Organisers :

ABSTRACT
TechSUD
Symposium on 2023
Technologies for Sustainable
Urban Development
A FUTURE WITH TECHNOLOGIES IS THE FUTURE
FOR SUSTAINABILITY

WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY PENANG | 13 - 14 MAY 2023

Strategic Partners : Main Sponsor:

 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

The abstracts included in this volume were part of 1st National Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable
Urban Development (TechSUD 2023) cited on the cover and title page. Abstracts were selected and subject
to review by the editors and Scientific Committee. The abstracts published in these abstract books reflect the
work and thoughts of the authors and are published herein as submitted. The publisher is not responsible for
the validity of the information or for any outcomes resulting from reliance thereon.

Abstract Book of the 1st National Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development
(TechSUD 2023)
Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia, 13 - 14 May, 2023
Editors: Chun Kiat Chang (Chief); Jeen Ghee Khor; Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz

Published by:
Wawasan Open University
54, Jln Sultan Ahmad Shah, 10050 George Town, Pulau Pinang

i
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Organising Committee

Co-Organising Chairman
Ts. Alex Poo Teng Soo, Technological Association Malaysia
Dr. Teoh Ping Chow, Wawasan Open University

Secretary
Dr. Suaathi Kaliannan, Wawasan Open University

Treasurer
Ir. Dr. Lee Choo Yong, Technological Association Malaysia
Ms. Tan Cheng Peng, Wawasan Open University

Scientific Committee
Ir. Ts. Dr. Chang Chun Kiat, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Chair)
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Sean Tan Koon Tatt, Wawasan Open University
Ir. Ts. Dr. Khor Jeen Ghee, Technological Association Malaysia
Ts. Syahrul Fithry Senin, Universiti Teknologi MARA

Technical Support Committee

School of Technology and Engineering Science, Wawasan Open University
General Services and Administration Department, Wawasan Open University
Information Technology Services Department, Wawasan Open University
Finance Department, Wawasan Open University
Ts. Lance Lai Menn Tatt, Technological Association Malaysia
Tay Shu Shiang, Technological Association Malaysia
Boo Cheik Piow, Technological Association Malaysia
Ir. Ts. Dr. Tan Kim Seah, Technological Association Malaysia
Ts. Nikalus Swee Shu Luing, Technological Association Malaysia
Ts. William Khoo Boo Wooi, Technological Association Malaysia
Nor Ariza Azizan, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Siti Fairuz Juiani, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Muhamad Nurfasya Alias, Universiti Sains Malaysia

Secretariat
Wawasan Open University

ii
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Scientific Committee

Ir. Ts. Dr. Chang Chun Kiat, Universiti Sains Malaysia (Chair)
Ir. Ts. Dr. Khor Jeen Ghee, Technological Association Malaysia
Ir. Ts. Dr. Tan Kim Seah, Technological Association Malaysia
Ir. Dr. Lee Choo Yong, Technological Association Malaysia
Prof Dr Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz, Wawasan Open University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arjuna Marzuki, Wawasan Open University
Dr Mohd Hezri Marzaki, Wawasan Open University
Dr Nurul 'Ulyani Mohd Najib, Wawasan Open University
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr. Sean Tan Koon Tatt, Wawasan Open University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Foo Keng Yuen, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Goh Hui Weng, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr Leo Choe Peng, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Gs. Dr. Mohd Amirul Mahamud, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif Zainol, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Puay How Tion, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Gs. Dr. Tan Mou Leong, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Ir. Ts. Dr. Huzaifa Hashim, Universiti Malaya
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Mohamad Hidayat Jamal, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ir. Che Maznah Mat Isa, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Hazrina Ahmad, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Kuan Woei Keong, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ts. Dr. Mohd Samsudin Abdul Hamid, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Nor Azliza Akbar, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ts. Syahrul Fithry Senin, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tey Li Sian, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Yee Hooi Min, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr Abdul Rahman Ayub, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology
Dr. Woo Suk Wah, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Ir. Dr Kuok King Kuok, Swinburne University Sarawak Campus
Ir. Ts. Gs. Dr. Ting Sie Chun, Sarawak Economy Development Corporation
Ts. Dr. Tiang Tow Leong, Universiti Malaysia Perlis
Ts. Dr. Baharin Ahmad, Politeknik Port Dickson
Dr. Ruslawati Abdul Wahab, Politeknik Port Dickson
Dr. Zuraidah Ahmad, Politeknik Port Dickson

iii
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

List of Reviewers

Assoc. Prof. Ts. Dr Abdul Rahman Ayub, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology
Prof. Dr. Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz, Wawasan Open University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Arjuna Marzuki, Wawasan Open University
Ts. Dr. Baharin Ahmad, Politeknik Port Dickson
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ir. Che Maznah Mat Isa, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ir. Ts. Dr. Chang Chun Kiat, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Ir. Dr. Chua Bih Lii, Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Assoc. Prof. Dr Foo Keng Yuen, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Goh Hui Weng, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Hazrina Ahmad, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ir. Ts. Dr. Huzaifa Hashim, Universiti Malaya
Ir. Ts. Dr. Khor Jeen Ghee, Technological Association Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Ts. Ir. Dr Kuok King Kuok, Swinburne University Sarawak Campus
Dr. Kuan Woei Keong, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ts. Lai Hai Chuan, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology
Assoc. Prof. Ir Dr Leo Choe Peng, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Meldi Suhatril, Universiti Malaya
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Ts. Dr. Mohamad Hidayat Jamal, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia
Dr. Gs. Mohd Amirul Mahamud, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Ashraf Mohamad Ismail, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd Arif Zainol, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Ts. Dr. Mohd Samsudin Abdul Hamid, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Nor Azliza Akbar, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Nurul 'Ulyani Mohd Najib, Wawasan Open University
Dr. Puay How Tion, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Ruslawati Abdul Wahab, Politeknik Port Dickson
Ts. Syahrul Fithry Senin, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ir. Ts. Dr. Tan Kim Seah, Technological Association Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Sean Tan Koon Tatt, Wawasan Open University
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gs. Tan Mou Leong, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tey Li Sian, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Ts. Dr. Tiang Tow Leong, Universiti Malaysia Perlis
Dr. Vynotdni Rathinasamy, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr. Woo Suk Wah, Tunku Abdul Rahman University of Management and Technology
Assoc. Prof. Ir. Dr. Yee Hooi Min, Universiti Teknologi MARA
Dr. Yew Hoe Tung, Universiti Malaysia Sabah
Dr. Yu Kok Hwa, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr Nurul Hana Mokhtar Kamal, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Dr Anurita Selvarajoo, University of Nottingham Malaysia

iv
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Sponsor

PLYTEC Holding Sdn Bhd

v
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Preface

TechSUD 2023 is the 1st National Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development and will
be held from May 13th to 14th 2023 at Wawasan Open University, Georgetown, Penang, Malaysia. The
symposium is organised by the Technological Association Malaysia (TAM) and Wawasan Open University
(WOU), and supported by the strategic partners, Malaysia Board of Technologists (MBOT), Construction
Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia, River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre
(REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM).

Technology has become an integral part of our daily life and it has immense potential to drive sustainable
development and create a better future for all. By leveraging on the latest technological advancements, the
negative impact on the environment can be reduced, and sustainable practices can be promoted in various
sectors. TechSUD 2023 aims to explore the critical relationship between technology and sustainability,
highlighting how technology can be harnessed to achieve sustainable development goals. The event will
bring together a diverse group of participants, including academic scientists, researchers, technologists,
industry practitioners, policy and decision makers, students, and scholars. Participants will present and share
their recent research findings, innovations, ideas, developments, and applications in their respective areas
with the aim of promoting sustainable urban development. In this regard, this symposium will offer a good
platform, where field experts will present technical papers on various aspects of sustainable urban
development.

The symposium will serve as a platform to facilitate the sharing of recent scientific knowledge, management
approaches, and solutions among participants from diverse backgrounds. Participants will include individuals
from academia, research institutions, industry companies, non-government organizations, and government
agencies, all of whom will bring unique perspectives and expertise to the discussions. This interdisciplinary
exchange of ideas and information will enable participants to learn from one another and gain a deeper
understanding of the challenges and opportunities related to sustainable urban development. By promoting
collaboration and knowledge-sharing across various sectors, the symposium aims to drive innovation and
progress towards a more sustainable future.

Themes
A Future with Technologies is the Future for Sustainability

Sub-Themes
1. Advances in Sustainable Construction
2. Intelligent Buildings for Sustainability
3. IoT and AI in Urban Development
4. Sustainable Cities and Active Mobility

Topics
1. Green technologies in sustainable urban planning
2. Environment and climate change
3. Building technology and sustainability
4. Green materials, products, design, and manufacturing process
5. Renewable and clean energy
6. Disaster risk reduction and management
7. Advanced policies and strategies in urban development
8. Sustainable urban design, planning and development
9. Emerging and innovative technologies

Editors
Chun Kiat Chang
Jeen Ghee Khor
Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz

vi
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Table of Content Page

Organising Committee ii

Scientific Committee iii

List of Reviewers iv

Sponsor v

Preface vi

Table of Content vii - x

Keynote 1 The Danger of Air Pollution in An Ever Urbanising World 2

Ian Pashby
Keynote 2 From Rio Earth Summit To COP26: Malaysia's Pledges, Political 3
Leadership, Policies, Administrative Apparatus and Performance
Abdul Rashid Abdul Aziz

Topic: Building Technology and Sustainability

TAM_2023_04 Reinforced Concrete Surface Cracks Length Detection and Length 5
Estimation by Using Digital Image Processing Approach
Syahrul Fithry Bin Senin, Amer Yusuff, Rohamezan Rohim, Chan Hun Beng
TAM_2023_41 Emerging and Innovative IT Technology to Support Sustainable & 6
Paperless Construction
Ajith Menon
TAM_2023_42 Performance of Pervious Concrete as a Replacement for Road Curb 7
Daliah Hasan, Zahiraniza Mustaffa, Nor Hafida Hashim, Nik Farhanim
Imran, Muhamad Aqmal Amran
TAM_2023_48 Overcoming the Challenges of Training for New Technologies in Building 8
Design and Construction
Ronan Collins
TAM_2023_51 The Integration of Critical Risk with Building Information Modelling (BIM) 9
Application Strategies in Building Refurbishment Project Lifecycle
Nur Hidayah Khairul Anuar, Nurfadzillah Ishak, Nor Suraya Binti Shohime
TAM_2023_52 The Effectiveness of BIM Features Application Strategies for Building 10
Refurbishment Project Performance Dimensions Improvement
Nor Suraya Binti Shohime,Nur Hidayah Binti Khairul Anuar,Nurfadzillah
Ishak
TAM_2023_53 Way Forward in Developing National Human Capacity with Disruptive 11
Digital Technology Skills for Construction Industry
Louis Tay Chee Siong, Edward Han Liang Kwang
TAM_2023_55 Sustainable Thin Shell Analysis on Structural Foundation Subjected to 12
Seismic Loads
Azizah Abdul Nassir, Yee Hooi Min, Arthit Petchsasithon, Syahrul Fithry Bin
Senin

vii
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TAM_2023_57 Rainwater Harvesting System (RWHS) For Buildings: A Mini Review on 13

