Mon 1/8/2017 52,609 42,490 10,119 19.2 7799

Tue 1/9/2017 58,674 47,409 11,265 19.2 8682

Wed 1/10/2017 57,897 47,026 10,871 18.8 8378

Thu 1/11/2017 55,222 44,459 10,763 19.5 8295

Fri 1/12/2017 49,925 40,977 8,948 17.9 6896

Sat 1/13/2017 334 334 0 0 0

Sun 1/14/2017 380 380 0 0 0

Weekly average 39,292 31,868 7,424 13.5 5721

Monthly average

(monitored) 117,251 101,422

Note: 1 kWH = 0.7707 kgCO2 Eq

Conclusion

Based on findings from this research, the researchers are confident that less

invasive measures at relatively low cost can be used to reduce the carbon

emission of existing office buildings such as the UM Chancellery. However, there

is a need to simulate the suggested recommendations using IES-VE to ensure the

thermal comfort will not be affected. Through this research as well, the

researchers are able to establish a methodology to analyse an existing building in

terms of its electricity use for cooling, indoor environmental condition, and

occupant perception in order to improve the thermal comfort while achieving

high electricity use savings. This methodology can be refined further and can be

replicated onto other case studies. Overall for this particular case study, the

proposed interventions will help to improve the thermal comfort while

improving the internal daylighting levels and occupants’ interaction with the

building to enhance health and spur productivity.

Acknowledgement

This research was supported by UM Living Lab Grant Programme - Sustainability

Science (project no. LL017-16SUS). The authors thank top management and staff

of UM Chancellery and JPPHB for their collaboration during data collection. In

20

addition, the authors thank Prof. Adrian Leaman for providing the license to use

the BUS survey.

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24

Appendix: Basic data for benchmarked variables of the whole Chancellery

building

Variables Score Result1 Result

(cautious)2

Air : Dry / Humid 4.13 Amber Red

Air : Fresh / Stuffy 4.11 Amber Amber

Air : Odourless / Smelly 3.90 Amber Amber

Air : Overall 4.75 Green Green

Air : Still / Draughty 4.06 Green Green

Cleaning 5.13 Amber Amber

Control Over Cooling 3.76 Amber Amber

Control Over Heating 3.71 Amber Amber

Control Over Lighting 4.40 Green Green

Control Over Noise 3.91 Amber Amber

Control Over Ventilation 3.71 Amber Amber

Comfort: Overall 4.86 Amber Amber

Design 4.74 Amber Amber

Effectiveness Of Response To

Requests For Changes 4.56 Green Green

Furniture 4.88 Amber Amber

Health (Perceived) 4.68 Green Green

Image To Visitors 4.98 Amber Amber

Lighting: Artificial Light 4.36 Red Red

Lighting: Glare From Lights 4.21 Red Red

Lighting: Natural Light 4.37 Red Red

Lighting: Glare From Sun And Sky 3.99 Amber Amber

Lighting: Overall 4.78 Amber Amber

Meeting Rooms: Overall 5.06 Amber Amber

Needs 4.87 Amber Amber

Noise: Noise From Colleagues 4.70 Red Red

Noise: Other Noise From Inside 3.90 Green Green

Noise: Unwanted Interruptions 3.71 Amber Amber

Noise: Noise From Outside 3.72 Amber Amber

Noise: Overall 4.70 Green Green

Noise: Noise From Other People 3.98 Green Green

Productivity (Perceived) 15.54 Green Green

Personal Safety In Building And Its

Vicinity 4.75 Amber Amber

Space In The Building 4.81 Amber Amber

Space At Desk 4.75 Red Red

Speed Of Response To Requests For

Changes 4.55 Green Green

Storage Space: Overall 4.55 Green Green

25

Temperature: Hot / Cold 4.83 Red Red

Temperature: Overall 4.75 Green Green

Temperature: Stable / Varies 4.50 Red Red

Do Facilities Meet Needs? 4.96 Amber Amber 1 Standard test uses standard error of benchmark for scale midpoint critical

region. 2 More cautious test uses standard error of study building mean for scale

midpoint critical region. Use with small samples.

26

2

Carbon Abatement Module for University of Malaya Eco-

Campus: Addressing Urban Heat Island and Climatic

Change Impact Suzaini Mohamed Zaid1, 2,*, Nurshuhada Zainon1, Nik Elyna Myeda1, Hazreena

Hussein1,2, Eeswari Perisamy1,

1Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur,

Malaysia 2Centre for Building, Construction & Tropical (BuCTA), Faculty of Built

Environment, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: suzaini_zaid@um.edu.my

Abstract

This research proposed a module to reduce University of Malaya’s climate

change and urban heat island (UHI) impact by integration of solar photovoltaic

(PV) systems and Vertical Greenery System (VGS). In recent years, the PV system

and VGS are separately recognised as a tool for sustainable development in urban

areas. It is expected yearly average of renewable energy produced by two units

of PV panels is 360 kWh respectively, with an average of 325.22 kgCO2e of

carbon dioxide emission that can be avoided each year by integrating PV panels

and VGS. This could also save the building potentially RM 691.06 yearly on the

electricity bills, with the clean renewable energy generated by the PV panels.

Thus the concept is to simultaneously generate clean renewable energy by

converting untapped solar energy into electricity and reduce micro-climatic

temperature of the campus with carbon sequestration potential of VGS.

Keywords: Carbon sequestration, carbon abatement, vertical greenery systems,

energy saving, temperature, solar photovoltaic, eco-campus, living lab.

27

Introduction

In recent decades, rapid urbanisation has led to many environmental issues

worldwide. Replacement of natural vegetation with buildings structures that

retains heat, causes Urban Heat Island (UHI) and affecting urban climate change,

while at the same time increasing the air temperature that in turn increases

energy demand for cooling needs (Jaafar et al., 2013). Around 85.7% of Malaysia’s

energy is from fossil fuels; 53.3% natural gaseous, 26.3% coal, 0.6% fuel oil, 5.5%

diesel, 2.7% biomass and 0.2% others renewable energy (EC, 2012). The usage of

fossil fuels is associated with environmental problems such as climate change,

global warming, and acid rain as it emits greenhouse gases, CO2 and other toxins.

Besides these issues, other problems arise due to unsustainable development of

metropolitan city are loss of biodiversity, landscape modification and limitation

on green spaces (Pérez-Urrestarazu et al., 2016).

Many mitigation strategies such as planting of trees or vegetation, green roofs,

reflective and cool pavement materials, and urban ecosystems conservation have

been developed to reduce climate change and urban heat island impact (EPA,

2015). Additionally, renewable energy such as solar power is increasingly

recognised as an alternative source for electricity generation as it could reduce

emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants (Hosenuzzaman, 2015).

Therefore, the integration of VGS and PV systems could be a greatest strategic

tool to reverse the environmental effects in urban areas.

Literature Review

Vertical Greenery System (VGS)

Vertical greenery system is defined as an approach that allows any kind of

vegetation to be grown in any way over building facades or interior walls using

specific systems (Jaafar et al., 2013; Pérez-Urrestarazu et al., 2016). The concept

of VGS is rooted from the history of Hanging Gardens of Babylon in 7th century

and was adapted well to the contemporary model. At present, VGS developed

into two types which were green facades and living walls. The difference between

both systems mainly depends on the structure construction, approaches used

and selection of vegetation (Mazzali et al., 2013). Green facades were further

evolved into traditional green facades, double-skin/ green curtain façade and

perimeter flower pots whereas living walls into modular and biofiltration

systems.

The benefit of VGS has been evidently showed through many scientific studies.

VGS is mostly developed for aesthetic, environmental and economic benefit

regardless for commercial groups or public individual (Bakar et al., 2013). The

28

foremost benefit of VGS based on last five years studies are thermal reduction,

shading and cooling effects, energy efficiency and saving electricity cost (Coma et

al., 2017; Cuce, 2016; Schettini et al., 2016; Pan et al., 2016; Pérez et al., 2016;

Victorero et al., 2015; Haggag et al., 2014; Liang et al., 2014; Cameron et al., 2015;

Jaafar et al., 2013; Mazzali et al., 2013). Apart of that, VGS acts as acoustic

insulation, air filtration, carbon sequestration, biodiversity preservation and

increasing property values (Azkorra et al., 2016; Ottelé et al., 2010; Cameron et

al., 2014; Madre et al., 2015; Perini and Rosasco, 2016).

Solar Photovoltaic (PV) System

PV system is a rapidly developing and demanding technology which used to

convert renewable solar energy into power electricity. It works when the

sunlight strike and ionize the semiconductor material on the grid of PV cells,

breaks the atomic bonds of outer electrons and creating a flow of electrical

current. The PV cells has been introduced in the late 1950s and developed into

a system in 1970s. In 1980s PV started to use in small electronic devices such as

watches, calculators, radios and now growing in large commercial industries

mainly in homes and buildings (Florida Solar Energy Center, 2017).

PV systems play vital role in energy efficiency of buildings by reducing their grid

dependence and consequently to achieve net zero-energy buildings. Many studies

have showed that PV module reduced energy performance and energy demand

which further resulting in the reduction of air pollutant and greenhouse gaseous

(GHG) mainly CO2 (Sadineni et al., 2012; Sherwani et al., 2010). Study shows that

PV systems could reduce GHG emissions from the conventional energy sources

of fossil fuels at a minimum of 1423 tons and up to 10732 tons annually (Mondal

& Islam, 2017; Harder & Gibson, 2011). This in turn, holistically, helps to reduce

the climate changes contributed by GHG emissions.

Methodology

Experimental Design

This study was conducted in a public educational institute in a hot tropical climate

metropolitan area located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. As shown in Figure 1, a

maximum solar irradiation exposure parking area in Faculty of Built Environment

(FBE), University of Malaya was chosen for the experimental study. The car park

prototype which consists of four parking lots was developed and integrated with

living green walls in collaboration with other living lab project LL019-16SUS: The

design and investigation of a novel ecological air cleaning and cooling system using

the concept of a living green wall. The designs of the prototype are as shown in

Figure 2, which indicates the cross section, perspective and elevation drawings

(not to scale). Epipremnum aureum (Money plant) was used for living walls as it is

29

easy to be grown on the water. The prototype was further provided with

electrical cable and associated devices such as power outlet, light control sensor

and LED tube lights.

Figure 1: Study site at Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur, Malaysia.

a) Cross Section A-A of the Car Park Prototype

30

b) The rear perspective of car park prototype

c) The left elevation of car park prototype

31

d) The front elevation of car park prototype

e) The rear and right elevation of the green wall

Figure 2a-e: The Design of living green wall with car park prototype

PV Module Installation

Two units of PV panels with dimension of 1.57m x 9.4m were installed onto car

park roof. The PV module consists of polycrystalline silicon PV panels, PV

inverter, solar charger and 24-volt battery. The installation was contracted to

Global Insignia Sdn Bhd, the private wing of UMPEDAC. The PV module is

expected to produce 250 Watts of electricity per hour with average daily solar

irradiation of 4 hours and 1 kWh electricity capacity per daily.

Vertical Plants Installation

Two different types of climbers which are Passiflora Edulis (Passionfruit) and

Thunbergia laurifolia (Laurel clock vine) were used as vertical plants. Both were

cultivated and acquired from Free Tree Society and RIMBA Ilmu respectively.

These evergreen vines are hardy, fast growing and suitable to be planted in full

32

sun area (National Parks, 2013). The climbing plants were planted in a depth of

1.5 feet of concrete planter boxes, mixed with peat soil and irrigated regularly.

Wire mesh and independent wires were mounted on the car park frame as

shown in Figure 3 to act as a support for the climber plants.

Left: The front

view of vertical

plants

Right: The side

view of vertical

plants

Figure 3: The vertical plants with supporting system

Measurement of Carbon sequestration, Temperature and Humidity

The carbon dioxide, temperature and relative humidity were measured using

wireless HD35 loggers’ sensors from Delta OHM. The baseline data was

collected within 1 week before VGS installation and it was continuously

measured in real time series with 15 minutes of interval per data. The data will

be continuously collected after VGS installation for the comparison.

Evaluation of Carbon Abatement and Electricity Bill

The carbon abatement will be evaluated through the average monthly energy

produced per panel by using formulae as below:

Abatement of Carbon Emissions (kgCO2e) =Energy (kWh) 𝑥 0.326047 kgCO2e/kWh,

*0.326047 is the co-factor for carbon emission for Malaysia (UNEP-SBCI, 2010).

The electricity bill saving will be calculated as follows:

𝐸𝑙𝑒𝑐𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑏𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑎𝑣𝑖𝑛𝑔 (𝑅𝑀) = Energy (kWh) 𝑥 𝑅𝑀 0.9598/𝑘𝑊ℎ,

As Energy is the average monthly energy produced by PV panels, 0.9598 is the

Feed-in Tariff (FiT) rate for basic rate and bonus installation in building or

structure (Sustainable Energy Development Authority (SEDA).

33

Conversion of Parts Per Million (ppm) to mass unit (mg/kg)

The CO2 measurement in parts per million-ppm is the mass ratio between

component and the solution, in this case CO2 in the Atmosphere.

ppm = 1000000 mc/ms

= 106 mc/ms

where

mc = mass of component (kg, lbm)

ms = mass of solution (kg, lbm)

In the metric system, ppm can be express in milligram/gram or in mass per unit

volume, where:

1 ppm = 1 mg/kg

1 ppm = 1.233 kg/acre-foot

1 ppm = 0.001 kg/m3

1 kg/m3 = 1000 ppm

Results Carbon dioxide, Temperature and Humidity

The air carbon dioxide content for baseline study is as shown in Figure 4. The

highest CO2 was detected in between of 6.00 a.m. to 7.00 a.m. whereas the

lowest was at 3.00 p.m. with the mean value of 526 ppm and 457 ppm

correspondingly. The results show that 6-7 a.m. is the peak hours for high activity

on carbon dioxide emission. The average daily carbon dioxide for baseline study

is 491 ppm.

Figure 4: The air carbon dioxide (CO2) content for baseline study.

450

460

470

480

490

500

510

520

530

540

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Car

bo

n d

ioxi

de

(p

pm

)

Time of day (h)

34

As shown in Figure 5, a maximum of 33.3 °C of air temperature was observed

at 2.00 p.m. while a minimum of 25.7°C was observed in between 5 a.m. to 7.00

a.m. On the other hand, the highest dew point was in between 11 p.m. to 12.00

a.m. whereas the lowest was at around 1 p.m. to 4.00 p.m. with the average value

of 25.4°C and 23.3°C respectively. The finding shows that the daily average for

air temperature and dew point are 28.2°C and 24.5°C.

Figure 5: The air temperature and dew point for baseline study.

Highest air relative humidity before VGS installation was observed between 5

a.m. to 6.00 a.m. whereas the lowest was around 1 p.m. with the mean value of

97.7% and 57.8% correspondingly. The maximum and minimum absolute

humidity per area (m3) for the baseline study were 23.2g and 20.4g as shown in

Figure 6. The daily average for relative humidity is 82.5% and absolute humidity

is 22.2g/m3.

Figure 6: The air humidity for baseline study.

0.0

5.0

10.0

15.0

20.0

25.0

30.0

35.0

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Tem

pe

ratu

re (

°C)

Time of day (h)

Air Temperature

Dew Point

0.0

20.0

40.0

60.0

80.0

100.0

120.0

0 4 8 12 16 20 24

Hu

mid

ity

Time of day (h)

Relative humidity (%)

Absolute humidity(g/m³)

35

Abatement of Carbon Emission and Electricity Bill

As shown in Table 1, the expected carbon emission abatement by using two units

of PV panels is 234.72 kgCO2e while through VGS is 90.5 kgCO2e which abates

a total of 325.22 kg of carbon emission yearly. Apart of that, the PV panels could

provide approximately 360 kWh and is expected to save electricity bill around

RM 691.06.

Table 1: The expected carbon emission abatement.

Measurement Baseline Expected Reduction/ Abatement

Carbon dioxide

(CO2)

Average daily

CO2

= 491 ppm

= 491 x 0.001

kg/m3

= 0.491 kg/m3 x

12 months

= 5.89 kg/ kg/m3

per year

Through VGS

= 1.81 kgCO2em2 per year x 50

m2

= 90.5 kgCO2e per year

Through PV system

= 30 kWh x

0.326047kgCO2e/kWh

= 9.78 kgCO2e per panel per

month

= 9.78 kgCO2e per panel per

month x 2 panels

= 19.56 kgCO2e per month x

12 months

= 234.72 kgCO2e per year

Table 2: The expected energy and electricity bill saving

Measurement Baseline Expected Reduction/ Abatement

Electricity

NA Potential Energy Produced:

250 Watts x 4 hours = 1kWh

daily

= 30 kWh average monthly

= 30 kWh x 12 months

= 360 kWh

Potential savings

= RM 0.9598/kWh x 30 kWh per

month x 2 panels

= RM 57.59 per month x 12

months

= RM 691.06 per year

36

Discussion The finding from baseline study showed that the peak hour of CO2 content in

the car parking site is in between 6 to 7 a.m. This shows that carbon emission is

high at morning compared than evening. From the high peak at early morning,

the CO2 contents rapidly reduced until 3 p.m. After 3 p.m., it’s slightly increased

until 5 p.m. After 6 p.m., CO2 gradually increased until midnight. The high CO2

contents before 7 a.m. and after 6 p.m. could not be possibly due to human’s

respiration as most of the building occupant’s working hours are from 8.00am to

5.00pm. This indicates that, there are other potential anthropogenic or

environmental factors that could contribute to high level of CO2 in that site.

Thus, further scientific investigation is required to identify the possible causes of

high CO2 reading during this particular time. The mechanism on identification

can be developed through putting CCTV or more sensors in the study site.

The daily average temperature for baseline is range from 25.7 °C to 33.3 °C

while the dew point is ranged from 23.3 °C to 25.4 °C. On the other hand, it

was found that the relative humidity varies between a minimum of 57.8% and a

maximum of 97.7%, with approximately 20.4 -23.2g of absolute humidity per area.

In order to fulfil the effectiveness of this study, the VGS required time to allow

fully grown. Based on literature review, it is expected that the temperature and

relative humidity will reduce with high coverage of VGS (Coma et al., 2017;

Schettini et al., 2016; Pérez et al., 2014).

Despite that, the expected yearly average of renewable energy produced by two

units of PV panels is 360 kWh respectively. It was expected that on an average

of 325.22 kgCO2e of carbon dioxide emission can be avoided each year by

integrating PV panels and VGS. Besides, an approximately of RM 691.06 could be

saved yearly for the electricity bills. The results are in consistent with the

environmental and economic benefits showed in previous studies (Sadineni et al.,

2012; Mondal & Islam, 2017).

Conclusion The study has showed that VGS and PV system could act simultaneously to

mitigate the climate change and UHI effects in urban areas. These two different

mechanisms of systems could serve as an effective single tool for sustainable

development particularly in developing country such as Malaysia.

Acknowledgement The authors would like to acknowledge Sustainability Science (SuSci) Research

Cluster, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur under Living Lab Grant (LL021-

16SUS) for financial support.

37

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(2017). Vertical greenery systems for energy savings in buildings: A

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pv.htm

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Jaafar, B., Said, I., Reba, M. N. M., & Rasidi, M. H. (2013). Impact of vertical

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mean radiant temperature in the tropical urban environment. Landscape

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solar PV system in Bangladesh. Renewable energy, 36(6), 1869-1874.

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from https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/Home.aspx.

Pan, L., & Chu, L. M. (2016). Energy saving potential and life cycle environmental

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39

3

Issues and Challenges in Organizing an Effective

Campus Energy Saving Culture Zul Ilham1,*, Adi Ainurzaman Jamaludin1, Nurul Emy Idayu Zulkifli1, Muhammad

Faizal Kamar2, Fathiah Mohamed Zuki3 and Rohana Jani4

1 Environmental Science and Management Program, Institute of Biological

Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2Za’ba Residential College, University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur

3 Department of Chemical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of

Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur 4Department of Applied Statistics, Faculty of Economics and Administration,

University of Malaya 50603 Kuala Lumpur

* Corresponding author: ilham@um.edu.my

Abstract The impact of energy consumption and carbon emission in Malaysia poses a grave

challenge. This challenge is particularly high amongst students of University of

Malaya’s (UM) residential colleges, where usage of electricity and carbon

emission remain invisible. In student residential colleges, personal choices and

social influences affect electricity consumption and ultimately resulting to

increase in carbon emissions. Therefore, innovative solutions are required to

change students’ energy consumption behaviour and one promising part of the

solution is to inculcate energy saving culture via informative and also interactive

platform, while, at the same time, appointing an energy saving team (utilising

existing UMCares Clubs) in each college to induce motivation among the

students. It is expected that this will motivate students living in the residential

colleges to reduce their electricity wastage and, therefore, control the energy

cost and also reduce the carbon emissions released into the environment. In the

present paper, we focus on the issues and challenges in organising an effective

campus energy saving culture at University of Malaya residential colleges to study

energy conservation and carbon emission reduction strategies. AC

CESS

40

Keywords: Energy saving culture, living lab, eco-campus, energy conservation,

environment

Introduction The first step a campus should take to become green is to reinforce, reinvigorate,

and to expand its energy conservation program. Energy consumption produces

the most significant environmental impacts associated with campus operations.

Thus, there is a need to operate campus buildings and equipment in an energy

efficient manner and to employ conservation measures wherever possible

(Fischer, 2008).

While many reasons may be given for energy wastage on campus, there really is

no excuse for it. Conservation and efficiency methods are well-established and

they pay for themselves. As reported at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM),

conservation can reduce total campus energy consumption by 30 percent or

more (Zakaria et al., 2012).

To stop global warming, we need significant reductions in CO2 emissions, which

can only be achieved by switching to clean, renewable sources of power that are

carbon-free or carbon-neutral. These include solar heating, daylighting,

photovoltaics, sustainable biomass, and wind power. However, efforts towards

campus environmental sustainability are deceptive if it does not acknowledge the

huge energy challenge of transforming the business as usual mind-set to an energy

saving culture. The full dimensions of the campus sustainable energy challenge

are just beginning to be appreciated as more and more campuses commit to

achieving climate neutrality (Petersen, Shunturov, Janda, Platt, & Weinberger,

2007). In this study, the building blocks of an effective energy saving culture

program is discussed.

Winning the Top Management Commitment To reach a full potential, an energy saving culture program needs a clear

commitment from the university top management. Top management including

deans, residential college masters, and registrar can inspire and insist that their

campus communities support energy conservation efforts. Top level leadership

is essential for achieving excellence in energy sustainability as well as campus

greening. Campus leadership support plays out in a variety of ways (Vicente-

Molina, Fernández-Sáinz, & Izagirre-Olaizola, 2013). As an example, when there

is a complain on why some offices and seminar rooms are not air conditioned

on a Sunday afternoon, it is important that the leadership stay in support of the

campus conservation program or else operational conservation measures will be

viewed as futile and abandoned. Of course, there is a need to accommodate the

research mission of universities but that does not mean all campus buildings

should operate seven days a week. When the support is wavering or in need of

41

reinforcement, one strategy is to speak the language of administrators by

demonstrating how your energy program reinforces academic excellence, public

service, and a good campus image and saves money which can be used on

academic and research programs. Another approach is to give campus top

management a piece of the action by inviting them to participate in press events

and bask in the spotlight whenever your program generates good news.

Empowerment of Department of Development and Estate

Management (JPPHB) As the operator of the campus physical facilities management and maintenance,

JPPHB has the greatest opportunity and ability to save energy. For this reason, it

is essential that top management mandate and empower JPPHB to perform this

job to the best of its ability. The vehicle for achieving steady progress on energy

conservation is the formation of an energy committee. This committee should

be chaired by a high-level administrator with enough rank and resources to get

things done. At some universities, this job is held by the Deputy Vice Chancellor

for development who makes it clear to facilities staff that energy conservation is

a top priority. Planning and implementation of conservation measures between

committee meetings is accomplished by a three-person team; the director for

utilities operations, the utilities manager, and the energy manager.

An energy committee should also be comprised of facilities supervisors who are

responsible for energy management systems, temperature control, cooling and

distribution systems, electrical, mechanical, and boiler maintenance, as well as

planning and design. The energy committee should meet frequently, e.g. every

other week when starting up and monthly or every other month when

established. This in-house energy committee is facilities operations oriented and

distinct from a campus-wide environmental task force or sustainability council.

All mid- to large-size campuses should have full-time energy officers in addition

to energy managers who supervise utilities operations and energy purchasing.

The energy officer should be a free agent who develops large and small energy

conservation projects, spearheads awareness efforts, and provides overall

leadership to the energy program. Needless to say, it is essential that the energy

officer report to the top of the organizational ladder and have the full

cooperation of facilities directors and staff. The energy officer should be

technically trained and competent and also be an able community organizer,

educator, and advocate who are authorized to cross organizational boundaries,

rock the boat every now and then, and get things done. Otherwise the inertia

and energy waste associated with business-as-usual will prevail (Moganadas,

Corral-Verdugo, & Ramanathan, 2013).

Of course, saving energy is not just up to the energy officer. It is a team effort.

All facilities staff members that are in a position to spot energy waste or

implement energy conservation should be doing so. This expectation can be

42

formalized by supervisors who understand the mission and carry the torch and

by rewriting job descriptions so facilities staff or technicians are evaluated on the

basis of their energy performance. Highly motivated facilities staff members or

technicians that are enthusiastic about saving energy should be encouraged and

given the green light and resources to pursue energy conservation measures.

Conservation sometimes means taking reasonable chances and risking

complaints. Campus leaders and facilities directors need to recognise this reality

and give facilities operations staff enough support and room to do their jobs.

Executing Energy Awareness Program Raising energy awareness is an essential component of an effective campus

sustainable energy program. An energy awareness campaign can change the

campus culture and create a climate for conservation. On a busy campus, raising

energy awareness may be difficult because it is hard to get people's attention.

Thus, a variety of methods and media is required (Carrico & Riemer, 2011). The

basics include an attractive, well-liked, and well-used website, e-mail notices,

campus mailings, articles in on and off campus newspapers, posters, stickers,

lecture presentations and guest speakers. But these are just a start. Creativity

and persistence are key to an effective awareness program which not only

increases support for campus energy conservation efforts but also contributes

to the eco-literacy of graduates.

One idea is by using an LCD installed in the main entrance or office counter of

all campus buildings that provides each building's annual energy costs. The high

electricity consumption figures usually shock people and spur conversations

about the need to conserve.

