Experiencing Building Services: Experiencing,

Documentation and Analyzing Building Services Process:

A Case Study of Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai

SBEA 2323 Theory of Design, Academic Session 2018/2019 Semester 4

Prepared by:

Alief Iqmal bin Abdul Rahim A17BE0009

Kamarul Azizi bin kamarul Azhan A17BE0185
Ling Jia Chi A17BE0046
Theodora Yio Sing Ying A17BE0135
Wan Fatin Aimie Binti Wan Abdullah A17BE0140

Assessed by:
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Rashid bin Embi
Table of Content

Table of Content 2
1.0 PROJECT INTRODUCTION 3
1.1 Objective 3

2.0 WASTE AND RUBBISH DISPOSAL SYSTEM 4

2.1 Definition 4
2.2 Types of waste 5
2.3 Methods of waste disposal 8
2.4 Waste management system 10

3.0 CASE STUDY: KANGKAR PULAI KENARI FLATS 14

3.1 Waste Disposal System 15
3.2 Rubbish Disposal System 18

4.0 WASTE & RUBBISH DISPOSAL SYSTEM ANALYSIS 20

4.1 Waste Disposal System Analysis 20
4.2 Rubbish Disposal System Analysis 21

5.0 SUGGESTIONS OF IMPROVEMENT 22

6.0 CONCLUSION 26

7.0 REFERENCES 27

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Experiencing Building Services: Experiencing, Documentation and Analyzing Building
Services Process: A Case Study of Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai

1.0 PROJECT INTRODUCTION

This task is a group assignment guided by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Mohamed Rashid Embi. This
group comprises of 5 individuals to contemplate and investigate the essential building
services system. The basic services are important to provide comfortability and safety to the
users , function and efficiency to a building. Building services are vital in contribution to
building design, not just regarding general systems and norms to be accomplished, yet in
addition in facade designing, the loads, sizes and equipments placement, vertical service
risers’ location, horizontal services distribution, waste, electrical supply, sustainability and
maintainability, and more. Various facilities are investigated in this assignment such as water
supply system, surface water disposal system, waste and soil water disposal systems,
electrical system, air conditioning systems, fire-fighting, lift and escalators, as well as
electrical systems for the stated building. Our group will be focusing on the waste disposal
systems in the area of Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai. The Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai comprises
of multiple blocks of apartment within a community area. The case study is suitable for this
task because of the large size of the selected area.

1.1 Objective

The goals of this task are as per the following:

1. To investigate essential standards and methods of structure services by undertaking
real-life experiential learning in selected case study building.
2. To comprehend the arrangement and coordination of building services and
development at a site.
3. To scrutinize the site-specific technological services and strategies.
4. To improve comprehension and learning of building facilities, materials and
technologies utilized.
5. To deliver illustrations and specifications to identify the services in relation to the
case study.

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2.0 WASTE AND RUBBISH DISPOSAL SYSTEM

2.1 Definition

Waste and rubbish disposal system

Waste disposal is the collection, processing, and reusing or deposition of the waste materials
of human culture. The term “waste” already covers both solid wastes (decline, or trash) and
sewage (wastewater). (Britannica, 2011)
Waste management is the way toward treating strong wastes and offers assortment of answers
for reusing things that don't have a place with junk. It is about how rubbish can be utilized as
an important asset. Waste management is something that every single family unit and
entrepreneur on the planet needs. Waste management discards the items and substances that
you have use in a sheltered and productive way.

Domestic waste and natural waste

Domestic waste includes incorporates trash and junk. Trash contains highly decomposable
food waste for example like kitchen scraps, while junk is the dry, imputrescible component of
refuse. When glass, plastics, paper items, and metals have been expelled from local reject,
what remains is basically natural waste. This waste can be organically decayed and
transformed into humus, which is a valuable soil conditioner, and kitchen scraps, when
decomposed with leaves and grass in a compost mound, make a particularly helpful soil
change. These practices help diminish the measure of material contributed by family units to
landfills.

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2.2 Types of waste

There are five types of waste:-

i) Liquid waste

Wastewater treatment system (Camcrest)

Liquid waste is normally discovered both in households as well as in industries. This

waste incorporates unclean water, natural fluids, wash water, wash cleanser and even
rainwater.

ii) Solid rubbish

Recyclable waste (Wordpress)

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 Solid rubbish can incorporate an assortment of items found in the household alongside
business and industrial areas. Solid rubbish is usually separated into the following
types:
● Plastic
● Paper waste
● Tins and metal

iii) Recyclable rubbish

Recyclable solid products

Recyclable rubbish incorporates every waste thing that can be changed over into items
that can be utilized once more. Solid things, for example, paper, metals, furniture and
natural waste would all be able to be reused.

