Browsing by Author "Mallawarachchi, H"

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item: Conference-Abstract
Application of green building concept to enhance indoor environmental quality in hospital buildings in Sri Lank
Dilrukshi, H; Mallawarachchi, H; Karunasena, GI
Through the number of factors, which can attract the occupants to the building, “quality” gets a predominant situate. Among the other buildings, hospitals are most important place which has to maintain quality in high standard. Hence, most of the countries are initiating various strategies to improve quality of hospitals because, it directly affects to the occupant satisfaction of the hospital. Further, hospital is mostly a public place which is extremely noisy, crowded and less indoor environment quality. It causes serious impacts on patient and staff outcomes ranging from sleep loss and elevates blood pressure among patients to emotional exhaustion and burnout among staff. Henceforth, poorly designed hospital environments pose a serious threat on building occupants. Literature findings further said that in current scenario, the majority of occupants are not satisfied with their indoor environment quality in a hospital. Nowadays, most of hospitals are following various strategies to improve quality of indoor environment. Among those strategies, green building concept becomes most prominent which is easy to adapt to improve the indoor environment quality. Moreover, green hospital design has been linked to better patient outcomes and staff retention. Even though, in past few years many newly constructed and renovated buildings moved towards green, buildings in hospital sector in Sri Lanka has not much familiar with the green building concept. Therefore, this study is mainly focused on presenting the importance of applying green building concept in hospital buildings to improve indoor environmental quality. Two case studies consisting private and public hospitals were conducted to collect the data. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted who have caught up in operational and maintenance management process of selected hospitals. As revealed by research findings, there was no special attention to enhance indoor environment quality in Sri Lankan hospitals especially in public sector. Therefore, several issues were identified comply with the indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, visual comfort and spatial comfort. Indoor Air quality is one of the major challenges faced by many hospital buildings as it creates several issues within hospital environment. Accordingly, probable green strategies were proposed to overcome identified indoor environment quality issues in hospital buildings to facilitate high quality indoor environment for building occupants in hospital buildings in Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
Application of green building concept to enhance indoor environmental quality in hospital buildings in Sri Lanka.
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2014-06) Dilrukshi, H; Mallawarachchi, H; Karunasena, G; Sandanayake, YG; Fernando, NG; Karunasena, GI
Through the number of factors, which can attract the occupants to the building, “quality” gets a predominant situate. Among the other buildings, hospitals are most important place which has to maintain quality in high standard. Hence, most of the countries are initiating various strategies to improve quality of hospitals because, it directly affects to the occupant satisfaction of the hospital. Further, hospital is mostly a public place which is extremely noisy, crowded and less indoor environment quality. It causes serious impacts on patient and staff outcomes ranging from sleep loss and elevates blood pressure among patients to emotional exhaustion and burnout among staff. Henceforth, poorly designed hospital environments pose a serious threat on building occupants. Literature findings further said that in current scenario, the majority of occupants are not satisfied with their indoor environment quality in a hospital. Nowadays, most of hospitals are following various strategies to improve quality of indoor environment. Among those strategies, green building concept becomes most prominent which is easy to adapt to improve the indoor environment quality. Moreover, green hospital design has been linked to better patient outcomes and staff retention. Even though, in past few years many newly constructed and renovated buildings moved towards green, buildings in hospital sector in Sri Lanka has not much familiar with the green building concept. Therefore, this study is mainly focused on presenting the importance of applying green building concept in hospital buildings to improve indoor environmental quality. Two case studies consisting private and public hospitals were conducted to collect the data. Six semi-structured interviews were conducted who have caught up in operational and maintenance management process of selected hospitals. As revealed by research findings, there was no special attention to enhance indoor environment quality in Sri Lankan hospitals especially in public sector. Therefore, several issues were identified comply with the indoor air quality, thermal comfort, acoustic comfort, visual comfort and spatial comfort. Indoor Air quality is one of the major challenges faced by many hospital buildings as it creates several issues within hospital environment. Accordingly, probable green strategies were proposed to overcome identified indoor environment quality issues in hospital buildings to facilitate high quality indoor environment for building occupants in hospital buildings in Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Abstract