Guidelines And Potential As Alternative Water Supply In Malaysia
Siti Fairuz Juiani, Chun Kiat Chang, Choe Peng Leo, Hui Weng Goh, Wei Lun
Ang; Rania Fayiz Aburamadan

Topic: Sustainable urban design, planning and development

TAM_2023_05 Allowable Limit of Human Annoyance Towards Ground-Borne Vibration 15
Velocity Induced by Rail Traffic: A Review
Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi, Muhammad Akram Adnan, Norliana
Sulaiman, Siti Nur Naqibah Kamarudin, Sitti Asmah Hassan, Muhammad
Naqiuddin Mohd Warid, Mohamad Saifullah Samsudin, Ahmad Razin Jasmi
TAM_2023_34 Environmental Impact Screening for Urban Land Use Transitions — A 16
Perspective from Developing a Hill Land Development in Penang Island
and Shaping Community Acceptance
Siti Isma Hani Ismail, Siti Hafizan Hassan, Afiq N. Badrul Hisham, Loh Yong
Seng, Zulfairul Zakaria
TAM_2023_43 Decision Making Toward Sustainable Material During the Planning Stage 17
at Construction in Seberang Perai Tengah Pulau Pinang
Adhilla Ainun Musir, Ahmad Faiz Azlan, Nurulzatushima Abdul Karim

Topic: Environment and climate change

TAM_2023_28 The Assessment of Climate Variability using the De Martonne Climate 19
Index and NASA POWER Data in Northern Region, Peninsular Malaysia
Puteri Nur Atiqah Bandira, Mou Leong Tan, Su Yean Teh, Shazlyn Milleana
Shaharudin, Narimah Samat, Mohd Amirul Mahamud
TAM_2023_33 A Mini Review of The Effects of Solar Radiation Management on 20
Hydrological Changes
Tew Yi Lin, Mou Leong Tan, Liew Juneng, Chun Kiat Chang, Nurfashareena
Muhammad
TAM_2023_35 Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Environmental Screening of Solar 21
Photovoltaic Utilities in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
Siti Isma Hani Ismail, Shanker Kumar Sinnakaudan, Loh Yong Seng, Zulfairul
Zakaria, Nuraini Tutur

Topic: Advanced policies and strategies in urban development

TAM_2023_30 The Adoption and Adaption of CEEQUAL’s Sustainability Attributes in 23
Assessing the Malaysian Infrastructure Projects: A Review
Nurul 'Ulyani Mohd Najib, Farid Ezanee Mohamed Ghazali
TAM_2023_54 Challenges and Opportunities in Temporary Works and Construction 24
Method Engineering under New Regulatory Framework
Louis Tay Chee Siong, Chu Wei Yew

viii
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

Topic: Renewable and clean energy

TAM_2023_02 Utilizing the Solar Photovoltaic (PV) Technology in the Construction 26
Industry: Case Study in Perak, Malaysia
Shalini Sanmargaraja, Chong Poh Kien, Abdullateef Olanrewaju Ashola,
Vignes Ponniah, Gunavathy Kanniyapan, Anselm Dass A/L Mathalamuthu
TAM_2023_17 Potential Development of Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) Power 27
Generation System by Utilizing Heat from Natural Hot-Spring in Malaysia
Ahmad Razin Bin Jasmi, Nur Amalina Binti Musa, Muhammad Ahmar Bin
Zuber, Mohd Khairul Afzan Mohd Lazi, Wan Zaidi Wan Omar

Topic: Green materials, products, design and manufacturing process

TAM_2023_13 Assessment of Isotherm and Kinetic Adsorption Modelling for Dye 29
Removal Using Banana Stem as Green Alternative Adsorbent
Nor Azliza Akbar, Amirah Abdul Malek, Nurakmal Hamzah, Satira Hambali,
Badrul Nizam Ismail, Nur Shaylinda Mohd Zin
TAM_2023_16 30
Classification of Compressive Strength Grades for Lightweight Aggregate
Concrete with Palm Oil Fuel Ash (Pofa) Using K-Nearest Neighbour (K-NN)
Mohamad Hushnie Haron, Nur Azzimah Zamri, Khairunisa Muthusamy

TAM_2023_26 A Study on Crushed Coconut Shells as Stabilizer to Soil 31

Faizah Kamarudin, Alif Akhmizan Mohd Jaya, Muhammad Haziq Md
Roslee, Azura Ahmad, Muhammad Sofian Abdullah
TAM_2023_27 Ability of Ceramic Tiles Adsorbent as Pre-treatment for Laundry 32
Wastewater
Khairunisah Mohd Yusri, Nurhaziqah Affifah Hanafiah, Nur Shaylinda Mohd
Zin, NurSetiawan, Nor Amani Fizah Mohd Kamil, Raden Maya Saphira
Raden Mohamed, Nor Azliza Akhbar
TAM_2023_36 Remediation of Acidic Mine Water using Mixture of Organic Materials 33
and Limestone by Bioremediation Technique
Norinsafrina Mustaffa Kamal, Abdullah Hussin, Mohd Zaid Md Sharif
TAM_2023_39 Behaviours of Normal Concrete with Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) as 34
Partial Cement Replacement
Nik Farhanim Imran, Nor Hafida Hashim, Daliah Hasan, Ahmad Shalabi
Mohd Radzi, Muhammad Tasnim Harizan
TAM_2023_56 Utilization of Coir Fibre Ash (CFA) in Cement Stabilized Peat 35
Mohd Khaidir Abu Talib, Aklili Nadhirah Asma Azmin Rashid, Mohammad
Nasrul Mohd Yusoff

Topic: Green technologies in sustainable urban planning

TAM_2023_07 Strategies for Green Electrical Discharge Machining to Reduce 37
Environmental Impact and Enhance Process Efficiency
Tan Koon Tatt, Teoh Ping Chow, R. Kamalakannan, P. Sivakumar, D.
Dadapeer
TAM_2023_08 The Contractor’s Perception on the Development of Green Building 38
Projects in Penang
Nur Soleha Abdul Rahim, Balqish Abdul Rahman, Afizah Ayob

ix
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TAM_2023_21 Influence of Spur Dike’s Angle on Sand Bar Formation in A Rectangular 39

Channel
Li, Baihao, Puay How Tion, Muhammad Azfar Bin Hamidi
TAM_2023_50 Effect of Floating Plant Growth Rate on Water Quality Performance of 40
Wetland in Treating Domestic Sewage
Nur Dhaniah Athirah Shamsudin , Hui Weng Goh & Syafiq Shaharuddin

TAM_2023_58 Bioretention System as A Stormwater Best Management Practices 41

(BMPs): A Case Study in Malaysia
Nor Ariza Azizan, Hui Weng Goh, Liyana Mohd Faudzi, Siti Fairuz Juiani,
Chun Kiat Chang
TAM_2023_59 A Preliminary Development of A Coupled Surface And Subsurface Flow 42
Model For Swale System
Noor Ezlyn Othman, Puay How Tion, Lau Tze Liang

Topic: Emerging and innovative technologies

TAM_2023_01 Perception and Capacity of People with Disabilities (PWD) Entering the 44
Malaysia Construction Industry: Preliminary Findings
Masidah Abdul Majid, Nurul Aini Osman, Mohd Saifulnizam Mohd Suhaimi,
Suhaida @ Suhana Kamarudin, Norul Izzati M. Ashaari
TAM_2023_19 45
Influence of Gate Lip Angle on Downpull Forces for Vertical Lift Gates
Khor Hao Zhe, Puay How Tion
TAM_2023_29 The Adoption of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) Technology in the 46
Construction Industry: Construction Stakeholders’ Perception
Kong Foo Keong, Chai Chang Sa’ar, Suaathi Kaliannan, Nurul 'Ulyani Mohd
Najib
TAM_2023_49 Daily Fresh Water Production from Malaysia’s Urban Atmosphere Using 47
6 Thermoelectric Cooling Units
Muhd Hazwan Hisyam Abu Hassan, Ali Riahi, Mohd Remy Rozainy Mohd
Arif Zainol,Nor Azazi Zakaria, Azman Mat Jusoh, Mohd Fazly Yusof, Syafiq
Shaharuddin

Topic: Disaster risk reduction and management

TAM_2023_03 Preliminary Survey on The Root Causes of Mishandling Materials 49
Occurrence at Construction Sites in Central Region Malaysia
Kageishieny Nadarason, Sasitharan A/L Nagapan, Niwashiny A/P
Arumugam

x
Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

KEYNOTES

1
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE DANGER OF AIR POLLUTION IN AN EVER URBANISING WORLD

IAN R PASHBY (1)

(1)
Peninsula College, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

2023 this is expected to have increased to 8.05 billion and be almost 10.5 billion by 2100. 4.4 billion of the
current global population live in urban environments, a total predicted to almost double by 2050 meaning
around 70% of the World's population will live in cities. This density of living imposes tremendous stress
upon the environment and upon the people that inhabit these areas. It is imperative that thought and effort
be put into making existing urban environments, and the new ones that will have to be built, much more
sustainable and able to cope with the demands that will be placed upon them. There are considered to be
6 major issues to be addressed in the development of sustainable cities: Suburban sprawl, waste disposal,
energy use, climate change, water quality and air quality. This paper will focus on air quality. The importance
of this can be seen in that it is estimated that poor air quality results annually in over 6 million premature
deaths, 93 million days of illness and a loss of economic activity valued at US$ 8 trillion - 6.1% of global
Gross Domestic product.

Keywords: Urban sustainability, air quality, population growth, urbanisation.

2
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

FROM RIO EARTH SUMMIT TO COP26: MALAYSIA'S PLEDGES, POLITICAL

LEADERSHIP, POLICIES, ADMINISTRATIVE APPARATUS AND PERFORMANCE

ABDUL RASHID ABDUL AZIZ (1)

(1)
Wawasan Open University, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper charts Malaysia’s green journey, beginning with its pledge at the Rio Earth Summit in 1992 to
its most recent commitment at the COP26 (Conference of Parties 26) in 2021. Malaysia’s nationally-
determined contributions (NDC) have progressed (as they should be) to the present ambitious claim that
the nation will be carbon neutral by 2050. Malaysia has been led by several prime ministers during this 30
years journey. Despite coming from different political shades (especially in the last four years) their
commitment to the green agenda has been unwavering, rhetorically at least until when the governments’
actions are scrutinised. Understandably, balancing climate change imperatives and socio-economic
progress is not easy. To the layman, the series of policies and related documents unveiled over the course
of the duration seem disconnected and do not add up to make a complete whole. Various parts of the
administrative apparatus have been assigned the responsibility to address the green agenda through the
years, though the disconnect of the various government documents suggests that they may not be in
conversation with one another. All Paris Agreement signatories are required to submit biennial update
reports (BUR) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). In 2021, one
major investigation by a reputable US newspaper accused Malaysia, just like many other countries, of
under-reporting its greenhouse emissions to UNFCC, which the Malaysian government strongly denied.
Making climate change pledges is the easy bit, fulfilling those pledges while addressing the nation’s
aspirations is not easy. This challenge also manifests in policy formulation, administration and
measurement methodology conundrum.

