A Review on Sustainability Principles of Building: Formulation of a Theoretical Framework

Abstract

Sustainable development has received encouraging attention since the Rio Declaration on Environment and
Development was signed in 1992 Earth Summit. In Malaysia, the focus on sustainability in building,
especially in devising policies has been spelled out in the government policies at national, state and local
level. It can be considered that many efforts relating to sustainability in building project have been
implemented in the country, however till now sustainability in Malaysian building projects are still remain
without proven. It was revealed that most of the current frameworks of sustainability in the country are not
equipped to handle sustainable building project. It is often encouraged environmental measure in most cases,
yet the rest of measures are less promoted. To response to the issues, this study therefore aims to explore the
sustainability principles of building through the review of relevant literatures. Content analysis is used to
identify the principles in the sustainability literature relevant to building projects. A theoretical framework of
sustainability principles of building was then formulated to be the main outcome of the study. The
framework consists of a list of 29 sustainability principles of building to be taken into account throughout the
project development process. The findings is very important to be a useful starting point for future study,
especially for formulating a clear guide for the development of upcoming sustainable building projects to its
actual meaning.