Differentiating green buildings from conventional buildings : environmental performance perspective
Mallawarachchi, H; De Silva, ML; Rameezdeen, R
In the current situation, where people concerns about sustainability environment, building occupants seek to be comfortable and productive in their workplace. Occupants with local control over their environment generally have an improvement in their work effort and productivity. However, work productivity of occupants can be de-motivated and interrupted due to poor environmental conditions. Thus, the intervention to ensure a healthy working environment should always be the first step towards improving productivity. In the governing concern on improving occupant's working environment. Green Building movement is fast becoming a necessity. It is therefore impressive that there is already emerging national consensus on the definition of a green building and a rapidly increasing number of green projects in both the public and private sectors. Green buildings can be defined in various ways however, giving definition compared to ‘conventional ’ buildings is a supplementary problem. There is no doubt that the term has a veiy positive connotation. Further, green buildings generate lot of benefits to people and the environment. However, no evidence that the level of occupant comfort and satisfaction greater in ‘green ' rather than conventional buildings. Hence, this study was aimed to identify facts for differentiating green buildings from conventional buildings in terms of environmental performance. The available literature was reviewed and preliminary investigation was conducted in selected green rated and non-green buildings. The indoor environment quality criteria which is developed based on GREENSL® rating system was evaluated in selected buildings to identify differences between green and conventional buildings. According to the results of literature survey and preliminary investigation, green buildings showed high environmental performance compared to conventional buildings in terms of indoor air quality, thermal comfort and lighting quality whilst there was a less satisfaction with acoustic comfort in green buildings. However, the success of green buildings depends on the quality and efficiency of the installed green systems. The rating system can be used as the common language and standards of measurement to define green buildings, differentiating from conventional buildings.
item: Conference-Full-text
Differentiating green buildings from conventional buildings: environmental performance perspective
(Ceylon Institute of Builders, 2014-06) Mallawarachchi, H; De Silva, L; Rameezdeen, R; Sandanayake, YG; Karunasena, GI; Fernando, NG
In the current situation, where people concerns about sustainability environment, building occupants seek to be comfortable and productive in their workplace. Occupants with local control over their environment generally have an improvement in their work effort and productivity. However, work productivity of occupants can be de-motivated and interrupted due to poor environmental conditions. Thus, the intervention to ensure a healthy working environment should always be the first step towards improving productivity. In the governing concern on improving occupant’s working environment, Green Building movement is fast becoming a necessity. It is therefore impressive that there is already emerging national consensus on the definition of a green building and a rapidly increasing number of green projects in both the public and private sectors. Green buildings can be defined in various ways however, giving definition compared to ‘conventional’ buildings is a supplementary problem. There is no doubt that the term has a very positive connotation. Further, green buildings generate lot of benefits to people and the environment. However, no evidence that the level of occupant comfort and satisfaction are greater in ‘green’ rather than conventional buildings. Hence, this study was aimed to identify facts for differentiating green buildings from conventional buildings in terms of environmental performance. The available literature was reviewed and preliminary investigation was conducted in selected green rated and non-green buildings. The indoor environment quality criteria which is developed based on GREENSL® rating system was evaluated in selected buildings to identify differences between green and conventional buildings. According to the results of literature survey and preliminary investigation, green buildings showed high environmental performance compared to conventional buildings in terms of indoor air quality, thermal comfort and lighting quality whilst there was a less satisfaction with acoustic comfort in green buildings. However, the success of green buildings depends on the quality and efficiency of the installed green systems. The rating system can be used as the common language and standards of measurement to define green buildings, differentiating from conventional buildings.
