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Purpose: We describe the natural auditory environment of people with cochlear implants (CIs), how it changes across the life span, and how it varies between individuals. Method: We performed a retrospective cross-sectional analysis of Cochlear Nucleus 6 CI sound-processor data logs. The logs were obtained from 1,501 people with CIs (ages 0-96 years). They covered over 2.4 million hr of implant use and indicated how much time the CI users had spent in various acoustical environments. We investigated exposure to spoken language, noise, music, and quiet, and analyzed variation between age groups, users, and countries. Results: CI users spent a substantial part of their daily life in noisy environments. As a consequence, most speech was presented in background noise. We found significant differences between age groups for all auditory scenes. Yet even within the same age group and country, variability between individuals was substantial. Conclusions: Regardless of their age, people with CIs face challenging acoustical environments in their daily life. Our results underline the importance of supporting them with assistive listening technology. Moreover, we found large differences between individuals' auditory diets that might contribute to differences in rehabilitation outcomes. Their causes and effects should be investigated further. From learning language in a noisy nursery to tea time at the retirement home, different stages of life are characterized by different environments. Each of these comes with particular learning tasks and social interactions. For 360 million people with hearing loss (World Health Organization, 2015), the environment also provides acoustical challenges that can jeopardize learning and social participation. This holds true for those who perceive sounds through a cochlear implant (CI).

Empirical analyses of higher education subsidies are commonly misleading because they disregard appropriate age composition in the parental reference population. Further distortions occur depending on parents' categorization by income, occupation, or education. This paper addresses these issues using empirical data from Chile, France, and Malaysia. (2 references) (MLH)

Owing to the unavailability of electricity in many remote areas in Peninsular and East Malaysia, these areas do not have access to telephone signals. In remote areas, a diesel generator is used as the power source for the telecommunications base station. Hence, the continuous supply of diesel (which is a fossil fuel) is necessary in these remote areas. In this study, an attempt is made to assess the potential of replacing diesel-generated electricity with wind energy, which is renewable energy. Life cycle cost analysis is carried out, and the payback period of a wind energy system is determined for a remote telecommunications base station in Malaysia. The load characteristics and wind data are obtained from the Mersing Meteorological Station, Malaysia, and it was found that the annual load and base load are 12 kW. Hence, a 12-kW wind turbine is selected for the life cycle cost analysis at the site. The results show that the total specific cost of the 12-kW wind turbine is MYR 0.27/kWh based on a discount rate of 5% and electricity tariff in Malaysia of MYR 0.28/kWh. The payback period and discounted payback period of the 12-kW wind turbine are estimated to be 11.8 and 18.2 yr, respectively. Based on the load characteristics in Mersing, Malaysia, the 12-kW wind turbine is economically viable for the remote telecommunications base station. Nonetheless, the 12-kW wind turbine is not economically viable because the simple payback period is greater than 1/3 of the wind turbine's lifetime, which is 20 years. The 12-kW wind turbine, on the other hand, is suitable for use as a remote telecommunications base station. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electric Centrifugal Chillers (ECC) are mostly incorporated into District Cooling (DC) systems for charging the Thermal Energy Storage (TES) tank or/and to supply Chilled Water (CW) directly to the DC network for Air Conditioning (AC). ECC accounts for the highest percentage of the total electrical energy consumption, making it the most energy-intensive system in the DC setup. The high positive correlation between energy consumption and cost, and its influence on the decision-making process, necessitate the requirement to conduct an economic performance evaluation of the ECC plants. To achieve this objective, a Life Cycle Cost (LCC) analysis is performed to quantify the economic implication resulting from the ECC system's acquisition, operation, and maintenance. In this analysis, four (4) ECC systems installed in a large DC plant in Malaysia are considered the case study. The result obtained from the analysis of the study year revealed that April and June accounted for the maximum and minimum cost implication per outcome, respectively. It is also observed from the results that the climatic temperature conditions had a significant influence on the monthly cooling demand, energy consumed, and cost incurred. The operational phase of the system's life cycle accounted for the highest cost implication from the overall LCC result. A significant reduction in the operating cost is recorded as the indirect energy source used for driving the chiller plant is switched from the electricity supplied from the National Electricity Grid (NEG) and supplied from the Natural Gas Plant (NGP). The LCC per refrigeration ton of the ECC system is estimated to be MYR 1.44/RTh. The impact of system degradation (i.e. decrease in Coefficient of Performance (COP) value) over time on the overall cost per output refrigeration was also investigated. The study also revealed that operating an actual ECC system on electricity from NGP led to a 31% cost savings compared to an ideal system running on electricity from NEG. A sensitivity analysis is also conducted at the end of the study to determine the influence of the input variable on the output result. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The construction sector is interested in considering environmental implications as necessary criteria for sustainability. In this regard, wood materials, especially engineering wood, are a promising choice for sustainable buildings. In some countries such as Malaysia, timber is rarely considered in the construction sector despite there being abundant access to wood. This is because of the scarcity of timber structures and the dominance of alternative materials such as steel and concrete. The cross-laminated timber-steel composite introduced in this research benefits both the wood and the steel markets leading to standardization and a more extensive market. At the same time, it contributes to environmentally friendly requirements. The main objective was to investigate timber applications in local construction and make proposals for its promotion. The new specimen described here could potentially enhance the strength of timber beams using steel plates. Four current structural methods have been chosen based on environmental and economic comparisons with a new composite structure. Methods: The life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle cost (LCC) have been used to compare the performance of four current conventional structures. Results and discussion: The results showed that the new proposed structure has lower emissions in all environmental categories, namely, Global Warming Potential (GWP), Human Carcinogenic Toxicity (HCT), Fossil Depletion Potential (FDP), Ozone Layer Depletion (OLD), Terrestrial Acidification (TA) and embodied energy. The results of the LCC are consistent with the environmental issue as the new composite has a lower cost over its entire life span. Conclusions: The new structure provides a novel and sustainable alternative for the construction industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building maintenance has become an invaluable process in the field of the built environment with the purpose of retaining building value and quality. Life Cycle Cost (LCC) is important in the maintenance field as it can reduce maintenance costs without affecting the performance of services. However, the application of LCC in this country is limited due to a lack of awareness and knowledge about LCC. This research intends to identify the components of LCC and its impact on the maintenance performance of lift systems in high-rise residential buildings. Lift systems are important for high-rise buildings to transport occupants from the ground floor to upper floors but most lift systems have not been effectively managed and maintained in Malaysia, which has resulted in severe injuries to users and even death. Yet, there is a lack of data regarding high-end high-rise residential buildings. Hence, this research will focus on lift systems in high-end high-rise residential buildings. A mixed-method approach has been adopted whereby questionnaires were distributed to building managers of high rise residential buildings in Klang Valley and interviews were conducted with building managers from the selected case studies. With the application of LCC, the maintenance team can consider all the LCC components of the lift system during the decision-making process and improve the maintenance performance of the lift system by having lower breakdown rates, fewer complaints received and quicker response times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The palm oil industry generates a high amount of residues during their processing. Empty fruit bunches (EFB) is one of the biomass which can be utilised for bioethanol production. In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) with the cradle-to-gate approach is performed with the help of SimaPro version 9.0, whereby four impact categories are evaluated. The economic performance of the production is analysed through life cycle costing (LCC). The scope is from palm tree cultivation to refined bioethanol production. In LCC, specific cost data such as raw material costs, labour and capital expenditure, operational costs, and transport costs will be considered. The LCC is 562.44 MYR/t of bioethanol with an annual profit of 5.50 × 108 MYR/y and a payback period of 0.51 y. From an environmental view, the significant contributors to the environmental impacts are agriculture and the pretreatment process. From an economic perspective, the chemical cost is the most burden cost in the upstream process. In contrast, the cost of the raw materials is the main contributor to the bioethanol production cost. The environmental impacts and cost burden can be reduced by cutting down the usage of chemicals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: A comprehensive sustainable research requires investigation on all the relevant environmental, financial and social impacts. The objective of this research is to evaluate the sustainability performance of different flooring systems using a multi-criteria method. Included flooring systems are ceramic tile, laminate, concrete and wood, and criteria consist of carbon dioxide emission, ozone layer depletion, cost and social impacts. Methods: The method of this study entails four stages. In the first stage, the life cycle assessment (LCA) is conducted to rank the flooring systems based on carbon dioxide emission (CO2) and ozone layer depletion (OLD). The second stage entails the life cycle cost assessment (LCCA) which focuses on alternatives based on their related cost. The LCA and LCCA cover the four phases of production and construction, transportation, maintenance and end of life. In the third stage, the social life cycle assessment (SLCA) is performed involving four main social indicators namely workers, local community, society and consumers. The final stage entails the implementation of the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach to evaluate the different options resulting from the LCA, LCCA and SLCA to propose the most sustainable flooring system by taking into consideration the combination of all the stated criteria. Results and discussion: The result of the LCA indicates that wood flooring is the least environmental impact per functional unit as it causes fewer carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (17%) than the second least environmental impact per functional