In addition, launching periodical outreach programs with catchy slogans, logos,

and coordinated resource materials can increase awareness effectiveness. One

of UM’s most recent campaigns was pioneered by the Living Lab Energy Saving

Culture in UM Campus Project (LL015-16SUS), led by Dr. Adi Ainurzaman

Jamaludin and other authors of this paper as team members. This project used

poster (Fig. 1a), informative brochure (Fig. 1b), and stickers (Fig. 1f) to empower

students, faculty, and staff and convey the simple message that everyone at UM

has “the power to turn things off.” The “Colour your energy” book deliberately

tried to be edgy and experimental in order to reach young students which are

the new generation young adults. It is a hip colouring book, exclusively designed

with energy savings messages printed on every page (Fig. 1c, 1d, 1e). There were

also energy savings logo and poster competition where participating students

could win gifts for their winning design. Incorporating energy conservation within

a larger campus environmental program is also helpful. The more students,

faculty, and staff think about the environment and practice environmentally

friendly behaviours like recycling, the more likely they are to want to save energy

too. Each green program reinforces the others (Sharp, 2002). Creating an energy

43

volunteers’ platform is an effective way to reach all segments of the campus

community and thus get beyond small events. This kind of platform consists of a

staff or faculty member from every office and department on campus. These

volunteers serve as informational agents and liaisons between their areas and the

campus’ energy and environmental programs.

The energy volunteers could bring energy awareness to the campus at grassroots

level. However, a network like this will not function on its own. It takes one’s

time not only to create it but to keep it going and active. It is critically important

that energy awareness programs speak to the hearts and minds students, faculty,

and staff. An effective campus energy awareness program needs to connect the

dots between campus energy waste and the wider regional and global

environmental and social impacts of energy consumption. Climate change is

foremost among those impacts. Thus, an effective campus energy awareness

program needs to educate about climate change and ask members of the campus

community to take action to reduce their own and their college or university’s

carbon footprints.

(a) (b)

44

(c) (d)

(e) (f)

Figure 1(a) Poster, (b) Brochure, (c)(d)(e) ‘Colour Your Energy colouring

book, (f) ‘Unplug’ reminder sticker

45

Creating Energy Policy Campus energy policies play a critical role. They establish and institutionalise

energy goals and they authorize action and programs to achieve compliance

(Mcmillin & Dyball, 2009). Energy policies should be drafted by a committee with

representation from the academic, maintenance, and business sides of the

institution. Needless to say, the best time to develop conservation-minded

campus energy policies is when your campus energy costs are high and the

budget is tight. Also, a genuine institutional commitment to address climate

change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions should drive energy policies in a

conserving, sustainable direction.

Here are some of the issues which can be addressed by one or more campus

energy policies:

• Air conditioner temperature settings

• Computer operations and "green computing"

• Restrictions on portable appliances per staff

• Energy efficiency purchasing standards for various types of equipment

• Green design and energy efficiency standards for new construction

• Energy practices in residential colleges and staff accommodations

• Campus transportation

• Alternative fuels and efficiency for campus bus

• Campus renewable energy development

• Greenhouse gas emissions reductions

Energy policies need not always stand-alone (Moore, 2005). They can also be

embedded in other types of campus policies. One likely place is a comprehensive

campus environmental policy. But it is important that sustainable energy policies

and commitments find their way into campus strategic and master plans as well.

Green Design An inefficiently designed new building is either a great retrofit candidate or an

energy vampire for the next 50 or 100 years. While retrofitting buildings to

improve efficiency makes sense, the retrofit exercise is costly and time-

consuming. Many buildings undergo retrofitting and start recording great energy

savings numbers. But one of the lessons learned from retrofitting is that new

buildings should be designed right and energy efficient in the first place, thereby

minimising the need for retrofitting. Progressive campus architects, engineers,

facilities directors, and sustainability advocates are now championing sustainable

or green building design for all new construction (Van Weenen, 2000). Green

design prioritizes energy efficiency and the use of bioclimatic design for

daylighting and air conditioning. These green design considerations, as well as

others pertaining to siting, building materials, and indoor environment, are

incorporated in the Green Building Index (GBI). GBI certified buildings may

achieve a platinum, gold, silver, bronze or certified rating depending on how many

46

points they achieve. While it is tempting to pursue a GBI rating by identifying the

easiest and cheapest points achievable by your project, this "checklist" approach

violates the spirit of green design, which is holistic and integrative in pursuing

design solutions that genuinely seek to minimize environmental impact. The truth

is that the greenest building is the one not built. Trimming new construction

plans and making better use of existing buildings makes the most sense

environmentally. This green design principle may be hard to accept if your

campus is intent on expansion and in the midst of buildout. In that case, the green

design movement reminds us that there are better and worse ways to put up

those new buildings (Velazquez, Munguia, Platt, & Taddei, 2006).

The premium costs of green buildings should be put in perspective. First, the

investment amount may be exaggerated. Smart design can make it possible to

design super-efficient new buildings at no additional cost. Where there are

additional first costs, they need to be balanced against savings in life-cycle

operating costs. The rise for green design is just beginning. It is a significant

frontier for campus energy and environmental sustainability and another

opportunity for campuses to lead or follow (Wright, 2002).

Conclusion The institutionalisation of campus energy savings culture should involve

educational and awareness campaigns, dialogue, series of meetings in identifying

the targets, establishing the system, mechanism and Key Performance Indicators

(KPIs). Those must be coupled with the living lab approach which allows

contribution from all campus community; academician, students and professional

as well as supporting groups. Teamwork and top management commitment are

identified as critical success factors in building the people and the culture,

towards the sustainability of the energy program.

Acknowledgement The authors would like to thank University of Malaya for the continuous support

and the UM Living Lab research funding LL015-16SUS granted by Sustainability

Science Research Cluster. Special appreciation goes to the community of Za’ba

Residential College for spearheading the energy saving culture efforts. This article

is partially adopted from the author’s report for Energy Manager Certification

submitted to Green Tech Malaysia.

References Carrico, A. R., & Riemer, M. (2011). Motivating energy conservation in the

workplace: An evaluation of the use of group-level feedback and peer

education. Journal of environmental psychology, 31(1), 1-13.

47

Fischer, C. (2008). Feedback on household electricity consumption: a tool for

saving energy? Energy efficiency, 1(1), 79-104.

Mcmillin, J., & Dyball, R. (2009). Developing a whole-of-university approach to

educating for sustainability linking curriculum, research and sustainable

campus operations. Journal of Education for Sustainable Development, 3(1),

55-64.

Moganadas, S. R., Corral-Verdugo, V., & Ramanathan, S. (2013). Toward systemic

campus sustainability: gauging dimensions of sustainable development via

a motivational and perception-based approach. Environment, development

and sustainability, 15(6), 1443-1464.

Moore, J. (2005). Barriers and pathways to creating sustainability education

programs: policy, rhetoric and reality. Environmental Education Research,

11(5), 537-555.

Petersen, J. E., Shunturov, V., Janda, K., Platt, G., & Weinberger, K. (2007).

Dormitory residents reduce electricity consumption when exposed to

real-time visual feedback and incentives. International Journal of

Sustainability in Higher Education, 8(1), 16-33.

Sharp, L. (2002). Green campuses: the road from little victories to systemic

transformation. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,

3(2), 128-145.

Van Weenen, H. (2000). Towards a vision of a sustainable university. International

Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education, 1(1), 20-34.

Velazquez, L., Munguia, N., Platt, A., & Taddei, J. (2006). Sustainable university:

what can be the matter? Journal of Cleaner Production, 14(9), 810-819.

Vicente-Molina, M. A., Fernández-Sáinz, A., & Izagirre-Olaizola, J. (2013).

Environmental knowledge and other variables affecting pro-environmental

behaviour: comparison of university students from emerging and

advanced countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 61, 130-138.

Wright, T. S. (2002). Definitions and frameworks for environmental sustainability

in higher education. International Journal of Sustainability in Higher Education,

3(3), 203-220.

Zakaria, R., Mohamed, K. A., Zin, R. M., Zolfagharian, S., Nourbakhsh, M.,

Nekooie, M. A., & Taherkhani, R. (2012). Sustainable Development

Factors for Land Development in Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Campus.

48

4

Smart Modular Electrical Energy Monitoring and

Management System Mohd Yazed Ahmad*

Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: myaz@um.edu.my

Abstract Proper management of electrical power has become crucial nowadays due to its

significant impact in reducing the consumption of energy, reducing electricity bills,

and at the same time lowering CO2 emissions. Collected data and findings from

literatures indicated that there are significant percentage of users (approximately

more than 30%) who do not really care to turn off switches. In addition,

implementation of smart space or smart office over existing building often incur

high starting investment and as a result such solution has not been fully adopted.

This project proposed a quick and simple approach to reduce unnecessary

energy usage by using novel modular electrical energy monitoring and power

management system featuring easy installation without the need of major

renovation and rewiring. This system is developed in-house by UM researchers;

therefore, we have full control over the sub-components to be used which then

allows us, at some extend, control the overall cost of the system. Results from

our first phase study indicated that under well controlled environment it is

possible to achieve approximately 34% reduction of electrical energy usage for

lightings and approximately 47.8% for air-conditioning. In addition, the proposed

system has made it convenient to the space occupants since all the switching and

temperature regulations are automatically taken care of. The next step is to

further improve and expand the use of the proposed system at more locations

so that full benefits of energy savings and CO2 reductions can be optimized, thus

benefits the Institution and promotes sustainability.

Keywords: Living Lab, Eco-campus, Energy Monitoring, IOT smart switch,

Smart Saving, automation, energy saving.

49

Introduction

Cost of electricity bills represents one of the major components of operating

cost across various types of buildings and facilities. Inefficient use and improper

management of electricity will not only cause higher operating budget but also

waste of natural resources and unnecessary CO2 emissions. The main

contributors for energy usage in office buildings are air conditionings and lightings

as reported in (Sadrzadehrafiei, Mat, & Lim, 2011) (Tang, 2012). In the Faculty of

Engineering, the number of split air-conditioning units are quite significant and

most of the lightings are using manual switches. Figure 1 illustrates this scenario.

Such setups fully rely on human factors for the operations of the appliances hence

there are tendencies of non-optimisation use of energy. An optimal power

monitoring and power management system can be one of the solutions to

address this problem.

Figure 1: Split air-conditioning units and corridor lightings at Block-A Faculty of

Engineering, University of Malaya

In this study, we developed a smart adaptive electrical power monitoring and

management system. The system consists of an easy-to-install power monitoring

units along with sensor modules. The sensor modules provide key parameters

for power saving algorithm. The unit has capability to automatically control and

50

set an optimum temperature for the air conditioning units and turns it off when

it is not needed especially when the is no recipient within the room or space. In

addition, other appliances such as fluorescent lamp can be also conveniently

switched on or off. Although this technique sounds simple, till now such system

has not been fully investigated and implemented especially in University of Malaya.

The component cost for such system is very minimal as compared to the benefit

and savings it can offer. The proposed system is illustrated as in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Block diagram of an improved energy saving system

The first phase study indicated that a systematic saving by at least 4 % is possible.

Considering Faculty of Engineering alone, when translated in monetary terms, it

is around RM120,000 worth of saving. Such amount of money could be utilised

for other important areas such as to promote further research in green

technology, improving facilities for engaging students and staff to increase

productivities, and for maintenance.

In this study, the following objectives have been considered; 1) To develop

modular power monitoring system which consists of system controller, sensor,

and switch modules that have capability to control electrical appliances based on

input parameters such as temperature light intensity, physiological state and

comfort level of human/recipient inside a building; 2) To develop a novel adaptive

power saving algorithm, featuring friendly and convenient interaction between

human and electrical appliances in the given room or space; and 3) To conduct a

Devices (e.g. air

conditioners, lamps,

etc.)

Central Module with

Power saving algorithm

(Equipped with:

Temperature sensor /

Infrared/ Motion

sensor)

Wireless

Power

Monitoring

Module

Smart Switch

Module

51

case study so that the practicality and the efficacy of the proposed system can be

evaluated and compared with the existing systems.

Literature Review Smart management of electrical power has become crucial nowadays due to its

significant impact in reducing the consumption of electric energy, reducing

electricity bills and at the same time help to reduce CO2 emissions (Jim, 2009)

(Fathabadi, 2014). For example, when light intensity in a certain location increases

due to the sunlight, the supplied voltage can be decreased to reduce light

intensity. Basically, the system works when the light intensity is captured by a

photocell sensor which will then compare it to a reference data and the system

can automatically regulate and manages the light intensity by varying the firing

angle of the solid-state regulator. This system can be implemented in most of the

buildings including those in the university.

Other than that, the power consumption can be reduced by simply changing the

type of lamp used e.g. from the fluorescent lamps to LED lamps (light emitting

diodes). However, this approach demands quite high initial investment (Vahl,

Campos, & Casarotto Filho, 2013). Another approach of controlling energy

consumption is by automatically switching ‘on’ or ‘off’ the appliances. Which

means, when there is no person in a room, then the device such as lamp and air-

conditioner can be turned off.

Heating and cooling are the main sources of power consumption that contribute

to the high electricity bills. Recently, Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) has

come out with a method of energy saving which is accessed via a simulation of

energy for a centralized HVAC (system for heating, ventilating, and air

conditioning) in academic building. They utilised adaptive cooling technique for

continuous cooling load (Bhaskoro, Gilani, & Aris, 2013).

Since academic buildings are not always occupied, the presence of occupants in

a building has an important impact on the required cooling of a building (Kwok

& Lee, 2011) (Sadrzadehrafiei et al., 2011). This implies that cooling load in a

building is mostly driven by the number of recipient. In addition, occupancy

pattern in an academic building especially laboratory, workshop, and classroom

is likely to change every semester or academic year. Therefore, it needs

appropriate design and analysis tool to optimise the performance of the system

(Trčka & Hensen, 2010).

It has been reported in (Gul & Patidar, 2015) that there are quite a significant

percentage (about 30%) representing number of users who do not really care to

turn off switches. Therefore, a solution such as autonomous switching is needed

to address this 30% category.

52

Although there are plenty of efforts in improving efficiency and reducing the

unnecessary electrical usage, most of the existing techniques are not convenient

and costly due to the need of high initial investment which involve major

renovations such as walls hacking for installation of the system. In this project,

we aim to overcome most of these challenges.

Methodology Appropriate monitoring and active intelligent intervention can help to promote

energy saving or in other words, they can optimise the usage of electrical energy

in powering most of the common electrical appliances such as air conditioners,

indoor lightings, and other appliances. As a result, the unnecessary electrical

energy consumptions, and CO2 emissions all together can be systematically

reduced. In addition, this system will also help to extend the lifetime of the

appliances.

The proposed system consists of four modules namely: a) Smart switch module;

b) Central module with sensors; c) Cloud linking module and d) Power

monitoring module. The modules and their integration are illustrated in Figure

3.

Figure 3: Modules of Smart Modular Electrical Energy Monitoring and

Management System and the integration of modules to control a lecturer

room.

53

To ensure fast development, most of the sub-components in each modules were

fabricated using off-the-shelf components.

Smart switch module

This module features are easy to install, to replace, or to work with existing

switch attached to an appliance. Since it has the capability to harvest electric field

and magnetic field energy, the system does not require additional power supply

and therefore eliminates any major rewiring. This module can communicate with

central module or alternatively can be combined with Cloud linking module to

enable remote monitoring and remote switching of the appliance. This module

uses programmable system on chip (PSOC) technology which embedded within

it a Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) module, serial interface, analog to digital

converter, power management unit, and low power microcontroller. Part of our

energy saving algorithms run on this PSOC.

Central module with sensors

This module consists of a microprocessor, Wi-Fi module, Bluetooth module,

temperature sensor, human motion sensor and infrared LED. The role of this

unit is to monitor physical parameters and to perform the necessary actions to

conserve the use of electrical energy. The physical parameters that this unit

measures include the presence of human in the space, current temperature and

humidity of the space. This unit is also able to communicate with power

monitoring module. This unit controls the appliances within the given area

through Bluetooth and infrared signals.

Cloud linking module

This module is the simplest module. It consists of a Wi-Fi module and Bluetooth

module. It’s role simply relays data between Wi-Fi module and Bluetooth

module.

Power monitoring module

The low-cost power monitoring module was modified from Texas instrument

which was subsequently turned into a wireless compatible and configurable

device configurable through manipulation of the internal circuit. This module

communicates with the data logger programme runs on any PC with internet

connection mainly to collect energy data. Data such as real power, reactive

power, apparent power, power factor, voltage, and currents are accessible and

recordable. This module may also communicate with the central unit to provide

the necessary information for power saving algorithm.

54

Integration and case study

The overall system was tested to monitor and to control lights and air-

conditioning unit in a lecturer room. The central unit was let to continuously

monitor the presence of human in the room and the room temperature for over

one week. Matlab platform was used to sort and analyse the collected data. The

sorted version of the collected data and the overall results are presented in the

subsequent sections.

Results Results on Energy savings from lightings

The collected data for switching activities are shown in Figure 4. The high states

correspond to ‘switch on’ and the low states correspond to ‘switch off’. The

state changes from low to high when there is human detected, and the state

changes from high to low when there is no human movement detected over the

period of a time-out-time (10 minutes). Additionally, accumulation of lights ‘ON’

and lights ‘OFF’ over five working days is presented in Figure 5.

Figure 4: The collected light switching data sorted by hours and days

55

Figure 5: Percentage of lights 'ON' and lights 'OFF' during working hours over

six working days

Results on Energy savings from air-conditioning temperature settings

Figure 6 indicates instantaneous power due to air conditioning states under

different temperature settings.

Figure 6: Instantaneous power from power meter corresponding to air

conditioning states under different temperature settings

Discussion Plots in Figure 4 clearly indicate that the system is capable of switching ‘ON’ and

‘OFF’ the lights depending on whether the user was available in the room or not.

The results also indicate that after office hours all the lights were consistently

switched off.

0

20

40

60

80

100

1 2 3 4 5 6

Percentage of Light 'ON' and Light 'OFF' during working

Hours Over Six Working Days

Percentage ON Percentage OFFSaving accomplished

(34%)

56

As for the air-conditioning unit, three temperature settings were observed, i.e.

when it set to 23oC, 25oC, and 26oC. Relative comparison indicates saving of

48.5% when the temperature was set at 25oC as compared to 23oC. By setting

temperature at higher value, it allows higher percentage of saving which is around

73.1%.

Saving accomplished from lightings was approximately 34%, and from air-

conditioning was around 48.5%. All these achievements were taken under well

controlled room environment.

Table 1: Comparison of power savings at different temperature settings.

Consumption over one hour

Temperature

Setting Below

23oC

Temperature Setting

25oC Temperature 26oC

0.886KWh 0.456KWh

Saving: 48.5% w.r.t

23oC

0.238KWh

Saving: 73.1% w.r.t 23oC

: 47.8% w.r.t 25oC

Conclusion A smart modular electrical energy monitoring and management system has been

developed and tested. Results indicate that this system can save energy around

34% for lightings and 48.5% for air conditioning unit under controlled

environment. The proposed concept of modular system makes the proposed

system simple to be implemented especially in the existing buildings. This feature

will help adoption of smart energy monitoring and management system in a bigger

scale resulting bigger savings, eco-friendly and sustainable use of energy.

Acknowledgement The authors would like to acknowledge Sustainability Science (SuSci) Research

Cluster, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur under Living Lab Grant (LL014-

16SUS) for financial support.

57

References

Bhaskoro, P. T., Gilani, S. I. U. H., & Aris, M. S. (2013). Simulation of energy saving

potential of a centralized HVAC system in an academic building using

adaptive cooling technique. Energy Conversion and Management,

75(Supplement C), 617-628.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2013.06.054

Fathabadi, H. (2014). Ultra high benefits system for electric energy saving and

management of lighting energy in buildings. Energy Conversion and

Management, 80(Supplement C), 543-549.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2014.01.002

Gul, M. S., & Patidar, S. (2015). Understanding the energy consumption and

occupancy of a multi-purpose academic building. Energy and Buildings,

87(Supplement C), 155-165.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2014.11.027

Jim, T., & Ed, S. . (2009). Power monitoring 101: Supervisory, connectivity and

protection options that add an umbrella of protection over your entire

IT infrastructure [White paper]. Retrieved from

http://lit.powerware.com/ll_download.asp?file=PowerMonitoring101-

V13.pdf

Kwok, S. S. K., & Lee, E. W. M. (2011). A study of the importance of occupancy

to building cooling load in prediction by intelligent approach. Energy

Conversion and Management, 52(7), 2555-2564.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enconman.2011.02.002

Sadrzadehrafiei, S., Mat, K. S. S., & Lim, C. (2011). Energy consumption and energy

saving in Malaysian office buildings. Paper presented at the Models and

Methods in Applied Sciences.

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Chin_Haw_Lim/publication/267381

799_Energy_consumption_and_energy_saving_in_Malaysian_office_buil

dings/links/545b1c0f0cf2c16efbbbd186.pdf

Tang, F. E. (2012). An energy consumption study for a Malaysian university. World

Academy of Science, Engineering and Technology, 68, 1757-1763.

Trčka, M., & Hensen, J. L. M. (2010). Overview of HVAC system simulation.

Automation in Construction, 19(2), 93-99.

doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2009.11.019

Vahl, F. P., Campos, L. M., & Casarotto Filho, N. (2013). Sustainability constraints

in techno-economic analysis of general lighting retrofits. Energy and

Buildings, 67, 500-507.

58

5

Safe Disposal of Unused Medications – Working

toward a Green Pharmacy in the University of

Malaya Medical Centre Sim Si Mui 1, *, Lai Siew Mei Pauline 2, Tan Kit Mun3, Lee Hong Gee4, Che

Zuraini Sulaiman5 and Wong Yin Yen5

1 Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine

2 Department of Primary Care Medicine, Faculty of Medicine 3 Division of Geriatric Medicine, Department of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine

4 Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of Medicine 5 Department of Pharmacy, University of Malaya Medical Centre

*Corresponding author: debrasim@ummc.edu.my

Abstract The aim of this study was to find sustainable ways to reduce medication wastage

and minimise environmental and public health hazards caused by improper

disposal of unused medications at the University of Malaya Medical Centre

(UMMC). The study was conducted in three phases: 1) developing and validating

an instrument (ReDiUM) to measure the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP)

concerning the return and disposal of unused medications; 2) conducting a KAP

survey on UMMC patients and auditing the return of unused medications to the

UMMC Pharmacy; 3) evaluating the impact of public awareness campaigns on

patients’ KAP and their return of unused medications. The study showed that

ReDiUM was a valid and reliable instrument. Our survey showed that most

UMMC patients knew that improper drug disposal was harmful on the

environment; acknowledged that it was their responsibility to protect the

environment and household from unintended harmful exposure to unused

medications; and were willing to donate their non-expired unused medications

to reduce wastage. A substantial amount of unused medications returned to the

UMMC were in good condition and was donated to the UMMC pharmacy,

specialists and health-related NGOs for reuse. This reduced medication wastage

and the risk unused medications posed on environment and public health.

59

Keywords Unused medications, safe disposal, eco-campus, living lab, public health hazards

Introduction The University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC) is a 1600-bed, tertiary public

hospital that situates in between two large metropolises, serving a population of

over one and a half million. In 2016, an approximate sum of RM 62 million was

set aside for medications in the UMMC, which constituted to about 15% of the

hospital budget. Thus, unused or unwanted medications represent a significant

waste of healthcare resources, which is also costly to the healthcare institution,

as there are costs involved in the purchasing and proper disposal of unused

medications. This inevitably results in economic wastage (Abou-Auda, 2003;

Garey, Johle, Behrman, & Neuhauser, 2004). Improper disposal of unused

medicinal products also has adverse consequences on the environment and

public health (Bound, Kitsou, & Voulvoulis, 2006; Bound & Voulvoulis, 2005).

Hence, the overall aim of this proposed study was to find sustainable ways to

reduce medication wastage and minimise environmental and public health

hazards caused by improper disposal of unused medications, thus greening the

pharmacy of the UMMC.

Literature Review There are multiple reasons for households to possess unused medications, which

include expired medications, contaminated medications, non-adherence to

treatment, change in patient’s condition, discontinued medical treatment, death

of patients, or hoarding of medications. There are also several routes for unused

medications to gain entry to the environment. They include disposal as household

garbage (that will be taken to landfill) or flushing down the toilet or pouring

down the sink (that ends up in the sewerage system), resulting in possible

contamination of surface water (Bound & Voulvoulis, 2005). Management of

these active pharmaceutical ingredients in the environment is both challenging

and potentially costly (Sorell, 2016). It is thus highly desirable to reduce the risk

of releasing these unwanted medicinal products into the environment, which may

pose harm to not only the environment but also to public health.

While there are some international and national guidelines on the safe

management of healthcare wastes, these tend to be at the organisational level

(World Health Organization, 1999, 2014). Information concerning the proper

disposal of unused or unwanted medications in the house is still scarce (Food

Drug Administration, 2013) and the recommendations equivocal (Daughton,

2003). Some agencies advocate throwing of unused medications in household

garbage (mixed with kitty litter or coffee grounds to make them unpalatable),

flushing them down the toilet, or pouring them down the drain to avoid misuse

or abuse of unused medications by other household members and pets. In

60

developed countries like the United States of America, United Kingdom and

Australia, there are community-based medicine “take-back” programmes, which

some experts believe to be the safest and most environmentally protective way

to dispose unused or unwanted medications, but this is not the most convenient

or readily available option to the majority of patients (Take Back Your Meds,

2016). Thus, it is important for us to find a solution that is both environmentally

friendly as well as user friendly for our community-dwelling patients.

To date, there is a gap in published literature that documents the knowledge,

attitude and practice (KAP) of Malaysians regarding the safe disposal of unused

medications, by using a validated instrument; nor have there been national

guidelines on the safe disposal of unused medications in Malaysian households.

Thus, the overall aim of this study was to find sustainable ways to reduce

medication wastage in our community-dwelling patients (also known as

ambulatory patients) and to minimise environmental and public health hazards

caused by improper disposal of unused medications, thus greening the pharmacy

of the UMMC. This study may be extended to include the neighbourhood

communities in the future.

Methodology The study was conducted in three phases (Figure 1) and aimed to (1) document

the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of Malaysians regarding the safe

disposal of unused medications, by using a validated instrument, (2) to document

the amount and types of unused medications that are commonly returned to

UMMC outpatient pharmacy, and (3) to explore ways to reduce medication

wastage and to protect the environment and public from hazards arising from

improper disposal of unused medications.

Phase 1 – Developing and validating ReDiUM for measuring KAP of

patients

The first phase of this study was to develop and validate an instrument (ReDiUM)

to measure the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of our UMMC patients

concerning the safe disposal of unused prescribed medications. The ReDiUM

questionnaire was developed by an expert panel and literature review. It

contained 30 items – 10 items each on knowledge, attitude and practice. The

items in the knowledge domain have “True”, “False” and “Do not know” options,

whereas those in the attitude and practice domains have responses selected

based on a 5-point Likert-scale, where 1 represented “Strongly disagree” and 5

represented “Strongly agree”.

