Development of a sustainability assessment framework for Malaysian office buildings using a mixed-methods approach

An extensive number of studies have been conducted around the world to develop building performance assessment systems (BPASs) to measure the sustainability of building designs and the built environment in general. However, it has been revealed that most existing BPASs are single-dimensional in their structure; hence, inadequate in addressing many of the non-environmental priorities of emerging/developing countries. Malaysia is one of these countries in need of a context-specific system, especially when the necessary balance between socio-economic and ecological systems – to avoid further environmental damage – has not yet been reached. Therefore, the aim of this research is to develop an appropriate assessment framework that enables sustainability to be addressed and incorporated in office building development, relevant to emerging/developing countries, particularly the Malaysian context. Since sustainability and the framework must be context specific, this study adopted a mixedmethods approach, particularly using the exploratory sequential design i.e. a qualitative followed by a quantitative phase. The goal of the qualitative phase was to identify the most essential assessment criteria. This entailed a synthesis of results from research conducted in three stages: 1) wide-ranging literature review; 2) in-depth, semi-structured, open-ended interviews; and 3) focus groups discussion. The literature review findings from the first stage were synthesized to reveal the relevant assessment criteria and to formulate the requirements for developing the assessment framework. These criteria were further refined in the second and third stages conducted with experts from various backgrounds of the Malaysian construction industry. The criteria identified from, and refined in, the qualitative phase were then brought into the quantitative phase for the purpose of assigning their weighting levels. This phase involved a cross-sectional questionnaire survey in which more than 200 local building stakeholders participated. Synthesizing the above research, and the presentation of the tentative assessment framework to local experts for validation, this thesis finally proposes the Validated Comprehensive Malaysian Office Building Sustainability Assessment (MOBSA) Framework, composed of the followings attributes: 1) 88 Criteria, grouped under 17 Sub-Issues, which in turn are grouped under 3 sustainability Issues; 2) performance benchmarks for each criterion applicable to all phases of building assessment, derived based on theory and expert opinions; and 3) scoring system. The framework was applied to a case study building to identify criteria with missing input data. A comparison of the building’s overall results with those of an existing environmental-focused BPAS indicates that the building achieved a very high overall score in terms of its environmental design performance but scored lower when assessed based on the whole concept or three dimensions of sustainability. The MOBSA framework will potentially encourage a continuous learning process, enhancing stakeholders’ understanding of their roles and responsibilities in supporting sustainability throughout the life cycle of their projects; and, hence, stimulating needed changes in the Malaysian construction industry. This research also contributes to the development of a new model or approach, particularly appropriate for emerging/developing countries, through which a country-specific building sustainability assessment framework may be established that takes relevant priorities into account. In doing so, emerging/developing countries will ultimately have an appropriate basis to create sustainable construction industries, alongside efforts in developed countries to achieve global changes necessary for the future.