unit (laminated flooring). However, the result of the LCCA suggests that concrete flooring is the lowest costing system, i.e. 30% less than the second best option (wood flooring). On the other hand, the SLCA result indicates that laminated flooring is the least negative social impact with a 28% better score than concrete flooring. The results of the MCDM show that wood is the most sustainable floor system with a utility degree of 100%, higher than laminated flooring at 78%. However, in equal weighting scenario, laminated flooring is shown to be the best choice. Conclusions: The presented approach in this research has been successfully applied on a case study. It provides valuable insight on the assessment of flooring systems so as to assist decision-makers and architects in prioritising and selecting the most sustainable flooring systems to be used in residential buildings in Malaysia. This methodology can be applied in other countries with a similar climate and cultural preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar used for soil amendment is considered a viable negative emissions technology as it can be produced easily from a wide range of biomass feedstocks, while offering numerous potential agricultural benefits. This research is the first to present a comprehensive sustainability assessment of large-scale biochar production and application in Malaysia. The five feedstocks considered comprise the country's most abundant agricultural wastes from palm oil (empty fruit bunches, fibres, palm fronds and shells) and rice (straw) plantations. Combined with process simulation, life cycle assessment and life cycle costing are used to assess the sustainability of biochar production via slow pyrolysis at different temperatures (300-600 °C), considering two functional units: i) production and application of 1 t of biochar; and ii) removal of 1 t of CO 2 from the atmosphere. The cradle-to-grave system boundary comprises all life cycle stages from biomass acquisition to biochar use for soil amendment. The positive impacts of the latter, such as carbon sequestration, fertiliser avoidance and reduction in soil N 2 O emissions, are also included. The global warming potential (GWP) is net-negative in all scenarios, ranging from -436 to -2,085 kg CO 2 eq./t biochar and -660 to -933 kg CO 2 eq./t CO 2 removed. Per t of biochar, the systems with shells have the lowest GWP and those with straw the highest, all showing better performance if produced at higher pyrolysis temperatures. However, the temperature trend is opposite for all other 17 impacts considered, with fibres being the best option and fronds the worst for most categories. Per t CO 2 removed, fronds have the highest impact in eight categories, including GWP, and shells the lowest in most categories. All impacts are lower for biochar production at higher temperatures. The main hotspot is the pyrolysis process, influencing the majority of impact categories and contributing 66-75 % to the life cycle costs. The costs range from US$116-197/t biochar and US$60-204/t CO 2 removed. The least expensive systems per t biochar are those with straws and per t CO 2 removed those with shells, while fronds are the worst option economically for both functional units. Utilising all available feedstocks could remove 6-12.4 Mt of CO 2 annually, reducing the national emissions from the agricultural sector by up to 54 % and saving US$36.05 M annually on fertilisers imports. These results will be of interest to policy makers in Malaysia and other regions with abundant agricultural wastes., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, off-site volumetric construction has been promoted as a viable strategy for improving the sustainability of the construction industry. Most prefabricated prefinished volumetric construction (PPVC) structures are composed of either steel or concrete; thus, it is imperative to carry out life cycle assessments (LCAs) for both types of structures. PPVC is a method by which free-standing volumetric modules—complete with finishes for walls, floors, and ceilings—are prefabricated and then transferred and erected on-site. Although many studies have examined these structures, few have combined economic and environmental life cycle analyses, particularly for prefinished volumetric construction buildings. The purpose of this study is to utilize LCA and life cycle cost (LCC) methods to compare the environmental impacts and costs of steel and concrete PPVCs "from cradle to grave." The results show that steel necessitates higher electricity usage than concrete in all environmental categories, while concrete has a higher emission rate. Steel outperforms concrete by approximately 37% in non-renewable energy measures, 38% in respiratory inorganics, 43% in land occupation, and 40% in mineral extraction. Concrete, on the other hand, performs 54% better on average in terms of measures adopted for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Steel incurs a higher cost in the construction stage but is ultimately the more economical choice, costing 4% less than concrete PPVC owing to the recovery, recycling, and reuse of materials. In general, steel PPVC exhibits better performance, both in terms of cost and environmental factors (excluding GHG emissions). This study endeavors to improve the implementation and general understanding of PPVC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The aim of this research is to assess the sustainability performance of different concrete and stone walls being used in residential buildings in Malaysia in terms of environmental issues, economic concerns, and social aspects. The concrete walls consist of crib wall (CW), cantilever reinforced concrete wall (CRCW), and keystone wall (KW), while stone walls include gabion wall (GW) and rubble masonry wall (RMW). Four different assessment criteria such as global warming potential (GWP), ozone layer depletion (OLD), cost present value (CPV), and social impacts (SI) were considered. Methods: In this study, life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to evaluate the considered walls based on individual criteria of GWP and OLD, while life cycle cost (LCC) and