Anyone who was ≥21 years of age, currently taking prescribed medications, and

was able to answer the questionnaire in English, was recruited as a participant.

The sample size was calculated on an item to participant ratio of 1:10, in order

61

to perform factor analysis. Since there were 30 items in the questionnaire, we

thus aimed to recruit at least 300 participants for the ReDiUM validation study.

These participants were asked to fill in the demographic form and to answer the

ReDiUM twice: at baseline and two weeks later (to assess for reliability). Ethics

approval for this study was granted by the Medical Research Ethics Committee

of the University of Malaya Medical Centre.

Phase-2 – KAP survey and audit of unused medications returned to UMMC

Pharmacy

After validating the instrument, ReDiUM was used to measure the KAP of those

patients waiting to collect their medications at the UMMC outpatient pharmacy.

The survey items included patient age, gender, level of education, monthly

income bracket, and whether they are currently working as a healthcare

professional, but not their names or identification numbers.

In a separate parallel study, an audit of the return of unused medications to

UMMC outpatient Pharmacy was carried out. The returned medications were

collected weekly and sorted according to a work process shown in Figure 2.

Qualified healthcare staff examined these returned medications carefully and

analysed them according to drug class, name, cost, physical condition, expiry

date, and whether or not they were part of UMMC’s standard formulary.

Phase-3 – Intervention to promote public awareness on the safe disposal

of unused medications (still ongoing)

Campaigns to raise public awareness and to promote the return of unused

medications to the UMMC outpatient Pharmacy for safe disposal have been

planned but not all have been carried out at the time of writing this article. Based

on the findings of the first two phases of this study on KAP survey and unused

medicines audit, various forms of intervention (e.g., poster exhibition, bunting

advertisement, short video clips, promotional materials, and educational talks)

have been discussed. A small-scale two-day public awareness campaign, mainly

in the form of poster exhibition, video clip, brochure and mini quiz, was held at

both the UMMC main concourse and at the RMIC (Research Management and

Innovation Complex) foyer in conjunction with the Sustainable Development

Symposium 2017 event on 20-21 April 2017. However, a more extensive public

awareness campaign is being planned for 19-23 June 2017 to be held at the

UMMC. A post-intervention survey on the KAP of patients and an audit of the

return of unused medications have also been planned for the purpose of

estimating the possible impact that the campaigns may have on the reduction of

medication wastage, environmental pollution and public health hazards.

62

Results Phase 1 – Developing and validating ReDiUM for measuring KAP of patients

A total of 338 participants (who were not our UMMC patients) agreed to take

part in the validation study and 314 (92.9%) completed the retest. The majority

of our participants were female (72.5%), with a median age of 35 years

[interquartile range (IQR) = 28.8-51.0]. The overall Cronbach’s α was 0.703. At

test-retest, kappa values ranged from 0.244 to 0.523. The median total

knowledge score was 60% (IQR: 40-70). The majority of participants (94%) knew

that improper drug disposal has harmful effects on the environment. However,

their knowledge was low regarding the disposal of pressurized aerosol metered

dose inhalers in the garbage, where only 11% of participants answered this item

correctly. The majority of participants (>50%) acknowledged that it was their

responsibility to protect the environment and to protect their household

members from unintended harmful exposure to unused medications.

Phase-2 – KAP survey and audit of unused medications returned to UMMC

Pharmacy

(i) KAP survey

When ReDiUM was used to measure the KAP of 400 UMMC outpatients, the

results showed almost identical pattern of responses with that of the participants

in the validation study, even though the actual scores for each response item

might be different.

In the knowledge domain, the majority (86%) of our UMMC outpatients knew

that improper drug disposal has harmful effects on the environment and

ecosystem. They generally knew the acceptable ways to dispose different forms

(solid or liquid) of medicines (50-60%), except for pressurised aerosol metered-

dosed inhalers (20%). Only 25% of the participants knew about the inadequacy

of wastewater treatment in removing medicines from the environment and

ecosystem. Similarly, low proportion of them knew that creams and ointments

may be disposed in the garbage (37%) and incineration is the environmentally

sound way of disposing unwanted medicines (36%).

In the attitude domain, most (>90%) also acknowledged that it was their

responsibility to protect the environment and their household members from

unintended harmful exposure to unused medications. Many of them (70-80%)

believed “discarding unused medicines that are still in good condition is a waste

of resources” and were “willing to donate their non-expired unused medications

to reduce wastage”.

In the practice domain, the two most likely reasons for our participants to have

unused medications were “just in case I need it” (58%) and “feeling better” (57%),

whereas the least likely reason was due to non-compliance (38%). About half of

them had unused medicines and disposed them because of experiencing

unwanted side effects. The majority of the participants disposed their medicines

63

because the medicines “have expired” (83%). The other likely reasons for them

to dispose their medicines were either the medicines appeared bad (65%), or

have turned bad due to inappropriate storage (65%).

(ii) Audit study

The result reported here included all the unused medications returned to the

UMMC Outpatient Pharmacy during the period mid-May 2016 to January 2017.

Approximately 1,034 kg of unused medications (worth about RM 151,492) were

returned to UMMC Pharmacy over the study period, of which 882 kg (85%) were

found to be still within the expiry dates and in their original untampered

packaging (Table 1). The rest of the medications (15%) that were expired or

damaged in some way were discarded into the yellow bin to be incinerated by

licensed vendor. Those that were not expired and not damaged or spoilt, but

still in their original packaging, were returned to UMMC Pharmacy, or donated

to certain specialists as well as Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) which

operate free clinics, as needed.

A total count of 353,783 dose units (whether in the form of tablets, capsules or

bottles) of unused medications were donated back to the UMMC Pharmacy

during the study period (Table 2), of which 41% of these were drugs classified

under the cardiovascular system, followed by drug classes under the endocrine

system (18%) and nutrition and blood system (17%). However, when we analysed

the unused medications as individual drugs, metformin (an antidiabetic drug

under endocrine system) was the most commonly returned drug (11%), followed

by simvastatin (a cholesterol-lowering drug under cardiovascular system, 8%) and

calcium carbonate (a calcium supplement for osteoporosis under nutrition and

blood system, 7%).

Phase-3 – Intervention to promote public awareness on the safe disposal

of unused medicines (“Safe DUMP”)

A total of 374 adults (69.3% female; median age = 49 years, IQR = 34.2-62.0)

participated in a mini quiz while visiting the exhibition booth during our two-day

Safe DUMP campaign held at the University of Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC)

concourse (Figure 3) and the Research Management and Innovation Complex

(RMIC) foyer in conjunction with the Symposium on Sustainable Development,

on 20-21 April 2017. Preliminary findings on the knowledge of our public on safe

disposal of unused medicines were obtained based on the responses of these 374

visitors to the five-question mini quiz. The results of this mini quiz showed that

most of them (≥94%) were aware of the potentially harmful effects of unused

medicines to household and environment, and that returning these unused

medicines to the pharmacy is the proper way of disposing these medicines. While

a substantial number of them (89%) might have known that incineration is the

environmentally friendly way of disposing unused medicines, less than 75% knew

64

that wastewater treatment is not able to remove all medicines from the

environment.

Discussion The aim of this study was to find sustainable ways to reduce medication wastage

and minimise environmental and public health hazards caused by improper

disposal of unused medications at the UMMC. In order to plan effective

campaigns to modify the behaviour of public members with regard to the return

and safe disposal of unused medicines, we needed an instrument to reliably

measure the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of our UMMC patients on

such matter. Our results showed that the ReDiUM was a valid and reliable

instrument to assess the KAP of our UMMC patients concerning the return and

disposal of unused prescribed medications. To the best of our knowledge, there

are no other such validated instrument that measures simultaneously the

knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of patients on the disposal of unused

medications. The instrument used by Aditya and Rattan (2014) to explore the

KAP of pharmacists about medication disposal and their awareness about the

potential environmental effects on inappropriate drug disposal was only pre-

tested on five pharmacists for clarity of the questions (both open- and closed-

ended types) posed to their respondents (Aditya & Rattan, 2014). Our ReDiUM

(which extracted a number of knowledge questions from theirs) should be more

robust an instrument compared to theirs for assessing the KAP of respondents

regarding medication disposal and its impact on environment.

Our KAP survey showed that the majority of our UMMC patients knew that

improper drug disposal has harmful effects on the environment. In fact, when we

compared six similar items in the knowledge domain of our study with another

one conducted in India, it would appear that the knowledge of our community

dwelling patients on these issues (accurate response scores of 52.4 ± 20.9%,

mean ± SD, n = 400) are comparable with that of the pharmacists (54.5 ± 11.7%

accurate responses; n = 84) surveyed in an urban town in North India (Aditya

and Rattan, 2014). This might seem surprising since we would expect the

pharmacists to be better informed with the proper ways of disposing unused

medications and to be better aware of the impact of improper disposal of such

items on the environment and ecosystem. This may reflect the education level

of those UMMC patients who participated in our KAP survey; more than 65% of

them had at least diploma or above education. Most of our UMMC patients

acknowledged that it was their responsibility to protect the environment and

household from unintended harmful exposure to unused medications, and were

willing to donate their non-expired unused medications to reduce wastage. This

suggests that campaigns that encourage patients to return their unused

medications before the medications become expired or spoilt as a means to

reduce medication wastage, are likely to produce favourable responses among

our UMMC patients. Indeed, our audit findings also showed that a substantial

65

amount of unused medications returned to UMMC were still in good condition,

which could be donated to UMMC pharmacy, the specialists and health-related

NGOs for reuse. This would reduce medication wastage and the risk these

unused medications posed on environment and public health, should they be

discarded through household garbage, toilet or sinks.

As mentioned above, there are many reasons why medications prescribed to

patients become unused: these include a change of medication by the prescriber,

outdated or expired medication, adverse drug reaction experienced by the

patient resulting in non-compliance, and others (Langley, Marriott, Mackridge, &

Daniszewski, 2005). In 2015, the Malaysian government has started to implement

separation of recyclable waste from general household waste. However, among

all the items to be sorted, medication is not included in the list. In view of a great

increase in medical expenditure, the Ministry of Health announced to the general

public through daily news to encourage them to return their unused medications

to the hospitals or pharmacies (Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad, 2015). Even though

the public responded by returning their unused medications to the healthcare

professionals, some of them were returned in poor condition, such as expired,

used halfway of the recommended treatment regimen, poor appearance of

medication, unusable and have to be disposed by hospital; this will increase the

cost of the healthcare system due to cost involved in disposing these expired or

damaged medications and additional cost in acquiring new medications to comply

with the needs of medications in the hospitals.

In our audit arm of the study, we found that 85% of the unused medications

returned to UMMC Pharmacy were still within the expiry dates and in their

original untampered packaging. If all these “good” unused medications could be

reused it would have saved approximately RM 130,000 worth of medication

expenditure over a period of 8.5 months in just one hospital outpatient

pharmacy. The cost saving does not restrict just to medication expenses but

would also include the cost of cleaning up the polluted environment, should these

medications be thrown into garbage or flushed down the toilet, and the cost of

incineration, should they be returned to the hospital pharmacy for proper

disposal. Among the unused medications returned to UMMC outpatient

pharmacy, medications for cardiovascular and endocrine diseases topped the list,

followed by nutrition/blood, central nervous system and gastrointestinal system.

Such findings are not too different from that observed in other countries. For

example, in the UK, cardiovascular drugs were the most commonly returned

(28.5%; compared to 41.2% in our study) of the total drugs returned during the

study, followed by central nervous system (18.8%), respiratory (14.7%) and

gastrointestinal (10.6%) drugs (Langley, et al., 2005); but endocrine drugs

contributed to only about 5.6% in their study (compared to 17.7% in our study).

A study in Taiwan (Chien et al., 2013) showed that gastrointestinal (25.93%) and

cardiovascular (22.49%) drugs were the two most often discarded medications,

followed by anti-inflammatory drugs (12.15%), antidiabetic drugs (9.49%) and

66

colds medicines (6.83%). Bergen and co-workers (2015) reported the 20 most

commonly discarded drugs in Australia, which included salbutamol (respiratory

drug), insulin (endocrine drug) and frusemide (renal drug), the top three of the

list (Bergen, Hussainy, George, Kong, & Kirkpatrick, 2015). A major difference in

the type of medications discarded seems to be in the respiratory drugs, which

only accounted for 0.9% of the total unused medications returned to our hospital

pharmacy and 2.16% in the Taiwan study (Chien, et al., 2013). However, studies

conducted in the UK (14.7%) and Australia (salbutamol was the most commonly

discarded drug) showed that respiratory drugs were among the top two most

commonly discarded drugs. Perhaps this reflects the difference in the prevalence

of respiratory diseases in these countries.

During the two-day small scale public awareness campaign held in conjunction

with the Symposium on Sustainability Development 2017, a fair number of public

(>370) were attracted to read the posters and many of them attempted the 5-

question mini quiz on the safe disposal of unused medicines. Through these quiz

questions, besides reading the posters and brochure, we hope that the public are

now more aware of the importance of returning the unused medications for safe

disposal at UMMC Pharmacy. Although most of them appeared to be aware of

the danger such unused medicines may pose to the environment and ecosystem,

about a quarter of them were not aware that wastewater treatment is not

effective in removing all the medicines from the environment. More than 10% of

those who came to the exhibition booth did not know that incineration is the

most environmentally friendly way of disposing unused medicines. So in our

future campaigns, we will need to improve the public’s knowledge in these

aspects.

In summary, our project is making good progress and has given us some valuable

information on the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) of our UMMC

outpatients regarding the safe disposal of unused medicines. With such

information we can begin to formulate strategies to modify behaviour and deal

with the problem of medication wastage, thereby reducing its negative impacts

on the environement, public health and taxpayers’ money. To start with, we

would like to hold more intensive public awareness campaigns and educational

seminars/materials to get the public to avoid having unused medicines at home

and to return these unused medicines to UMMC pharmacy for safe disposal. At

the same time we would like to also target at the prescribers (i.e. medical

doctors) and the dispensers (i.e. pharmacists) to help reduce the likelihood of

patients possessing unused medicines at home, hence further reduce medication

wastage. We hypothesise that paying patients are less likely to collect more

medicines than they need, and therefore less likely to have unused medicines at

home. To test this hypothesis, we propose to study the KAP of the paying

outpatients at our private wing University of malaya Specialist Centre (UMSC).

All these are aiming at finding the best feasible ways to reduce medication

67

wastage and the associated negative impacts of unused medications on the

environement, public health and taxpayers’ money.

Conclusion The ReDiUM was found to be a valid and reliable instrument for assessing

patients’ KAP on the return and disposal of unused medications. The majority of

UMMC outpatients knew that improper drug disposal has harmful effects on the

environment. Most acknowledged that it was their responsibility to protect the

environment and household from unintended harmful exposure to unused

medications, and were willing to donate their non-expired unused medications

to reduce wastage. A substantial amount of unused medications returned to

UMMC were still in good condition and could be donated to UMMC pharmacy,

the specialists and health-related NGOs for reuse. This would reduce medication

wastage and the risk these unused medications posed on environment and public

health.

Acknowledgement We would like to thank Woon Soo Chin, Goon Bee Cheng, Nor Syafiqah binti

Azmi and Mohamad Azali bin Mohd Alwai for their assistance in collecting and

analysing some of the data. We would also like to thank all the participants who

participated in this study. Funding for this study was obtained from University

of Malaya Living Lab Grant Programme (LL030-16SUS).

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use and wastage among families in Saudi Arabia and Arabian Gulf

countries. Clin Ther, 25(4), 1276-1292.

Aditya, S., & Rattan, A. (2014). Minimizing Pharmaceutical Waste: The Role of

the Pharmacist. Journal of Young Pharmacists, 6(3), 14-19.

Bergen, P. J., Hussainy, S. Y., George, J., Kong, D. C., & Kirkpatrick, C. M. (2015).

Safe disposal of prescribed medicines. Aust Prescr, 38(3), 90-92.

Bound, J. P., Kitsou, K., & Voulvoulis, N. (2006). Household disposal of

pharmaceuticals and perception of risk to the environment. Environ

Toxicol Pharmacol, 21(3), 301-307. doi: 10.1016/j.etap.2005.09.006

Bound, J. P., & Voulvoulis, N. (2005). Household disposal of pharmaceuticals as a

pathway for aquatic contamination in the United kingdom. Environ Health

Perspect, 113(12), 1705-1711.

Chien, H.-Y., Ko, J.-J., Chen, Y.-C., Weng, S.-H., Yang, W.-C., Chang, Y.-C., &

Liu, H.-P. (2013). Study of medication waste in Taiwan. J Exp Clin Med,

5. doi: 10.1016/j.jecm.2013.02.003

Daughton, C. G. (2003). Cradle-to-cradle stewardship of drugs for minimizing

their environmental disposition while promoting human health. II. Drug

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disposal, waste reduction, and future directions. Environ Health Perspect,

111(5), 775-785.

Food Drug Administration. (2013). How to Dispose of Unused Medicines

Retrieved 22 Feb, 2017, from

https://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/ResourcesForYou/Consumers/B

uyingUsingMedicineSafely/UnderstandingOver-the-

CounterMedicines/ucm107163.pdf

Garey, K. W., Johle, M. L., Behrman, K., & Neuhauser, M. M. (2004). Economic

Consequences of Unused Medications in Houston, Texas. Annals of

Pharmacotherapy, 38(7-8), 1165-1168. doi: doi:10.1345/aph.1D619

Langley, C., Marriott, J., Mackridge, A., & Daniszewski, R. (2005). An analysis of

returned medicines in primary care. Pharm World Sci, 27(4), 296-299.

doi: 10.1007/s11096-005-0354-8

Sorell, T. L. (2016). Approaches to the Development of Human Health Toxicity

Values for Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients in the Environment. AAPS

J, 18(1), 92-101. doi: 10.1208/s12248-015-9818-5

Take Back Your Meds. (2016). Medicinal Disposal Myths and Facts Retrieved

Mar 9, 2016, from http://www.takebackyourmeds.org/what-can-you-

do/medicine-disposal-myths-and-facts.

Utusan Melayu (M) Berhad. (2015). Pulangkan Ubat Belum Diguna ke Hospital

Retrieved May 25, 2017, from

http://www.utusan.com.my/berita/nasional/pulangkan-ubat-kepada-

klinik-hospital-kerajaan-jika-tidak-digunakan-hilmi-1.472519

World Health Organization. (1999). Guidelines for safe disposal of unwanted

pharmaceuticals in and after emergencies. Geneva.

World Health Organization. (2014). Safe management of wastes from health-care

activities Second edition. Retrieved 22 Feb, 2017, from

http://www.searo.who.int/srilanka/documents/safe_management_of_w

astes_from_healthcare_activities.pdf?ua=1

69

Table 1: Estimated amount of unused medications returned to UMMC

Pharmacy, amount donated or discarded during the study period

(May 2016 – Jan 2017)

Period Amount

Returned

(kg)

Amount

Donated *

(kg)

Amount

Discarded #

(kg)

May 16 –

Jan 17

1,034 882 152

* Amount of unused medications that were returned in good condition (within

expiry date and still in the original packaging) and donated in part back to UMMC,

and others to Individual specialists and selected Non-governmental organisations

that operate free clinics. # Amount of unused medications that were returned in poor (expired or

damaged) condition and were discarded for incineration.

70

Table 2: Top 10 drug classes of unused medication items donated back to

UMMC Outpatient Pharmacy during the study period (May 2016 – Jan 2017)

Drug Class*

Number of Items donated

N %

Cardiovascular system 145,893 41.2

Endocrine system 62,736 17.7

Nutrition and blood 61,199 17.3

Central nervous system 33,397 9.6

Gastrointestinal system 24,665 7.0

Musculoskeletal and joint 9,400 2.7

Infections 6,060 1.7

Obstetrics, gynaecology 3,680 1.0

Respiratory system 3,011 0.9

Immunosuppressants 2,800 0.8

* Drugs were categorised according to drug classes listed in the British National

Formulary (BNF)

71

6

UM Zero Waste Campaign: Integrated and

Sustainable Waste Management System

Development in University of Malaya

Sumiani Yusoff1,*, Z. X. Keng1, Nur Syuhada1

1Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya

*corresponding author: sumiani@um.edu.my

Abstract Municipal solid waste (MSW) generation in Malaysia reaches a shocking 33,000

ton/day in 2013. Nationwide, there are 176 landfills but only 8 are sanitary landfill

with the rest are open dumpsites. In the campus of UM, UM Zero Waste

Campaign (UM ZWC) was introduced in 2011 to start a long term campaign to

achieve an integrated and sustainable waste management model and ultimately a

zero waste campus. Since year 2015, UM ZWC is fully funded by Sustainability

Science Research Cluster of UM (Susci) as one of the living labs of UM as well as

by JPPHB under the RMK-11 budget. UM ZWC operating projects including in

house composting center, food waste segregation scheme, research composting

emission and waste characterization, anaerobic digestion (AD), used clothes

collection program, wood waste separate collection, e-waste collection and

drop-off recycling collection were initiated under the campaign. Since the

inception of the project in 2011 until December 2016, a total of 474.54 ton of

solid waste has been diverted from disposal in landfill with composting, AD,

recycling, re-use and energy recovery. A roadmap of UM ZWC was drawn up in

2013, with a goal to achieve 60% landfill diversion by year 2040. In the next 5-10

years, UM ZWC plays a vital role to formalize the recycling collection in UM and

further increase the organic waste recycling with green waste shredding and

composting. Besides environmental benefits (pollution prevention and carbon

emission reduction), UM ZWC brings various benefits such as academic research

opportunities for UM, contribute in UM LCCF (Low carbon city framework)

target and serve as platform to improve students’ soft skills and entrepreneur

skill. Multi stakeholders participation, support form top management and

72

industrial collaboration are the key factors that are able to drive the development

of a sustainable waste management model in UM campus.

Keywords Food waste, Composting, Recycling, Waste Recovery, Sustainability

Introduction Solid waste can be referred as unwanted waste is that derived from the animal

and human activities. It is also can be generated from industrial, institution,

residential, commercial, construction and demolition activities. Solid waste can

be classified based on its contents including materials such as paper, plastics, glass,

metal and organic waste. Moreover, it also can be categorized based on hazard

potential incorporated with radioactive, flammable, toxic or non-toxic. While

solid waste management is defined as discipline associated with control of

generation, storage, collection, transportation, processing and disposal of solid

waste materials in the best way to deal with the range of public health,

conservation, economic and other environmental considerations. The main goal

of solid waste management is to minimize and eliminate adverse effects on human

health and environment to aid economic development and quality of life.

Generally, solid waste composition in Malaysia largely constitute of municipal

solid waste (MSW) 64% with the remaining consisting of industrial waste,

commercial waste, and construction waste (EA-SWMC, 2009). In 2007, with a

population more than 25 million, Malaysian households produce approximately

18,000 tons of household waste every day. Rapidly growing population, improved

quality of life and rising economic growth are the factors that contribute

challenges to the management of solid waste (Shekdar, 2009). With significant

improvement of living standards, it is expected that solid waste generation

increases over the years without any transformation in the attitudes and behavior

of Malaysians in managing their waste. With the utilization of plastic and paper

materials especially in packaging where those materials become easily dispensable

to the consumers, solid waste generation increases at uncontrollable rate (Abdul

Jalil, 2010 and Malahkahmad et al., 2010). The least favored disposal method is

landfilling, as waste should be separated and treated (physical, chemical, or

biological treatment), but unfortunately these options are costly and time-

consuming (Grodzinska-Jurczak, 2001).

Landfill is the most economical and hence most common MSW disposal method

in Malaysia. Nationwide, there are 176 operating landfills but only 11 of them are

sanitary landfills with seven in Peninsula Malaysia, one in Sabah and three in

Sarawak. Besides the operating landfills, there are 114 closed landfills in the

country which required post closure treatment and management for at least 30

years. The total capacity of MSW disposed in the current 176 operating landfills

is more than 30,000 ton/day and the total size of operating landfills is 2,528.2 ha.

73

In total, the size of operating and closed landfills is 3,446.2 ha, which is 0.01% of

Malaysia total land area. In Malaysia, approximately 93.5% of municipal solid waste

(MSW) is sent without sorting to the landfill or open dumpsites that have no gas

recovery, and only 5.5% of MSW is being recycled and 1.0% composted

(Agamuthu, Fauziah, & Khalil, 2009). Table 1 shows the present number of

operating and non-operating solid waste disposal sites in Malaysia.

Table 1: Number of operating and non-operating solid waste disposal sites in

Malaysia.

State Operating

non-sanitary

landfill sites

Operating

sanitary

landfill sites

Non-

operating

landfill sites

Total

Johor 12 2 23 37

Kedah 8 1 6 15

Kelantan 13 0 6 19

Melaka 2 0 5 7

Negeri

Sembilan

7 0 11 18

Pahang 16 0 16 32

Perak 17 0 12 29

Perlis 1 0 1 2

Pulau Pinang 2 0 1 3

Sabah 19 0 2 21

Sarawak 46 6 14 66

Selangor 5 4 14 23

Terengganu 8 0 12 20

Federal

Territory of

Kuala Lumpur

0 0 7 7

Federal

Territory of

Labuan

1 0 0 1

TOTAL 157 13 130 300

Source: JPSPN (2015a).

Solid waste has constantly been an issue particularly in the amount of solid waste

generated (Gellynck et al., 2011). The increasing affluence leads to uncontrollably

high amount of solid waste production despite the potential of source separation

74

and recycling in Malaysia. Lack of public conscientious in today’s modern lifestyle

has resulted to increasing amount of waste generated and disposed at landfills

especially when it comes to packaging, as these materials are dispensable to them

(Asmawati et al., 2011). Education and individual upbringing contribute

considerably towards environmental awareness, how society perceives the issue,

as well as how they decide on their daily behavior, particularly in managing solid

waste. Besides the influence of socio-economic factors, perception of infinite

resources with no observable environmental consequences to the public led to

over-consumption, which produces unnecessary waste ultimately. Without the

support and commitment from households, local authorities, private

concessionaires, and other stakeholders in organizing solid waste, source

separation and recycling practice would be a major challenge.

It was reported that in 2003, the amount of solid waste generation per capita

per day ranged between 0.5 up to 0.8 kg but recently it had increase to between

0.5 to 2.5 kg, especially in the major city such as Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya

(Khathirvale et al., 2003). Table 2 shows that food waste and organic material

are found to have highest portion in solid waste generated in Malaysia which

ranges between 32% to 68.4%.