Keywords: Prime ministerial leadership, socio-economic progress, policy formulation, administrative apparatus,
measurement methodology.

3
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
BUILDING TECHNOLOGY AND SUSTAINABILITY

4
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

REINFORCED CONCRETE SURFACE CRACKS LENGTH DETECTION AND LENGTH

ESTIMATION BY USING DIGITAL IMAGE PROCESSING APPROACH

SYAHRUL FITHRY SENIN (1), AMER YUSUFF (2), ROHAMEZAN ROHIM (3) &
HUN BENG CHAN (4)

(1,2,3,4)
Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Penang Branch,
Permatang Pauh Campus, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Thin cracks are a common failure that occurs in reinforced concrete structures (RC). With the help of new
technologies, access to crack properties should be easier and help the inspector to provide better results.
However, most inspectors still prefer manual visual inspection approach, which leads to inconsistent
results when investigating this flaw. Moreover, cracks with inconsistent shapes and irregularities are a
difficult task for crack extraction, and inspectors overlook the details of cracks. Therefore, in this study,
crack detection and thin crack a ppearance enhancement using various digital image processing
algorithms (DSP) were proposed to improve the accuracy of crack length estimation. By using certain
DSP on the captured crack images on RC, several algorithms were created and coded in MATLAB via
the morphological approach to produce good quality of the original crack images. At the end of this study,
the appearance of the thin crack was improved and helped to improve the estimate of the total length of
the crack in pixels. The maximum percentage error between the estimated crack length was calculated
and compared to the actual length and was 7.10 percent. The surface crack detection algorithm and the
has the potential as a helpful structural health monitoring (SHM) tool for crack inspection.

Keywords: Cracks, Reinforced Concrete, Surface Defects, Digital Image Processing, Structural Health
Monitoring.

5
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

EMERGING AND INNOVATIVE IT TECHNOLOGY TO SUPPORT SUSTAINABLE &

PAPERLESS CONSTRUCTION

AJITH MENON (1)

(1)
Bimage Consulting (M) Sdn Bhd, Block I, I-3A-3, Setiawalk, Persiaran Wawasan, Pusat Bandar Puchong,
47160 Puchong, Selangor, Malaysia.
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The construction industry has been seeking ways to become more sustainable and reduce its impact on
the environment. One area that has seen significant progress is the move toward paperless construction.
By reducing paper usage, construction companies can help conserve resources, reduce waste and
greenhouse gas emissions, improve energy efficiency, and increase transparency. Innovative digital tools
and technologies such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Common Data Environment (CDE), energy
and resource management software, Internet of Things (IoT) and smart building technologies, 3D printing,
augmented and virtual reality, and drones are helping to drive the transition to paperless construction and
improve sustainability. The future of sustainable construction lies in the continued development and
adoption of innovative IT technologies, and the industry needs to continue investing in these areas.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling (BIM), Common Data Environment (CDE), sustainability,
paperless construction.

6
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

PERFORMANCE OF PERVIOUS CONCRETE AS A REPLACEMENT FOR ROAD CURB

DALIAH HASAN (1), ZAHIRANIZA MUSTAFFA (2), NOR HAFIDA HASHIM (3), NIK FARHANIM IMRAN (4)
& MUHAMAD AQMAL AMRAN (5)
(1,2,3,4,5)
Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Penang Branch,
Permatang Pauh Campus, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Pervious concrete is well known as a type of concrete that has high porosity and high permeability. It is widely used
in road infrastructure such as pavement and is cost saving because of no usage of fine aggregates in the mixing
of pervious concrete. Road curbs are one of the road infrastructures that are still built nowadays. However, the
usage of pervious concrete as a replacement for road curbs is rarely seen. Therefore, the selection of pervious
concrete as a curb replacement was chosen in this study to check the compressive strength, flexural strength and
to analyze the suitability of the pervious concrete as a curb replacement. Different water cement ratios of 0.30,
0.33, 0.35, 0.38 and 0.40 were used in the mixing of pervious concrete to identify the most optimum water cement
ratio and produce highest compressive and flexural strength for the road curb. To obtain the result, compressive
test and flexural test were done on the 10 curb samples after curing duration of 28 days. The varied effects of
different water cement ratios have been examined. The finding shows that compressive stress decreased as the
water cement ratio increased. Additionally, it demonstrates that the compressive strength of the concrete mix was
considerably stronger at 0.30 of water cement ratio and was seen to decline with the increasing of water cement
ratio. For flexural test, same result was obtained where water cement ratio of 0.30 recorded the highest value of
flexural strength. The decrease pattern in strength occurs just like the compressive test, however water cement
ratio of 0.40 recorded the second highest value of flexural strength. The findings show the lowest water cement
ratio resulted in high strength of concrete. However, some recommendations can be made to increase the strength
of the concrete such as usage of coating reinforcement bar, adjusting the size of coarse aggregates, and adding
admixtures into the pervious concrete.

Keywords: Pervious concrete, road curbs, compressive strength, water cement ratio.

7
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

OVERCOMING THE CHALLENGES OF TRAINING FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES IN

BUILDING DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION

RONAN COLLINS (1)

(1)
HSS Engineers Berhad, Bandar Sri Permaisuri, Kuala Lumpur, Ma;aysia.
[email protected]

ABSTRACT:

In recent years, advancements in technology have greatly impacted the design and construction of
buildings. However, the integration of these new technologies into the workplace can present a significant
challenge to professionals in the industry who may not be familiar with them. This paper will address the
challenges faced in training building design and construction professionals to effectively use new
technologies, such as Building Information Modeling (BIM) software, virtual and augmented reality, and
drones, among others. The presentation will also provide insights into effective training approaches and
best practices that can be used to overcome these challenges and ensure the successful integration of new
technologies into the workplace. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the
challenges faced in training building design and construction professionals to use new technologies and to
suggest strategies for overcoming these challenges.

Keywords: Building Information Modeling, building design, construction professionals, advancements in

technology.

8
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE INTEGRATION OF CRITICAL RISK WITH BUILDING INFORMATION MODELLING

(BIM) APPLICATION STRATEGIES IN BUILDING REFURBISHMENT PROJECT
LIFECYCLE

NUR HIDAYAH KHAIRUL ANUAR (1), NURFADZILLAH ISHAK (2) & NOR SURAYA SHOHIME (3)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP)
Kangar, Perlis, Malaysia
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT.

Building refurbishment project is rapidly becoming a significant part of the construction industry in
Malaysia. Refurbishment projects are typically higher risk, more complex, and require more coordination
than new construction projects. The refurbishment industry has the potential to expand and contribute to
Malaysia's overall building output. The growing demand for refurbishment work in Malaysia will be driven
by the increasing number of old and failing structures, as well as the limited space available for new
development. Therefore, the aim of this research is to establish the most significance integration Building
Information Modelling (BIM) application strategies in managing the risk for building refurbishment project
lifecycle improvement. In this regard, this study was conducted through a quantitative method using the
questionnaire which was distributed by employing a self-administrated approach as a research medium
to obtain feedback from project manager who has been a representative from G7 registered construction
organization with Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) Malaysia. As a result, 96.7 percent of
the response rate were accepted. The analysis showed that the integration of critical risk with BIM
application strategies was recognized as important factors and strategies towards building refurbishment
projects lifecycle improvement and found that the mean is in very high range. Additionally, the results
indicate that the level of critical risk and BIM application strategies have been measured through
descriptive analysis. The findings of this study are expected to establish a foundation for future research
in order to develop an adequate framework for managing building refurbishment projects and improve the
quality of decision making among the building industry professionals.

Keywords: Building Refurbishment Projects, Critical Risk, Building Information Modelling (BIM)
Application Strategies, Project Lifecycle Improvement.

9
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BIM FEATURES APPLICATION STRATEGIES FOR BUILDING

REFURBISHMENT PROJECT PERFORMANCE DIMENSIONS IMPROVEMENT

NOR SURAYA BINTI SHOHIME (1), NUR HIDAYAH BINTI KHAIRUL ANUAR (2) &
NURFADZILLAH BINTI ISHAK (3)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis, Kampus Ulu Pauh, Arau, Perlis
[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Refurbishing a building after it has served its purpose or failed to meet expectations is another way to
breathe fresh life into an old structure. Many factors have contributed to create an increased demand for
refurbishing projects and some of these factors include the ageing of the building stock, the lack of land
for future development, the introduction of building laws, and the need for adhering to new standards.
Therefore, an imbalance in the number of new and existing buildings has recently led to a greater
demand for refurbishment projects This paper presents a study that investigates the effectiveness of
various BIM features application strategies in improving the performance dimension of building
refurbishment projects through a combined quantitative and qualitative approach. The research aims to
measure the most significance for Building Information Modelling features application strategies and
building refurbishment project performance dimensions, to discover the relationship between Building
Information Modelling features application strategies and building refurbishment project performance
dimensions and to make a recommendation on the effectiveness of Building Information Modelling
features application strategies for building refurbishment project performance improvement. The study
involved a comprehensive review of the existing literature on BIM and building refurbishment projects,
followed by a mixed-methods approach that combined quantitative analysis of data from building
refurbishment projects that have implemented BIM and qualitative analysis of expert interviews with
industry professionals. The findings of the expert interviews provide insights into the factors influencing the
effectiveness of BIM in building refurbishment projects, such as the level of BIM adoption, the availability
of skilled personnel, and the integration of BIM into project workflows. The paper concludes by discussing
the implications of the study for the use of BIM in building refurbishment projects and highlights the need
for further research to explore the potential of BIM in this context. The study contributes to enlarge the
insight for the use of BIM in building refurbishment projects, which can guide practitioners and decision-
makers in their use of BIM technologies for these projects.

Keywords: Building Refurbishment Project, Risk Management, Building Information Modelling, Project
Performance.

10
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

WAY FORWARD IN DEVELOPING NATIONAL HUMAN CAPACITY WITH

DISRUPTIVE DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY SKILLS FOR CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY

LOUIS TAY CHEE SIONG (1) & EDWARD HAN LIANG KWANG (2)
(1)
Technological Association Malaysia, Selangor
[email protected]

(2)
BIM Engineering Solution & Technology Sdn. Bhd., Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper will discuss the significance of BIM adoption which provides essential solution for digital building
information management that shall be implemented as the core engine to realize construction
industrialization driven by the digitalization of processes, the objective of the strategic plan that is envisioned
with the introduction of Construction 4.0 by CIDB. The paper further elaborates on the fundamental
importance and advantages of establishing an industry skills recognition scheme and professional
accreditation path to achieve an effective and sustainable work-based TVET effort. In the concluding
paragraphs, an industry perspective and overview of the digital competencies that are deemed essential
and critical are outlined and presented, to facilitate future efforts in the formulation of the skills recognition
scheme that empowers the development of our human capacity in digital technology for the construction
industry. The term and concept of Engineering Constructability Analytics (ECA) skills is introduced and
discussed.

Keywords: Construction 4.0, Skills Recognition, Work-Based TVET, BIM Competencies, Engineering
Constructability Analytics.