social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) were performed based on CPV and SI, respectively. In S-LCA, three main social indicators such as workers, local community, and society were taken into account. Then, a multi-criteria decision-analysis (MCDA) approach is implemented to assess and prioritize alternative walls, which is resulted from LCA, LCC, and S-LCA, by considering combination of abovementioned criteria. Results and discussion: The primary results of LCA for GWP criterion shows that the GW and RMW are the best options with respective emissions of 12784 KG CO2eq and 20020 KG CO2eq. On the other hand, the result for OLD indicates that the best alternatives are GW and RMW with respective emissions of 178.99 CFC-11 eq and 224.88 CFC-11 eq. The results of LCC declare that RCW is the best option by 595600 MYR which is 14% less than the second-best option (RMW). The S-LCA results show that the CW is the best option with 10% better than the second option (KW). The MCDA results revealed that the sustainability performance of the GW was the highest among alternatives followed by RWW, RCW, KW, and CW. Conclusions: The presented approach in this research has been successfully applied on a case study. It provides valuable insight on the assessment of earth-retaining systems assisting decision makers in prioritizing and selecting the most sustainable retaining walls to be used in residential buildings in Malaysia and other countries with similar climate conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sustainable procurement is an emerging theme in the construction industry across the globe. However, organizations in the construction industry often encounter impediments in improving environmental performance in construction projects, especially in procurement. Besides its other facets, procurement of construction equipment is inherited to be capital-intensive and vital for managing environmental concerns associated with built environment projects. In this regard, selection criteria in such procurement processes are generally supportive of considering cost and engineering specifications as key parameters. However, sustainability apprehensions in today's Malaysian construction industry have mounted pressure on industry professionals to rethink their equipment acquisition strategies. The notion of green or sustainable procurement is still infancy for the Malaysian construction industry and facing challenges for embedding it in the current procurement practices. This research aims to address these apprehensions by considering six main criteria, namely, life cycle cost (LCC), performance (P), system capability (SC), operational convenience (OC), environmental impact (EI), and social benefits (SBs), and their 38 subcriteria towards procurement of sustainable construction equipment. A multicriteria-based equipment selection framework on the triple bottom line of sustainability in the context of the Malaysian construction industry has been developed and tested. The application of analytical hierarchy process (AHP) established the sustainable procurement index with a consistent sensitivity analysis results. As such, the proposed procurement index shall help decision-makers in the process of the acquisition of sustainable construction equipment in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid deployment of negative emissions technologies (NETs) will be needed to help mitigate climate change. Among various NETs, bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) is seen as an option with multiple environmental benefits, including increasing the share of renewable energy while capturing carbon and providing an effective solution for waste management if waste biomass is utilised. This research presents the first environmental and economic sustainability assessments of BECCS utilising palm oil waste abundant in palm oil producing countries, such as Malaysia. The following five types of waste are considered: fronds, trunks, empty fruit bunches (EFBs), shells and fibres. Process simulation, techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment (LCA) are combined to determine the life cycle impacts and costs of BECCS from cradle to grave. Two units of analysis are considered for both the impacts and costs: 'generation of 1 MWh of electricity' and 'capture of 1 tonne of CO 2 '. The global warming potential (GWP) is net-negative for both functional units, ranging from −1270 to −1410 kg CO 2 eq./MWh and −840 to −1729 kg CO 2 eq./t CO 2 removed, the latter depending on the credits for electricity generation. However, all other 17 impacts increase by 13–217% with the addition of CCS. The systems without CCS have net-positive GWP of 59–126 kg CO 2 eq./MWh. Per MWh electricity, the system with fibres has the lowest and palm fronds the highest impacts for most of the categories considered; per tonne of CO 2 removed, there is no clear feedstock preference. The levelised costs of electricity (LCOE) of BECSS plants are US$98–119/MWh, with fibres being the best and fronds the worst feedstock. Compared to the systems without CCS, the LCOE of BECCS are 3.6–4.1 times higher. The costs of BECSS per tonne of CO 2 removed are US$66–74, with CCS contributing US$50–53/t CO 2. Based on the current availability of palm oil wastes in Malaysia, the system could generate 7730 GWh/yr, boosting the national share of bioenergy by 7.6 times, while removing 12 Mt CO 2 /yr, equivalent to 10% of annual emissions from the electricity sector. [Display omitted] • BECCS with palm oil wastes achieves −840 to −1729 kg CO 2 eq./t CO 2 removed. • However, all other impacts are higher by 13–217% compared to systems without CCS. • Levelised costs of electricity of BECCS are 3.6–4.1 times higher than without CCS. • CCS emits additional 0.175–0.183 t CO 2 eq. and costs US$50–53 per t CO 2 removed. • BECCS could reduce emissions from the Malaysian electricity sector by 10%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The large amount of concrete waste (CW) generated during the construction and demolition stages and the improper management of it often results in considerable environmental impact. The main purpose of this study is to identify the most eco-efficiency