Table 2: The Material Composition of Municipal Solid Waste Obtained from

Various Studies and Site (Chua et al, 2001)

Food waste composting can be considered as one of the most appropriate

approaches for treating biodegradables waste components, also one of the

potential waste management elements to divert waste generated to landfill, while

simultaneously recycling organic materials by converting them into a beneficial

product. The potential of practicing composting is huge as 70% of Malaysian

Component 2001 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2005 2007 2010

Food waste

& Organics

68.4 32 56.3 37.4 49.3 45 47.5 42 43.5

Mix plastic 11.8 16 13.1 18.9 17.1 24 NA 24.7 25.2

Mix paper 6.3 29.5 8.2 16.4 9.7 7 18.5 12.9 22.7

Textiles 1.5 3.4 1.3 3.4 NA NA 2.13 2.5 0.9

Rubber &

Leather

0.5 2 0.4 1.3 NA NA NA 2.5 NA

Wood 0.7 7 1.8 3.7 NA NA 4.41 5.7 NA

Yard waste 4.6 NA 6.9 3.2 NA NA 2.72 NA NA

Ferrous 2.7 3.7 2.1 2.7 2 6 NA 5.3 2.1

Glass 1.4 5.5 1.5 2.6 3.7 3 NA 1.8 2.6

Pampers NA NA NA 5.1 NA NA NA 3.81 NA

Other 2.1 1.9 8.4 5.3 18.2 15 21.93 2.6 1.8

Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100

75

wastes are wet waste, which are not easily recycled as the dry waste. In Malaysia,

the average components of MSW are quite similar with the largest categories

consisting of food waste (45%), plastic (24%) followed by paper (7%), iron (6%)

and lastly 3% for glass and others (Government of Malaysia, 2006). Food waste

is a main component of MSW which can lead to the emission of odorous

compounds and can affect the quality of leachate from landfill and others (Wang

et al., 1999).

Food wastes produce greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and have an influence

on climate change. Generally, these emissions have been identified as an critical

environmental concern in the waste sector (Liamsanguan and Gheewala., 2008).

In Asian countries, it is estimated that the largest increase of food waste

generation could be ranged from 278 to 416 million tones that can contribute to

global anthropogenic emissions ranging from 8 to 10% (Antonis, 2013). Apart

from the waste treatment, GHG emissions from waste handling, transportation

and operation of machinery are also significant especially due to the utilization of

fossil-based energy. Indirect GHG saving potential via materials and energy

recovery from waste management must be recognized (Gentil et al., 2009).

Literature review University of Malaya is a public university located in Kuala Lumpur. It is a

multidisciplinary Research University that has more than 20,000 students and

2000 academic staff with 14 faculties/academy, 3 academic centres, 11 research

institutes and clusters which covers the whole spectrum of learning from the

Arts, Sciences and Humanities. In University of Malaya, the Sustainability Science

Research Cluster (SuSci) is one of the entity that play a catalytic role to promote

research and initiatives in a holistic and comprehensive perspective to resolve

the problem that is relevant to global sustainability, social and human life system.

SuSci also have its origin in the concept of development as recommended by the

World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) in 1987 and

aims to achieve status society and sustainable and balanced life between physical

development and maintenance environment. Amongst the many research

programs under Susci, the Living Lab projects, promotes translational and

problem solving especially in promoting UM eco campus initiatives and

environmental conservation and reducing campus environmental impact.

The University of Malaya Zero Waste Campaign (UM ZWC) is one of the

university’s longest and most consistent endeavors. It is also unique due to the

bottom-up and top-down synergy that characterizes its development. It has the

following objectives such as to develop policy and innovation systems to divert

organic waste (from disposal in landfill) for nutrient (composting) and energy

recovery (anaerobic digestion), to streamline recycling activities and strategize

efforts to increase recycling rates, to create awareness and inculcate best

practices of waste separation at source among campus communities, serve as a

76

long term campaign to achieve an integrated waste management model and

ultimately a zero waste campus, initiate projects, research projects and schemes

such as the Green Bag Scheme, an in-house composting centre, an anaerobic

digestion project, recycling collection system for e-waste, used textiles and wood

waste, composting emission study and others.

The project was incepted by final year students in the Environmental Engineering

program in 2009 led by Associate Prof. Dr. Sumiani Yusoff who advocated the

needs to address the challenges, posed by the inevitable environmental liabilities

in waste management and carefully identified the major drawbacks concerning

the low environmental performance of MSW management in the country. They

initiated a chain of activities to development of recycling management system in

the faculty with minimal cost. In July 2009, VeeCYCLE, a student group was

formed to run an integrated recycling project in Faculty of Engineering. The

project established a recycling management model which has resulted in the

development of an organized and effective waste and recyclables collection

system in the faculty. 45 sets of an integrated waste and recyclables collection

facility called PRO Bin were introduced to replace the existing rubbish

receptacles in the faculty. It facilitates the good practice of separation at source.

It was set-up to spearhead the development of a more sustainable waste

management model in the UM campus and ultimately achieve the status of a zero

waste campus. This campaign is a daily operation which is seven days a week

without interruption that requires observation and a strong commitment to

ensuring that all the waste on campus is managed in an orderly manner and in

accordance with the establishment of the procedures. This field also requires

cooperation from the café operators in UM due to estimated average of 40% of

food waste from the overall composition of waste in UM. Hence, organic and

inorganic waste are managed by UM ZWC and the university’s assets and service

department, JPPHB, reducing monthly almost 15-20 tons of waste to landfill,

while reducing cost and reducing environmental impacts through reduction in

carbon emissions and footprint and leachate contamination avoidance. Hence

UM ZWC has promoted the concept of sustainable consumption and production

by converting food and green waste into valuable resources such as compost and

biogas. Other endeavour includes educational campaign and workshops about

waste management, segregation at source and recycling. On a longer term level,

UM ZWC has drawn up a roadmap for the UM Development Unit to achieve

15% landfill diversion by year 2020 (phase 1), 30% by year 2030 (phase 2) and

60% by year 2040 (phase 3) while phase 1 have been achieved by UM ZWC

which is 15% landfill diversion by year 2020. The integrated solid waste

management system set up through the UM ZWC Living Lab projects has

strengthen the green growth agenda toward sustainable development and

environmental conservation in UM campus by empowering the campus

community through a systematic, concerted, and action oriented problem solving

translational research initiative.

77

Methodology Solid waste generated in UM campus is collected by fixed collection systems. UM

communities are supposed to deposit the waste at the locations specified by the

Department of Development & Estate Management (JPPHB) every day of the

week and will be collected by a specific time. These generated solid wastes are

transported by vehicles which can be categorized as collection and haulage

vehicles. Collection vehicles collect the waste in where it is generated and then

transfer and dispose to the disposal facility which is UM ZWC located near the

Damansara Gate. The waste will be segregated by the workers to reduce the

volume and pollution potential for landfill sites. Moreover, UM ZWC used a

Takakura composting method as a meaningful processing technology for the bulk

of the degradable organic fractions. The composting method was eventually

evolved into aerated static piles with capacity of 4-5 ton/month (90% food waste

and 10% green waste, by weight). In 2013, Cowtec ® anaerobic digestion (AD)

100kg/day unit was installed after research collaboration with CH Green Sdn

Bhd. With the AD facility, about 1 ton of food waste is converted to biogas and

bio-fertilizer every month. Until end of year 2014, about 120 ton of organic waste

had been composted or treated anaerobically by UM ZWC.

2014 is an improvement year for UM ZWC with more collaboration with

industries to establish separate collection of various waste streams, collaboration

with academic institutions for research, more appearance in environmental

conferences, expo and media, and strengthening rapport from UMCARES and

JPPHB. The public private partnership (PPP) between UM ZWC and several

private entities had resulted in successful separate collection of waste streams

for recycling/landfill diversion. At the beginning of 2014, UM ZWC collaborated

with Life Line Clothing (LLC) Sdn Bhd to introduce a used clothes collection

program which had expanded rapidly in year 2014 that saw the collection of

more than 20 ton of used clothes and waste textile. At the end of the year, ZWC

formed partnership with TSP Waste Management to kick off a wood waste

separate collection system for energy recovery which is implemented

successfully with about 5-6 ton/month capacity in the first month.

The support from UM top management, especially DVC (Development) to UM

ZWC, is very important to ensure the success of the PPP. For instance, the sites

approval to LLC to place the used clothes collection bins and cooperation to

collect wood waste separately in a dedicated open top Ro-Ro bin for wood waste

recycling. The DVC (Development), Prof. Faisal Rafiq had allocated budget for

the upgrading of ZWC facilities in year 2015 such as new ZWC building, green

waste shredder, a weighbridge station and composting center. The UM ZWC

cabin serve as resource center, site treatment facility and meeting room for

visitors to UM ZWC site. Under DVC (Development), JPPHB assists UM ZWC

in the provision of several manual workers, waste and recycling data as well as

collection receptacles for food waste such as bins and bags. Moreover, this data

78

collection practice is also contributing to UM LCCF (Low Carbon City

Framework) project.

On the other hand, various programs were carried out to enable the

implementation of the projects, including awareness publicity program for

students and staffs, capacity building program for the kitchen staffs and cleaners,

discussion and meeting with strategic partners both UM and external bodies as

well as several site visits to enhance the students’ knowledge in waste

management. The programs promote the development of communication,

information, negotiation and consultation skills among the students. The projects

are poised to further strengthen their roles in realizing IWM model by enabling

on site, in-house organic waste treatment operation and expanding the coverage

of recycling collection points (PRO Bin).

In 2017, UM ZWC develops an Intelligent Recycle Center (IRC) with Coindex

Sdn Bhd to promote behavior and inculcate best practice of recyclables drop-off

with this innovative automated recycle center located at lecture hall A&B

PASUM. With the new recycling system, UM communities are able to send their

source segregated recyclables to the center for conversion into green points

which can be used to claim goodies such as compost, USB pendrive, t-shirt and

redeemable discounted price in participating cafeteria in UM. This kind of

reward-based interactive recycling innovation can bring multiple benefits and

contribution to positive social behavioral change (recycling habit) and resource

conservation with increase of recycling rate. Furthermore, in near future the IRC

can serve as thematic environmental center in UM campus with a galleria of

environmental related information to the corridor of lecture hall building. The

IRC is anticipated as the cornerstone to develop a formal recycling separate

collection in the campus of UM, which is one of the primary concepts of

integrated waste management.

Result and Discussion Data collection and analysis is very important in development of integrated waste

management plan. With the weighbridge station installation in July 2015, UM

ZWC is able to capture the waste disposal data. The complete /comprehensive

data that UM ZWC fully possesses are food waste collected for composting or

anaerobic digestion, green waste collected for composting, wood waste collected

for energy recovery, waste textiles collected for reuse/recycle, E-waste collected

at UM ZWC site for recycling/recovery, recyclable materials sorted at UM ZWC

site and UM transfer station and residual waste disposal data.

UM ZWC coordinated and gathered all the data from different parties. With the

data, tonnage per year was calculated as below (Table 3). From the data, it shows

the increasing of total waste was diverted for treatment and recycling by UM

ZWC from 2012 until 2016. The increasing factor is due to the improvement of

the project by collaborating with textile industry to introduced used clothes

79

collection program which had expanded rapidly in year 2014 that saw the

collection of more than 20 ton of used clothes and waste textile. At the end of

the year, UM ZWC formed partnership with TSP Waste Management to kick off

a wood waste separate collection system for energy recovery which is diverted

with about 5-6 ton/month from landfill. Used clothes and waste textiles are

collected separately with ten (10) units of “drop-off” collection bins while wood

waste is collected by JPPHB in separate open top bin for energy recovery in a

paper mill.

Figure 1: Total of waste diversion for treatment and recycling by UM ZWC

(2012-2016)

23.5

55.24

95.72

175.22179.5

0

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

180

200

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

Ton

es

Year

Total of waste diversion for treatment and recycling by UM ZWC (2012-2016)

Total waste treated

80

Figure 2: Summary of waste diversion treatment and recycling by UM ZWC

(2012-2016)

Institutionalization of separate organic waste collection and treatment system in

UM is the key to achieve integrated waste management system. Green Bag

Scheme is the first program to kick-start the food waste segregation practice in

the campus. Organic waste made up almost half of total waste generated in UM

campus and thus the recovery and treatment of organic waste is very important

to increase recycling rate (landfill diversion rate). In UM, green waste is

segregated at source by gardeners and collected separately using a small lorry of

JPPHB in a daily basis. About 2 ton of green waste is generated from UM campus

everyday and all the green waste is collected and loaded separately in two open

top Ro-Ro bins (refer figure 2). It can be shown that the amount of food waste

has increased until 2014. For 2015, the amount of treatment and recycling of

food waste had decrease due to the closing of dining hall in all residential college

of UM campus. UM ZWC had the difficulty to obtain the food wastes that have

been segregated. Thus, UM ZWC organized the food waste segregation program

to all cafeterias in UM campus with the help of OSH (occupational safety and

health unit in UM) by providing the transparent plastics bags that is only to be

used for food waste. In 2016, the amount of food waste had risen and was

strengthen with the publishing of the Code of Practice Food Waste Segregation

at Source guidelines by UM ZWC.

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016

To

nes

Year

Summary of waste diversion treatment and

recycling by UM ZWC (2012-2016)

Food waste

Green

waste/lands

cape

Textile

waste

81

For the recyclables material separation for recycling, it was and is still an up hilling

challenge for UM ZWC as the current practice of recycling collection by informal

players poses significant hindrance. However, with the persistent efforts by UM

ZWC and JPPHB, collection of recycling data is improving from time to time and

the introduction of the Intelligent Recycling Center (IRC) this year will hopefully

further boost the development of recycling in UM campus. In term of economic,

UM ZWC has been saved more than RM 97, 758 from January 2012 until

December 2016 (refer Table 3). The monetary saving included the collection fee

and landfill gate fee. While for the environmental saving, UM ZWC has been

saved almost 726.46 ton CO₂-eq. The reduction in economic and environmental

aspects due to the waste recovery and composting process that is diverted

biodegradable are wastes and composted.

Table 3: Economic and environmental cost saving of UM ZWC as of January

2012– December 2016

According to the sustainable and income generation, the project will become

sustainable and profitable from the sale of compost. However, the sale of

compost poses a challenge and the sale of all the compost still presents a major

challenge. The UM ZWC compost is sold RM 5/kg way below market price of

around RM10-15/kg. The compost was officially being sold at September 2015 to

all UM citizens and public. UM ZWC also has been set up an account for selling

Baja Organik UM ZWC with Bursar UM. The total amount for selling the compost

until April 2017 was RM 6,345.

Typ

e o

f

waste

To

nn

age

No

. of trip

s

red

uced

Co

llectio

n

fee sa

ved

(RM

)

Lan

dfill g

ate

fee sa

ved

(RM

)

To

tal

mo

neta

ry

savin

g (R

M)

Carb

on

savin

g (to

n

CO

2 -eq

)

Food

waste

192.88 96 24,110 10,608 34,718 455.00

Green waste 33.77 23 5,628 1,857 7,486 52.78

Wood waste 116.69 58 14,586 6,418 21,0004 181.10

Textile waste 59.64 50 12,425 3,280 15,705 36.74

Recyclables 17.56 60 14,908 3,936 18,844 0.84

Total 474.54 287 71,658 26,100 97,758 726.46

82

Table 4: Waste reduction by UM ZWC as of January 2012 until December

2016

Total Organic Waste Treated 399,967.00KG

Food Waste Composted 172,780.00KG

Food Waste Digested 20,100.00KG

Green Waste Composted 33,757.00 KG

Textile Waste 59,640.00KG

Wood Waste 116,690.00 KG

Organic Compost Produced 6,887.00 KG

Potential Income Generation RM 34,435

Conclusions The UM ZWC project, comprising of waste segregation and composting

biodegradable waste, is a good example of a highly integrated approach

accounting for the different elements of solid waste project sustainability. The

project also has been made a clear distinction between how to enable improved

environment influences performance and outcome of the project, and how the

project impacts positively on UM social, economic and ecological environment.

Ultimately, by making efforts in implementing food waste management systems,

the future perspective of food waste could create opportunities in handling

energy demands and moving toward sustainable development. The sustainability

of UM ZWC is important for UM’s reputation locally and internationally as an

example of eco campus which emphasizes on academic excellence and whilst

promoting sustainable development. UM ZWC has successfully developed

several key projects that serve as milestone to boost recycling rate in the

campus. In the next 5-10 years, UM ZWC plays a vital role to formalize the

recycling collection in UM and further increase the organic waste recycling with

green waste shredding and composting. Besides environmental benefits

(pollution prevention and carbon emission reduction), UM ZWC brings various

benefits such as academic research opportunities for UM, contribute in UM

LCCF (Low carbon city framework) target and serve as platform to improve

students’ soft skills and entrepreneur skill. Multi stakeholder’s participation,

support form top management and industrial collaboration are the key factors

that are able to drive the development of a sustainable waste management model

in UM campus.

83

Acknowledgement The authors would like to acknowledge Sustainability Science (SuSci) Research

Cluster, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur under Living Lab Grant (LL004-

15SUS) for financial support.

Appendix

Figure 1: UM ZWC organic fertilizer (left) and UM Intelligent Recycle

Center (IRC) located at Lecture Hall A&B PASUM

Figure 2: UM ZWC Cabin located at Damansara gate UM

84

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86

7 University of Malaya Zero Food Waste Campaign

– A Head Start Norbani Che-Ha1.* and Saad Md Said2

1 Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya 2 Faculty of Economics and Administration, University of Malaya

*Corresponding author: norbanicheha@um.edu.my

Abstract This paper is part of the bigger project on UM Zero Food Waste Campaign

2016/2017. This project is made possible by a grant from Sustainability Science

Cluster-UM Living Labs. The objectives of the paper are to understand and

collect data on drivers of food waste, train canteen operators on food waste

management and disseminate knowledge and awareness on food waste. Results

indicate that most participants have a very limited knowledge on the impact of

food waste on environment, economy and society. Many of them do not

understand the benefits of food waste separation. Data collected from the

project show details of resources used at three stages of food preparation – daily

product purchase, food preparation and food selling. The data will assist in

reviewing the CO2 emission and areas that can be improved in the near future.

Several promotional tools such as bunting, book marks, pamphlets and stickers

are distributed to UM communities to create an awareness on food waste.

Recommendations on future actions are outlined at the end of the paper.

Keywords Food Waste, Food Separation and Reduction, Consumption Patterns, Living Lab,

Eco Campus.

Introduction Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nation (FAO) reported that

around the world there are about 1.3 billion tonnes of food that is lost or wasted

every day. That is equivalent to 33 percent of the world food produced. In

Malaysia, out of 38,000 tonnes of daily waste, 45 percent are food waste; and 20

percent or 3,000 tonnes of the food waste are edible or leftover food (The Star,

2016).

87

The alarming statistics stated above cause a concern to societies in general. This

can be seen on several communications such as, in print publications, programs

and campaigns on food waste across countries. In Malaysia, the government has

started many programs, in fact The Solid Waste Management and Public

Cleansing Corporation (SWCorp Malaysia) was established to create awareness

and provide a platform for waste reduction and recycling in the country. It is

also to oversee and implement The National Solid Waste Management Policy

that is aimed to create a sustainable society.

In line with such efforts, University of Malaya (UM) started to focus on food

waste reduction in creating a zero food waste community. This effort is in

tandem with University of Malaya Eco-Campus Blueprint that has given emphasis

on 8 core pillars – landscape management and biodiversity, waste management,

water governance, energy management, transportation system management,

green procurement, educational management – environment and climate change

and change management, participation and communication. Food waste is an

important sub element of waste management.

As such, this paper is to share some of the objectives set for UM Zero Food

Waste Campaign. There are a number of activities that are carried out for the

project but as stated, the objectives of this paper are specifically to:

1. understand and build food waste data for UM. In doing so, the project

will examine drivers of food waste i.e. sources of food waste,

consumption patterns and behaviors;

2. train canteen operators on waste management; and

3. disseminate knowledge and awareness on food waste.

Understanding Food Waste

It is understood that food waste occurs at every phase of the food system starting

from harvesting, processing to transportation, consumption and disposal.

Consumption that links to consumer sector is reported to be the biggest

contributor of food waste (Griffith et al., 2009). As such many relate food waste

to food that is discarded at retail or final consumption. Parfitt et al., (2010:3065)

defines food waste as the “wholesome edible materials intended for human

consumption, arising at any point of the food supply chain that is discarded, lost,

degraded or consumed by pests.”

Many literatures differentiate between food waste and food loss. Food loss is a

loss of the nutritional quality of the food (Slowfood, 2015). It is elaborated as

“food that spills, spoils, incurs an abnormal reduction in quality such as bruising

or wilting, or otherwise gets lost before it reaches the consumer” (Lipinski et al.,

2013:1). In this study, no differentiation is made between the two terms. Mainly

due to the argument that regardless food is wasted or lost, all of them incur large

amount of resources such as time, money and energy.

88

Type of food waste

Similar to definition of food waste, types of food waste also differ in their

classification. For this study, food waste is categorized as edible and inedible.

Edible or avoidable food waste, food that can be eaten before being thrown away,

can be further classified based on its origins such as kitchen waste, service waste

and customer leftovers (Silvennoinen, Heikkilä, Katajajuuri and Reinikainen, 2015;

Thyberg and Tonjes, 2016).

Kitchen waste is mostly from food preparation stages. This waste comes from

overproduction, peeling, cutting, expiration, spoilage and overcooking. Service

waste, on other hand, contributes from over production/large portion, lack of

food preparation skills, spoilage/food not used in time and sensitivity to food

safety (Thyberg and Tonjes, 2016). Buffet leftover, excess food that has been

prepared but not consumed and later discarded, is also part of the service waste.

The third classification of edible food waste is customer leftover. This is food

that is discarded after it has been sold or served to customer.

On the contrary, inedible or unavoidable food waste refers to food that is not

usually eaten such as, banana skins, vegetable peelings, apple cores, egg shells,

bones, coffee grounds and tea bags. In the United Kingdom, it is reported that

25% of inedible food waste is from vegetable and fruits peelings (Wrap, 2008).

Impacts of food waste

i) Economy

Sustainability of the economy, environment and society is the major issues for

food waste. For instance, the world throws away 1.6 billion tonnes of produce

per year value at USD1 trillion (Goldenberg, 2016). Waste & Resources Action

Programme (WRAP) also indicates that in the United Kingdom,

“…avoidable household food we throw away each

year:

Fresh fruit and vegetables: £2.6billion/1,200,000

tonnes.

Bakery: £860 million/450,000 tonnes.

Home-made and pre-prepared meals: £2.1

billion/440,000 tonnes.

Dairy and eggs. Includes milk thrown away from

the fridge and leftovers from serving too much

(e.g. breakfast cereals): £780 million/420,000

tonnes. £290million worth of milk is thrown away

and over 90% of this is in amounts of 50g or more

= about quarter of a glass each time” (Wrap, 2008:

10)

Whereas, United States Environmental Protection Agency (2014) states that the

economic value of food waste in the USA is at USD161 billion per year. Thirty

89

six (36) million tonnes are generated by restaurants, stores and household. Only

5% ended up at composting facilities.

In Malaysia, even there is no estimated figure available on the amount of food

waste, it is reported that MYR225 value of food is wasted by a family of five per

month. That is about MYR2700 per year per family. The amount is more than

the mean income of MYR2400 per month for city dwellers (Bakri, 2016).

The discussions on economic impact above do not include obligation spent for

waste management i.e. management and maintenance of landfills, transportation

and others. In the UK it is estimated that USD450 million per year is spent on

collecting and treating food waste whereas it costs USD1.5 billion in the USA

(Wrap, 2008). The amount spent on managing waste is so substantial mainly due

to poor planning and attitude of the populations.

With all of those food wasted and large amount of spending on waste

management, there are still a large number of populations that are struggling to

put food on their table, hungry and malnourished. Almost a billion of world

population is undernourished. In the USA, 5-10% of their populations do not

even have enough food to eat (Goldenberg, 2016).

ii) Environment

Food waste is associated with large emissions of greenhouse gases and wasteful

use of resources such as water, agriculture land, fertilisers and fuels (Kummu et

al., 2012). Greenhouse gases such as methane and nitrous oxide are a result

from food waste. Food waste is biodegradable and degrades faster than other

landfilled organic materials (Levis and Barlaz, 2011). In landfills, food waste

converts to these gases particularly the highly toxic methane gas. This gas

contributes more powerful global warming impact than carbon dioxide.

In addition, the carbon footprint from food waste is enormous. WRAP indicates

that for every one tonne of food waste it is accountable for 4.5 tonnes of CO2.

Venkat (2011) specifies that 112.92 million tonnes of CO2 were generated from

the food system in the USA.

Food waste also uses 1.4 billion hectares of land, that is equal to 30% of world’s

agriculture land area (Slowfood, 2015), and yet forests everywhere are destroyed

mainly to create more agriculture land for crops that will be ended up as food

waste. Gustavsson et al (2011) assert that by wasting food all resources that

were used in the food system not only are wasted but also contribute negatively

to our ecological system.

90

iii) Society

Food waste is a big threat to global food security. It is estimated that by 2050

the world population will grow to 9 billion (Searchinger et al., 2013). With that

number the world requires another 60% or 2 billion tonnes of food to feed the

growing population. With the current amount of food send to landfill and if there

is no behaviour change on food waste, the world will definitely experience food

shortage.

In fact, healthy diet is a major issue in many part of world nowadays. This is due

to many of world populations that do not have access to proper food. Even

worse, a number of people who die because of hunger is reported to be

increasing every day. Searchinger et al (2013) state that unless measures are

taken to reduce the food waste by 50% only then the food gap will be able to

reduce by 20%.

All the above discussions clearly outline the negative impact of food waste. In

that, it is imperative to get public to be aware about the benefits of reducing food

waste. Reducing food waste for instance, is a promising means to gear for better

benefits to the economy, environment and society. It will also lead to a higher

availability of food elsewhere and will improve future food availability for the

growing global population. It is a guarantee of food security for the future

generation. With less money spent on food waste the population will have a

considerable amount of disposable income available for other important uses.

As previously stated the objectives of this paper are to 1) understand and build

food waste data for UM. In doing so, the project will examine drivers of food

waste i.e. sources of food waste, consumption patterns and behaviors, 2) train

canteen operators on waste management; and 3) disseminate knowledge and

awareness on food waste.

Methodology & Results Discussion To meet the objectives of the paper, several approaches are used. For the first

objective, a mix method data collection is applied, and the second objective is

carried out via series of lecture and discussion sessions. For the third objective

several promotional materials are distributed to UM communities mainly to

educate and create awareness on food waste. Results will be discussed based on

these objectives.