11
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

SUSTAINABLE THIN SHELL ANALYSIS ON STRUCTURAL FOUNDATION SUBJECTED

TO SEISMIC LOADS

AZIZAH ABDUL NASSIR (1), YEE HOOI MIN (2)*, ARTHIT PETCHSASITHON (3)* &
SYAHRUL FITHRY SENIN (4)
(1,2,4)
Centre for Civil Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh Campus,
13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected]

(3)
Department of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology Ladkrabang,
Bangkok 10520, Thailand,
[email protected]

ABSTRACT.

Shell is one of a unique structural system with a distinguished performance in resisting compression
force, which frequently constructed as a roof component. Statistic shows that flood has contributed to 22.5%
losses per hazard annually in Southeast Asia while most of the countries are lack in structural mitigation
despite of the population concentration exposes to seismic risk are high [2]. Previous study has developed
a new application of thin shell structure to be an elevated foundation to increase the buildings level and
minimize the flood effect towards the structures [1]. However, the study consideration was limited to a static
load, and the results found that the proposed shell was failed to comply the feasibility limitation. In this
study, a thin shell with a higher thickness of 600mm was proposed and been considered with dynamic loads
from earthquake and wave load from flood. The method used to solve the complex numerical problem for
the proposed model, Model C was using Finite Element by LUSAS software. Based on this paper finding,
the equivalent stress generated has been reduced up to 99% compared to the model in the previous paper,
Model P. Model C found to be feasible to resist the intense load from buildings throughout the shell surfaces
due to the maximum stress produced is lesser than the material strength of concrete. Thus, the success in
implementing this study can be one of a structural mitigation to reduce the effect of flood and catastrophic,
not only towards structural damages but also to human life.

Keywords: Thin shell; foundation; seismic load; dynamic load; equivalent resultant stress.

12
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

RAINWATER HARVESTING SYSTEM (RWHS) FOR BUILDINGS: A MINI REVIEW

ON GUIDELINES AND POTENTIAL AS ALTERNATIVE WATER SUPPLY IN
MALAYSIA
SITI FAIRUZ JUIANI (1), CHUN KIAT CHANG (2) *, CHOE PENG LEO (3), HUI WENG GOH (4),
WEI LUN ANG (5), RANIA FAYIZ ABURAMADAN (6)
(1,2,4)
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected], *[email protected], [email protected]
(3)
School of Chemical Engineering, Engineering Campus, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected]

(5)
Department of Chemical and Process Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi, Malaysia.
[email protected]

(6)
The Department of Architecture, Applied Science Private University, Al Arab St. 21, Amman, 11931, Jordan
[email protected]

ABSTRCT

Although Malaysia receives an abundance of rain annually (≈ 2400mm/year), it is no exception to facing

water crises such as floods and water shortages. According to SPAN data, Malaysia water consumption is
201 LCD in 2021. If water consumption is not improved, Malaysia may encounter a water shortage crisis in
the future. Rainwater harvesting (RWH) has great potential for tackling water shortages, holistically
combating water scarcity and reducing the dependency on treated water from dam reservoirs. RWH is one
of the alternative sources for addressing the challenge of the water crisis with the least impact on the
environment. Currently RWH is being used for non-potable purposes such as cleaning, toilet flushing and
irrigation. Due to the nature of the catchment area, there are several ways contaminants can enter the
rainwater system and compromise the water quality. Elements such as topography, weather, and pollution
sources, have a direct impact on the quality of rainwater that is collected and stored. Other than non-potable
usage, RWH has been used for potable water in countries such as Australia and Bangladesh, but the overall
number of uses is still very small. For potable use, regular monitoring is required because it poses a health
risk due to the presence of chemical, physical, and microbiological contaminants. If the water quality
parameter satisfies the acceptable level of water supply, harvested rainwater could be used for drinking
purposes in the future in many countries. Standard operating procedures and maintenance schedules
based on water safety plan approaches should be developed to assist householders and institutional users
in getting consistently good water quality, consistently. The aims of this study are to review current standard
operating procedures and management guidelines for rainwater harvesting in Malaysia.

Keywords: rainwater harvesting; water safety; rainwater quality; alternative water supply

13
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
SUSTAINABLE URBAN DESIGN, PLANNING AND
DEVELOPMENT

14
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

ALLOWABLE LIMIT OF HUMAN ANNOYANCE TOWARDS GROUND-BORNE

VIBRATION VELOCITY INDUCED BY RAIL TRAFFIC: A REVIEW

MOHD KHAIRUL AFZAN MOHD LAZI (1), MUHAMMAD AKRAM ADNAN (2), NORLIANA SULAIMAN (3),
SITI NUR NAQIBAH BINTI KAMARUDIN (4), SITTI ASMAH HASSAN (5), MUHAMMAD NAQIUDDIN
MOHD WARID (6), MOHAMAD SAIFULLAH SAMSUDIN (7) & AHMAD RAZIN BIN JASMI (8)
(1,4,5,6)
Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

(2,3)
Universiti Teknologi MARA, Shah Alam, Malaysia
[email protected], [email protected]

(7,8)
City University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Many developed countries have developed their own criteria for evaluating and assessing the hazards
caused by the ground-borne vibration, particularly in terms of human’s annoyance. Excessive vibrations
caused by trains affect not only on humans, but also sensitive machineries and buildings. The authority
as well as practitioners play important roles in controlling and assessing the vibrations. The disparities
between the standard and the limit of train-induced vibrations towards human irritation are discussed in
this research. The standards employed by the United States, Norway, Sweden, California, Germany, and
the Netherlands were used for comparison with the local standard guideline. This research particularly
focused on the limits of vibrations velocity in residential areas.

Keywords: Vibration velocity, railway traffic, human annoyance, allowable limit, standards and
guidelines.

15
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT SCREENING FOR URBAN LAND USE TRANSITIONS — A

PERSPECTIVE FROM DEVELOPING A HILL LAND DEVELOPMENT IN PENANG ISLAND
AND SHAPING COMMUNITY ACCEPTANCE

SITI ISMA HANI ISMAIL (1), SITI HAFIZAN HASSAN (2)* , AFIQ N. BADRUL HISHAM (3), LOH YONG
SENG (4), ZULFAIRUL ZAKARIA (5)
(1,2,3,4,5)
Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Cawangan Pulau Pinang,Permatang Pauh Campus.
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

The current rate of urbanisation is unprecedented in human history, particularly in Malaysia's densely
populated areas. Natural constraints and hazards are frequently ignored in this informal and sprawling
urban growth, exposing the population to these hazards. Deforestation, water catchment loss, extinction
of protected species and plants, soil erosion, landslides, water pollution, sedimentation, and downstream
flooding have all resulted from inadequate environmental mitigation. Hence, this research quantifies and
assesses the environmental and social impacts of hill land development on the affected areas. The
community's opinion on such growth and environmental mitigation measures will be assessed and
evaluated at a study site on Penang Island, Malaysia. Environmental Impact Screening (EIS) was
conducted by distributing questionnaires to affected residents and businesses, with 69 respondents.
Descriptive statistical analysis was performed using the Statistical Package (SPSS), followed by a thorough
elaboration on the pros and cons of expanding this steep land by considering social, economic, and
environmental consequences. From the evaluation, most respondents were opposed to hill land
development that can harmed community's ecosystem. As a result, numerous efforts have been made to
reduce community and environmental impacts. This study enables stakeholders to assess the
environmental impacts from this type of developments and conduct necessary steps to mitigate or
eliminate them.

Keywords: Hill land development; land-use; environmental impact screening; social; economic;
environment; positive impact; negative impact.

16
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

DECISION MAKING TOWARD SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL DURING THE PLANNING

STAGE AT CONSTRUCTION IN SEBERANG PERAI TENGAH PULAU PINANG

ADHILLA AINUN MUSIR(1), AHMAD FAIZ AZLAN(2) & NURULZATUSHIMA ABDUL KARIM(3)

(1,2,3)
Civil Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang,
Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The efficiency of using sustainable materials has been an important issue in ensuring the success of
sustainable construction in Pulau Pinang. Unfortunately, the construction sector is one of the most energy-
intensive, contributing to global climate change and environmental issues. In addition, there is a lack of
previous studies that focus on decision-making factors and its element in the planning phase towards
sustainable material construction criteria and performance, especially in Seberang Perai Tengah Pulau
Pinang. Thus, the study aims to identify the factor of decision-making that influence the sustainable
material criteria, determine the relationship between the decision-making factor and elements in the
planning stage toward sustainable material construction, and develop a framework for the decision-making
toward sustainable material criteria at the planning stage. The quantitative method was conducted by
survey, and the instrument that was used is an online questionnaire survey. About 54 samples of the
questionnaire were collected from those who are involved in the construction sector in Seberang Perai,
Tengah Pulau Pinang. Quantitative data were analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Science
(SPSS) statistical software version 28 to answer the research question. The result shows the factor of
decision-making that has the most influence on the sustainable material selection criteria is technology
and training. Meanwhile, the planning stage element that has the most significant influence on the criteria
of sustainable material is the project life cycle. Finally, the result also shows a relationship between the
decision-making for the sustainable material during the planning stage. This study could be valuable for all
parties in the construction industry, especially to the decision-maker, engineers, clients, employers and
staff, academicians, policymakers, researchers, and organizations. The project leaders need to obtain
fresh ideas and information for this study due to the dearth of factors for sustainable material construction
in Pulau Pinang.

Keywords: Sustainable construction, materials, planning stage, decision-making, technology.

17
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
ENVIRONMENT AND CLIMATE CHANGE

18
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE ASSESSMENT OF CLIMATE VARIABILITY USING THE DE MARTONNE

CLIMATE INDEX AND NASA POWER DATA IN NORTHERN REGION, PENINSULAR
MALAYSIA

PUTERI NUR ATIQAH BANDIRA (1), MOU LEONG TAN (2*), SU YEAN TEH(3), SHAZLYN MILLEANA
SHAHARUDIN(4), NARIMAH SAMAT(5) & MOHD AMIRUL MAHAMUD(6)
(1,2,5,6)
GeoInformatic Unit, Geography Section, School of Humanities, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

(3)
School of Mathematical Sciences, Unverisiti Sains Malaysia, Penang 11800, Malaysia
[email protected]

(4)
Department of Mathematics, Faculty of Science and Mathematics,
Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris, Tanjong Malim 35950, Malaysia.
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The global climate is changing and threatening the human population globally, one of which is the frequent
climate extreme events (i.e., floods and drought) which affect global food security. Thus, it would be
significant to comprehend the region’s variation. Taking the Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia as the
study area, this paper aims to assess the performance of NASA POWER data and to classify the annual
and seasonal temporal variability of the climate variables via De Martonne climate indices using the 34 years
(1985-2021) period of ground data collected by seven meteorological stations. The performance of NASA
POWER data in estimating mean temperature is satisfactory and reasonable performance for rainfall
estimation. The findings indicated that an annual scale is wet climate dominance with frequent very humid
to extremely humid climates. Such information will be useful in climate change mitigation and adaptation
plans, particularly for the agriculture sector.