scenario in CW management. The life cycle assessment (LCA) modelling is used to assess the environmental impact, GHG emissions and the life cycle cost (LCC) is used as an extension of LCA in the term of economic dimension. Decision making in waste management often come hand in hand with economic incentives. Aligning both LCA and LCC in environmental-cost effectiveness as the eco-efficiency analysis helps in measuring sustainability. Scenarios were built to access different CW options. Scenario 1 (S1) depicts the landfilling. Scenario 2, 3, and 4 (S2, S3, & S4) are the recycling scenario where CW is recycled into concrete aggregate (RCA) to substitute the natural aggregate (NA) in road construction and in recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) production. Results show that S3, recycling of CW to substitute NA in concrete production has the highest eco-efficiency of 1.72 while landfilling has the lowest eco-efficiency of 1.15. Higher eco-efficiency means lower environmental and cost impacts. CW is preferably uses as a substitution of the NA to reduce the need in mining of NA. This study also identified that transportation distances and mining activity are the main contributors to GHG emissions and cost impact. Sensitivity analysis evaluated the what-if scenario of building a mobile material recovery facilities (MRF) within 3 km from waste source site. The results show that the what-if scenario (S3’ with 1.78 eco-efficiency) could possibly reduces 50.8% GHG emissions and 68.1% of cost saving as compared to landfilling scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• GCAOA is applied for parameter extraction of the TD PV model to predict the output current of the PV model. • Non-dominated multi-objective principle is proposed for constructing sets of Pareto optimal solutions using three conflicting objectives. • A new integration based on MOO and MCDM aided by numerical methods are considered to choose the most desirable configuration. • MODA based on AHP-VICKOR-GDM method is used for validation of the proposed method. • Performance of optimum designs are evaluated using hourly meteorological data for one year. This paper presents a new optimum design for an off-grid hybrid solar photovoltaic (PV), wind turbine (WT), and battery storage system for power isolated dwellings in Malaysia and South Africa. Selecting a desirable design of the WT/PV/Battery system among a wide variety of configurations, particularly at a favorable level of reliability, lowering the total cost, and reducing the surplus energy, remains a challenging task. The procedure of this work is summarized as follows: First, the parameter of the three diode PV model is optimally extracted from datasheet information to forecast the output power of the Yingli PV module. Then, the upper and lower variables bounds of the WT/PV/Battery system are intuitively determined. Afterward, the numerical method is employed to identify every possible configurations inside the design space. The non-dominated multi-objective principle is then established to generate optimal sets of Pareto front solutions. Finally, an integration of the best worst method, technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution, and group decision making technique are employed to weight the objectives with complete consistency ratios and rank the optimal designs based on practical judgments. The performance results showed that the optimal designs are comprised of 1 WTs, 105 PV modules (21 in series and 5 in parallel), and 69 storage batteries with zero loss of load probability (LLP), 60185.47 ($) of life cycle cost (LCC), and 13548017.77 KWh of excess energy for Malaysian scenario. While the optimum configuration of the South African case study consists of 16 WTs, 80 PV modules (20 in series and 4 in parallel), and 69 storage batteries with a favorable LLP values of 0.00068, 59180.15 ($) of LCC, and 19174160.54 ($) of excess energy, respectively. It can be concluded that the proposed methodology for finding appropriate size of the WT/PV/Battery system is capable of operating with extremely confident dependability while minimizing the overall cost of the system and minimizing the surplus energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) Scheme was established by the government of Malaysia to mandate MSPO certification on all palm oil stakeholders within the country by year 2019 as an initiative for sustainable palm oil production. However, independent smallholders (ISH) who account for 16.71% of the total palm oil plantation area in Malaysia have shown a low MSPO registration rate of 24.82% by midyear 2020. Therefore, it is vital to encourage MSPO certification and incorporation of sustainable production practices in ISHs in order to maintain the supply of certified palm oil. The current study has compared the environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle costing (LCC) on the uncertified and MSPO-certified fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production among independent smallholders to determine the impacts of MSPO implementation. Based on the LCA findings using ReCiPe 2016 Endpoint (H), a net decline in environmental impacts will result when independent smallholders adopt MSPO certification. With at least 10.116% decrease in all impact categories except the Mineral Resource Scarcity category (18.065% increase), the endpoint results indicate that MSPO implementation in independent smallholders can overall reduce the environmental impacts from Human Health (99.913%), Ecosystem Quality (99.958%), and Resources (90.223%) categories. The study also finds out that certified ISH systems can further improve by replacing mineral fertilizers with organic fertilizers. In terms of LCC, the net present value in MSPO-certified ISHs (127,092.56 USD) for a 3.94 ha plantation and 25-year life cycle was found to be approximately 39% higher than uncertified ISHs (91,017.84 USD), indicating an increased economic profitability in an ISH system when MSPO is implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite studies encouraging sustainable waste management, most municipal wastes remain in landfills, particularly in developing