Objective One

For the objective 1, qualitative and quantitative data were collected. Qualitative

data was carried out via four focus groups and 28 personal interview sessions

with UM communities. Whereas, quantitative data was carried out via survey

questionnaire. However, for this paper, only results from qualitative data are

reported.

91

Respondents for focus group discussion were grouped based on three categories

i.e. support staff, academic and management staff and students. Thirty

participants (30) were present for the focus group discussions. Standard

questions were used to all different groups of participants. Questions asked

were mainly on their observations on food waste management in UM, awareness

about food waste, pattern of buying food, attitude, challenges, and suggestions

on management of food waste.

Twenty eight (28) personal interviews were carried out with canteen (the term

canteen will be used to represent all food venues in UM) operators to collect

data on stages of food preparation. The data was collected based on three stages

– 1) Daily purchase 2) Daily food preparation (e.g. products used, stored and

discarded (food waste) during the process) 3) Daily food selling (e.g. food

prepared for sale, food sold and not sold).

Results From the discussion with the focus groups, results show that:

1. Majority of participants visit canteens twice a day. Many go to canteens

for their breakfast and lunch. They spent between MYR5-MYR9 per

day at the canteens.

2. More than 80% of the participants acknowledge that they do have

leftovers when they have meals at the canteen. This is due to large food

portion or food taste. They use plastic container provided by the

canteen for takeaway. Many are not willing to bring their own food

containers for their takeaway.

3. More than 85% of the participants do not realise the negative impact of

food waste to the environment and almost 95% of the participants are

not aware of any programs on waste reduction in UM. They also do

not know the reason why food waste and nonfood waste need to be

separated. In fact, many do not know the benefits of composting food

waste.

4. Many notice that some canteens have a sticker on their tables or a

poster asking them to place their plates/spoons/mugs/cups in the

kitchen bins/containers provided but do not know that is meant for food

separation. They though that will make job easier for the canteen

operator to clear or clean the table. They have no knowledge on

instruction to separate food waste and non-food waste. In fact, they do

not know their roles on food waste separation.

5. There are mixed responses received from participants when asked

whether they are willing to put their plates/mug/cups in the kitchen

92

bins/containers provided after their meals. More than 60% indicate they

are not willing to do that, to them the amount they pay is for both food

and services. There are some who are willing to do so provided there

are plenty of kitchen bins/containers provided at several spots in the

canteens. According to them, the containers are always full with

plates/spoons/mugs/cups especially during peak lunch hour.

Those are among responses captured during the four focus group discussions

among support staff, academic and management staff and students in UM. Below

is results on the personal interview.

Tables 1 and 2 show results of data collected via personal interview with 28

canteen operators. Table 1 indicates the first and second stages of daily

purchased and daily product used respectively in food preparation. Whereas,

Table 2 displays the third stage of daily food selling at canteens in UM.

Tables 1 shows that majority of product purchased are meat and poultry (1647

kg). These are the main ingredients used for fried food and curries/gravies/soups

sold in the canteens. They also contribute significantly to food preparation, food

waste and stored with 1390kg, 152kg and 128 kg respectively. Table 1 also

displays food waste (edible and inedible) that is amounted to 528.4 kg a day.

Table 1: Daily Purchase and Food Preparation

Stage 1:

Daily Purchase

Stage 2:

Daily Food Preparation

Products

Products

Purchased

(kg)

Products used

in food

preparation

(kg)

Food waste

during food

preparation

(kg)

Product

stored

(kg)

All kinds of

vegetables 826.5 718.3 135.3 86.5

Dried Cooking

Ingredients 565 437.7 86.5 100

Meat and

Poultry 1647 1390.5 152.5 128

Seafood and

seafood based 470 403 80 54.5

Eggs and Dairy 194 177.7 28.3 22

Fruits 207.5 189 46.1 50.7

Total 3910 3316.2 528.4 441.7

93

Table 2: Food Selling

Table 2 shows the amount of daily food prepared, sold and not sold at UM

canteens. They are at 4382kg, 3968kg and 217.3kg respectively. Rice represents

the biggest number in all three categories of food prepared, sold and not sold

followed by fried food and curries/gravies/soups.

When asked on food that is not sold in a day, many state that most of those food

is recycled or given away to their staff and family members. Many also indicate

that they throw the food away. Out of that, 126kg is recycled or given away and

73.5kg is thrown away per day. Out of the food waste, 538kg is a result of kitchen

waste and 379 kg is waste from consumers’ leftovers.

The data is important for the project not only this is the first time such data are

collected but also will help the calculation of CO2 emission among these

canteens. The data is anticipated to contribute to overall UI GreenMetric and

be able to help identify areas for improvement in the near future.

Objective 2

For the objective two, four series of lecture and discussions on food waste were

conducted. They were held in August, November and December 2016, and Mac

2017. Out of four meetings, 33 canteen operators were present. Six other

canteens never showed up. The meetings with the canteen operators are to

create awareness about the impact of food waste and guide them on the food

Stage 3: Daily Food Selling

Food

Prepared

(kg)

Food

Sold

(kg)

Food Not

Sold

(kg)

Rice 1903 1770.5 72.5

Noodle 358 361 7.5

Fried Food

(Fish/Poultry/Vegetable &

‘Sambal’)

935 874.7 52.8

Curries, Gravies and Soups 592 519 53.5

Local Desert 161.5 132.5 5.5

Drinks: Coffee/Tea and

Juices 324 232 17.5

Fruits 109 78.5 8

Total 4382.5 3968.2 217.3

94

waste separation. During the meetings relevant information from focus groups

were also shared with them.

Results Results of the discussion state that:

1. Majority of them have no knowledge on the impact of food waste on

our environment. They do not know the role that they can play in

dealing with food waste. All wastes are thrown together in a black

plastic bag. Many do not separate food waste and nonfood waste. Many

do not know the benefits of composting food waste.

2. Many of them agree that majority of their customers leave the

plates/spoons/mugs/cups on the table after the meal even though there

is an instruction on the table asking them to put those in the kitchen

bins/container provided. Many regard the instruction as a way to assist

them during peak lunch hour and not so much about food waste

separation. Some of them mention that it is time consuming to separate

food waste and nonfood waste especially at peak lunch hour. They do

not have enough manpower to do so and there is no proper waste

disposal at the canteens.

3. Majority of them acknowledge that they (the operators) are not at their

canteens all the time. The food waste separation will depend on their

staff. Also many of the staff are illiterate foreigners who need to be

taught on the impact of food waste and food waste separation.

4. Many request for a special bin for food waste. The policy now is to get

them to put food waste in any colored plastic bag except black.

In order to get them to start the food waste separation, the project has provided

them with a poster that state clearly the dos and don’ts of food waste as

displayed in Figure 1. It is anticipated that the poster will remind and educate

them on food separation.

95

Figure 1: Instructional Poster on Food Waste Separation

Objective 3

This objective is to disseminate knowledge and awareness on food waste at UM.

After each session with the focus groups and canteen operators the researchers

take time to explain to the participants the impact of food waste, food

separations and many other issues related to food waste. Besides poster as in

Figure 1 that is targeted for canteen operators and their staff, the projects also

come up with several promotional tools such as bunting, pamphlets, book marks

and sticker on food waste to be distributed to UM communities.

Food containers are given to all focus group participants, canteen operators and

to several other people at random. Certificate of appreciation also is provided

96

to canteen operators who attended the meeting. It is a gesture of appreciation

for their cooperation. Figure 2 shows the promotional tools used to meet the

objective 3.

Figure 2: Promotional Tools

97

Discussion and Conclusion

The objectives of the paper are to: 1) understand and build food waste data for

UM. In doing so, the project will examine drivers of food waste i.e. sources of

food waste, consumption patterns and behaviors, 2) train canteen operators on

waste management; and 3) disseminate knowledge and awareness on food waste.

Several points can be concluded from the focus group discussions and personal

interviews with support staff, management and academic staff, students and

canteen operators for the project. First, almost all of them lack knowledge on

the impact of food waste on the environment, economy or society. Most of

them do not know the importance of food waste separation and benefits of

composting. Second, many are reluctant to separate food waste and nonfood

waste at canteens. Customers think that it is not their responsibilities whereas,

canteen operators are not motivated enough to do the separation at their

premises. Third, high turnover rate of canteen operators is a big barrier to

sustainability of zero food waste campaign. This is due to the short contract

lifecycle for most of the canteens. As such, training and information sharing on

food waste management is short lived.

In order for the zero food waste campaign to be a success, an integrated

promotion across campus has to be done continuously. Other initiatives that

can be implemented are informing new students on the important of food waste

reduction and food waste separation during their orientation week. Whereas,

existing students should receive updates on food reduction efforts by UM

regularly via Spectrum or lectures or bulletins. Zero Food Waste Club will be a

good idea for both staff and students. Many activities could be carried out via the

club.

Plastic food container and spoon should be banned from UM. Staff and students

should be encouraged to bring their own food container. As a start we have

given away some food containers to a number of people.

A proper monitoring system also has to be in place especially in ensuring food

waste is separated from nonfood waste. Monitoring could be done with

inspection at canteen premises and merit points should be given to canteen

premises that implement food waste reduction and separation. A stern warning

(demerit points) on the other hand, should be given to those premises that do

not abide by the rule. Renewal of the canteens lease/contract should be based

on these merit points. Support and cooperation from an entity in charge of UM

infrastructure is much needed.

The data collected from the canteens could be used to review the emission of

CO2 since details of the food spending and usage at all stages are available. For

98

canteen operators, the data could assist them to plan their activities at every

stage better. At the last session of the meeting with canteen operators, a similar

table to Tables 1 and 2 were shown to them. Majority of them were surprised

with the amount of resources used and spent at every stage. That is an eye

opener to many of them.

Training and information sharing sessions on food waste reduction and

separation have to be carried out periodically for all canteen operators especially

to the new comers. The training session should include educating them on

waste reduction at every stage of the food preparation.

Acknowledgement This research is made possible by a grant from Sustainability Science Cluster-UM

Living Labs: LL028-16SUS.

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down-the-drain-research-shows-malaysians-waste-enough-to-feed-millions-

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100

8

Construction Waste Recycling Center for

Sustainable Drainage Construction Hussein Adebayo Ibrahim1 , Soon Poh Yap1.*, Johnson Alengaram1, Kim Hung Mo1

1 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya,

50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: spyap@um.edu.my

Abstract In this study, the feasibility of using recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) waste in

the production of pervious concrete for a sustainable construction was

investigated. Materials used include Ordinary Portland Cement, granite and RCA

coarse aggregates. The concrete mixtures were proportioned with a fixed water-

cement ratio (w/c) of 0.3 at a target void ratio of 20%. Tests results indicated

that when natural aggregate (NA); granite was fully replaced with RCA (RCA100)

in the concrete mix, the compressive strength of the concrete reduced by 53%.

However, the obtained strength can be acceptable for applications where the

concrete will not be subjected to vehicular loads. Permeability coefficient of the

concrete with RCA100 showed encouraging results. Also, surface properties of

the concrete showed positive results where the skid resistance for RCA100

exceeded the minimum value for British pendulum test. Meanwhile, the concrete

resistance to abrasion increased by 29% with the RCA100 replacement.

Furthermore, greenhouse gas and cost evaluation of RCA100 concrete indicated

that RCA is a sustainable concrete material. Cost savings of 31% was recorded

with the use of RCA100 and carbon emission reduced by 16% with respect to

NA concrete mix. Consequently, RCA serves as a sustainable alternative

concreting material for NA in pervious concrete production.

Keywords

Eco-campus, Living Lab, Recycled concrete waste, Cost savings, CO2 reduction,

sustainable construction

101

Introduction In recent time, sustainability has become a central point in the life cycle of most

practice worldwide. In line with this, research on construction industry and its

impact on the environment is increasing and gaining global attention. Currently,

it has become a trend that the construction industry is now focusing on recovery

of usable waste materials from construction (Ibrahim & Abdul Razak 2016;

Rodriguez 2016) which is due to the amount of construction and demolition

waste material contributing to environment pollution and the rate at which

natural aggregates are depleting because of the urban development (Rodriguez

2016; Zhang 2017). The construction industry generates over 900 million tonnes

of waste per year in Europe (Malia 2013; Bravo 2015; Sadati 2016). This is around

25% to 30% of all waste produced. Construction and demolition waste (CDW)

has the potential to serve as aggregate replacement in concrete production

(Lokuge 2013, Tam 2016). Utilizing CDW as recycled aggregate will not only

provide solution for reducing landfill volume and environmental pollution but

also increase the ‘points’ for the green building index. Meanwhile, the inert nature

of CDW means that its importance is downplayed despite the large volumes of

CDW available. Utilizing non-degradable wastes as recycled aggregates is an

economical and environmental friendly measure towards a sustainable

construction (Su 2015). Most studies on the environmental impact indicators,

including life cycle assessment, has indicated that concrete containing CDW in

the form of recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) has better environmental

behaviour compared with the traditional concrete containing natural aggregates

(Sorres 2016; Gayerre 2016; Salesa 2017). Also, Poon and Chan (2006) study on

concrete pavement blocks using blended aggregates from RCA and crushed clay

brick indicated that the concrete is suitable for pedestrian paths and trafficked

areas. Despite the available research indicating the successful use of RCA in

concrete, its use in pervious concrete is limited.

Pervious concrete has attracted global attention in concrete industry due to the

increased awareness of environmental protection (Shu 2011). This concrete is a

special category of sustainable concrete whose components are mainly graded

coarse aggregates with or without minimum amount of fine aggregates, and

designed with cement content sufficient enough to provide an optimal coating

around the aggregates (Chandrappa 2016). It is being widely used in various

number of civil engineering and architectural applications such as in park areas,

areas with light traffic, pedestrian walkways and tennis courts. The desired

application of the concrete determines its design compressive strength. A design

compressive strength in the range of 10MPa to 13MPa is preferred for parking

lots, stone protection, drainage pavement, as well as precast porous concrete

products and lower strength can be accepted in situations where the concrete

will not be subjected to vehicular loads (Ibrahim & Abdul Razak 2016). Due to

the very thin cement paste binder layer of pervious concrete, the strength of the

concrete majorly depends on the strength of aggregate type used (J. Yang, G.

Jiang 2003, Ibrahim & Abdul Razak 2016, Yuwadee Zaetang et al 2016). RCA has

102

similar properties to natural aggregate which justifies why its application in

pervious concrete production is feasible.

Most of the past studies on pervious concrete are economical unviable due to

high cement content, use of expensive admixtures and necessity of special

compaction method. However, this study focuses on the use of RCA in pervious

concrete production towards a sustainable environment with a main priority of

minimizing cost. A target void ratio of 20% with different level of RCA has been

selected for the purpose of the study. The engineering properties of the concrete

investigated include permeability coefficient, compressive strength, skid

resistance and abrasion resistance. This study will further evaluate the cost and

green performance of the concrete.

The key properties of the end product in this study, is that the developed RCA-

based pervious concrete was prepared with minimized costs (cement and virgin

aggregate content, aggregate treatment, and compaction method) and maximised

environmental advantages. In pervious concrete, the main component is coarse

aggregate while the amount of cement paste is kept minimal (360 kg/m3 cement

and w/c ratio 0.35). Hence, in this research, the coarse aggregates were replaced

by up to 100% RCA in order to maximize the waste recycling in the mixture

proportions of pervious concrete. Furthermore, no admixture or any treatment

was used in this study to reduce the cost because plasticizer is costly compared

to other materials and treatment processes result in additional energy

consumption. Thus, no RCA treatment was utilized in this work in order to

further reduce the negative environmental impact from materials. Finally, a

standard concrete compaction method with a shorter compaction time is

adopted, while other studies on pervious concrete utilized roller compaction

which consumed more energy. Therefore, the developed pervious concrete

paves way for the environmental friendly pavement materials for potential

applications including footpath and vehicle-trafficked roads.

Experimental program i) Materials used:

The main materials used in the production of RCA pervious concrete (RCAPC)

for this study is cement, water, natural aggregate and recycled concrete

aggregate. Table 1 presents the physical properties of both coarse aggregates

used. Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) with 3.13 and 3450 cm2/g specific gravity

and specific surface area respectively was adopted. The RCA was obtained by

crushing the concrete wastes with a jaw crusher machine as shown in Fig. 1a. On

the other hand, granite with same size as the RCA (Fig. 1b) was used as natural

aggregate. Meanwhile, in order to minimize the production cost of the RCAPC,

no prior treatment was done to remove the adhered mortar on the RCA.

103

Table 1: Physical properties of aggregates used

Figure 1: (a) Recycled coarse aggregates, (b) natural granite aggregates

ii) Mixture proportions:

Two mix mixture proportions were prepared: pervious concrete containing

natural aggregate represents the control mix (labelled as NA mix) while the other

mix contains 100% RCA (labelled as RCA100 mix). A design void ratio of 20%

was adopted at a constant amount of cement (360kg/m3). The pervious concrete

was produced in a rotary drum mixer in the following sequence: first, coarse

aggregates were dry-mixed for 3 minutes and it was further mixed for 5 minutes

with the addition of cement. Once the mixture was homogenous, water was

gradually added while mixing continued for 3 minutes and then the mixture was

allowed to rest for 3 minutes. During the rest, the consistency ball-in-hand test

(ASTM C860-15) was done. Once the consistency requirement was achieved,

the concrete mixture was then allowed to mix for 2 minutes. Finally, fresh

concrete was poured into the specimen moulds and vibrated in 2 layers. A trowel

was used for a finer surface finishing and the concrete was covered with plastic

Properties Recycled Coarse

Aggregate (RCA)

Natural

Aggregate (NA)

Bulk density (kg/m3) 1243.1 1433.1

24h water absorption (%) 8.05 3.50

Specific gravity 2.32 2.65

Aggregate Impact Value, AIV

(%) 5.28 1.67

Aggregate Crushing Value,

ACV (%) 24.5 15.4

104

bags to prevent water evaporation. After 24 hours, the concrete specimens were

demoulded and cured in water until the testing age.

Results and discussion A) Mechanical properties

Mechanical properties are an important aspect of concrete which must satisfy

existing standards. The compressive strengths were tested at the age of 1, 7, and

28 days, while others were tested at the age of 28 days. The concrete properties

were taken as the average values of three specimens. Meanwhile there is no

standard method for testing permeability coefficient in the laboratory. Thus, the

falling head permeability test which was modified by Neithalath et al. (2010) and

Ibrahim and Abdul Razak (2016) was adopted. The setup can be seen in Figure 2.

Figure 2: Falling head apparatus for permeability test

i) Compressive strength

Compressive strength of the concrete is one of its most important parameters.

As such, 100mm cubes were prepared for the purpose of this test which was in

accordance with (BS EN 12390:2009). Fig. 3 shows the compressive strength

evolution obtained for the concrete. At 28 days, compressive strength obtained

for the control pervious concrete and RCA100 were 11.24MPa and 5.5MPa

respectively. Incorporation of RCA reduced the compressive strength of the

concrete by about 53%. This is expected based on past studies which has

105

indicated strength loss due to RCA presence in the concrete mix. For instance,

a similar outcome was reported by Rizvi 2010 whereby full incorporation of RCA

recorded a 49% loss in strength. Additionally, comparison between the cement

aggregate bond of NA and RCA100 as seen in Fig. 4 reveals that there is more

cement paste between the bond for the NA compared to the RCA100 concrete

samples. This suggests that the RCA100 concrete will fail faster under

compression load compared to the NA concrete. The strength of paste and

aggregate as well as void ratio influences the compressive strength of a pervious

(P Chindaprasirt et al., 2008). However, since void is kept constant in this study,

the strength of paste and aggregate contributed to the strength loss. Table 1

shows that AIV and ACV of normal aggregate is better than that of RCA. This is

because RCA is a weaker aggregate due to cracks induced during the process of

crushing (Zhang 2017). Although RCA100 may appear to be weaker than NA

concrete, the reduced strength may be acceptable for applications such as

pedestrian walkways since the concrete will not be subjected to vehicular loads

(Ibrahim & Abdul Razak 2016).

Figure 3: Compressive strength development for NA and RCA100 mixes

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

0 5 10 15 20 25 30

Co

mp

ress

ive

stre

ngth

(M

Pa)

Age

NA RCA100

106

(C)(B)

Figure 4: Comparison between the physical appearances and aggregate-cement

paste bonding for cubes specimens from NA and RCA100 mixes

ii) Permeability

Due to the ability of pervious concrete to allow water pass through its

microstructure, the concrete stands out among other concrete types. Thus,

water permeability is seen as a major index for evaluating the performances of

pervious concrete. Table 2 shows the permeability coefficient for the NA and

RCA100 mixes obtained from falling head permeability test. Permeability

coefficient for the NA and RCA mix recorded are 16 mm/s and 23.78 mm/s

respectively. It can be seen that water penetration increased about twice as much

when RCA100 was used. Permeability is dependent on the porous network and

the pore size of the concrete (Ibrahim & Abdul Razak 2016). Some studies have

defined active voids that allow water through the concrete matrix as effective

porosity (Montes et al, 2005, Kevern et al 2010, Ibrahim 2014). Meanwhile, voids

which do not allow fluid flow are identified as inactive voids. Such voids are

isolated from other voids and have no effect of permeability, rather they influence

other properties such as compressive strength of the concrete. Based on visual

inspection, Fig. 4 revealed that effective porosity of the RCA100 is higher than

the NA concrete which suggests that RCA100 concrete permeability would be

higher than the NA concrete. Thus, the RCA100 concrete allowed water to

infiltrate faster than NA concrete at the same target void as seen from visual

inspection in Fig. 5. Although the strength value was reduced as a result,

nevertheless, the RCA100 concrete strength is acceptable for its proposed

application.

107

Table 2: Permeability and surfaces properties of all mixes

Mix

Permeability property Surface properties

Permeability

coefficient,

k (mm/s)

Increment /

decrement

relative to

NA mix

Skid

Resi

stan

ce

(BPN

)

Incr

em

ent/

decr

em

ent

rela

tive

to N

A

mix

Abra

sion

resi

stan

ce (

%)

Incr

em

ent/

decr

em

ent

rela

tive

to N

A

mix

NA 16.00 - 86 - 40.42 -

RCA100 23.78 +49% 93 +8% 52.33 +29%

Figure 5: Water infiltration for RCA (left) and NA (right) concrete mixes

B) Surface properties:

Beside fulfilling its mechanical properties, it is important that the concrete meets

up with the long-term durability requirements. Two tests were conducted to

evaluate the surface properties for both mixes: skid and abrasion resistance

complying with (ASTM E303-93) and (ASTM C1747/C1747M-13). Both tests are

important to evaluate the safety and durability aspects of pervious concrete for

pavement purposes.

i) Skid resistance

Table 2 presents the skid resistance result for NA and RCA100 concrete

samples. Both concrete mixes achieved above the minimum requirements for

RCA100 NA

108

the British pendulum skid test of 65 for difficult sites. This is expected due to the

rough nature of a pervious concrete surface when compared to a conventional

dense concrete with a smooth surface. However, RCA100 concrete showed

higher resistance than the NA concrete sample. This could be as a result of the

shape and texture of RCA. Fig 1 reveals that a huge amount of cement mortar

was adhered to the RCA outer layer which makes it rough since no treatment

was done to the RCA in order to save cost. The results obtained with the

RCA100 concrete sample are encouraging in terms of the potential when it

comes to skid resistance.

ii) Abrasion resistance

Abrasion resistance of concrete generally depends upon its compressive

strength, surface finishing, hardness at surface zone of the concrete, paste-

aggregate bond and curing method (Prinya Chindaprasirt et al., 2015). Due to

the reduced compressive strength, presence of voids which makes paste-

aggregate bond vulnerable, it is expected that mass loss under abrasion impacts

abrasion would be high compared to conventional dense concrete. The NA and

RCA100 concrete mix had around 40% and 50% mass loss respectively. Adhered

mortar contributes to the bad properties of recycled aggregates (De Juan 2009),

which could have worsened the RCA100 concrete resistance to abrasion

compared to the NA concrete. Also,

C) Economic and sustainability efficiency

i) Cost evaluation

The approximate prices of some concrete materials and total production cost

for NA as well as RCA100 concrete is presented in Table 3 and 4 respectively.

It should be noted that the RCA used was obtained as a final by-product and it

was used directly for all the concrete mixes without additional processing in

order to save cost. Thus, the acquisition cost for the RCA was considered to be

at the minimum level of zero.

Table 3: Cost of concrete materials by weight (RM/kg) (Kanadasan, J., & Razak,

H. A.,2015)

Materials Cost (RM/kg)

Cement 0.440

Granite 0.055

RCA -

Sand 0.080

109

Table 4: Cost comparison for Normal concrete, NA and RCA pervious

concrete mixture proportions

Materials

(kg/m3)

Normal concrete NA RCA100

Cement 405 359 359

Granite 1690 1300 -

Sand 1250 - -

RCA - - 1484

Total cost

(RM/m3) 1271.15 229.46 157.96

It can be seen from Table 4 that there is a notable reduction in cost with the

RCA100 mix compared to the NA concrete mix. Utilization of RCA significantly

reduced the cost of the concrete by 31%. This reduction provides a positive

economic contribution in terms of cost. Additionally, comparing the cost

reduction of RCA100 to normal concrete (Grade 30) shows an even larger

positive cost savings of about 87%. This notable cost savings is due to the reduced

amount of cement content and no fine aggregate of a pervious concrete. Based

on this, there is no doubt that RCA pervious concrete is more economical in

long term than using normal concrete. Due to the zero-cost inquisition of RCA,

the concrete maintenance cost would be lesser than the normal grade concrete

whereby RCA pervious concrete can be easily replaced at reduced cost. This

ensures longer life span at reduced cost. Fig. 7 shows a typical concrete pavement

and a RCA pervious concrete. Additionally, the net benefit of reusing and

recycling of waste materials is estimated at 2.5% of the total project budget

(Begum, R.A., et al 2006). Thus, the construction industry can save money

through the implementation of using RCA in concrete production especially for

pervious concrete.

Figure 7: Typical concrete samples for (a) Normal grade and (b) RCA100

concrete pavement

110

ii) Greenhouse gas (GHG) evaluation

CO2-e emission factors used in the study is based on the Australian National

Pollutant Inventory Emission Estimation Technique Manual for Mining Version

2.3 (Commonwealth of Australia 2001). Carbon emission factors for concrete

making material is presented in Table 5. Meanwhile, the demolition and recycling

carbon emission factor for RCA is presented in Table 6. Fig. 8 shows carbon

emission for the NA and RCA100 concrete mixes. As seen from Fig. 8, there is

an incentive to use RCA as NA replacement in pervious concrete production.

