Green Assessment Criteria for Public Hospital Building Development in Malaysia

As Malaysia moves towards a sustainable lifestyles and development, the need to prepare for the change is imperative. Sustainability has become an important initiative discussed and undertaken not only by private buildings but also by public buildings dealing with residential, office, commercial as well as hospital. Building is known as human habitat. The way people design, construct and operate the building has a profound impact on people health and the environment. Compared to other building types, healthcare buildings have an especially large impact on the environment for the 24/7 use. Thus, the development of green hospital is important as it requires strict cleaning procedures and frequent air changes, which increase the already-high energy costs of the 24/7 operations and sophisticated medical equipment that make hospitals among the greatest energy consumers of any institution. The primary aim for this paper is to investigate green assessment criteria for public hospital building development in Malaysia. It compiles the essential criteria of existing green rating systems for healthcare buildings worldwide and presents the difference between each criteria compared to Malaysian green rating system. Existing tools and guidelines are reviewed, analysed and grouped according to the main criteria. The assessment criteria from each rating systems are divided into similar category covers all aspect of building design, construction and operation. Results from the analysis show the important assessment criteria of green public hospital building correspond to Malaysia. The research intended to produce initial guideline as a starting point for Malaysian public hospital in the most consistent and systematic way in practicing green. (C) 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V.