Rather than tossing these things in with regular waste, which at that point ends up in
landfills, place them in your yellow recycling bin.

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iv) Organic waste

Food waste is an organic waste

Organic waste is a common household. All nourishment waste, garden waste,

excrement and spoiled meat are classified as organic waste. After years, natural waste
is transformed into fertilizer by microorganisms. In any case, this does not imply that
we can dispose them anyplace.

Organic waste in landfills causes the generation of methane, so it should never be

basically disposed of with general waste. Instead, get a green bin for proper waste
disposal.

v) Hazardous waste

Hazardous waste (Cloudfront)

Hazardous waste incorporates a wide range of rubbish that are harmful, flammable,
reactive and corrosive.

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2.3 Methods of waste disposal

i) Landfills

Overflowing landfill (The Star, Jan 2015)

These days, the most popularly rubbish disposal method utilized by our general public in
Malaysia is by throwing every day waste in the landfills. This process of rubbish disposal
focuses attention on covering the waste in the land. Landfills are generally found in
developing countries. There is a procedure utilized that takes out the smells and dangers of
waste before it is set into the ground. While it is true this is the most well known type of
waste transfer, it is positively a long way from the main technique and one that may likewise
carry with it an assortment of space.

This strategy is becoming less nowadays although, thanks to the lack of space available and
the strong presence of methane and other landfill gases, the two of which can cause various
contamination issues. Landfills offer ascent to air and water pollution which seriously
influences the earth and can prove fatal to the lives of people and creatures. (Rinkesh, 2017)

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ii) Incineration or combustion

Incinerator of 12 ton per day (Pollution Engineering Sdn Bhd, 2010)

Incineration or combustion is a type disposal strategy in which metropolitan solid wastes are
burned at high temperatures as to convert them into gaseous and residue items. The greatest
preferred standpoint of this kind of technique is that it can lessen the volume of solid waste to
20 to 30 percent of the original volume, reduces the space they take up and decrease the stress
on landfills.

In 2013, about 42 percent of all MSW in Malaysia was incinerated. Two percent was
recycled, leaving the remaining 56 percent to be dumped. (National Ministry of Urban
Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government, 2015)

This process is otherwise called warm treatment where solid waste materials are changed
over by incinerators into gas, heat, ash and steam. Burning is something that is very in
nations where landfill space is never again accessible.

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2.4 Waste management system

i) Rain and storm water disposal

Downpour and storm water is created amid precipitation and snowfall occasions. In Malaysia,
we only have to consider storm water for our building design due to our tropical rainforest
climate which is hot and muggy throughout the entire year. The disposal of downpour water
from rooftops, patios, and pavement can be categorized into three main approaches such as:
storm water sewers, soakaways and rainwater collection. (“Storm Water Drainage”, n.d.)

Storm water sewers:

Storm water sewers. Retrieved from: ​http://www.plumb247.co.za/what-is-a-storm-drain/​ &

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Storm_drain_pipe.JPG​ respectively

Storm water sewers also known as storm water drainage, some may comprise of open
channels, typically designated to drain and prevents flooding in highway interstates and
properties. These are more commonplace in developed and densely populated urban areas.
The storm water drainage system must be placed within close range of the site properties in
order to collect and discharge downpour water from the roofs, pavements and enclosed areas
to rivers and streams untreated. Generally, the pipes and channels installed along the
roadsides just outside the buildings’ boundaries are in obligation of the highway authorities.

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Soakaways

Soakways. Retrieved from: ​https://job-prices.co.uk/soakaway-guide/​ &

http://nwrm.eu/measure/soakaways​ respectively

Soakaways are square or round covered chambers that are loaded with substances that
remains solid and hard when contact with water such as rubble or fixed with bricks precast
concrete or polyethylene rings encompassed by granular backfill. It should be deep enough to
store surface water and enable water to soak into the soil. ( “ ​Soakaways”,n.d.)

Rainwater harvesting/ collection

Rainwater tanks. Retrieved from :

​
https://www.watercache.com/education/rainwater-harvesting-101&
https://www.indiamart.com/proddetail/rain-water-harvesting-19199203248.html
Besides discharging and disposing the downpour water, the rainwater can also be stored in
tanks for domestic use. The water tanks should be of weatherproof, waterproof,
well-ventilated, insect and vermin proof and allow access for regular inspection and cleaning
actions.