Significant carbon emission reduction of 16% was achieved when RCA fully

replaced NA in the concrete mixture. Table 6 shows that carbon emission factor

for granite is higher than that of obtaining RCA. This is because RCA will be

manufactured on-site using portable equipment and re-used in the construction,

thereby minimizing CO2 emissions resulting from transportation to/from a

recycling plant. Whereas, manufacturing and transportation process of NA to

the construction site is subjected to a more energy consuming process which

generates more carbon emission (F. Collins, 2010)

Figure 8: Carbon emission for NA and RCA100 concrete mix

Table 5: CO2 emission factors evolved from manufacturing of concrete making

materials and construction activities (F. Collins, 2010)

Concrete making material Emission factor (t CO2 e/tonne)

Ordinary Portland cement (OPC) 0.82

Coarse aggregate (granite) 0.0459

0.3

0.32

0.34

0.36

0.38

0.4

0 100

Car

bon e

mis

sion (

tCO

2e/m

3)

RCA content (%)

Carbon emission

111

Table 6: CO2 emission factors due to demolition and recycling (F. Collins, 2010)

Activity Emission factor (t CO2 e/tonne)

Demolition (mobile rock breaker) 0.00054

Primary jaw crushing 0.00020

Secondary crushing (granite only) 0.00060

Screening 0.00008

Loading stockpiles 0.00006

Conclusions This study investigates feasibility of using RCA in producing a sustainable pervious

concrete. The following conclusion can be drawn from the experimental

investigation:

1. Incorporating RCA to fully replace NA in the concrete mix affected

the mechanical properties of the concrete. Compressive strength

obtained was 5.5MPa and 11.4MPa for the RCA100 and NA

concrete mixture respectively. As such, a loss in strength of 53%

was recorded as NA was fully replaced with RCA. Although the

RCA100 compressive strength is reduced, it can be however

accepted for applications where the concrete pavement will not be

subjected to vehicular loads. Meanwhile, permeability coefficient of

the RCA100 was higher than the NA concrete pavement by 49%

because of the better effective porosity of the RCA100.

2. Surface properties of the RCA100 concrete showed encouraging

results. The skid resistance obtained for NA and RCA100 concrete

were 86 and 93 which exceed the minimum requirement for British

pendulum test. However, RCA100 mass loss under abrasion impact

increased by 29% with respect to NA concrete.

3. RCA100 showed promising results in terms of economic and

sustainability efficiency of the concrete. The cost of production of

RCA100 is 31% lesser than that of NA concrete because of the

zero value of RCA. Meanwhile, GHG emission reduced by 16% with

the use of the RCA in the concrete mixture.

4. RCA can serve as alternative sustainable concreting material in

construction without compromising the engineering properties of

the concrete.

112

Acknowledgments This research work was funded by the University of Malaya Living Lab Grant

Programme under the project LL027-16SUS (Construction Waste Recycling

Center for Sustainable Drainage Construction).

References Begum, R. A., Siwar, C., Pereira, J. J., & Jaafar, A. H. (2006). A benefit–cost analysis

on the economic feasibility of construction waste minimisation: The case

of Malaysia. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 48(1), 86-98.

doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2006.01.004

Chindaprasirt, P., Nuaklong, P., Zaetang, Y., Sujumnongtokul, P., & Sata, V. (2015).

Mechanical and Thermal Properties of Recycling Lightweight Pervious

Concrete. Arabian Journal for Science and Engineering, 40(2), 443-450.

doi:10.1007/s13369-014-1563-z

Collins, F. (2010). Inclusion of carbonation during the life cycle of built and

recycled concrete: influence on their carbon footprint. The International

Journal of Life Cycle Assessment, 15(6), 549-556.

Commonwealth of Australia (2001) Emission Estimation Technique Manual for

Mining—National Pollutant Inventory Version 2.3. Department of Climate

Change, Canberra.

Dean, S. W., Kevern, J. T., Wang, K., & Schaefer, V. R. (2009). Test Methods for

Characterizing Air Void Systems in Portland Cement Pervious Concrete.

Journal of ASTM International, 6(9), 1024-1051. doi:10.1520/jai102451.

Ibrahim, A., Mahmoud, E., Yamin, M., & Patibandla, V. C. (2014). Experimental

study on Portland cement pervious concrete mechanical and hydrological

properties. Construction and Building Materials, 50, 524-529.

Kanadasan, J., & Razak, H. A. (2015). Engineering and sustainability performance

of self-compacting palm oil mill incinerated waste concrete. Journal of

Cleaner Production, 89, 78-86

Lokuge, W., & Aravinthan, T. (2012). Mechanical properties of polymer concrete

with different types of resin. From Materials to Structures: Advancement

through Innovation, 1147-1152. doi:10.1201/b15320-204

Montes, F., Valavala, S., & Haselbach, L. M. (2005). A new test method for

porosity measurements of Portland cement pervious concrete. Journal of

ASTM international, 2(1), 1-13.

Yang, J., & Jiang, G. (2003). Experimental study on properties of pervious

concrete pavement materials. Cement and Concrete Research, 33(3), 381-

386. doi:10.1016/s0008-8846(02)00966-3

Zaetang, Y., Sata, V., Wongsa, A., & Chindaprasirt, P. (2016). Properties of

pervious concrete containing recycled concrete block aggregate and

recycled concrete aggregate. Construction and Building Materials, 111, 15-

21. doi: 10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2016.02.060

113

9

Real-time and Automated Traffic Data Inventory

and Monitoring System (TDIM) Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah*, Rahizar Ramli and Farah Fazlinda Mohamad

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of

Malaya, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: saifizul@um.edu.my

Abstract Intelligent Transportation System (ITS) are advanced applications which aim to

provide innovative services relating to different modes of transport and traffic

management and enable various users to be better informed and make safer,

more coordinated, and smarter use of transport networks. This project

demonstrates the implementation of a pilot real-time and automated Traffic Data

Inventory and Monitoring (TDIM) system as part of building ITS capacity at

University of Malaya campus. The main advantages of this system are that it

incorporates the concept of Internet of Thing (IoT) and Big Data Analytic (BDA)

to quantitatively measure the traffic congestion and its contribution to CO2

emissions. Based on data collected by TDIM system, the study revealed that:

1. The average travel time during congestion is six-fold than during smooth

traffic

2. Consistent congestion pattern during week day

3. A lot of cars take the shortcut (bypass) through the campus to avoid

the agglomeration from the main street

4. Monthly accumulated CO2 emission from transport activities on

selected main corridor is estimated to be more than 230 tonne/km

In conclusion, this pilot system provides meaningful data which can be used for

analysing and monitoring present transport activity and its CO2 emissions in the

campus. In addition, the pilot system can also provide useful information such as

congestion status within the campus to authority in-charge and public at-large.

The data can also be used by authority in-charge to design appropriate mitigation

strategies in alleviating the problems of traffic congestion and carbon emission to

help make this campus a world class institution.

114

Keywords Carbon emission, congestion measure, traffic congestion, travel time, traffic

monitoring system, intelligent transportation system, Living Lab, Eco-campus

Introduction Population growth, economic development and changes in land use have

combined to produce steadily increasing levels of traffic congestion. The trend is

expected to continue and worsen, resulting in increased hours of congestion

delays on the roadway system, increased costs to taxpayers and motorists, and

increased air pollution. Intelligent Transportation Systems (lTS) are a set of

solutions to improve transportation efficiency and safety. Previous studies have

proved that the implementation of ITS technologies can alleviates traffic

congestion, enhances energy saving and reduces the emissions of vehicles. A

prerequisite for ITS implementation is the collection of timely and accurate data

about traffic and road conditions. This project presents the development and

implementation of a real-time and automated wireless Traffic Data Inventory and

Monitoring System (TDIM) as part of building ITS capacity at University of Malaya

campus.

When the university campus was built the road infrastructure was designed for

a very small numbers of cars. Over time technology has advanced and the

number of vehicle has risen. In Malaysia, the numbers of passenger car population

per 1000 people increased from 268 in year 2005 to 409 in year 2014. A

significant increase of 40 to 50%. It is expected in year 2020, there will be about

548 passenger car population per 1000 people (Frost & Sullivan 2016, ASEAN

Transport Situation and Solutions Outlook, 2020). Figure 1 shows the increasing

registered vehicles year-to-year in Klang Valley as well as in Malaysia expected

to continue and worsen the congestion situation in the future.

Traffic congestion is a supply management problem where it occurs when there

is high demand (i.e. drivers) with limited supplies (i.e. in terms of road capacity).

Traffic volume has increased faster than road capacity, congestion has gotten

progressively worse despite the push toward alternative modes of

transportation, new technologies, innovative land-use patterns, and demand-

management technique. Failure to take significant steps now to relieve current

congestion and to prevent worsening congestion is a real threat to many

stakeholders. Hours lost in traffic results not only in decreased productivity but

also impacts the quality of life of UM’s families as it shown in Figure 2.

115

Figure 1: Total Motor Vehicles (Source: Road Transport Department)

Figure 2: Congestion inside UM’s Campus

116

Monitoring congestion is just one of several aspects of transportation system

performance that leads to more effective investment decisions for transportation

improvements.

Thus, understanding who is using the road, where they are going and whether

they just get there on time is essential for policymakers, traffic manager and

drivers alike.

By introducing a monitoring system for travel time, the public should be able to

plan ahead their journey and work out the best time to travel, and thus,

distributing traffic on the mainline. The proposed concept starts by automatically

measuring the traffic conditions in real-time and provide specific and accurate

statistical information on the use of the road network, enabling traffic engineers

to understand various traffic-related matters such as congestion patterns and

historical information. Using the information collected, the authority in charge

will be able to efficiently distribute traffic and prevents vehicles from converging

at the same locations and time which contribute to traffic congestion on the

mainline.

In addition, monitoring congestion can also lead to lower CO2 emission that is

caused by acceleration and deceleration that is associated with the stop-and-go

traffic that exists during congested conditions.

The current project aims to accomplish the following objectives:

1. To implement a pilot Traffic Data Inventory System (TDIM) system in

UM’s campus which can provide a real-time, accurate, and reliable travel

time data continuously 24 hours 7 days throughout the year.

2. To refine and finalize the system based on the key functionality required

by internal stakeholders to support the identified needs.

3. To provide meaningful traffic data and information in UM campus from

the proposed TDIM system so the traffic characterization such as traffic

pattern, congestion measure and estimated CO2 emission from

transport sector can be quantified.

Methodology This project introduces a real-time and automated Traffic Data Inventory and

Monitoring System (TDIM) that focuses on acquire travel time data between

specific locations within the campus. The system is equipped with sensors to

detect, track and locate smartphones anonymously using wireless signatures that

smartphones periodically transmit via Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. These sensors have

been installed at four locations which they are Kuala Lumpur’s gate (KL Gate),

Petaling Jaya’s gate (PJ Gate), in front of Dewan Tunku Canselor (DTC) and, near

Damansara’s gate as shown in Figure 3.

117

Figure 3: Sensor location on the UM Campus Map

With Bluetooth and Wi-Fi technologies have become universal; there are

substantial percentage of mobile devices and vehicles which are equipped with

Bluetooth & Wi-Fi technology. The MAC address of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi can be

captured in strategic key points on road networks by a special scanner and

transferred to the back-end server for accurate travel time measurement.

The logged device is time stamped and when it is logged again by another sensor

at a different location the difference in time stamps can be used to estimate the

travel time between two locations. The difference in time stamps measures the

travel time of the vehicle equipped with that mobile device, and obviously the

speed assuming the distance between both locations is known.

Four Wifi and Bluetooth scanners were installed along the main route going

around UM campus to properly cover the movement of the vehicles as shown

in Figure 4. The sensors will log the location and time of every device caught

within the range of the sensors. The travelling time for each device can be

calculated from the recorded time of each pass through.

118

Figure 4: Installation of sensor at road side

Many tests have been conducted for evaluating the performance of the system,

which covers various road conditions, vehicle speeds, and traffic situations. The

aim of the performance test is to show the effectiveness and robustness of the

fully developed system, together with the reliability and accuracy of the data.

Results The combined and analysed data is presented in a web-based, intuitive user

interface, with graphs and dashboard views, including interactive map views. The

web user interface includes all the necessary information to help traveller plan

their route and timing for their journey. Figure 5 shows the dashboard to show

the updates of the traffic within the observed area. The travel time from each

location to the other can be seen clearly while the traffic condition will also be

shown to easily inform the user in real time.

Figure 5: Web user interface of TDIM system

119

On the other hand, the result obtained can also show other information that

could be of use to the administrative user such as understanding the flow and

redirecting traffic based on historical data. Figure 6 shows the distribution of

travel time, delay and travel time index (TTI) based on the traffic flow condition

for each day of the month. The data shows a variation in travel time for congested

flow in a one-month period.

Figure 6: Congestion measures for the Month of March 2017 from DTC to KL

Gate Route

120

Apart from that, the TDIM system is also capable to shows the volume of

unwanted traffic passing through the selected main gate. Based on collected data,

the tendency of drivers to use the campus roads as a method of bypassing in

their route can also be observed. The volume is calculated by considering 25%

detection rate of TDIM detector as compared to actual volume (based on the

experimental result). Figure 7 shows the daily volume of unwanted traffic

bypassing UM campus from KL Gate to PJ Gate. These users will cause other

problems besides security and safety such as affecting the carbon emission and

traffic congestion.

Figure 7: Daily volume of bypassing vehicle (March 2017 from KL Gate to PJ

Gate)

Less attention has been given to CO2 emission associated with traffic congestion.

A small change in average traffic speed can result in a strong change in CO2

emission. Heavy congestion results in slower speed and greater speed

fluctuation, resulting in higher CO2 emissions as shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8: CO2

emissions as a

function of average

trip speed

(Barth, M. &

Boriboonsomsin,

K., 2008)

121

The daily carbon emission was calculated and plotted daily to show the change

in emission within the campus as shown in Figure 9. The total carbon emissions

were estimated based on the volume and speed of the road users captured by

the sensors.

Figure 9: Daily and monthly CO2 Emission in March 2017 for DTC to KL Gate

Route

Table 1 shows the total estimated cumulative of CO2 emission for all four main

corridors in March 2017. As depicted in Table 3, the total estimated CO2

emission in UM campus in March 2017 is 268.98 tonne from transport activities.

Table 1: Total CO2 emission inside UM Campus (KL to PJ gate) in March,2017

Route CO2 Emissions

(tonne/km)

Distance

(km)

Total

(tonne)

PJ - DTC 36.7 0.9 33.03

DTC - KL 106.5 0.9 95.85

KL - DTC 55.4 1.3 72.02

KL - PJ 48.5 1.4 67.90

Total CO2 Emission 268.98

122

Discussion The result obtained show that the objectives of this project, while have been

thoroughly substantiated, the issues should be a cause for concern. Mitigation

strategies should be devised to reduce and improve any of the issues that arise.

The foremost approach of mitigating the main problem of traffic congestion using

this monitoring system is to publicize the use of this system so that users could

make better judgement when planning to move within the campus. The users

could plan their movement with a better control such as using only when the

road is clear or finding an alternative route when the traffic is congested.

Data collected from the TDIM system shows that there are estimated 137,672

vehicles bypassing UM campus via KL Gate to PJ Gate in March 2017 only. Based

on one-month data collected in March 2017, it has been found that CO2

emissions can be reduced by up to almost 80% through two different strategies;

improve access control at all main entrances to UM campus to reduce vehicle

bypassing UM campus and introduce congestion mitigation strategies that reduce

severe congestion during peak hour.

Certain measures can be put by the administration to combat the congestion at

peak hour such as introducing flexible hours for employees working inside the

campus. By introducing flexible working hours for employees can ensure better

distribution of traffic during peak hours. Besides that, the university could also

build better walkways or path for users to move to other location without the

use of motorized vehicles inside the campus.

Other than that, there should be in-campus bus availability for employees to

move around the campus. The decrease of use of vehicles inside the campus

would significantly reduce the congestion and the carbon emission to make the

UM campus a better place.

Apart from that, campus entrance could be equipped with smart access control

function to reduce vehicle bypassing inside the campus. This can be implemented

to all campus entrances with access only given to active staff and students. This

solution will not only help to reduce vehicle bypassing inside the campus, it can

also reduce congestion and CO2 emissions inside the campus. The summary of

mitigation strategies is outlined in Table 2.

123

Table 2: Mitigation strategies to reduce congestion and unwanted traffic

Identified

Problem Mitigation Strategies

Congestion

Deploy TDIM system and publicize the use of this system

so that users could make better judgement when planning

to move within the campus.

Unwanted

traffic

(bypass

Vehicle)

a) Improve access control at all main entrances to UM

campus.

b) Introduce flexible hours for employees working inside

the campus.

c) Encourage the use of non-motorized vehicles inside the

campus.

Conclusion The TDIM system that can provide congestion and emission measure within the

campus has been implemented. The system is able to show the traffic congestion

status, carbon emission, and the vehicle bypass within the UM Campus. The

monitoring process shows that some of the issues that arise need to be

controlled and mitigated before anything can escalate. In conclusion, the TDIM

system is a good start to understand and quantitatively measure the problem

while also showing if any measure taken to moderate the issue would be

substantial.

Further to the monitoring system, the information regarding traffic congestion

status and monthly carbon emissions need to be circulated and disseminated

among University Malaya employees, students and publics that are using

University Malaya roads so they become aware of the current congestion status

inside the campus. The proposed mitigation strategies to reduce congestion

during peak hours, as well as CO2 emissions should also be taken into

consideration by the administration to ensure sustainable living inside UM

campus.

Acknowledgement The author would like to acknowledge the Living Lab grant, grant no. (LL025-

16SUS) for financial supports upon the completion of project

124

References Barth, M., & Boriboonsomsin, K. (2008). Real-world CO2 Impacts of Traffic

Congestion. Paper for the 87th Annual Meeting of Transportation

Research Board Washington D.C. Retrieved from Transport Research

Board website: trrjournalonline.trb.org/doi/citedby/ /10.3141/2058-

20

Frost & Sullivan (January 11, 2016). ASEAN Transport Situation and Situations

Outlook, 2002- Multi-pronged Approach to Help ASEAN Tackle

Mobility Challenges of its Densely Populated Cities. Retrieved from:

http://www.frost.com/sublib/display-report.do?id.

125

10

Sustainable Transport System in the University of Malaya

Campus: Study On Improving the Campus Shuttle Bus

Service and Promote Non-Motorised Transport Mode Yuen Choon Wah 1, Mohamed Rehan Karim 1, Aminah Wati Abdullah 1, Yong

Adilah Shamsul Harumain 2 and Mastura Adam 3

1 Centre for Transportation Research, Faculty of Engineering, University Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2Department of Urban and Regional Planning, Faculty of Built Environment,

University Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3Architecture Department, Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: yuencw@um.edy.my

Abstract High dependency on private vehicle has contributed to heavy congestion in urban

area. Enhancing the campus public transport system focusing on campus shuttle

bus service can be a model to be applied to the real world because of the

similarity of campus elements to an urban setup. Qualitative and quantities survey

were applied to stakeholders including students and bus operator to investigate

the insight into bus transport system in the university. Passengers counting were

carried out to examine the level of supply and demand of shuttle bus service.

The study revealed that more supply was needed during peak hour. It is

suggested that during the peak hour, more bus or more supply should be

provided and not just following the normal bus schedule but by following the

demand trends. Bus tracking apps is a good tool for students to plan for the

journey but it is important to make sure that good, accurate and reliable bus

tracking information is provided to the user beforehand. It can be concluded that

a holistic approach to reduce the number of private vehicle in campus need to

take into account the inclusion of other non-vehicle mode.

Keywords Sustainable transport, campus shuttle bus service, non-motorised, Living Lab,

Eco-campus

126

Introduction The trends of motorization in universities are matching those in society and in

some ways are worsened by changes in higher education itself as the admission

of greater numbers of mature students probably raises the proportion of car-

owning students. As a result of it, University of Malaya community needs to

embark on more sustainable campus planning. The aim of this study is to develop

an innovative sustainable transport system to solve the traffic problem within the

campus. A smart shuttle bus schedule shall be introduced to serve the campus

community. The deployment of number of shuttle bus trip will be fully based on

the passengers’ demand and thus can reduce the number of daily bus trip.

Objectives This study serves three objectives, which are:

1. To develop an innovative sustainable transportation system in order

to reduce the number of motorised vehicle within the campus

2. To propose a new transportation policy to solve the lack of parking

space problem in campus.

3. To create awareness and promote community to choose shuttle bus

and non-motorized transport mode as their main travel mode in

campus and reduce transportation carbon footprint.

Literature Review With the advance improvement in technology and urbanisation process, this

causes the increasing number of vehicle ownership, population and mobility

priority as in the 21st century. Throughout the process, the transport issue will

become the alarming issue in the advanced metropolitan especially in Kuala

Lumpur. However, traffic congestion is one of major concerns in the country

which limit the mobility and accessibility of the people in the area. It is because

the private car is the primary mode of transport in Kuala Lumpur which over

burden the traffic condition. Nevertheless, it creates an opportunity to solve this

congestion issue by promoting the use of public transport (PT) and non-

motorised transport mode (NMT).

A mode shift from private car to PT and NMT can be done by understanding the

current situation of the PT and NMT thus enhancing the services, facilities as well

as implement the supportive policies. The difficulty in solving congestion issue in

Kuala Lumpur area is due to the high population and government policies on

transportation. Therefore, the study will target on promoting the modal shift

from private car to shuttle bus and NMT in university campus. The study is mainly

on promoting the use of campus bus and NMT, by restructuring the current

127

shuttle bus system and improve the infrastructure for NMT, to solve the issues

related to traffic condition in the university.

Recently, environmental issues in public transport have become an important

aspect to be studied due to the climate change and global warming. Greening the

campus for sustainability and environmentally friendly is one of the concerns

among all public universities in Malaysia (Avineri 2012). The awareness towards

preserving a sustainable environment stimulates the need of study on promoting

the alternative modes of transport which is the shuttle bus service system in

universities.

The performance of the bus service can be evaluated from different aspects such

as passengers, community, operator and driver (Transportation Research Board,

2002). Factors such as safety and security and maintenance of the bus could affect

the expectation of the customers towards the service which will indirectly create

dissatisfaction to the customers. Normally, transit service reliability assessment

includes route based and stop based but passengers will more prefer stop based

as regularity is more important than schedule adherence if the buses run

frequently (Chen, et al., 2009). It is stated that transit reliability, from the user’s

perspective, involves departing from the origin station on time, having reasonable

on board travel time and arriving at the destination station within a time frame

that allows them to be at their destination without being late (Casello, et al.) To

promote the public transport bus system, reliable services that serve a short

waiting time and punctual should be provided.

Previous research reports showed that when study at the universities’ guidelines

for promoting bicycling and walking in campus, researchers found that they have

failed to study the transportation modes on campus and the opinions of

university citizens towards bicycle use and pedestrians need. The ineffective

guidelines lead to university citizens continuing to use private cars or major

vehicles while the number of bicyclist and pedestrians remain limited. In order

to solve the above mentioned problems, promoting the use of bicycles in campus

and walking to all university citizens is essential. In addition, studying the modes

of transport in campus and university citizens’ attitudes towards cycling and

walking will help to analyse problems and difficulties related to bicycle use and

walking in campus. The final results of this research can be practical guidelines to

promote cycling and walking in campus to meet the needs of university

community.

In this research, the possibility of implementation of various policies in UM

campus, such as “Park and Ride”, “Park and Cycle/Walk” and “Car free

Zone/Hour” shall be focused. Besides, relocation of bus stops in the campus

based on demand and alternative and environmentally friendly vehicles to replace

the current diesel engine bus such as electric buses, tram and others should also

be considered. For the infrastructure aspects, the research also shall look into

128

the provision of a sustainable infrastructure design for bus stops, bicycle lanes,

pedestrian walkways and others.

Methodology The research focuses on internal campus shuttle bus service which are Route A

and Route B which are the busiest routes inside the university (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Study route

Literature review and secondary data collection was conducted at the early stage

of the study. For the second phase, the study employed interview with stake

holders, survey questionnaires, passengers counting and focus group discussion.

Finally, the data were analysed and UM bus application were improved based on

the findings and outcomes (Figure 2).

Focus routes: A and B

129

Figure 2: Methodology

Preliminary study

The preliminary study involves literature review and secondary data collection

on shuttle bus service serve in the university.

Data collection

Interview

Interviews were conducted amongst stakeholders to gain insight into

the current shuttle bus service system in the university which are

The Student Affairs Division, Department of Development and Estate

Maintenance and Information Technology Centre.

Survey Questionnaires

This chapter outlines the travel survey results for University Malaya and

the summaries of the key results. The survey was design as an entirely

online questionnaire via Google Form. The survey was conducted from

21st November 2016.to 15th December 2016. It was made available to

all students across University of Malaya. 215 students participated in the

survey with response rate of 1.22%.

Passengers Counting

Pilot test was conducted on 19th November 2016 followed by the

actual counting on 20th September 2016 until 27th September 2016.

The total passengers for Route A and Route B counted 7,545 and 8,542

passengers respectively.

• Literature review

• Secondary data collection

Phase 1: Preliminary study

• Interview

• Survey questionnaires

• Passengers counting

• Focus group dicussion

Phase 2 : Data collection

• Data analysis

• Improving UM bus application

Phase 3: Analysis and application

130

Focus Group Discussion

The total of four personnel from bus operator, Nadiputra had attended

the Focus Group Discussion (FGD). A moderator had guide the session

based on open-ended interview outline to guide the FGD. Interview

questions were developed with direction and input from current

understanding and were designed to cover a range of university shuttle

bus issues and address specific questions raised based on previous initial

students survey results.

Before the session started, the moderator had explained to the participants

together with a hand-out note regarding research project brief description and

participants were required to fill up FGD attendance slip. The FGD were tape-

recorded and anonymity of the participants is protected in this report.

Analysis and application

The survey questionnaires with closed ended questions was computed into SPSS

statistical tools while open ended questions, interview and focus group discussion

where analysed using thematic method.

The FGD session was recorded and transcribed. A preliminary analysis was

conducted to understand and connect the insight derived from FGD with the

current data. The FGD output that reflected specific thoughts and experiences

in delivering shuttle bus service inside UM campus was analysed based on

thematic statement and labelled based on the main topics. Then these topics

were analysed to determine the interrelations of the statement and issues and

divided based on categories. Finally, the analysis, the categories were merged

into categories that were labelled as key findings.

Results Travel survey related to campus shuttle bus service

The overall university mode share is illustrated in Figure 3. This highlights that

the main mode of travel for journeys to the campus is by bus (60.50%). The

following results are related to campus shuttle bus service. Overall 66% of

respondents have taken the service within past 30 days during survey period.