Keywords: Climate trend, Climate variability, Climate change, Graphical trend methods, Climate indices.

19
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

A MINI REVIEW OF THE EFFECTS OF SOLAR RADIATION MANAGEMENT ON

HYDROLOGICAL CHANGES

YI LIN TEW (1), MOU LEONG TAN (2) *, JUNENG LIEW (3), CHUN KIAT CHANG (4) &
NURFASHAREENA MUHAMMAD (5)
(1,2)
GeoInformatic Unit, Geography Section, School of Humanities,
Universiti Sains Malaysia,11700 Gelugor, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia.
[email protected]; [email protected]
(3)
Department of Earth Sciences and Environment, Faculty of Science and Technology,
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Bangi 43600, Selangor, Malaysia.
[email protected]
(4)
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Engineering Campus, Nibong Tebal 14300, Malaysia.
[email protected]
(5)
Southeast Asia Disaster Prevention Research Initiative (SEADPRI), Institute for Environment & Development (LESTARI),
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 43600 UKM, Bangi, Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The concept of solar radiation management (SRM) was proposed about a decade ago as one of the rapid
climate mitigation strategies by cooling the planet via the injection aerosol particles into the stratosphere
for reflecting little inbound sunlight of solar radiation back to the space. Theoretically, SRM could reduce
the earth’s temperature within few months after implementation, thus can lower the risk of climate change
on natural disasters. Hydrological extremes, flood and drought, can lead to huge losses in economic and
human life. Solar variability seems to be of a substantial factor that induced the hydrological changes,
particularly in terms of increased extremely low and high precipitation events. It is interesting to further
understand how SRM could affect the local hydrological cycle and extreme events. This study aims to
review the past studies of SRM related to the hydrological cycle and extreme events through the Web of
Science database. A total of 18 articles met the criteria were analyzed thematically and synthesized
narratively. The result showed an increasing number of publications regarding analysis of the solar
radiation effects on hydro-climatic variations in recent years. Some of the common applied SRM-based
general circulation models including the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) and
the Geoengineering Large Ensemble (GLENS). The changes in precipitation for both total amount and
extreme events may be weakened in some parts of the world as compared to the RCP8.5 scenario.
However, most of the studies were conducted on the global and regional scales, with only two basin-scale
study was found. Hence, basin-scale research should be conducted more in the future to understand the
effects of SRM on local hydrological changes, which is required for more precise and robust policy
formulation.

Keywords: Solar radiation; solar radiation management; SRM; hydrological modelling; hydrological cycle;
climate change.

20
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

ANALYTIC HIERARCHY PROCESS (AHP) FOR ENVIRONMENTAL SCREENING OF

SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC UTILITIES IN PULAU PINANG, MALAYSIA.

SITI ISMA HANI ISMAIL (1), SHANKER KUMAR SINNAKAUDAN (2), LOH YONG SENG (3),
ZULFAIRUL ZAKARIA (4) & NURAINI TUTUR (5)
(1,2,4,5)
Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Permatang Pauh
[email protected]; [email protected]
(3)
School of Housing, Building, and Planning, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800, USM, Penang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Large-scale solar photovoltaic (LSSPV) farming activities have increased the global popularity of
solar energy installations as one of the highest absolute generation growth rates of all renewable
technologies. With higher gas and coal prices and rising carbon prices, have resulted in higher
electricity prices, making distributed PV as an increasingly appealing alternative for consumers
driving investment. However, due to a lack of suitable sites and environmental conditions, building
large-scale installations is becoming increasingly challenging. There is a debate among many
stakeholders and experts about the actual environmental benefits and consequences altered by this
farming, which could have negative effects on both natural and anthropogenic settings. Hence, this
paper focuses on the Environmental Impact Screening (EIS) by employing the Analytic Hierarchy
Process (AHP) as part of the Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) in examining the environmental
impact arising from a LSSPV project in Pulau Pinang, Malaysia. The methodology for this study was
conducted by evaluating results from in-depth interviews with relevant stakeholders, including expert
input from academicians, solar consultants, relevant local authorities, etc. This investigation proposed
a multicriteria approach to conveying the main environmental aspects of the LSSPV project and
assessing the magnitude of impact and significance generated by it. Large projects necessitate an
evaluation to ensure that potential problems are identified and addressed early in the planning and
design phases. This study had considered the environmental and chemical (EC) impacts, as well as
occupational safety (OSH) and economic impact (EI). The data is then analyzed with AHP to
determine the final component rankings. The final model provides a structured approach that
incorporates detailed criteria that reflect the direct and indirect impacts arising from this LSSPV
project, and it is intended to provide assessment magnitude and estimate scenarios based on
different stakeholder perspectives in directing for a better decision. According to the study's findings,
sufficient environmental mitigation steps have been implemented prior to project completion to
mitigate and gauge all potential environmental degradation.

Keywords: Large scale solar, renewable energy, environmental impact screening.

21
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
ADVANCED POLICIES AND STRATEGIES IN
URBAN DEVELOPMENT

22
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE ADOPTION AND ADAPTION OF CEEQUAL’S SUSTAINABILITY ATTRIBUTES

IN ASSESSING THE MALAYSIAN INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS: A REVIEW

(1) (2)
NURUL ‘ULYANI MOHD NAJIB & FARID EZANEE MOHAMED GHAZALI
(1)
Wawasan Open University, Georgetown, Malaysia
[email protected]

(2)
Universiti Sains Malaysia (Engineering Campus), Nibong Tebal, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The rapid growing of urban populations has triggered the deterioration of natural resources and acceleration
of climate change. Therefore, the development of sustainable infrastructure is playing an important role in
order to minimize these issues. Generally, most of the sustainable rating tools are designed to focus on
building projects only but not applicable to infrastructure projects. Specifically in Malaysia, there is limited
studies have been done on the application of sustainable rating system to the infrastructure projects and
literature also reveals that the Malaysian construction industry players still have little understanding on the
sustainable infrastructure assessment. With these limitations, hence, this paper corresponds to fill the gap
by exploring the sustainability attributes in assessing the infrastructure projects. In this paper, an extensive
literature review was conducted to give an overview of several worldwide practical sustainable infrastructure
rating tools and identifies the most important attributes for assessing the infrastructure projects, which is
based on comprehensive and conventional reviews of considerable volume of published journals from 1993
until 2023 in the area of sustainable infrastructure rating system. Based on the best reference of CEEQUAL
sustainability topic areas, the results of the review clarified that a total of 14 attributes like effects on
neighbours, users, and the workforce; relation with the local community and other stakeholders; transport;
material use; waste management; use of land; restoration of contaminated land; landscape issue; water
environment; water resources; flood risk; historic environment; ecology and biodiversity; besides energy
consumption and carbon emissions are identified as the relevant sustainability attributes for assessing the
development of infrastructure projects in Malaysia.

Keywords: Sustainable Attributes, Sustainable Infrastructure, Sustainable Rating Tool, CEEQUAL,

Malaysia.

23
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES IN TEMPORARY WORKS AND

CONSTRUCTION METHOD ENGINEERING UNDER NEW REGULATORY
FRAMEWORK

LOUIS TAY CHEE SIONG (1) & CHU WEI YEW (2)
(1)
Technological Association Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]

(2)
PLYTEC Formwork System Industries Sdn. Bhd., Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

This paper updates the perspective of the regulatory environment and its impacts on the construction
industry particularly with regards to the implementation of temporary works. It examines the challenges
that the construction industry faces due to regulatory enhancement in various aspects, including the OSHA
and Act 520 amendments, OSHCIM regulation, CIS updates, and MS adoptions. An industry overview and
analytics are presented on the values and opportunities that are achievable to uplift the performance of the
construction industry by harmonizing safety, productivity, and technology under the new regulatory
frameworks. The paper concludes with recommendation for synergic industry actions to drive and realize
the objectives of the new regulatory regime.

Keywords: Temporary Works, CIDB Act 520, OSHCIM, BS 5975, OSHA 2022 Amendment.

24
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
RENEWABLE AND CLEAN ENERGY

25
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

UTILIZING THE SOLAR PHOTOVOLTAIC (PV) TECHNOLOGY IN THE CONSTRUCTION

INDUSTRY: CASE STUDY IN PERAK, MALAYSIA

SHALINI SANMARGARAJA (1), POH KIEN CHONG (2), ABDULLATEEF ASHOLA OLANREWAJU (3),
VIGNES PONNIAH (4), GUNAVATHY KANNIYAPAN (5), ANSELM DASS MATHALAMUTHU (6)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Engineering and Green Technology, Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, Jalan Universiti Bandar Barat, 31900,
Kampar Perak, Malaysia
[email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

(3)
Faculty of Science and Engineering, Manchester Metropolitan University, All Saints Building, All Saints,
Manchester M15 6BH, United Kingdom,
[email protected]

(5,6)
Faculty of Built Environment, Tunku Abdul Rahman Universiti of Management and Technology,
Jalan Genting Kelang, Setapak, 53300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The tropical climate of Malaysia is conducive to the development of solar energy, yet the adoption of solar
PV technology in the construction industry is relatively low. Thus, the purpose of this study is to identify
the difficulties faced by home users when installing solar PV and to propose recommendations to
encourage solar PV. This research was conducted on residential construction sites in Kampar. More than
100 questionnaires were administered physically and online but only 50 responded, which represents a
50% response rate. The respondents were selected purposively mainly among the clients, contractors,
developers, and consultants. The data revealed that the major difficulties that the home users
encountered in the installation of solar PV include lack of motivation and incentives, huge capital outlay,
and inability to secure financial support for the solar PV. To install solar PV, the research found that there
is a need to provide attractive loans and incentives, implement policy, educate the households, reduce
fossil fuel subsidies, and others. Although this research has been carried out diligently, there are several
limitations such as this research only focusing on residential construction projects, having a very small
sample size, and this research only using one method for data collection.

Keywords: Awareness, policies, renewable energy, rooftop, sustainable.

26
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT OF ORGANIC RANKINE CYCLE (ORC) POWER

GENERATION SYSTEM BY UTILIZING HEAT FROM NATURAL HOT-SPRING IN
MALAYSIA

AHMAD RAZIN BIN JASMI (1), NUR AMALINA BINTI MUSA (2), MUHAMMAD AHMAR BIN ZUBER (3),
MOHD KHAIRUL AFZAN MOHD LAZI (4) & WAN ZAIDI WAN OMAR (5)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Engineering, City University Malaysia, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia
[email protected]

(4,5)
University Teknologi Malaysia, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) is widely used because of its ability to work with low and medium-grade
heat resources. ORC basically operate by using organic working fluid which allows the application of
Rankine Cycle to be operate at various range of heat resources depend on the properties of working fluid.
This allows wide application of ORC power cycle at temperature below 370 °C where the steam-based
Rankine Cycle are no longer efficient. This present paper discusses the potential development of micro
power generation based on the Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) concept by utilizing heat from natural hot
spring in Malaysia. The performance of the systems is analysed based on three different working fluids
which are R134a, R410a and R245-fa. The comparison was done by the variation of hot water inlet
temperatures in the range of 50 °C to 75 °C at the evaporator and 25 °C of ambient water at the condenser.
The results indicates that R245-fa had 9 % thermal efficiency when the hot water inlet temperature is 75
°C which is the highest among the other working fluids in the similar condition. Meanwhile, the ideal power
output of turbine is also analysed. The R410 can generate 2.38 kW power output when the input
temperature of hot water is 75 °C which is the highest as compared to other working fluid at similar
condition. Therefore, it can conclude that the micro- scale power generation systems can be developed
based on ORC power cycle by utilizing heat resources by natural hot spring in Malaysia.