countries. Lack of holistic planning and national policy alignment might impair the waste management facility implementation. Policy-driven waste treatment scenarios should be designed to strongly link to the local conditions when assessing the eco-efficiency impacts of the waste management system. Taking Malaysia as a case study, a relative quadrant life cycle eco-efficiency indicator is developed to investigate the eco-efficiency of waste treatment scenarios. The relative quadrant life cycle eco-efficiency indicator depicts the eco-efficiency of various waste management scenarios. Compared with Scenario S1 – business-as-usual (i.e., 71.5% open landfill, 10% sanitary landfill, 1% composting, 17.5% recycling), five waste treatment scenarios (S2–S6) are designed based on Malaysia's existing and future policy targets. Scenario S5 (15.5% sanitary landfill, 22.25% composting, 22.25% anaerobic digestion, 40% recycling) and Scenario S6 (5% sanitary landfill, 22.25% composting, 22.25% anaerobic digestion, 40% recycling, 10.5% incineration) demonstrate that the 40% recycling rate is 32.9–33.6 times more environmentally favorable and 10–20% more economically viable than business-as-usual. Another four scenarios (NS1-NS4) are designed to investigate zero waste in landfills and the need to implement incineration or material recovery. Scenario NS3 suggests increasing incineration capacity to 33% could be an option should incineration is implemented. Adopting home or centralized windrow composting and increasing 2.5–5.5 times of current Feed-in Tariff rates are recommended to improve the eco-efficiency of the waste treatment scenarios. This study could facilitate policymakers to set waste minimization targets and incentives through various scenarios via sensitivity and comparative analyses. • Eco-efficiency of policy-based waste treatment scenarios is assessed via life cycle approach. • A relative quadrant eco-efficiency indicator is developed to integrate the environmental and economic impacts. • 40% of material recovery is the most preferred scenario for eco-efficiency. • Increasing waste treatment in incineration to 33% is more eco-efficient if incineration has to be implemented. • Recommendations and implications on global and national waste management-related policy based on eco-efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) is an effective indicator to evaluate the economic sustainability of construction projects. LCCA implementation in the Malaysian construction industry remains limited due to its unawareness. This research aims to examine the LCCA awareness and implementation and evaluate the factors that promote LCCA implementation. A survey of 320 Malaysian construction professionals was conducted, followed by statistical data analysis including frequency, mode and relative importance index. According to the findings, 20.1% of newly hired employees in consultancies and contruction firms have minimum education and no awareness, 20%–70% had average awareness with some experience in the field and higher degrees, and 4.4% had a high level of awareness with extensive experience in the field. This study provides an in-depth glance into LCCA knowledge, awareness, implementation and factors that can enhance the LCCA implementation in Malaysia and other developing nations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For construction stakeholders to fully embrace sustainability, its long-term benefits and associated risks need to be identified through holistic approaches. Consensus among key stakeholders is very important to the improvement of the ecological performance of industrialized building systems (IBS), a building construction method gaining momentum in Malaysia. A questionnaire survey examines the relative significance of 16 potentially important sustainability factors for IBS applications. To present possible solutions, semi-structured interviews solicit views from experienced IBS practitioners, representing the professions involved. Three most critical factors agreed by key stakeholders arematerial consumption,waste generationandwaste disposal. Using SWOT analysis, the positive and negative aspects of these factors are investigated, with action plans formulated for IBS design practitioners. The SWOT analysis based guidelines have the potential to become part of IBS design briefing documents against which sustainability solutions are contemplated, selected and implemented. Existing knowledge on ecological performance issues is extended by considering the unique characteristics of IBS and identifying not only the benefits, but also the potential risks and challenges of pursuing sustainability. This is largely missing in previous research efforts. Findings to date focus on providing much-needed assistance to IBS designers, who are at the forefront of decision-making with a significant level of project influence. Ongoing work will be directed towards other project development phases and consider the inherent linkage between design decisions and subsequent sustainability deliverables in the project life cycle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study performed an assessment on the beneficial of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) application on waste treatment system in a local palm oil industry in Malaysia. Life cycle assessment (LCA) was conducted to assess the environmental impacts of the greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction from the CDM application. Calculations on the emission reduction used the methodology based on AM002 (Avoided Wastewater and On-site Energy Use Emissions in the Industrial Sector) Version 4 published by United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCC). The results from the studies showed that the introduction of CDM in the palm oil mill through conversion of the captured biogas from palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment into power generation were able to reduce approximate 0.12 tonnes CO2 equivalent concentration (tCO2e) emission and 30 kW·hr power generation per 1 tonne of fresh fruit bunch processed. Thus, the application of CDM methodology on palm oil mill wastewater treatment was able to reduce up to 