From Figure 4, respondents mostly took shuttle bus service during evening peak

hour which at 4pm to 6pm (67.60%) followed by morning peak hour at 8am to

10 am (52.10%). This result is consistence with preliminary results from

“passengers counting”.

131

Figure 3: Overall University mode share

Figure 4: The typical time respondents took the university shuttle bus service

0.5%

2.3%

4.2%

4.7%

6.5%

7.9%

13.5%

16.7%

54.4%

60.5%

0.0% 10.0%20.0%30.0%40.0%50.0%60.0%70.0%

By bicycle

Other

As motorcyclist

As a pollion passenger

As a car driver (with passengers)

By taxo

As car passenger

As a car driver (alone)

Walking

By bus

38%

52.10%

35.90%

34.50%

26.10%

67.60%

36.60%

17.60%

9.20%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Before 8 am

8 am to 10 am

10 am to 12 pm

12 pm to 2 pm

2 pm to 4 pm

4 pm to 6 pm

6 pm to 8 pm

8 pm to 10 pm

After 10 pm

132

From the following graph (Figure 5), respondents stated that they need to wait

between 10 to 20 minutes for campus shuttle bus service. The ideal waiting time

is within 10 to 15 minutes (Mishalani, 2006).

Figure 5: Average waiting time for respondents

Figure 6a and 6b are the rating for user experience based on timetable,

punctuality, and hours of operation, routes and bus service frequency during peak

hours. The graphs show that students given average rating experience on shuttle

bus service timetable, punctuality, hours of operation, routes and bus service

frequency during peak hours. Compared to campus shuttle bus timetable,

punctuality, hours of operation and routes, the graph reflected that campus

shuttle bus service frequency during peak hours is the important element that

needs to focus as it reflected the lowest percentage on “average” experience

(32.4%) and the highest percentage on “poor” and “very poor” experience

(31.7% and 18.3%).

6.3%

69.0%

20.4%

4.2%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

80.0%

Less than 10

minutes

10 to 20 minutes 20 to 30 minutes More than 30

minutes

133

Figure 6a: Campus shuttle bus service experience rating

3.5%

32.4%

49.3%

9.2% 5.6%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Timetable

2.8%

17.6%

47.9%

21.1%

10.6%

0.0%

20.0%

40.0%

60.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Punctuality

10.6%

37.3% 35.2%

14.8%

2.1%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Routes

134

Figure 1b: Campus shuttle bus service experience rating

The majority of 79.9% respondents are not aware on “UM Bus Tracking”

application and only 31.9% of them has installed the application into their Android

phone. None of them used the application very often and the survey showed

76.1% from 46 respondents used “UM Bus Tracking” application only a few times.

Figure 7 represent on service rating experience on "UM Bus Tracking"

application derived from the respondents that used the tracking. Rating

experience focuses on “route information”, “accuracy of estimated of time

arrival (ETA), “ease of use” and “overall satisfaction”. None of the criteria

achieves “very good” rating and only met “average” rating. The urgency of

improvement need to be focused on “accuracy of estimated of time arrival

(ETA)” where it rated the highest “very poor” experience.

4.2%

32.4%

43.0%

14.8%

5.6%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Hours of operation

3.5%

14.1%

32.4% 31.7%

18.3%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Bus service frequencyduring peak hours

135

Figure 2: "UM Bus Tracking" experience rating

0.0%

7.7%

13.4%

7.0%

4.2%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Route information

0.0%

3.5%

9.9%7.7%

11.3%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Accuracy of estimated oftime arrival (ETA)

0.0%

4.9%

12.0%9.9%

5.6%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Ease of use

0.0%2.1%

12.7%10.6%

7.0%

0.0%

5.0%

10.0%

15.0%

Very good Good Average Poor Very poor

Overall satisfaction

136

To get more view regarding “UM Bus Tracking”, students’ opinion on the current

application were gauged through open ended question. The responds generally

stated that “UM Bus Tracking” does not function very well to serve information

regarding campus shuttle bus service. The respondents also think that it is not

accurate, and is unable to track moving bus based on the application.

Bus passengers counting

i) Route A

Figure 8 reflects the highest number of passenger boarding for route A is

between 4pm and 5pm. Time period between 9.00 am and 10.00 pm has the least

ridership. Further analysis will focus on time period 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm.

Figure 3: Total number of boarding passenger at all stations in route A in every

hour from 8.00 am to 7.00 pm

Figure 9 shows that UM Central station always has the highest number of

boarding for all bus trip between 4.00 pm and 5.00 pm. UM Central station was

selected to carry out further analysis.

0

100

200

300

400

500

8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM

No

. o

f P

ass

en

ger

Time

API KK 8/10 FSKTM APM KK 3/4/7

UMC KK 3/4/7 - R APM - R FSKTM - R KK 8/10 - R

137

Figure 4: Number of boarding and alighting passenger of all bus trips between

4.00 pm and 5.00 pm at all stations in route A

Between the time period 4pm to 5pm, the passenger load factors (PLF) for bus

trip 1620 is one, which means the bus is fully packed. Both bus trip at 1600 and

1640 are overloaded, with PLF value 1.4 and 1.2 respectively. Bus trip at 1600

has around 90 passengers in a bus with 63 passengers’ capacity (seat and stand).

Bus trip 1640 has around 80 passengers in a bus with 63 passengers’ capacity

(seat and stand) (Figure 10).

Figure 5: Number of boarding passenger, bus capacity and passenger load factor

(PLF) of all bus trips between 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm at UM Central station for

route A

0102030405060708090

API

FSK

TM

KK

3/4

/7

KK

3/4

/7

FSK

TM

API

KK

8/1

0

APM

UM

C

APM

KK

8/1

0

API

FSK

TM

KK

3/4

/7

KK

3/4

/7

FSK

TM

API

1600 1620 1640

No

. o

f p

ass

en

ger

Bus trip

Boarding Alighting

0.00

0.50

1.00

1.50

2.00

0

20

40

60

80

100

1600 1620 1640

UMC

PL

F

No

. o

f p

ass

en

ger

Bus trip

Passenger Load Capacity PLF

138

ii) Route B

Figure 11 shows that the highest number of passenger boarding for route B is

between 8.00 am to 9.00 am. Time period between 12.00 pm and 1.00 pm has

the least ridership. Further analysis will focus on time period 8.00 am to 9.00am.

Figure 6: Total number of boarding passenger at all stations in Route B in every

hour from 8.00 am and 7.00 pm

Figure 12 states that KK 11 station has the highest number of boarding between

8.00 am and 9.00 am. KK 11 station was selected to carry out further analysis.

Figure 7: Number of boarding and alighting passenger of all bus trips between

8am and 9am at all stations in Route B

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

8AM 9AM 10AM 11AM 12PM 1PM 2PM 3PM 4PM 5PM 6PM

No

. o

f p

ass

en

ger

Time

API KK 11 KK 12 KK 1 UMC PASUM KK 5

020406080

100

API

KK

12

UM

C

KK

5

API

KK

12

UM

C

KK

5

API

KK

12

UM

C

KK

5

API

KK

12

UM

C

KK

5

API

KK

12

UM

C

KK

5

800 810 820 830 840

No

. o

f p

ass

en

ger

Bus trip

Boarding Alighting

139

iii) Bus Operator Insight into peak hour and non-peak hour

Based on contract of service between bus operator and University of Malaya, the

university only requested for 10 buses. Two buses were assigned for each route

with average service frequency for every 20 minutes. Even during peak hour

especially on route A and route B which has high load passengers, the bus

operator will still maintain the service frequency and cannot increase the service

frequency due to manpower restraint. If the service frequency is shortened to

10 minutes, the driver will not have enough time for the next trip preparation.

Nadiputra required more time interval for break and to get NGV refuel because

the buses can only refuel their NGV at the Terminal Bersepadu Selatan (TBS)

due to specification. After a discussion with HEP, to ease the peak hour issue,

UM bus will help to accommodate the service for instance; 7.20 am service by

Nadiputra operator, 7.40 am by University of Malaya shuttle bus and 8.00 am by

Nadiputra operator.

During evening time from 7.00 pm onwards, fewer passengers were found to

take the bus service. The Living Lab team asked if it is possible for Nadiputra to

provide less bus frequency during night shuttle bus service session. Nadiputra

explained that they were merely following the schedule provided by HEP and

they will obey the scheduled time because the contract is based on total lease

bus. Therefore, they are not obligated to save the fuel since UM already paid for

the service.

The Living Lab team believe it will beneficial to have a sustainable and smart

shuttle bus service where, for instance, during peak hours, more bus will be

deployed and likewise less bus during non-peak hours. If University of Malaya

continues with the current method as mentioned above, only Nadiputra will gain

the advantage as UM still need to pay for the bus shuttle contract service.

Discussion and Conclusion Generally, some respondents felt that the service are fairly good but need further

improvement on service punctuality and frequency during peak hours. The

concerns are during peak hours because the bus capacity was not able to cater

for all passengers and some of the users were not able to get into the bus.

Respondents also highlighted the bus service were not punctual and depart early

than the scheduled time.

It is advised that during the peak hour, more bus or more supply should be

provided and not to just follow the bus schedule but by following the demand

trends. The root cause of the problem is the capacity of the bus is simply not

enough to clear out the passengers from the bus stop. It caused passengers

having to wait much longer time for the next bus in order to continue their

journey to their destination. Bus bunching could be a solution to the problem

here.

140

Bus tracking apps is a good tool for students to plan for the journey. Before that,

it is important to make sure that a good, accurate and reliable bus tracking

information are provided to the user. Besides, more publicity should be done to

promote the use of the bus tracking apps and also we can set up a complaint

function in the apps to allow passengers to report to the bus operator about the

delay of the bus, reckless bus driver, sudden case of bus broken down and other

related matters.

Currently the campus bus service is only for students but not for other campus

community. To reduce the use of private vehicle and promote the use of campus

bus, it is strongly suggested that the university management should open the

service to all. Rules and regulations should be made to limit the campus

community using their private vehicle for the internal trips.

To reduce the number of vehicle and resolve traffic congestion problem in

campus, public vehicles should not be allowed from using the campus road as an

alternative road to their destination.

Acknowledgment This research was fully support from University of Malaya Living Lab Grant

(LL024-16SUS) and under supervision by Centre for Transport Research, Civil

Department. The authors received high cooperation from stakeholders which

are The Student Affairs Division, Department of Development and Estate

Maintenance and Information Technology Centre and bus operator, Nadiputra.

The authors also want to express gratitude to everyone that direct or indirectly

contribute to this research.

References Avineri, E. (2012). On the use and potential of behavioural economics from the

perspective of transport and climate change. Journal of Transport Geography,

24, 512-521.

Casello, J. M., Towns, W., Bélanger, J., & Kassiedass, S. (2015). Public engagement

in public transportation projects: Challenges and recommendations.

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research

Board, (2537), 88-95.

Mishalani, R. G., McCord, M. M., & Wirtz, J. (2006). Passenger wait time

perceptions at bus stops: Empirical results and impact on evaluating real-time

bus arrival information. Journal of Public Transportation, 9(2), 5.

141

11

Working Towards a Sustainable Means of

Campus Transport Onn Chiu Chuen1.*, Mohamed Rehan Karim1, Sumiani Yusoff2, Ong Zhi Chao3,

Wan Asma Diana Wan Roselan1 and Lim Zhen Jie2

1 Centre for Transportation Research, Faculty of Engineering, University

Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 2 Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University

Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

*Corresponding author: onnchiuchuen@um.edu.my

Abstract This research aimed to investigate the current status of UM campus

transportation system. University Malaya consists of more than 30,000 university

population and due to strategic location between two developed cities, Kuala

Lumpur and Petaling Jaya caused traffic congestion along the two main gates in

campus. The main objective of this study was to develop a sustainable solution

to solve the traffic and parking problem beside creating awareness to UM

community and forming a partnership with the stakeholders in UM. The research

performed on-site field collection of the traffic conditions and transportation

systems within UM campus by analysing the traffic flow pattern within campus

with on-site traffic sensor and traffic survey thru interviews with UM community.

Our findings show that, approximate 4435 private vehicles used the campus road

as a shortcut to travel between Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya in 12-hour

monitoring period and they contributed 1,087,800g CO2e emissions. More than

1400 campus vehicles conduct internal trips in 12-hour monitoring period, they

contributed more than 676,200g CO2e carbon emission within campus. Thus, a

solution was to introduce to enforce visitor to apply for visitor sticker and

encourage UM community to use other alternatives such as shuttle bus and

walking for traveling within campus.

142

Keywords Traffic Volume and Pattern, Parking audit, Walkability, University Malaya

Introduction Universities worldwide face growing problems of traffic congestion and parking

shortages due to the increased usage of private automobiles and the decline of

public and non-motorized transport systems. University of Malaya is the oldest

university in Malaysia and situated on a 309 hectare (750 acre) campus in the

southwest of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Nowadays, UM is an

international acclaimed Research University, have 15 academic institutions and

12 residential colleges. University of Malaya is build-up of more than 6km of

campus road and consists of more than 30,000 university population. UM have a

total of 5 road entrances. Out of these 5 entrances, KL gate and PJ gate are the

main entrances where they have the highest daily traffic volume. Traffic

congestion is far worse than expected within UM compound due to UM location

between 2 most developed cities in Malaysia which are Kuala Lumpur (KL) and

Petaling Jaya (PJ). Moreover, the facilities planning within the UM campus are

wide and dispersed creates low level of accessibility and it constricts the

provision of the facilities throughout the campus. UM campus builds by locating

the main facilities in the center of the campus, consequently creates an immense

distance between the main facilities and the residential areas without providing

proper connection of the covered walkway.

Objectives This study aimed to achieve three main objectives;

1. To develop a sustainable solution to solve the traffic and parking

problem within campus,

2. To create awareness and promote unnecessary vehicle trip within

the campus communities and reduce the transportation carbon

footprint,

3. To form strategic partnership with various stakeholders to develop

a sustainable transport policy.

Literature Review Transportation is one of the main facilities that support human movement

around the world. Transportation reliance on fossil fuel is the main factor making

transportation sector one of the core contributors in greenhouse gas emissions

and energy consumption. Environmental impacts of transport have been causing

several of disturbances in the working environment in universities such as

disturbance to teaching, loss of natural environment and greenery, wildlife

disturbance, despoliation of the land use of parking facility, and health effects of

143

pollutants, noise and vibration on staff and students. These impacts are created

through mainly by local traveling vehicles, delivery vehicles, visitor’s vehicles, and

heavy vehicles for construction.

Universities occupy large areas of land, and growing in populations is likely to

increase the traffics with the universities. The trends of motorization in

universities are matching those in society and in some ways are worsened by

changes in higher education itself as the admission of greater numbers of mature

students probably raises the proportion of car-owning students. Car has

demonstrated to have the highest usage of energy per distance travel per

passenger, where it consumes almost four times more energy compared to a bus

and will emit greenhouse gas per passenger per distance two times more than a

motorcycle and five times more than a bus at full load. It is almost certain that

traveling is the largest impact created within university on the environment, so

that transport issue should occupy a vital role in university’s policy.

Sustainable transport or known as green transport and it is any form of transport

that does not use or rely on dwindling natural resources. Instead it relies on

renewable or regenerated energy rather than fossil fuels that have a finite life

expectancy (Michael. E, 2011). Campus sustainability has become a major focus

in global issues; sustainable transportation planning can be seen as a positive

movement towards a contribution to our environment. Sustainable

transportation system provides incentives for walking, bicycling, ridesharing,

discouraging the use of single-occupancy vehicle and Effective land use planning

that accommodate transportation planning. Thus, in line with the launch of

University Malaya Eco-campus blueprint 2015, UM must proclaim their intent by

taking environmental challenges seriously and to be proactive toward mitigating

the effect of global environmental degradation. As a result of it, UM community

need to embark on more sustainable campus planning as dedicated in the

declaration. UM need to find a more comprehensive approach for

institutionalizing ‘green” in the campus from all dimensions including the bridging

of academic content, administrative policies, and facilities development.

Universities as an important hub that enhance learning and research activities for

higher education should welcome all of their stakeholders to endorse

collaboration and partnership in policy making and promote sustainability to

accommodate the necessities of serving the society. As nowadays university

carried an important responsibility in shaping the future generation, therefore it

is important to bleach future policy maker with the awareness of sustainability.

Reducing car dependency will somehow create imperceptible benefits to a

university. ‘Green’ may become a potential attraction for student’s choice of

university; particularly due to prominence of environmental issues have become

not only in the society but also in the curriculum of many schools.

144

A preliminary data collection was made to monitor the amount of vehicle

traveling within UM from the main entrance gate of KL and PJ. The flow of traffic

would make approximately 3km of travelling. 5 types of vehicles were found

travelling within the campus road with the number of private cars topping the

list. Private car found to be the most common vehicle within these roads with

93% of the total number, while motorcycle at 3.5%, gasoline truck 1.5%, diesel

truck 0.85% and diesel bus 0.7%. Innovative sustainable transport policy needs to

be introduced to reduce the dependency of motorized vehicle, especially cars. In

order to put an appropriate transport policy, ground data such as traffic counts

and parking space audit were needed. Data collection will be carried out within

a 6-month period which include on-site. Meanwhile, a project on "park and

ride/walk" system will be carried out within the campus to promote the usage of

other alternatives among the university communities. Each alternative will be

assessed with the utilization of four criteria; reduction of environmental impact,

cost effectiveness, feasibility, and potential student and faculty support.

Methodology i) Networking with Stakeholders and Participants

One of the main objectives in this study is to form a strategic collaboration with

various stakeholders in University Malaya in order to improve decision-making

and implementation of policies. Our main stakeholders are the Information

Technology Centre (PTM), UM Security, and Department of Development &

Estate Maintenance (JPPHB) as their idea and information are important in this

study. The closed-circuit television recording (CCTV) at campus gate is required

and will be obtained from these stakeholders. Other than that, periodical meeting

and discussion with stakeholders will allow us to get more understanding on

traffic pattern, management and enforcement of campus transportation system.

ii) Procedure

The study involved two on-site surveying involved traffic and parking audit. The

parking audit is a data collection method that involved parking counting and

parking interview. Parking count in the study area was divided into 3 main zones

such as faculty/institute/Centre building, facilities/administration building and

residential colleges. Patrol survey was also carried out in this study to identify

the status of parking during office hour in term of occupancy.

The traffic audit appointed 10 enumerators to conduct traffic count at specific

checkpoints of road junctions and 2 campus gates (Damansara and Intan gate).

The traffic count was conducted for 12 hours monitoring session starting from

7.30 am to 7.30 pm in a typical weekday. The enumerators were given briefing

first before executing the survey. This is to ensure that the enumerators

understood on the details of the study and conduct it correctly. The data

obtained was analysed using SPSS statistical tools.

145

Results i) Preliminary data collection

The pilot study on the traffic audit was conducted before the actual run to

familiarize the situation on site and to identify weakness of the method and

overcome it before actual run. The pilot study was based on CCTV recordings

provided by Security Office (Traffic and Control Department). However, only

CCTV-recording of KL, PJ, Damansara and FBL@Sec16 gate were available. Two

enumerators were appointed to analyze the recording. Nevertheless, the data

given was limited due to technical problem. Based on records in one typical

weekday, KL gate has the highest numbers of vehicles entering the campus with

more than a thousand cars in an hour (Table 1).

Table 1: Volume of car, lorry and motorcycle entering the campus every hour

TIME KL GATE PJ GATE FBL GATE

0700 – 0800 1658 562 469

0800 – 0900 1767 581 628

0900 – 1000 1437 472 362

1000 – 1100 1281 392 257

1100 – 1200 1236 381 248

1200 – 1300 1122 336 223

1300 – 1400 1326 413 258

1400 – 1500 1384 414 275

1500 – 1600 980 312 191

1600 – 1700 1101 332 199

1700 – 1800 1223 349 306

1800 – 1900 1460 453 260

1900 – 2000 1455 463 150

TOTAL 17430 5460 3826

ii) Parking Space Audit

Park and ride in campus is a facility that consist of parking lots with public

transport connections which allow people to head to their destinations by leaving

their vehicles and transfer to a bus or carpool for remainder of the journey. In

this study, a parking audit was conducted for all building of administration,

residential college, facilities, faculty, institute and centre in UM zone. The data in

year 2013 was provided by JPPHB. The parking status from JPPHB data are

146

showed in the table below (Table 2) with total of 6319 for car, 5592 for

motorcycle, 21 for OKU (cars), 41 for buses, 9 for lorries, and 69 for bicycle.

Table 2: Numbers of Parking in UM for 2013 (JPPHB’s database)

ZONE CAR MOTOR

CYCLE OKU BUS LORRY

BI-

CYCLE

Faculty / Institute

/ Centre 3000 2073 10 0 4 0

Residential

Colleges 857 2117 4 1 0 69

Facilities /

Administration 2462 1402 7 40 5 0

Total 6319 5592 21 41 9 69

Table 3: Numbers of Parking in UM for 2017 (actual counting)

ZONE CAR MOTOR

CYCLE OKU BUS LORRY

BI-

CYCLE

Faculty / Institute

/ Centre 3580 2512 10 0 4 0

Residential

Colleges 998 2307 4 1 0 69

Facilities /

Administration 2095 1322 7 40 5 0

Total 6673 6141 21 41 9 69

The research team member had conducted a parking audit at all listed zone. The

total number of parking is 12,980 (Table 3). The parking audit was conducted on

early January 2016 during peak hour. The number of parking have been increases

from 12, 051 at year 2013 to 12,980 at year 2017 with car parking increases by

5.6% and motorcycle 9.8%. Other parking for OKU, bus, lorry and bicycle did

not have any changes. Based on observation, most of faculty and administration

parking area are covered by barrier gate system.

iii) Vehicle Sticker

The UM vehicle sticker data were obtained from security office covers the

approval numbers for 2014, 2015 and 2016 for both staff and student. The UM

sticker is required to be renew annually. Based on the 3 years’ database, the

number of UM sticker has exceeded the amount of parking availability in the

campus with a difference of more than 3000 (50%). The number of sticker

approved for car in year 2014 and 2015 showed a decreased from 10,592 to

9068 but slightly increased again in year 2016 with 9800. The number of sticker

for motorcycle also had similar pattern from 2230 in year 2014, decreased to

1731 in year 2015 and increased to 2143 in year 2016.

147

Table 4: Numbers of UM vehicle sticker approved (UM Security database)

Categories 2014 2015 2016

UM Management Car: 146

Motorcycle: 8

Van: 0

Car: 181

Motorcycle: 12

Van : 0

Car: 134

Motorcycle: 18

Van: 6

Academic Staff Car: 2934

Motorcycle: 111

Van: 21

Car: 2932

Motorcycle: 90

Van: 26

Car: 2810

Motorcycle: 88

Van: 23

Non-Academic Staff Car: 4029

Motorcycle: 1519

Van: 26

Car: 3817

Motorcycle: 1388

Van: 17

Car: 3781

Motorcycle: 1430

Van: 31

UM Students Car: 2995

Motorcycle: 543

Car: 1633

Motorcycle: 204

Car: 2608

Motorcycle: 571

RA, RO, Contract

Staff

Car: 307

Motorcycle: 27

Van: 3

Car: 362

Motorcycle: 27

Van: 1

Car: 319

Motorcycle: 28

Van: 1

Contactor, Vendor

& Canteen Operator

Car: 0

Motorcycle: 0

Lorry: 0

Car: 0

Motorcycle: 0

Lorry: 0

Car: 15

Motorcycle: 2

Lorry: 1

Others (Retirees,

PALAPES, Bank Staff,

etc.

Car: 181

Motorcycle: 25

Van: 4

Lorry: 1

Car: 143

Motorcycle: 10

Van: 0

Lorry: 0

Car: 133

Motorcycle: 6

Van: 0

Lorry: 0

Categories 2014 2015 2016

Car 10592 9068 9800

Motorcycle 2230 1731 2143

Van 51 44 61

Lorry 1 0 1

Other 6 0 0

iv) Traffic Volume and Pattern in Campus

The survey involved 12-hour of traffic counts at all campus gates, and three

intersections in the campus. This survey was conducted on 8th November 2016

in one typical weekday (Tuesday) and without any main events that might affect

the traffic flow. The three main intersections were given the coding of A1 (Right

and Left), B2 (Right and Left) and C3 (Right and Left). The checkpoints A1

(3.119249, 101.654650) is the intersection from Kuala Lumpur (KL) gate to

either the Petaling Jaya (PJ) gate or to the centre of campus. The checkpoints B2

(3.121598, 101.654081) is the intersections at UM Library either to UM Central

or Faculty of Science. Lastly is checkpoint C3 (3.121582, 101.660494) which is

the intersections to Damansara gate or KL gate.

148

Figure 1: Data collection locations

The scope of this study is focused on the trip distribution inside the UM campus

during the 12-hours collection period. Other than that, the analysis also is able

to forecast the number of vehicle using UM road as shortcut. The generation of

traffic distribution inside the campus may be derived from the volume of vehicles

passing trough of those checkpoints. Below are the volumes of traffic counts for

selected gates in the campus. The volume of vehicles entering the campus from

KL gate has the highest volume with more than 1000 vehicles at 0730-0830 which

is the peak hour. The volume for PJ and FBL gate were not fully completed as

the CCTV recording had a technical issue during transferring the data (*) and

had been reported to the management party (PTM).

Figure 2: Traffic counts for entry time in campus

0

200

400

600

800

1000

1200

KL IN

Intan IN

Damansara IN

PJ IN

FBL IN

149

Table 5: Traffic counts for entry time in campus

TIME KL IN INTAN IN DAMANSARA IN PJ IN FBL IN

0730 - 0830 1108 79 242 * 105*

0830 - 0930 839 24 165 * *

0930 - 1030 661 54 122 * *

1030 - 1130 618 40 81 * 57*

1130 - 1230 592 57 86 * *

1230 - 1330 573 73 80 * 24*

1330 - 1430 606 80 82 221* 225*

1430 - 1530 360 40 76 366* 52*

1530 - 1630 457 52 43 174* 92*

1630 - 1730 543 64 41 192* 5*

1730 - 1830 509 57 163 211* *

1830 - 1930 390 9 136 * *

Total 7256 629 1317 1164 560

Figure 3: Traffic counts for exit time in campus

0100200300400500600700800900

1000

KL OUT

Intan OUT

Damansara OUT

PJ OUT

FBL OUT

150

Table 6: Traffic counts for exit time in campus

TIME KL OUT INTAN

OUT

DAMAN

SARA

OUT

PJ OUT FBL

OUT

0730 - 0830 597 28 40 * 17*

0830 - 0930 628 24 48 * *

0930 - 1030 381 21 45 * *

1030 - 1130 349 27 51 * 19*

1130 - 1230 550 23 63 * *

1230 - 1330 562 33 71 * 18*

1330 - 1430 475 31 53 247* 104*

1430 - 1530 365 26 75 462* 32*

1530 - 1630 676 40 49 258* 125*

1630 - 1730 924 37 51 538* 7*

1730 - 1830 772 46 372 494* *

1830 - 1930 699 16 161 * *

Total 6978 352 1079 1999 322

v) The Internal Trips and By-Pass Route

The internal trips data referred to the movements of a vehicle inside campus.