item: Conference-Full-text
Effective partner selection model for construction joint ventures in Sri Lanka
Ranga, MKGT; Mallawarachchi, H; Withanage, KT
Construction Joint Venture (CJV) is a response to the complex and competitive environment which characterised the nature of construction industry. However, various disputes arose in CJVs which impede the successful completion of the construction project especially as a result of the ineffective partner selection. Nevertheless, the literature thus far has failed to provide an effective partner selection for the CJVs since none of the studies subjected to partner selection in CJVs. Hence, the research is aimed to investigate the existing practice of partner selection in order to develop a model for avoiding disputes in CJVs in Sri Lanka. Three rounds of Delphi survey were conducted through the adoption of quantitative approach with the participation of experts who have plenty of experience and adequate knowledge on CJVs. The identified joint venture (JV) partner selection criteria from literature synthesis were the base for the adoption of the CJV partner selection criteria developed using the relative importance index. Consequently, effective CJV partner selection model was proposed based on the effect of dispute avoidance. The concern of literature and industry experts proved the absence of the standard partner selection criteria for the CJVs. However, guidelines for selecting partners provided in tender documents were followed by only contractors in order to fulfil the required criteria merely towards winning the project. Thus, the partner selection model proposed in this research provides a basis to select the most appropriate and the best partner for CJVs by evaluating all particular skills and capacities which may avoid having the future disputes.
item: Article-Full-text
Electronic and electrical waste management in Sri Lanka: Suggestions for national policy enhancements
(Elsevier, 2012) Mallawarachchi, H; Karunasena, G
Waste is one of the most pressing problems faced by the whole world. Electronic waste is the latest in the Sri Lankan waste stream. Literature revealed many electronic waste management concepts, strategies and models implemented worldwide to counter the electronic waste menace, inclusive of electronic waste management policy developed in Sri Lanka to manage electronic waste generation. The purpose of this paper is to explore probable suggestions to improve existing electronic waste management practices, with special emphasis on enhancement of national policy of electronic waste management in Sri Lanka. The research problem was approached by case study method since it facilitates an in-depth investigation. Multiple case study design was applied by employing three case studies. Cases were selected considering major types of electronic waste which exhibit high penetration rates within country: namely (1) household appliances, (2) IT and telecommunication equipments and (3) lighting equipments. Crosscase analysis and code-based content analysis techniques were applied in data analysis phase of the research. Four expert interviews were conducted to further verify proposed improvements to existing electronic waste management practices. Case study findings revealed issues in electronic waste minimization and handling processes that need special attention. Empirical findings further revealed less government commitment and ineffective government procedures as critical issues in electronic waste management. Procedures of imports and exports, waste minimization, waste collection, storage, treatment and disposal, legal framework, capacity building and awareness, implementation and coordination mechanisms, monitoring, evaluation, reporting and resource mobilization can be identified as major areas for national policy enhancement. Consequently, the national policy of electronic waste management can be implemented as a national strategy to manage electronic waste generation in Sri Lanka.
item: Conference-Full-text
Embodied carbon and cost analysis to identify the most appropriate wall materials for buildings: whole life cycle approach
(IEEE, 2018-05) Anuradha, IGN; Perera, BAKS; Mallawarachchi, H; Chathuranga, D
Construction industry is one of the main exploiters of natural resources. During building construction, a large amount of Embodied Carbon is released to the atmosphere. Thus, this research was aimed to determine the significance of whole life Embodied Carbon (EC) in the selection of wall materials for use in building construction. To achieve this aim, mixed research approach was used. A comprehensive literature review and ten expert interviews were conducted first as a part to find out the significance of EC to the construction industry. Subsequently, a questionnaire survey and a base model building consisting of work studies, a desk study and a documentary review were used to collect the required data. The data collected were analyzed to find out the most suitable material out of the three types of wall materials selected. The results of the analysis indicate that eco interlocking brick is the most suitable wall material (compared to cement block and conventional brick) in terms of EC and initial and maintenance cost. The study also provides a firm base for future researchers engaged in the studies to find out the EC content of building materials.