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ii) Waste water

Waste water.Retrieved from:​http://bossintl.co.uk/different-types-of-waste-water/

Wastewater is a perplexing blend of inorganic and natural materials in water after human use.
Wastewater is divided into: domestic, industrial and municipal.

Domestic wastewater

Domestic wastewater is produced from household such as from the toilet, shower, wet
kitchen, washing machine and more. Yellow water is human urine; brown water is flushed
water with human feces and toilet paper; black water is when yellow water is mixed with
brown water, it is crucial to treat black water as it can become a health threat if not treated.
Grey water is all the water used in the household except the water used to flush the toilet.

Industrial wastewater

The liquid disposal amid the utilization of water during the manufacture process is defined as
industrial wastewater. The liquids usually have broken down or suspended chemical
substances in the water, causing the resulted waste water to be unusable and probably
dangerous to marine and human life due to the high toxicity of the water. ("Industrial Waste
Treatment Handbook", 2006)

Municipal wastewater
The combination of both industrial and domestic wastewater is known as municipal
wastewater.

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iii) Sewerage systems
Separate sewerage system

Separate sewerage system.Retrieved from:

https://www.woodardcurran.com/blog/using-stormwater-compliance-to-drive-better-sewer-sy
stem-planning

Separate sewerage system is where the underground sewerage systems are segregated into
wastewater disposal and stormwater disposal

Combined sewerage system

Combined sewerage. Retrieved from:

https://medium.com/@rohitgurjar009/sewerage-system-a8f554e5c8d0
A combined sewerage system discharges both sanitary sewerage and stormwater runoff in

one merged system. It is not advisable to install it in dense areas as it often overflows and can

result in serious water pollution and hazardous health problem.

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3.0 CASE STUDY: KANGKAR PULAI KENARI FLATS

Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai is a low cost residential area located at the heart of sub-urban
region of Kangkar Pulai, Johor Bahru. It is resided by various users ranging from elderly to
children, foreign workers, and even international students studying in UTM. Due to the
nature of being a low cost building, multiple facilities and building services was made to
accommodate such financial statement.

Key Plan of case study location.

Kenari Flats is under the municipality of ‘Majlis Pembandaran Iskandar Puteri’ or MPIB. The
case study location is surrounded with other residential flats, commercial lots, a school and
communal hall. In addition to that, Kenari Flats is also adjacent to a sewage treatment plant
(the Kangkar Pulai Indah Water Sewage Treatment Plant) by its east across Merak Flats,
parallel to Pulai River.

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 Location plan of case study location (bordered by red) and Pulai River (blue) with
surrounding context.

3.1 Waste Disposal System

Drawing of Kenari Flats with labelled Recycle Bin and Manhole

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 Drawing of sewage flow from Kenari Flats towards the sewerage treatment plant.
The drawing above shows the direction of sewerage in Kenari Flats that flows towards the
direction of Pulai River. It is identified that sewerage from the Flats and its adjacent buildings
(Residential Flats and Merak Flats) flows towards the sewerage treatment plant by its east.

Images of Pulai River and the Indah Water Sewage Treatment Plant
Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats used a centralized wastewater treatment system where as the
system are separate sanitary & stormwater sewer system. This explain that the sanitary
system will flow to the Kangkar Pulai Indah Water Treatment Centre then will be flow to the
Sungai Pulai while the storm water will directly flow to the Sungai Pulai.

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 Images of pipe system used at Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai
At the Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flat, the building used a fully ventilated one-pipe system. This
system combine all soil and waste water discharge into one common pipe. All the pipe from
the toilet, sink, and even shower will be connected into one main pipe that will include with a
one main ventilating pipe. This system is usually used in multi-storey building, since
Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats have 4 storey.

Images of manholes around the Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai

Manholes are situated around the Residential buildings to channel wastes from the
residential buildings surrounding it. The manholes function as access points to the shafts and
chambers underneath.

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For the stormwater system, Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats does not have any gutter or rainwater
down pipe. All the rainwater fall from the pitch roof to the ground and naturally flow to the
drainage.

