The importance of landscape architects in the green building index (GBI) practice

Abstract

The Green Building Index (GBI) is a green rating system introduced by Pertubuhan Arkitek Malaysia (PAM) and the Association of Consulting Engineers (ACEM) to evaluate the performance of buildings across a broad range of environmental considerations. Apart from building performance evaluation, the idea of the green building design carried by the GBI is said to have an interconnection with landscape architectural aspect. This study fundamentally discusses the importance of landscape architects in the context of the GBI practice. It is very important to investigate the professionals’ perception towards the GBI general application and practice, to examine the influential factors that lead to the importance of landscape architects in the GBI practice, as well as to evaluate the roles and contributions of landscape architects in the GBI application and practice. For that purpose, this study employed a combination of questionnaire surveys and semi-structured interviews. The analyses were conducted by using the Statistical Package of Social Science (SPSS) for Windows and QSR NVivo 8. The findings demonstrate that the roles of landscape architects are very important in the GBI practice. This includes the involvement of landscape architects from the very beginning of the green projects, their participations as green building design teams as well as their attachments to the GBI organisation. On the other hand, it is found that there are several factors that lead to the importance of landscape architects in the GBI practice. The factors are: i) knowledge expertise and involvement in the GBI practice; ii) roles of landscape architects in the GBI practice; iii) landscape design approaches in the context of the GBI application and iv) landscape design considerations. This study has contributed an added value towards the landscape architecture profession; especially in creating awareness on the importance of this profession in the GBI practice and the green building industry as a whole.