Awareness of energy-efficiency among office buildings users : study case of Putrajaya Corporation Complex

Abstract

This research is motivated by the need to reduce energy consumption in buildings, which will subsequently cut Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. At least one-third of global worldwide energy is used in buildings, which generate about 15 percent of global GHG emissions. In cities, up to 80 percent of CO2 emissions are due to energy consumed by buildings. Consequently, the built environment is a critical part of the climate change problem and conversely, a solution. The improving of energy-efficiency (EE) within buildings is essential to reduce GHG emissions, lowering energy costs and ensuring energy security. Malaysia is currently making efforts to improve its EE status. In order to meet future demands, an effective EE strategy is likely to be a cost-effective alternative to developing new power sources. This study is in line with Malaysia’s need for long-term solutions towards attaining sufficiency and sustainability in the energy sector. This study seeks to investigate the level of awareness among office building users towards EE. For the purpose of this study, the Putrajaya Corporation office building is selected for the case study since it features some of the energy-efficient elements and practices and the fact that the Putrajaya Corporation acts as a local authority with a mission to plan, manage and develop the federal administrative capital in an effective and efficient manner. This research aims to evaluate the current level of awareness towards EE among the building users; identify the main factors that are in correlation with the users’ level of awareness and to what extent they are capable of changing the users’ behaviour. The researcher manages to cover two groups within the building designated as technical staff and non-technical staff, and have been compared through the different analyses done by the researcher. This research is designed with the assumption that people from the technical group are more aware on EE as compared to the non-technical group. Questionnaires and interviews with representatives of the Putrajaya Corporation have been conducted for the purpose of data collection. The findings show that 92.3 percent of the respondents are aware of EE, where those from the technical group are more aware compared to those from the non-technical group. It has been found that the factors ‘occupational post’ and ‘group affiliation’ do influence the respondents’ level of awareness. A significant association has been identified between the users’ level of awareness and the behavioural pattern; the more the level of awareness, the more they use the building components efficiently. Furthermore, analyses done have revealed a significant association between the users’ level of awareness and their willingness to participate to the building’s EE; the higher the users’ level of awareness, the higher they contribute to the building’s EE. Based on these findings and issues that have been identified, recommendations and suggestions are given in order to enhance the EE level of awareness among the Putrajaya Corporation staff.