1/4 of the overall environment impact generated in palm oil mill. Implications The Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) is an arrangement under the Article 12 of the Kyoto Protocol Kyoto Protocol to support developing countries in greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. Since CDM indicators only focus on GHG emissions reduction, the life cycle assessment (LCA) methodology could be used to provide additional assessment on the environmental impact of the CDM implementation. This study utilized the GHG emission reduction indicators obtained from CDM methodology for calculating the environmental impacts based on various environmental consequences and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Purpose – With global climate change, it is increasingly necessary to develop the built environment in an environmentally sustainable way. The aim of this study is to investigate the strategies that are needed to enable potential owners to own environmentally sustainable homes. The specific objectives are to: determine the extent to which potential homeowners are willing to pay for homes that are environmentally sustainable; uncover the green features that potential homeowners are willing to pay for; and provide recommendations on how more green features can be incorporated in homes. Design/methodology/approach – The survey research method was adopted and data were collected using a specially designed structured questionnaire. Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to randomly selected potential homeowners in Singapore. Findings – Based on the data received, the findings show that the majority of the respondents are willing to pay more to own an environmentally green building. However, they are very price sensitive and only willing to pay 1 percent more in upfront costs. Practical implications – The study found that the green features that potential homeowners are willing to pay relates to siting for natural ventilation, provision of greenery, and water conservation. It is concluded that the extent to which homeowners are willing to pay higher upfront costs is limited. Originality/value – The research provides several recommendations on how to enable more green features to be incorporated to homes owned by price sensitive individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: With increasing attention on sustainable development, the environmental and social relevance of palm oil production are now important trade issues. The life cycle assessment (LCA) study of Malaysian oil palm products from mineral soils including palm biodiesel was aimed to provide baseline information on the environmental performance of the industry for drawing up policies pertaining to the sustainable production. The share of greenhouse gas (GHG) contribution by the various subsystems in the oil palm supply chain is considered here. Materials and methods: The life cycle inventory data for the study were collected based on subsystems, i.e., gate-to-gate. The subsystems include activities in oil palm nurseries and plantations, palm oil mills, refineries, biodiesel plants and the use of biodiesel in diesel engine vehicles. Two scenarios were considered: extraction of crude palm oil (CPO) in a mill without and with a system for trapping biogas from palm oil mill effluent (POME). Inventory data were collected through questionnaires. On-site visits were carried out for data verification. Background data for resource exploitation and production of input materials were obtained through available databases and literature. Foreground data for all subsystems were site-specific data from nurseries, plantations, palm oil mills and refineries and biodiesel plants in Malaysia. Results and discussion: Using a yield of 20.7 t oil palm fresh fruit bunches (FFB)/ha, the results showed that the production of 1 t of FFB produced 119 kg CO eq. The production of 1 t of CPO in a mill without and with biogas capture emitted 971 and 506 kg CO eq, respectively. For the production of 1 t of refined palm oil in a refinery which sourced the CPO from a mill without biogas capture and with biogas capture, the GHG emitted was 1,113 kg and 626 kg CO eq, respectively. For palm biodiesel, 33.19 and 21.20 g CO eq were emitted per MJ of biodiesel produced from palm oil sourced from a mill without and with biogas capture, respectively. Conclusions: GHG contribution by the nursery subsystem was found to be minimal. In the plantation subsystem, the major sources of GHG were from nitrogen fertilizers, transport and traction energy. For the mill, biogas from POME was the major contributor if biogas was not trapped. Excluding contribution from upstream activities, boiler fuel and transport were the major sources of GHG in the refinery subsystem. In the biodiesel subsystem, activities for production of refined palm oil and methanol use were the most significant contributors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Fuel cell is an environmental friendly cogeneration system with the capability of producing electricity and thermal energy. Thermal energy emitted during the production of electricity can be used to meet the heating loads. The purpose of this study is to analyse the feasibility of the fuel cell based system to be used in Malaysia. The cost effectiveness of using cogeneration system was compared to the conventional grid energy system. Two models of grid-independent and cogeneration system are developed and simulated using HOMER® software to determine the energy required meeting the hourly average electric and thermal loads of the residence. These two models were simulated with and without battery pack options to optimize the utilization of electricity generated by the fuel cell system. The results include a comparison between the energy used in cogeneration systems and the conventional residential energy system. Comparisons of the life cycle cost and the payback period of the cogeneration system to the conventional residential energy systems were also presented. The results indicate that cogeneration systems can reduce the primary energy use by 30–40%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This article examines the links between infant mortality and fertility in an environment with unobserved heterogeneity in infant mortality risk across mothers. In such an environment, replacement behavior (i.e., the fertility response to an experienced child death) might be influenced by mothers' learning about a family-specific component of infant mortality risk. I explicitly introduce learning by mothers in a dynamic stochastic model of life-cycle marital fertility, and I estimate the model's structural parameters using Malaysian panel data. The framework is used to estimate replacement rates and to correct for birth selectivity in the estimation of the relationship between infant mortality risk and “health inputs.