Keywords: ORC, Renewable Energy, Low Grade-Heat, Micro Power Generation.

27
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
GREEN MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, DESIGN, AND
MANUFACTURING PROCESS

28
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

ASSESSMENT OF ISOTHERM AND KINETIC ADSORPTION MODELLING FOR

DYE REMOVAL USING BANANA STEM AS GREEN ALTERNATIVE ADSORBENT

NOR AZLIZA AKBAR(1)*, AMIRAH ABDUL MALEK(2), NURAKMAL HAMZAH (3), SATIRA HAMBALI (4),
BADRUL NIZAM ISMAIL (5) & NUR SHAYLINDA MOHD ZIN (6)
(1,2,3,4,5)
Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA,
Cawangan Pulau Pinang, Kampus Permatang Pauh,13500 Permatang Pauh,Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected]

(6)
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia,
83000 Parit Raja, Batu Pahat, Johor, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Wastewater effluent from the batik industry is mostly discharged after minimal or pre- treatment into the
adjacent water channels, streams, and rivers. The presence of dyes namely Methylene Blue (MB) in the
wastewater will cause severe damage to the environment. Adsorption isotherm was employed to
understand the nature of the sorption process. Feasibility and availability of the sorption process of MB
were evaluated by developing kinetics adsorption modelling, while error function suggested the best-fitted
sorption model on sorption data. A batch adsorption experiment was conducted for various dosages within
the range of 0.2 g – 1.4 g and various contact times ranging from 15 to 120 minutes. The data were
analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin isotherm models and kinetic models of Pseudo-First-
Order, Pseudo-Second Order and Intraparticle diffusion. From isotherm analysis, the adsorption process
fits the Freundlich better than other models due to r2 value, 0.917 even though Langmuir Type IV is
relatively higher. It is due to the value of Qo and b, which are negative, cannot be accepted as the best-
fitted model. For the adsorption kinetic models, it indicates Pseudo-Second-Order model fitted well with r2
value of 0.996. The result was validated with the error function analysis (Chi-Square, Average Relative
Error and RMSE), which shown that the Freundlich model best describes the adsorption of MB on banana
stem. Moreover, Pseudo-Second order was the best model to describe the interaction between MB and
banana stem adsorbent. The adsorption of MB is dominated by multi-layer adsorption on the
heterogeneous surface of banana stem adsorbent which influenced by chemisorption process. Thus,
banana stem has the potential as an alternative, green adsorbent media for effective removal of dyes in
textile effluents, which is aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development Goals for good water
quality (SDG 6) and reducing waste and pollution (SDG 12).

Keywords: Adsorption isotherm, Adsorption kinetic, banana stem, error analysis, Methylene Blue.

29
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

CLASSIFICATION OF COMPRESSIVE STRENGTH GRADES FOR LIGHTWEIGHT

AGGREGATE CONCRETE WITH PALM OIL FUEL ASH (POFA) USING K-
NEAREST NEIGHBOUR (K-NN)

MOHAMAD HUSHNIE HARON (1), NUR AZZIMAH ZAMRI (2)

& KHAIRUNISA MUTHUSAMY (3)
(1)
School of Science and Technology, Wawasan Open University, Georgetown, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia,
[email protected]

(2)
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pahang Kampus Jengka, Pahang, Malaysia
[email protected]

(3)
Faculty of Civil Engineering Technology, Universiti Malaysia Pahang, Persiaran Tun Khalil Yaakob, Kuantan, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Annually, a massive number of agricultural by-products of the palm oil extraction process including palm
oil fuel ash (POFA) were generated which contributes towards ammonia pollution as well as emitting other
nitrogen compounds. However, it is fortunate that both by- products can be utilised as mixing additives in
lightweight aggregate concrete manufacturing. The utilisation leads to the minimisation of waste disposal
and significant reductions in the use of cement and non-renewable aggregate, resulting in a more
sustainable green environment. It is difficult to classify concrete grades since the composition of the
concrete and its strength have a non-linear relationship. Traditional methods for classifying concrete
grades in civil engineering require a significant amount of time, material resources, and labour. To address
these shortcomings, a technique to classify the compressive strength grades for lightweight aggregate
concrete containing POFA using an Artificial Intelligence (machine learning algorithm) has been developed.
In terms of method, concrete mixtures consisting of POFA, cement, sand, superplasticizer and water were
prepared and tested to determine the compressive strength. The data from this process were first
transformed using min-max normalization and then, analysed using exploratory and descriptive analysis
to discover patterns between input variables and concrete grades. Next, the grades of concrete were
classified using a machine learning algorithm named k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN). Lastly, a confusion
matrix was used to assess the performance of the k-NN classifier. The results showed that k-NN can
classify the grades of concrete with a higher percentage of accuracy, precision, sensitivity and specificity.
To conclude, the study succeeds in classifying the compressive strength grades for lightweight aggregate
concrete with POFA using Artificial Intelligence (machine learning algorithm).

Keywords: lightweight concrete, palm oil fuel ash, compressive strength grades, k-nearest neighbor.

30
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

A STUDY ON CRUSHED COCONUT SHELLS AS STABILIZER TO SOIL

FAIZAH KAMARUDIN (1), ALIF AKHMIZAN MOHD JAYA (2), MUHAMMAD HAZIQ MD ROSLEE (3),
AZURA AHMAD (4), & MUHAMMAD SOFIAN ABDULLAH (5)

Civil Engineering Studies, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang,
Permatang Pauh Campus, 13500 Seberang Prai, Malaysia.
[email protected]

ABSRACT

Road construction over soft subgrade soil is a major issue affecting cost and scheduling of highway
projects. Many techniques have been conducted to strengthen the highway soil subgrade. One of them
are using additives such as coconut shells, rice husk ash, stone dust, and fly ash. to strengthen the soil.
The strength of the subgrade is commonly expressed as California Bearing Ratio (CBR). In this study, the
crushed coconut shells (CCS) of 0.6 cm to 1.0 cm ranges of size was mix with the laterite soil. A series of
unsoaked CBR test were conducted with an addition of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7% of CCS to determine the
strength of the stabilized laterite soil. The laterite soil is classified as sandy SILT of high plasticity (MH).
The results show that the CBR values of the stabilized soil increase with an increasing percentage the
CCS. The stabilized soil with 5% CCS is the highest CBR value, 27.5%. The CBR% then decreasing as
further additional of CCS %. The lowest value of CBR is 5.25% for stabilized soil of 8% CCS which lower
than CBR% of the laterite soil without additive mixture. It is concluded that the additions of Crushed
Coconut Shell have greatly improved the soil strength with the increment increase of CBR value. Hence
CCS has a good potential for upgrading the CBR value of subgrade soil.

Keywords: Crushed Coconut Shell (CCS), California Bearing Ratio (CBR), subgrade, stabilizer.

31
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

ABILITY OF CERAMIC TILES ADSORBENT AS A PRE-TREATMENT

FOR LAUNDRY WASTEWATER

KHAIRUNISAH MOHD YUSRI (1), NURHAZIQAH AFFIFAH HANAFIAH (2),

NUR SHAYLINDA MOHD ZIN (3)*, NURSETIAWAN (4), NOR AMANI FIZAH MOHD KAMIL (5),
RADEN MAYA SAPHIRA RADEN MOHAMED (6) & NOR AZLIZA AKHBAR (7)

(1,2,3,5,6)
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment,
Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, 86400, MALAYSIA
*[email protected]

(3,5)
Micro Pollutant Research Center, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, 86400 Parit Raja,
Johor, Malaysia

(4)
Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering,
Universitas Muhammadiyah, Yogyakarta

(7)
School of Civil Engineering, College of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Cawangan Pulau Pinang,
13500 Permatang Pauh, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Laundry wastewater (LWW) contaminates river water and exposes it to chemicals from detergents and
fabric softeners. This draws attention to the need to implement treatment for LWW. This study focused on
determining the ability of ceramic tiles to remove total phosphorus (TP) and chemical oxygen demand
(COD) from commercial LLW. The coarse aggregate of ceramic tile waste (CTW) was used as the
adsorbent. The effectiveness of CTW as an adsorbent to remove TP and COD in LLW was determined
by using different adsorbent dosages, contact times, and shaking speeds in a batch experiment. LLW
samples were taken from the discharged point of commercial laundry shop. The results showed that the
highest TP removal was 72% with a dosage of 9 g/100 ml ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes,
and a shaking speed of 100 rpm. Meanwhile, the highest removal of COD was 81% at a dosage of 3 g/100
mL of ceramic adsorbent, a contact time of 90 minutes, and a shaking speed of 200 rpm. Thus, it can be
concluded that the CTW aggregate as an adsorbent was effective in reducing TP and COD from LLW.

Keywords: Clay based adsorbent, detergent wastewater, green adsorbent

32
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

REMEDIATION OF ACIDIC MINE WATER USING MIXTURE OF ORGANIC

MATERIALS AND LIMESTONE BY BIOREMEDIATION TECHNIQUE

NORINSAFRINA MUSTAFFA KAMAL (1) *, ABDULLAH HUSSIN (2) & MOHD ZAID MD SHARIF (3)
(1,2,3)
Mineral Research Centre, Department of Mineral and Geoscience Malaysia, Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah, 31400, Ipoh, Perak
*[email protected]

ABSTRACT

The objective of this study was to analyse the performance of organic materials and limestone mixtures
to assess their uses as potential treatment agents for remediation of acidic mine water. Bioremediation
technique by column experiment was carried out using vertical column to measure the changes in pH and
concentration of aluminium (Al) and iron (Fe) in acidic mine water. M1, M2, M3 and M4 mixtures were
prepared by mixing different percentages of the organic materials and limestone. The organic materials
used in this experiment were organic soil, rice husk, saw dust, used mushroom compost and chicken
manure. The experiment was conducted for 30 days. The result exhibited the maximum pH increment of
6.6 and the highest removal of Al and Fe concentrations were obtained with M2 mixture content over the
range of 30 days. Both concentrations of the contaminants were successfully reduced to below 1 mg/L.

Keywords: Bioremediation, column experiment, acidic mine water, organic materials.

