Awareness and Knowledge of Hazardous and Toxic Building Materials in Adaptation Projects

Abstract

Building adaptation projects may involve hazardous and toxic substances hidden in the building materials. These substances pose dangers to health and safety, disturbing the environment and affecting the projects’ turnover. Literature reviews on building adaptation and building materials information management found that vital information are seldom available. This study determines the awareness and knowledge of stakeholders in Malaysian building adaptation projects on the required building materials information. Analysis of interviews with 16 experienced stakeholders revealed the lack of awareness and information on existing building materials that may contain hazardous and toxic substances. Thus, building material information is critically required for future sustainability.Keywords: Awareness and knowledge on building material; Building adaptation; Building material information; Hazardous and toxic building materialeISSN 2398-4295 © 2018. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open-access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.