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Many authors have predicted that the shorter product life cycles, advanced manufacturing technologies, decreasing emphasis on labour in the production process, and global competition may lead to the demise of standard costing. This exploratory study aims to provide empirical evidence on the extent to which companies in Malaysia use standard costing. It also examines the differences in the use of such techniques between local Malaysian firms and Japanese affiliates. Design/methodology/approach - From the industrial and consumer products sectors listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and 21 Japanese affiliates in Malaysia, 66 companies were surveyed. Findings - Despite its various criticisms, the empirical findings suggest that standard costing is still being used by a large majority of firms in Malaysia. Thus, Malaysian companies (both Japanese and local) perceive that the basic principles of standard costing remain sound. Research limitations/implications - While the empirical results may be interesting, the findings represent an exploratory area of research which ultimately needs to be grounded in theory. To do this, future studies should undertake detailed case studies on management accounting in practice. Originality/value - Provides empirical evidence of the extent of use of standard costing in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The usage of residential electrical appliances for the last two decades has increased rapidly in Malaysia together with the increasing income per capita. Like other developing countries with hot and humid climates, Malaysia has been experiencing dramatic growth in the number of use of air conditioners, and the usage will be higher in the future. In order to reduce energy consumption in the residential sector, the Department of Electricity and Gas Supply considers implementing energy labels for room air conditioners sometime in the coming year. This study attempts to calculate the economical and environmental impact of implementing this program in Malaysia. The study found the savings has exceeded the investment cost and the program has reduced the emissions caused by burning fossil fuel. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In this study, an experimental investigation of pure bioethanol production from the waste biomass of the most significant cultivated feedstock (oil palm and rubber-wood) in Malaysia and life cycle cost analysis of bioethanol-gasoline blend on Malaysian transportation sector has been demonstrated. The experimental investigations presented all the stages from oil palm frond/leaves and rubber-wood sawdust collection to bioethanol purification. Both feedstocks have been pre-treated by sulfuric acid and sodium hydroxide, hydrolyzed by cellulase enzyme, and fermented by Saccharomyces cerevisiae within 12–72 h to produce bioethanol. After distillation, 35% and 45% pure bioethanol was obtained for mixed oil palm residues and rubber-wood sawdust, respectively. Detailed life cycle cost analysis of a large-scale bioethanol plant (20 ktonns/y) has been designed based on the experimental outcome for 20 years life time. The possibility of 5% (E5) and 10% (E10) replacement of total gasoline application for Malaysian transportation sector by the produced bioethanol has been simulated using simulation software code blocks. From the economic perspective, the results presented that both waste biomass can be converted into a value-added product, bioethanol, and a by-product, biomass content that can add market value as commercial biofertilizer. This study suggested that partial substitution of gasoline with bioethanol produced from forest residues could lead to the significant commercial aspect of fuel savings for the transportation sector in Malaysia. [Display omitted] • Acid and alkaline pre-treatment of forest residues in Malaysia. • 35% and 45% pure bioethanol from mixed oil palm residues and rubber-wood sawdust, respectively. • 5% (E5) and 10% (E10) replacement of total gasoline by bioethanol for Malaysian transportation sector. • Challenges and policy implementation of bioethanol-gasoline application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a multi-objective particle swarm optimization (MOPSO) method for optimal sizing of the standalone photovoltaic (SAPV) systems. Loss of load probability (LLP) analysis is considered to determine the technical evaluation of the system. Life cycle cost (LCC) and levelized cost of energy (LCE) are treated as the economic criteria. The two variants of the proposed PSO method, referred to as adaptive weights PSO ( A W P S O c f) and sigmoid function PSO (S F P S O c f) , are implemented using MATLAB software to the optimize the number of PV modules in (series and parallel) and number of the storage battery. The case study of the proposed SAPV system is executed using the hourly meteorological data and typical load demand for one year in a rural area in Malaysia. The performance outcomes of the proposed A W / S F P S O c f methods give various configurations at desired levels of LLP values and the corresponding minimum cost. The performance results showed the superiority of S F P S O c f in terms of accuracy is selecting an optimal configuration at fitness function value 0.031268, LLP value 0.002431, LCC 53167 USD, and LCE 1.6413 USD. The accuracy of A W / S F P S O c f methods is verified by using the iterative method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]