33
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

BEHAVIOURS OF NORMAL CONCRETE WITH SUGARCANE BAGASSE ASH (SCBA) AS

PARTIAL CEMENT REPLACEMENT

NIK FARHANIM IMRAN (1), NOR HAFIDA HASHIM (2), DALIAH HASAN (3),
AHMAD SHALABI MOHDRADZI (4) & MUHAMMAD TASNIM HARIZAN (5)

Universiti Teknologi MARA Cawangan Pulau Pinang

[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Concrete has been known to the world to be one of the most crucial components of a developing country
but there some downsides to the environment in making the concrete. Mixing concrete needs water, fine
aggregates, coarse aggregates, and cements as the main component. Cement is the main cause of the
disadvantages of normal concrete mixing because in cement production, it will emit a lot of carbon dioxide
to the environment. The emission of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere is proven as one of the main
problems that cause air pollution and greenhouse effect. Furthermore, in an agricultural dependent
country like Malaysia, the agricultural waste had been concerning to the public whereby the Sugarcane
Bagasse (ScB) is one of the agricultural wastes. Sugarcane Bagasse can be useful towards the civil
engineering communities where ScB can turn into ash by burning and grinding the ScB residual and turn
into Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA). The ScBA need to grind to make the particles of the ash to be
cement-like of the particle size. Therefore, the purpose of the Sugarcane Bagasse Ash (ScBA) in this
research is to replace some percentage of the cement to minimize the production of cements. So, the
objective of the research is to identify the optimum percentage of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash that can produce
maximum value of compressive strength of concrete when it is being replace by ScBA. The percentage
of ScBA that will replace the percentage of cements is 0%, 4%, 8%, and 12%. Based on the results
obtained the compressive strength of the concrete mix with 4% of ScBA is higher compared to the control
sample which is 45.60MPa where the control sample only have 38.83MPa. In conclusion, by using ScBA
it is proven that with the agricultural waste, it can be useful to the not only civil engineering communities
but also to the world with the invention of using ScBA as a replacement for cements where it can reduce
the carbon dioxide emissions and the concern towards agricultural waste.

Keywords: Concrete, Sugarcane Bagasse Ash, Sugarcane Bagasse, compressive strength.

34
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

UTILIZATION OF COIR FIBRE ASH (CFA) IN CEMENT STABILIZED PEAT

AKLILI NADHIRAH ASMA AZMIN RASHID (1), MOHD KHAIDIR ABU TALIB (2) * &
MOHAMMAD NASRUL MOHD YUSOFF (3)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Civil Engineering and Built Environment, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia
[email protected]

(2)
Research Centre of Soft Soil, Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Batu Pahat, Johor, 86400, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

Peat is a soil that has a high compressibility property beside having a low bearing capacity. Due to these
problems, the peat soil is not suitable for construction purposes. Coconut waste is an example of
agricultural waste. In the context of environmental sustainability, the use of coir in geotechnical
applications is desirable. This research was conducted to study peat stabilization by using Coir Fibre Ash
(CFA) in replacing partially of Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) to improve the physical and geotechnical
characteristics. Some experiments were conducted to assess the geotechnical properties of the soil, which
is divided into physical, chemical and mechanical properties test. In this study, the use of CFA as a
stabilizer were uses at mixture ratio of 5, 10, 15 and 20% of OPC replacement. Based on the Unconfined
Compression Strength (UCS) test which carried out, it is found that the optimum strength for each ratio of
CFA in the mixture showed a decrement pattern if compared to cement stabilized peat (PC). The results
of Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) test shows that the structure of untreated peat becomes denser
after stabilized. This is due to the cementing process. Energy Dispersive X-Ray (EDX) test shows that the
carbon content in the soil decreases while calcium content increases after the stabilization process is
executed. Therefore, CFA is suitable to be used as pozzolan material in stabilized and can reach up
200kPa at 20% OPC replacement.

Keywords: Peat, Stabilization, Cement, Coir Fibre Ash, Unconfined Compression Strength.

35
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
GREEN TECHNOLOGIES IN SUSTAINABLE
URBAN PLANNING

36
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

STRATEGIES FOR GREEN ELECTRICAL DISCHARGE MACHINING TO REDUCE

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT AND ENHANCE PROCESS EFFICIENCY

TAN KOON TATT (1), TEOH PING CHOW (2), R KAMALAKANNAN (3) *, P SIVAKUMAR (4)
& D DADAPEER (5)
(1,2)
Wawasan Open University, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
[email protected]; [email protected],

(3)
M.Kumarasamy College of Engineering, Karur, India
[email protected]

(4,5)
University of Technology and Applied Sciences, Muscat, Oman
[email protected], [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Electrical Discharge Machining (EDM) is recognized by the way of a significant unconventional machining
technique, since it can work with materials that are hard to cut, like alloys, die steels and composite etc., In
spite of the many benefits, the method has certain drawbacks, like high energy consumption, a sluggish
rate of material removal, dangerous pollutants, and the production of poisonous dielectric and slurry, which
render it inappropriate and dangerous. These factors lead to the notion that it is also bad for the environment
and machine operators. While the cost of production is rising as a result of greater environmental regulatory
restrictions (ISO 14000 standards). So that these elements can be handled, it has become imperative to
make the machining process very competent and secure. This inspires the authors to conduct a
comprehensive literature review of current hybrid EDM process integrations in order to safely machine
materials. The effort done to make the process green is also examined. The authors concluded that despite
the significant advancements in hybridization of EDM, such as EDM powder mixed, waterless EDM, tap
water EDM, pulsation aided tools or else workpieces, etc., process mechanism improvement remains still
needed to provide high machining efficiency and minimal environmental health risks.

Keywords: Green machining, EDM, environment, hazards.

37
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE CONTRACTOR’S PERCEPTION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF GREEN

BUILDING PROJECTS IN PENANG

NUR SOLEHA ABDUL RAHIM (1), BALQISH ABDUL RAHMAN (2) &AFIZAH AYOB (3)
(1,2,3)
Faculty of Civil Engineering & Technology, Universiti Malaysia Perlis (UniMAP),
Perlis, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

A strategy to lessen the substantial effects of the building development on the environment, society, and
economy is green construction. However, despite the positive effects of green buildings on society,
numerous market hurdles prevent the growth of green buildings, particularly in Malaysia. This happens
because of the lack of awareness regarding the development of green buildings. Therefore, this study aims
to explore the contractor perception of the development of green building projects in Penang. A set of
questionnaire survey was distributed among contractors representing construction organizations in
Penang. The analysis showed that the contractors mostly agreed with the benefits of green building,
indicating that the respondents are aware of green building and the financial factor is the main factor
contributing to the decision to develop green buildings, followed by law and regulation factor and quality
factor. Besides, most of the respondents also agreed that improve the professional knowledge among
contractors will encourage the development of green buildings. This strategy should be taken in the
immediate action either from their sides or other authorities. Overall, this research provides insight into the
perception of the development of green building projects among contractors, which can increase awareness
and create a better environment.

Keywords: Green Building, Awareness, Influential Factors, Strategies, Contractors.

38
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

INFLUENCE OF SPUR DIKE’S ANGLE ON SAND BAR FORMATION IN A

RECTANGULAR CHANNEL

BAIHAO LI (1), HOW TION PUAY (2) * & MUHAMMAD AZFAR HAMIDI (3)

River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Spur dike is one of the various technologies utilized in river rehabilitation. Spur dike provides many
advantages, such as promoting aquatic habitat, improving channel for navigation, and protecting the
stream banks. This study serves to evaluate the effect of a spur dike on the formation of sand bars in a
straight rectangular channel fed by suspended sediment. The performance of spur dike in inducing the
formation of spur dike is investigated under three different spur dike angles. A three-dimensional (3D)
model was developed using Flow-3D® to investigate the flow depth and velocity around spur dike. Based
on the velocity distribution, the influence of spur dike angle on the formation of sand bar was explained.
A scalar concentration is used to represent the suspended sediment in the simulation, and the formation
of sand bar is represented by the scalar concentration. According to the numerical results, the 90° spur
dike produced a larger and longer sand bar than the 45°and 135°spur dikes.

Keywords: Spur dike; sand bar; habitat diversity; numerical simulation; sediment.

39
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

EFFECT OF FLOATING PLANT GROWTH RATE ON WATER QUALITY PERFORMANCE

OF WETLAND IN TREATING DOMESTIC SEWAGE
NUR DHANIAH ATHIRAH SHAMSUDIN (1), HUI WENG GOH (2) * &
SYAFIQ SHAHARUDDIN (3)
(1)
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia, Engineering Campus, , 14300 Nibong Tebal,
Penang, Malaysia

(2,3)
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Engineering Campus, Seri Ampangan, 14300, Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT.

A man-made system that mimics the function and structures of natural wetlands is called constructed
wetlands. It is able to treat domestic sewage with low technology, low energy requirements, affordable
and easy to maintain. However, how it works in tropical climates is still unknown and there is a need to
figure out the sustainability of floating plants in treating domestic sewage. Three main objectives of
this study are: first, to compare the pollutant removal efficiency of floating plants in treating domestic
sewage, to investigate the growth rate of selected floating plants in domestic sewage treatment and
to recommend the best plant for use in floating plant constructed wetland. The data was collected
through a pilot-constructed wetland in the USM, Engineering Campus that is integrated with two
species of floating plants: water hyacinth (Eichhornia crassipes) and water lettuce (Pistia stratiotes). The
parameters studied were chemical oxygen demand (COD), total suspended solids (TSS), and
ammoniacal nitrogen (AN). The findings reveal that the removal efficiency of water hyacinth is higher
for COD and TSS at 40.96% and 43.94% respectively compared to water lettuce with 26.86% for
COD and 17.79% for TSS. However, water lettuce has a slightly higher removal efficiency of NH3-N
at 26.52% compared to Water Hyacinth at 24.35%. In terms of growth rate, water hyacinth is lost to
water lettuce but they have higher biomass to uptake nutrients with just a small increment of area
coverage. Therefore, water hyacinth is favourable to implement in floating plant-constructed
wetlands as it needs less maintenance than water lettuce to achieve discharge with standard A for
TSS and COD and standard B for NH3-N based on Malaysia Wastewater Effluent Discharge
Standards.

Keywords. Floating plants growth rate, constructed wetland system; tropical climate; domestic
sewage.

40
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

BIORETENTION SYSTEM AS A STORMWATER BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES

(BMPs): A CASE STUDY IN MALAYSIA

NOR ARIZA AZIZAN (1); * HUI WENG GOH (2), LIYANA MOHD FAUDZI (3);
SITI FAIRUZ JUIANI (4); CHUN KIAT CHANG (5)
(1,2,3,4,5)
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC), Universiti Sains Malaysia,
Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
* [email protected]

ABSTRACT

Bioretention systems, such as rain gardens, are landscaped depressions that treat on-site stormwater
discharge from impervious surfaces such as roofs, driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and compacted
lawns. They are used to collect stormwater and filter it through a mixture of soil, sand and/or gravel. In
this study, a pilot-scale bioretention system has been constructed in Universiti Sains Malaysia, Nibong
Tebal, Pulau Pinang. This bioretention system will be used as a stormwater Best Management Practices
(BMPs) to solve water quality issues in tropical climates, particularly Malaysia. This study consists of two
bioretention pilot sites, a vegetated site with tropical plants, such as Red Hot Hibiscus (Hibiscus rosa-
sinensis), Amaryllis (Hippeastrum), Singapore Daisy (Sphagneticola trilobata), Lobster claw (Heliconia
rostrata), Alternanthera (Alternanthera cultivar) and a non-vegetated control site. The study investigated
the pollutant removal efficiency between two pilot sites in treating polluted runoff. The site uptake from the
polluted runoff will be observed by testing the effluent with TSS, TN and TP test for three weeks at 30
mins, 2 hours, 4 hours and 8 hours after the runoff being released. The results showed pollutant removal
efficiency for TSS (76%), TN (78%), and TP (71%) for the vegetated site, which is slightly better
compared to control site (TSS (75%), TN (76%) and TP (54%)). This study concluded that the vegetated
site has slightly better performance on nutrient removal efficiency.