The data extracted using SPSS tools focusing on vehicle that product more than

three movements within 12-hour monitoring period. Those movements were

recorded when the campus vehicle moved to one destinations to another and

passing through the monitoring checkpoints. Thus, not all movements were

recoded.

Table 7: The numbers of vehicles conduct internal trips

Number of Vehicles

<3 Movements <4 Movements

1400 569

The by-pass route data referred to the vehicles that used UM route as a shortcut.

There were several possible routes had been identified from traffic count data.

The highest counts were recorded in the morning 7.30 am to 8.30 am follow by

4.30 pm-5.30 pm, and 8.30 am-9.30 am. The table below showed the relationship

between total numbers of vehicles entering the campus in each hour vs the

numbers of by-pass.

151

Table 8: The by-pass vehicles

Time Vehicle Entering

(Total From All Gate) Total By Pass

0730 - 0830 1534 583

0830 - 0930 1028 531

0930 - 1030 837 319

1030 - 1130 796 161

1130 - 1230 735 259

1230 - 1330 750 380

1330 - 1430 1214 293

1430 - 1530 894 243

1530 - 1630 818 377

1630 - 1730 845 581

1730 - 1830 940 463

1830 - 1930 535 245*

Total 10926 4435

Discussion i) Carbon Emission Estimation

From the 12-hours monitoring period, we found that at least 1400 of campus

vehicles conduct internal trips within the campus. Based on assumption that

these vehicles will travel approximately 2.3km (the distance of one circulation on

campus) for every internal trip. According to study published by Duffy, A.,

Crawford, R.(2013), total carbon emission produced by these car will generate

676,200 gCO2e emission. If these trips would be made by using campus buses,

the estimated carbon emission can be reduced to only 14,240g CO2e emissions

by considering a bus with average occupancy of 40 passengers per trip. If these

trips would be made by walking instead of car, the carbon emission can be

reduced to 84,369g CO2e emissions (based on walking distance of 720m). Thus,

it showed that the campus bus can be a suitable alternative mode apart from

walking for UM communities to conduct their internal trips.

The study also found that at least 4435 vehicles conduct a by-pass within the

campus. The possibilities of by-pass were identified based on the traffic counts at

the checkpoints and gates. There are seven possible by-pass routes that had been

identified. The carbon emission was calculated based on each distance of possible

152

route and carbon factor. The results showed that more than 1,087,800g CO2e

was produced by these vehicles within 12-hour period.

Figure 5: Carbon emission per passenger different mode

Table 9: The by-pass carbon emission per passenger

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

500,000

600,000

700,000

800,000

Car Bus Cycle Walk

Carbon Emission 12-h Per Passenger

gCO2-eq/km

Car

Bus

Cycle

Walk

Possibility By-Pass

Route in UM

Distance

(km) Frequency No/km

Unit/

Value

CO2 per

12-h

KL in A1R

1.51 1,344 2029

210gCO2-

Eq/km

426,090

KL in A1L B2R 2.10 564 1184 248,640

KL in A1L B2L

Intan out 1.79 33 59 12,390

KL in A1L C3L

Damansara out 3.66 40 146 30,660

C3L Damansara out 1.82 266 484 101,640

Damansara in A1R 3.05 121 369 77,490

C3R KL out 0.44 2,067 909 190,890

Total 14.37 4,435 5180 - 1,087,800

gCO2e

153

ii) Walkability

Walkability is an important concept that can gives benefits to health,

environmental and economics. In terms of environmental, the most positive

impact of walkability is to decrease the automobile footprints in the campus.

Carbon emission can be reduced if more people choose to walk rather than

drive to one destination which has short distance. Economically, good plan of

walkability can give benefits which include ease accessibility, cost savings to both

individuals and public, increased efficiency of land use, and increased liveability.

Hence, several improvements are required to make the campus more walkable

such as moving obstructions of the sidewalk, proper quality of maintenance in

lighting and safety on sidewalk, provide covered walkway and improving

crosswalk safety.

Figure 6: Visual observation of an obstruction

on pedestrians near bus stop at Faculty

Engineering and main road to Petaling Jaya gate.

The banner is in the middle of walkway and

limits the space to pedestrians.

iii) Park and Ride/Walk Project

There are many ways that can be taken to advertise other alternatives

transportation mode to the communities such as brochures, poster, article,

news, social media, and events. This study had installed walking sign pole at four

locations in campus which are Faculty of Engineering, UM Central, Dewan Tunku

Canselor (DTC) and Chancellery building. The walking sign pole consists of

arrows that show the numbers of walking steps and time needed to reach the

Place of Interest (POI). The main purpose of these poles are to encourage the

UM community to travel by walking and it can reduce the numbers of cars off

the road. Walking also can relate to numbers of calories burned for every step.

The amount of calories burned per steps varies by the individual; body weight,

height, speed and intensity of the workout. The value of carbon emission and

energy consumption can be reduced greatly if the UM community can reduce

their internal trips by walking or ride university shuttle bus for midday trips on

campus. According to study published by Duffy, A., Crawford, R. (2013). The

effect of physical activity on greenhouse gas emission for common transport

modes in European countries. Transportation Research Part D 19, 13-19 stated

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a person travel by walking significantly affected by food-energy and indirect shoe

manufacturing emission account for about 43% of emission of 83.7gCO2-

eq/pass.km compared to bus 176.9gCO2-eq/pass.km and travel by car at

205.5gCO2-eq/pass.km of carbon emission. Thus, showed that walking results in

the lowest overall emission from travelling by car, bus and cycling.

Figure 6: Example of promotional measure taken in the study

iv) Education and Enforcement

Based on the number of internal trips and by-pass generated in 12-hour of survey,

a proper planning is required to solve this issue which involved decision maker

from UM stakeholders. Thus, to reduce the internal trips apart encourages UM

staff and students to walk were to increase the frequency of UM shuttle bus

within campus. Based on the carbon emission estimation conclude that the bus

usage had the lowest overall emission than other alternatives. Regarding the

number of by-pass vehicles, this study suggested to introduce paid sticker for

visitor who wish to enter UM campus. A force registration required for them if

they wanted to use UM campus as a shortcut. Thus, current policies must be

improvised for better enforcement.

Conclusion

In this study, car travel was found to have the highest volume and contributions

in carbon emission intensity inside the campus. Unregistered vehicles entering

the campus are causing congestions within campus especially during peak hours.

These vehicles used UM road as by-pass route to shorten their travelling time

from PJ to KL and vice versus. The parking space provided inside the campus

cannot accommodate the huge numbers of vehicles entering the campus. There

are several approach which can be apply to encourage the community to use

non-motorized transport which can helps to reduce carbon emission inside

campus.

155

Acknowledgement This study was conducted with full support from authorities of University Malaya,

Kuala Lumpur. The authors would like to thank to all party who has given their

kind cooperation by providing the information and data needed in this study such

as Information Technology Centre (PTM), UM Security and Department of

Development and Estate Maintenance (JPPHB). This work was funded under UM

Living Lab Grant Programme: (LL026-16SUS) though a grant from Sustainability

Science Research Cluster.The authors also want to show their greats thanks to

UM students and staff that had help us sincerely filling the questionnaire.

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Carlos, J.L.B. (2003). Transport Policy: Sustainable Transportation Planning on

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Isiaka, A.A.A., Chin, S.H. (2015). Scientific Research Publishing: Realizing Low

Carbon Emission in the University Campus Towards Energy Sustainability, 4,

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Jalalkamali, N., Fatemeh, M.N.G. (2012). Procedia: Social and Behavioral

Sciences.The Cycling Potentials of Malaysian Students in UiTM Campus, 50,

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Keoy, K.H., Fadzil, H., Masnizan, C.M. (2012). Procedia: Social and Behavioral

Sciences. An Exploratory Study of Readiness and Development of Green

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Habib, M. A., Ismaila, A. (2008). Science Direct: An Integrated Approach to

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Notes on Contributors

Dr. Ali Mohammed Alashwal earned his Ph.D. in Building & Construction

Economics from the University of Malaya and currently a Senior Lecturer at his

alma mater. He has a Master Degree in Construction Management from

University Technology of Malaysia and a Bachelor Degree in Architecture from

Ibb University, Yemen. Dr. Alashwal is a certified Project Management

Professional (PMP) from the Project Management Institute (PMI), USA. Prior to

joining the academia, Dr. Alashwal was working as an architect for about 4 years.

During that time, he conducted many architectural designs including consultancy

works for the Social Fund for Development, World Bank, to develop education

infrastructure in rural areas in Yemen. Dr. Alashwal has published two books and

several papers in international refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Dr. Muhammad Azzam Ismail, Ph.D. in Built Environment (UNSW) is a

Graduate Architect and an expert in green architecture and green building rating.

He teaches architecture at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur and is the

current Head of Department of Architecture. His current research through

awarded grants includes building energy consumption management, operational

carbon footprint of residential properties and low carbon cities. At national level,

he was appointed as the Chairman of the Malaysia Council of Heads of

Architecture Schools (COHAS) from 2014-2016. Through his appointment as

Fellow at the Tun Syed Zahiruddin Residential College (9th College), he

supervised and participated in numerous student-led activities including the

yearly college award dinner and the "Global Community Service (GLOCOSE)"

international community service program to Acheh (Indonesia), Kampung Cham

(Cambodia) and Tay Ninh (Vietnam). In line with his interest in Sustainability and

low carbon cities, he actively delivered capacity building lectures through

UMCARES and was awarded UMCARES Certificate of Excellence in Sustainability

2014.

Dr. Karam Mustafa Al-Obaidi is an architect and scholar in the field of

adaptive architecture and sustainable building design. His research primarily

focuses on architectural technology and the future of buildings and cities.

Currently, he is a Senior Lecturer in Department of Architecture, Faculty of Built

Environment, University of Malaya. He received a Doctor of Philosophy in

Sustainable Architecture (Ph.D), a Master of Science (MSc) in Building

Technology from School of Housing Building and Planning at Universiti Sains

Malaysia (USM) and a Bachelor of Engineering Major Architecture from Sana’a

University. He is a member of several international scientific associations and he

has been invited as a speaker in several universities, conferences and events. He

serves as an editorial board member and/or reviewer for various top-ranked

international journals and conferences including Energy and Buildings, Energy

157

Conversion and Management, Indoor and Built Environment and many. He has

published many papers in reputed international journals and conferences.

Sharifah Noor Nazim Syed Yahya is currently a postgraduate student in

occupational safety at the University of Malaya, Malaysia and holds a Master of

Science (Architecture) Degree from the same university. She has thirteen years’

experience in facilities and building management and is a full-time practising

architect in the University of Malaya, Malaysia.

Mohammed Hatim Al-Sabahi is currently a PhD student in sustainable

architecture at University of Malaya - Malaysia. He holds a M.Sc. (Building) in

Project Management from the same university. As an architect, he has 15 years

of experience in the designing and construction field in Yemen and the Arab

region. Dr. Noor Suzaini M. Zaid is currently teaching at the Department of Building

Surveying in Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya. Suzaini holds a

PhD degree in Planning and Urban Development from the Faculty of the Built

Environment, University of New South Wales. She has teaching experience in

the fields of building surveying, urban planning, and sustainable development. Her

current research interest focuses on energy efficiency, zero-carbon

development, climate change mitigation and adaptation in built environment.

Suzaini was part of the testing of the United Nations Environment Programme’s

Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative (UNEP-SBCI)’s Common Carbon

Metric and Protocol tool Pilot Test Phase 1 and Phase 2 in the Malaysian context

through her PhD research. Her research was conducted in collaboration of the

Ministry of Higher Education Malaysia, University of New South Wales, UNEP-

SBCI, and the City Hall of Kuala Lumpur. Her current research project includes

SULED-BIM: Sustainability Led Design Through Building Information Modelling

with collaboration with University of Manchester under the 2015 UK Newton

Fund. Other projects she is involved in are within areas of work productivity,

green buildings, acoustic properties of residential buildings, and housing and

rehabilitation.

Dr. Zul Ilham completed his undergraduate degree in University of Malaya

before being awarded with Panasonic Scholarship for masters and JICA

AUN/SEED-Net Scholarship for his doctoral study at the Department of Socio-

Environmental Energy Science, Kyoto University, Japan. His current research

interest is bioenergy, with special focus on production of sustainable biofuel and

bioproduct from biomass and also studying energy efficiency and biomimicry, as

means to reduce impacts of climate change. Among the subjects he coordinated

are Renewable Energy Processes, Climate Change and Energy Science,

Environmental Chemical Analysis and Environmental Biotechnology for the

Environmental Science and Management Program. He was recently selected as

158

the Young South-East-Asian Leaders Initiative (YSEALI) Professional Fellow of

Environmental Sustainability 2017, supported by the US Department of State,

allowing him to experience the environmental sustainability initiatives in the

states of New Hampshire (Hooksett), Maine (Wells National Reserve), Vermont

(White Mountain Biodiesel), Massachusetts (MIT) and Washington D.C.(DOE).

He is also a Certified Energy Manager (CEM), accredited under the ASEAN

Energy Management Scheme (AEMAS) of ASEAN Centre of Energy (ACE). Other

than his academic pursuit, he is fond of reading, backyard gardening and walking

nature trails.

Dr. Mohd Yazed Ahmad received the B.E. degree from the Department of

Electrical Engineering, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 2003, the

M.S. degree from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of

Engineering, University of Malaya, in 2006, and the Ph.D. degree from the

University of Technology, Sydney, Australia, in 2013. He is currently a Senior

Lecturer with the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,

University of Malaya. His current research interests include wireless power

transfer, RFID, instrumentation systems, Smart space, IOT and Energy

monitoring & management systems.

Professor Dr. Debra Si-Mui Sim is currently a professor in the Department

of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. She obtained her

B.Sc. (Hons) and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Liverpool, U.K.,

before joining the present university as a lecturer in 1984. Debra is actively

involved in the teaching-learning activities of the Faculty of Medicine, serving in

the Medical Education and Research Development Unit (MERDU) and as the

faculty Problem-Based Learning (PBL) Coordinator. She is the Secretary of the

Asia-Pacific Association on PBL in Health Sciences (APA-PHS) and the Vice-

President of Malaysian PBL Practitioners (MyPBL). Debra was a 2007-Fellow of

the FAIMER Institute, based in Philadelphia, USA. Her FAIMER project was on

the training of prescribing skills in undergraduate medical students, which later

developed into a module that involves interprofessional learning (IPL) between

final-year medical and pharmacy students. She also chairs the Institutional Animal

Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and sits in the UM Eco-Campus Standing

Committee. Debra’s research interests include pharmacokinetics, snake venom

pharmacology, PBL, prescribing skill training, IPL and action research.

Dr Pauline Lai Siew Mei is an Associate Professor in the Department of

Primary Care Medicine, University of Malaya. She graduated from the Victorian

College of Pharmacy (Melbourne) and obtained her Doctorate from the

University of Malaya (Malaysia). Her area of research is on osteoporosis, vitamin

D inadequacy, improving patient/drug safety, patient education, validation of

instruments of measure (quality of life, knowledge and satisfaction

questionnaires) and antibiotic stewardship projects. Before her switch to the

159

academic line, she practised as an industrial and hospital pharmacist in the field

of medical information, and pharmacy computerisation. She has published several

articles in international peer reviewed journals and presented in many

conferences. Dr Lai has been invited to be an external reviewer for several

journals. She has won several awards for best oral and poster presentations.

Apart from her academic achievements, she also represents the University of

Malaya in the annual UM-NUS golf tournament.

Dr Tan Kit Mun is a consultant geriatrician in the University of Malaya Medical

Centre (UMMC). She received her medical degree MB BCh (II Hons) from

Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland in 1999. Dr. Tan is a member of the

Royal College of Physicians Edinburgh, (MRCP) UK since 2002. She completed

her specialist training and received her CSCST in Geriatric Medicine and General

Internal Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians Ireland in 2009. She was

practising as a consultant geriatrician in Dublin from 2009 until she returned

home to Malaysia to work in UMMC in 2013. Dr Tan's special interests include

stroke, atrial fibrillation, dementia, hypertension in the older person,

osteoporosis, patient safety and comprehensive geriatric assessment of the

complex older person. Dr Tan is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of

Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya.

Mary Lee Hong Gee is a lecturer in the Department of Pharmacy, Faculty of

Medicine, University of Malaya since 2006. She obtained her Bachelor of

Pharmacy degree from Curtin University of Technology, Perth Australia in 1995.

After working for several years, she went for further study and subsequently

obtained her Master of Pharmacy degree (Clinical Pharmacy) from Universiti

Sains Malaysia, Penang, Malaysia in 2004. After graduated from her bachelor

degree, she worked as a pharmacist in community pharmacies in Australia. She

worked in private hospital’s pharmacy and community pharmacies as pharmacist

and purchasing officer when she came back to Malaysia in 1996. She also took

the opportunity to work in a hospital in Singapore after obtaining her Master

degree. She is the member of various Pharmacy professional bodies in Malaysia,

Australia and Singapore. She is actively involved in research and her research

interest is in the field of pharmacy practice and clinical pharmacy; looking at the

use of medicine, and community and hospital pharmacy practices. In year 2012,

she enrolled as a PhD student under the University of Malaya and explored into

the medication-related issues encountered by the caregivers of patients with

neurological disorders.

Che Zuraini Sulaiman is the Chief Pharmacist in the Department of Pharmacy,

University of Malaya Medical Centre. She graduated with a Bachelor of Pharmacy

(Hons) from the University of Science (Malaysia) in 1985 and obtained her

Masters in Clinical Pharmacy from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia in 2004. She is

actively involved in several committees in the hospital where she works. She is

the Chairman of Medication Safety Committee and also Secretary to Drug and

160

Therapeutic Committee. She is also the chairman of the SAE subcommittee

under Medical Research and Ethics Committee (MREC) in the UMMC. Since

2015, she has been involved in quality system management where was appointed

as Lead Internal Auditor (ISO 9000) for her hospital. She has co-authored a few

published articles in the field of clinical pharmacy in international peer reviewed

journals throughout her career.

Dr. Sumiani Yusoff is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Engineering,

UM, specialising in Environmental Engineering and Management. She obtained her

PhD in Environmental Engineering and Management from University of Malaya,

MSc in Public Health and Environmental Control Engineering from University of

Strathclyde, Glasgow, Scotland, United Kingdom and Bachelor of Civil

Engineering (Hons) from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Currently she is Dean of

Sustainability Science Research cluster in UM. Prior to that she was the Deputy

Director and Chief Auditor of the Quality Management and Enhancement Centre

(QMEC), UM. A Civil Engineer by training, her research interests and area of

specialisation include environmental management systems, life cycle management

and assessment, environmental impact assessment, environmental planning and

management using Geographical Information System (GIS), integrated solid waste

management, eco-design and sustainable production, eco-labelling, and

environmental reporting.

Jaron Keng is the research officer of UM Zero Waste Campaign. He was the

key person to initiate the campaign since year 2010. He has a bachelor degree in

environmental engineering. Since the final year of his degree, he realized the

importance of waste segregation at source and separate collection. With

determination and enthusiasm, he started several recycling and biowaste

treatment projects in UM. Throughout the journey, Jaron realized the

importance of the policy and economy instruments, technology know how,

behavioral change, public awareness, financial model, legal aspect, etc in solving

environmental issues. Realizing the market failure and negative externalities of

waste management, he continued his Master of Public Policy in INPUMA, UM to

gain knowledge on how to curb environmental issues with multidisciplinary

expertise. Besides his environmental involvement in UM, Jaron is involved in

some NGOs such as AECCOM, Ensearch, MNS, etc and he is the secretary of

Green and Blue Environmental Protection Society and Sustainable Urban Living

Association of Malaysia. Jaron is also aspired to develop integrated waste

management in Malaysia which is an uphill challenge to move forward but with

many promising potentials as well as the saying “In any crisis there is

opportunity”.

Dr. Norbani Che-Ha is an Associate Professor and Head of Department of

Marketing, Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, Kuala

Lumpur. Her research interests are in marketing capabilities, consumer behavior

and small and medium enterprises. She publishes widely in several journals such

161

as Journal of Business Research, Journal of Strategic Marketing, Marketing

Intelligent and Planning and many others. She also contributes to several book

chapters and has many books on her own.

Saad Mohd Said is a Senior Lecturer at Department of Economics, Faculty of

Economics and Administration, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. His

research interests are in small and medium enterprises, macroeconomics

performance and policy, labor productivity and services industry. He has

published several books related to his areas of interest. He is actively involved

in research and consultancy work for various private and public institutions in

and outside Malaysia.

Dr. Yap Soon Poh is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering

in Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. Dr. Yap possess a PhD degree in

Civil and Structural Engineering from the Faculty of the Engineering, University

of Malaya. He has teaching experience in the specialization of concrete and civil

engineering materials, structural designs, structural analysis, and engineering

mechanics. His current research interests are on green concrete, construction

and agricultural wastes recycling, special concrete, and organic structural design.

Dr. Yap is the committee member of the Technical Committee on Earthquake

Jawatankuasa Kecil Penyelarasan Penyelidikan Gempa Bumi dan Tsunami which

prepare the Malaysia Annex for Earthquake design standard. His current research

projects are development of waterproofing concrete mortar, green pervious

concrete, construction wastes recycling in concrete and micro-mechanics

characterization of civil engineering materials.

Hussein Adebayo Ibrahim is a PhD student at the Department of Civil

Engineering in Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. His research interest

is Construction Technology and Management. His research interests are on

pervious concrete, waste recycling in concrete materials, structural material

characterizations and more. Mr. Adebayo is currently active in various research

and consultation projects including sustainable structural design, structural

rehabilitation, structural integrity inspection, green concrete and pervious

concrete.

Dr. U. Johnson Alengaram is currently an Associate Professor at the Faculty

of Engineering, University of Malaya. He obtained his Bachelor of Civil

Engineering from University of Madras, India. In his Masters in Structural

Engineering, as part of his MEng thesis, he utilized jute as replacement for wood.

His project was acclaimed as one of the best innovative works and the specimens

of his research project - Jute Sandwiched Plywood were displayed at the

International Exhibition held in Delhi, India. Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister

of India (then Union Finance Minister) who inaugurated the exhibition had special

word for his work on jute; his current research work includes development of

sustainable concrete using local waste materials. Dr. Johnson has been in

162

teaching, research and administration for over 18 years and contributed to the

society in different capacities in India, Bahrain and Malaysia. His current research

involves material properties, structural behaviour of lightweight concrete,

utilization of waste materials in concrete, functional behaviour etc. He has about

40 articles published in international journals and conferences. He is also

Chartered Civil Engineer of world renowned Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE,

UK) and the Engineering Council (UK); he is also member of American Concrete

Society (ACI-Kuala Lumpur Chapter) and Concrete Society of Malaysia.

Dr. Mo Kim Hung is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering

in Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. Dr. Yap obtained his PhD degree

in Civil and Structural Engineering from the Faculty of the Engineering, University

of Malaya. He has teaching experience in the specialization of concrete and

structural engineering, structural designs, structural analysis, engineering

mechanics and engineering mathematics. His current research interests are on

green concrete, special concrete, cementitious composites, and structural

repairs. Dr. Yap is the committee member of the Jamilus Research Centre (JRC)

- Sustainable Construction and executive committee for American Concrete

Institute (ACI) - Kuala Lumpur Chapter. His current research projects are

development of waterproofing concrete mortar, development of smart concrete

materials, cementitious composites for structural repairs and masonry

structures.

Dr. Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah is currently a Senior Lecturer at the University

of Malaya, Malaysia. He is also a Director of a UM spin-off company called

Integrated Transportation Solutions Sdn. Bhd. which was established to

manufacture and market various R&D outputs related to intelligent transport

system. He is also actively work as a consultant to various government agencies

and private companies locally and internationally. Dr Ahmad Saifizul Abdullah and

his team have been involved in various research topics that deal with intelligent

and sustainable transportation and issues that are pertinent to local predicament.

Recently, his research focus is to contribute towards reducing road accident

fatalities, reducing road pavement damage, and reducing CO2 emission from

vehicular traffic especially those involving heavy vehicles. Dr. Ahmad Saifizul

Abdullah has won many international awards for his R&D works. Among the

prestigious awards he has received are “Best of the best awards” in Malaysian

Technology Expo 2013, “Best Paper Award – Discovering Interesting Facts” at

9th Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies Conference 2011, and

“Outstanding paper award” at 17th Intelligent Transportation System (ITS)

World Congress, 2010. He also has collaboration work with researchers across

the region where recently he has been appointed as one of co-researchers for a

grant named Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research by Japan Society for the

Promotion of Science (JSPS). He has also published more than 50 scientific and

technical papers, secured more than 20 research grants, and filing a number of

patents.

163

Dr. Onn Chiu Chuen is a senior lecturer and researcher at the Department

of Civil Engineering Faculty of Engineering, University of Malaya. He holds a BSc.

in Engineering (Environment), MSc and PhD in Environmental Engineering from

the Department of Civil Engineering, University Malaya. In line with his academic

background, Onn’s research interest is quite wide-ranging under the

Environmental Engineering. However, his main interests are Life Cycle

Assessment and carbon footprint measurement particularly within the context

of waste (WTE, biogas), energy (biofuels) and transportation (energy, modeling).

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Index

A

Agriculture 89

B

Biofiltration 27

C

Carbon footprint 3, 43, 89, 126,

142

Carbon sequestration 26, 28, 32

Conservation 72, 75, 78

Construction waste 72, 100

D

Development 3, 89, 101

E

Energy management 41

Environmental degradation 143

G

Green building 46

I

Indoor Environmental Quality 1, 2

16

Integrated waste management 75,

78, 80

Intelligent Transportation System

113, 114

M

Medicinal products 59

P

Planning 41, 89, 122, 142, 154

Q

Quality of life 72, 114

S

Sustainable development 27, 36,

61, 76, 82

Sustainable energy 40, 42

T

Traffic congestion 113, 114, 116,

120, 122, 124, 126, 140, 142

U

Urban heat island 26, 27

Urbanisation 27, 126

V

Vertical greenery system 26, 27

W

Waste management 71, 86