INGENIEUR
PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
INGENIEUR
PRESIDENT ’ S MESSAGE
Building Services
The Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat ( CTBUH ) ranked Malaysia as the sixth country in the world with the most number of skyscrapers for the year 2023 . This is based on 259 Malaysian buildings of more than 150m tall .
The growing numbers of tall buildings will translate into higher complexities and specialisation for the design and maintenance of building services such as high speed lifts , non-conventional firefighting systems beyond the reach of snorkels , building automation system and emergency rescue systems . It is also an opportunity for Malaysian engineers to innovate and apply good engineering practices related to super high-rise building services .
Addressing this concern , the article on ‘ Closing The Building Services Loop ’ emphasises the role of a Commissioning Specialist for building services as an important member of the construction team for major building construction . It relates to the need for proper design and commissioning of building services that is gaining traction within the construction industry . It will ensure that building systems are fully operational and perform interactively according to the design intent and owner ’ s requirements .
The article on ‘ Energy Efficiency , Decarbonisation and Facilities Management ’ covers extensively the key roles of energy efficiency and efficient facility management in meeting the national aspiration of a low carbon nation
by 2040 . Facility management pivots on people , process , workplaces and technology to ensure the built environment functions satisfactorily . These four pillars intertwine integrally for operability , maintainability , comfort , safety and health . To complement the Government ’ s effort in overall energy efficiency and yet providing better indoor air quality ( IAQ ) for affordable housing , the research paper on ‘ DeLIGHT Homes ’ provides a new approach to sustainable and innovative affordable housing design . The introduction of computational fluid dynamics ( CFD ) simulation can enable the design of effective ventilation systems to optimise the efficiency of natural and mechanical ventilation by identifying inefficiencies where cold or warm air is wasted or mixed . Wind and buoyancy are used in the simulation to move fresh air through a building . This innovation , if fully adopted will supplement the Government ’ s drive to improve the living conditions in affordable housing .
This publication has introduced a new section ‘ As I See It ’ to encourage more engineers to pen down their observations on engineering-related features while travelling locally or abroad . I hope to see more of such interesting articles which are mainly pictorial with illustrations but do capture the interest of readers .
Datuk Ir . Ahmad Redza bin Ghulam Rasool President , BEM
6 VOL 94 APRIL-JUNE 2023