Keywords: Bioretention; best management practices (BMPs); water quality; tropical plants.

41
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

A PRELIMINARY DEVELOPMENT OF A COUPLED SURFACE AND SUBSURFACE

FLOW MODEL FOR SWALE SYSTEM

NOOR EZLYN OTHMAN (1), HOW TION PUAY (2) * & TZE LIANG LAU(3)
1
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC),
Universiti Sains Malaysia, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia
*[email protected]

2
School of Civil Engineering, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300 Nibong Tebal, Pulau Pinang, Malaysia

ABSTRACT

This study presents the preliminary stage of the development of a conjunctive surface-subsurface model
for simulating the flow in a swale. The surface flow is modelled by one dimensional dynamic wave
equation. To improve accuracy, a third-order numerical scheme is used to solve the advection terms in
the dynamic wave model. Meanwhile, the subsurface flow is modelled as one-dimensional vertical flow
through nondeformable porous media without air compression effect. At preliminary stage, the surface
and subsurface model are verified separately. The surface model is verified against the experimental
data of surface runoff from a simulated rainfall. The surface model showed promising performance in
terms of the reproduction of surface hydrograph. For the subsurface flow model, the vertical moisture
profile of the soil is verified against Philip’s analytical solution. The moisture profile obtained from the
numerical model shows excellent agreement with Philip’s solution.

Keywords: Saturated flow, shallow flow, surface and subsurface flow coupling.

42
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
EMERGING AND INNOVATIVE TECHNOLOGIES

43
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

PERCEPTION AND CAPACITY OF PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES (PWD) ENTERING THE

MALAYSIA CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: PRELIMINARY FINDINGS
MASIDAH ABDUL MAJID (1), NURUL AINI OSMAN(2), MOHD SAIFULNIZAM MOHD SUHAIMI(3),
SUHAIDA SUHANA KAMARUDIN(4), NORUL IZZATI M. ASHAARI(5)
(1,4,5)
Faculty of Engineering and Quantity Surveying, Inti International University,
Nilai, Malaysia

(2)
School of Architecture and Design, Taylor’s University, Selangor, Malaysia
[email protected]

(3)
Kulliyyah of Architecture and Environmental Design, IIUM, Gombak, Malaysia

ABSTRACT.

Disabled persons (PWD) seek the same chances and experiences as everyone else, yet due to a number
of hurdles they are frequently excluded from fulfilling jobs. There are few statistics available globally to give
an accurate knowledge of the number of disabled workers, and there is still a dearth of study on
employment, disability, and construction, particularly in Malaysia. This study aims to determine the students
and trainer at the Industrial Training and Rehabilitation Centre for People with Disabilities (PLPP) in Bangi,
Selangor feel about participating the construction industry and their capacity to do so. It investigates how
eager and capable students are to meet the requirements of IR4.0 in the construction industry. The
interviews with 2 students who have physical disabilities, and 1 instructor are included in the data. These
students are registered and classified as physical disability by the Malaysian Social Welfare Department.
The interviews were transcribed verbatim. Extracting, grouping, and interpreting keywords or phrases into
themes. To ensure validity and dependability, the participants verified the analysis's data. The results offer
intriguing new information about the aptitude for and drive for entering the construction industry. However,
the limited involvement of PWD in the Malaysian construction industry may be attributed to the absence of
assistance for raising awareness of and motivating disabled people. It also touches on their readiness to take
part in newly introduced IR4.0 courses like drone, BIM, and VR, if relevant.

Keywords: PWD, people with disability, construction, capacity, ability.

44
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

INFLUENCE OF GATE LIP ANGLE ON DOWNPULL FORCES FOR VERTICAL

LIFT GATES

KHOR HAO ZHE (1) & PUAY HOW TION (2) *

River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Engineering Campus, 14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia
[email protected]

ABSTRACT

Underestimation of hydrodynamic downpull force is one of the most dangerous risks when operating a
vertical lift gate. The downpull force acting on the gate is affected by gate geometry. The purpose of this
study is to investigate the influence of gate lip angle on the downpull force of vertical lift gates using Flow-
3D®, a commercial CFD software. Simultaneously, the performance of Flow-3D® in estimating downpull
force is evaluated. The influence of gate lip angle on the downpull force is investigated by simulating flow
under different gate lip angles at different gate openings. The setup of the numerical model is similar to
the experiment setup used by Naudascher in 1964. Results show that the higher the gate lip angle, the
higher the bottom downpull coefficient. Majority of the numerical results show good agreement with the
experimental results. Some cases showed obvious deviation from the due to flow separation occurred at
the gate lip. Therefore, the error in piezometric head reading under the gate lip was aggravated. This could
be due to the limitations of the Fractional Area-Volume Obstacle Representation (FAVOR) method
employed by Flow-3D® in which gate lip part that is smaller than mesh cell could not be exactly
reproduced.

Keywords: Vertical lift gate, Hydrodynamic downpull force, Flow-3D.

45
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

THE ADOPTION OF UNMANNED AERIAL VEHICLES (UAV) TECHNOLOGY IN THE

CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY: CONSTRUCTION STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTION

KONG FOO KEONG(1), CHAI CHANG SA’AR(2), SUAATHI KALIANNAN(3)

& NURUL ‘ULYANI MOHD NAJIB(4)
(1,3,4)
Wawasan Open University, Georgetown, Malaysia
[email protected]
(2)
Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Kuching, Malaysia

ABSTRACT.

In parallel to the Industry Revolution 4.0, the introduction of Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) in
construction is expected to improve the construction project management efficiency. Although much
research works has been done by the academics in uncovering the advantageous potentials of using
UAV in construction, the barriers and drivers that influence the construction companies towards adopting
UAV have received scant or very limited attention from the academics. Even though the UAV technology
infrastructure has progressively been developed and improved by the government and the UAV
manufacturers with some construction companies successfully got on board the platform to tap the
potentials for gains, however there are construction companies have yet to act on it. This paper aims to
identify the main drivers of the construction companies in adopting and integrating the UAV into their
construction activities or business. The semi-structured interviews were designed using theory of
interpersonal communication in achieving an honest exchange of information on the perception of the
participants, their encounters, experiences, views and expectation with respect to the use of UAV in their
business activities. This study was conducted with eight respondents from Johor Bharu and Kuala Lumpur
of diverse background and experience in the construction and UAV. The findings show that relative
advantage, education, knowledge of technology, positive attitude of the decision makers, compatibility of
technology, simplicity of technology, and observability are the seven drivers to the adoption of UAV in the
construction industry. Therefore, this study may serve as a conceptual framework for the future research
works on the adoption of UAV in the Malaysian construction industry as the industry is increasingly digitally
driven with the emergence of new technology such as the UAV application technology.

Keywords: Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Drones, Industry Revolution 4.0, Construction Technology.

46
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

DAILY FRESH WATER PRODUCTION FROM MALAYSIA’S URBAN ATMOSPHERE

USING 6 THERMOELECTRIC COOLING UNITS

MUHD HAZWAN HISYAM BIN ABU HASSAN (1), ALI RIAHI (2), MOHD REMY ROZAINY MOHD ARIF
ZAINOL1(3)*, NOR AZAZI ZAKARIA (4), AZMAN MAT JUSOH (5), MOHD FAZLY YUSOF (6)
& SYAFIQ SHAHARUDDIN (7)
(1,2,3,4,6,7)
River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre, Universiti Sains Malaysia,
14300 Nibong Tebal, Penang, Malaysia.
[email protected]

2
National Water Research Institute of Malaysia (NAHRIM), Lot 5377, Jalan Putra Permai,
43300 Seri Kembangan, Selangor Darul Ehsan, Malaysia.

ABSTRACT.

Extracting fresh water from Malaysia’s atmosphere which stores a wealth of water can be conducted via
the air condensation. In this work, an atmospheric water generator (AWG) system called Mini-AWG was
designed, fabricated and tested at River Engineering and Urban Drainage Research Centre (REDAC) in
Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) under the outdoor climate conditions of Malaysia. The Mini-AWG consisted
of 6 thermoelectric cooler (TEC) units, an air-conditioner mesh air filter and an axial ventilation fan. The Mini-
AWG was tested at REDAC that located in the urban area of city of Nibong Tebal. The daily rates of relative
humidity, values of ambient temperatures and the amount of produced water were measured during several
experimental days. It was found from the results that the hourly values of water production of Mini-AWG
were proportional to the hourly rates of relative humidity, but they were inversely affected by the
corresponding hourly values of ambient temperature. The Mini-AWG produced the maximum daily fresh
water of 0.355 litres experimentally in 12 hour-period daily. Based on the varied hourly rates of relative
humidity with the ranges between minimum rate of 46% and maximum rate of 75% in Malaysia from morning
to night, an equation of y= 1.3136x + 16.936 with R2 of 0.8901 was achieved from the experimental work
to estimate the values of water production of Mini-AWG, where Y and X are indicated as the rate of relative
humidity and the value of water production respectively. The examined water quality parameters of the
water produced from Mini-AWG was in compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO) and Malaysia
class I drinking water standards.

Keywords: Tropical climate, relative humidity, ambient temperature, humid air condensation,
thermoelectric cooling (TEC), fresh water production.

47
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

TOPIC:
DISASTER RISK REDUCTION AND
MANAGEMENT

48
 Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

PRELIMINARY SURVEY ON THE ROOT CAUSES OF MISHANDLING MATERIALS

OCCURRENCE AT CONSTRUCTION SITES IN CENTRAL REGION MALAYSIA

KAGEISHIENY NADARASON (1), SASITHARAN NAGAPAN (2)* & NIWASHINY ARUMUGAM (3)
(1,2,3)
Department of Civil Engineering Technology,
University Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia, Johor, Malaysia,
[email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]

ABSTRACT

A crucial issue has been perceived as construction waste generation, which negatively affects the
effectiveness of construction project and its environmental impact. The key objective of the current research
is to identify the root causes of mishandling materials at construction sites. A well-structured questionnaire
was designed based on the 33 identified root causes of mishandling materials. The developed
questionnaire was distributed to 28 highly experiences in Malaysian construction industry experts. The
collected data was analysed by the use of mean score analysis. The top identified root causes are lack of
management commitments towards educating workers about safety, wrong handling of materials, lack of
supervision, poor management, inappropriate storage leading to damage and mismanagement of
materials. This initial finding will assist construction practitioners in addressing these root causes to reduce
the material construction waste generated on construction sites.

Keywords: Preliminary survey; mishandling materials; construction sites; environment; Malaysia.

49
Symposium on Technologies for Sustainable Urban Development 2023
May 13 – 14, 2023, Penang, Malaysia

50