3.2 Rubbish Disposal System

Diagram of access routes of garbage truck to refuse chambers and garbage dumps around
Kenari Flats Kangkar Pulai
The diagram above shows the access routes for services and garbage truck to the garbage
dumps and refuse chambers. Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats rubbish disposal system used the

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Refuse Chamber system whereas it is a specific place to throw the rubbish disposal. The
Refuse Chamber have a large garbage dumpster that is located outside of the refuse chamber.
There are 5 refuse chamber for the Kenari Flats that are far from the flats. According to the
residents, the garbage is collected once a week, although the refuse chamber seems to be
‘full’ at all times. Moreover, largely garbage contents spills out of or over the refuse chamber
and garbage dumpster, as both items have small dimensions of 800x1200mm and
2000x2000mm respectively.

Images of refuse chambers and garbage dumpsters at north east, south west and north
west of the case study site.

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4.0 WASTE & RUBBISH DISPOSAL SYSTEM ANALYSIS

4.1 Waste Disposal System Analysis

Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats used a Centralized Wastewater Treatment System due to the
position of the site that is an suburban area. This system is a good system due to the
circulation of the building around the area which are near to each other. The more specific
system that is used is a separate sanitary & rainstorm system. The system name is
selfexplenatory as the sanitary system and the rainstorm system is separated-- which is a good
system due to the location that is a planned area. This separation is useful due to the reduced
input and cost for the water treatment.

For the building, the type of drainage used for the sanitary is the fully ventilated one-pipe
system. The idea of using the fully ventilated one-pipe system is a good idea for cost and
even for the services. But, if this type of system gets clogged, the whole storey will be in
trouble since houses in every block is connected.

The rainstorm system is not provided in this building. There are no

gutters or even rainwater downpipe at the building. All the rainwater
flow indirectly into the drainage that will cause the wall to be stained,
corrodes paint and cause mosses to grow along the floor and walls.

Image of stained walls and columns

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4.2 Rubbish Disposal System Analysis

The refuse chamber for the Kangkar Pulai Kenari Flats is place far from the flats that cause
residents to throw rubbish in improper place. The far location troubles the elderly that lives at
the flats. The placement of refuse chamber is also not enough cause garbage to overfill. Other
than that, the refuse chamber is too small to occupied the whole block of the flats. Thus, the
garbage dump is bigger than the refuse chamber that cause the garbage dump to be placed
outside of the refuse chamber. In addition to that, the unclosed refuse chamber will cause
animal such as cat and dog to dig into to the garbage dump to find food will cause a mess.

Image of open refuse chamber that is filled with cardboard boxes and furnitures.

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5.0 SUGGESTIONS OF IMPROVEMENT

1. Installing refuse chutes

Example of a refuse chute

According to the by UBBL 1984, a building which is higher than 4-storey can have the
option to install refuse chutes in their building. Furthermore, we also deduced that the people
staying in Kenari Flats have bad habits of throwing their rubbish out of the window. This
resulted in the area surrounding the flats to be covered with domestic rubbish. We have come
to a conclusion that they’re behaving this way as they are lazy to carry their rubbish to the
ground floor as the lift are not available to be used most of the time. So, by providing refuse
chutes for each units, the residents are able to dispose their rubbish without walking a far
distance from their house units.

2. Implementing rules and regulation

From our observations, we can see that the residents of the Kenari Flats are ignorant of their
surrounding. This happens as they are reliable on the fact that it is not their responsibility to
take good care of the common area of the flats which includes the staircase, void, football and
basketball courts, playground, and field. Rules or better yet penalty should be enforced on
people. This is to raise awareness about the issue of bad waste management around the area
and also to instill a sense of responsibility among the residents.

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 3. Drain cover

The drain cover should be provided for the area as external waste are more prone to be
disposed through the drain if there is no drain cover provided. Apart from that, drain cover is
very important in conjunction with the bad habits of the residents in Kenari Flats as they
often have a habit to litter their rubbish into the drain instead of disposing it into a rubbish
bin. By providing the drain cover, external waste can be avoided from being thrown into the
drain thus preventing blockage of the drain during rainy season.

4. Allocate fund for annual maintenance of the building

As certain facade of the building are more prone to the heavy rain and extreme sunlight, it is
inevitable that certain walls are in bad condition. Therefore, we would like to propose that
funds would be allocated for annual maintenance of the building. These funds would be used
to repaint the building and to getting rid of the moss growing on the walls.

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 5. Adding sufficient gutter

The yellow line indicates that additional gutter and downpipe lines should be installed
to improve the water waste management of the building

We have noticed that the building is without gutter at the moment. In conjunction to this
issue, we saw that the building is facing concrete degradation. By adding gutter, the rainwater
in the building can be directed to the ground easily without exposing the concrete walls to
excessive rainfall.

6. Enlarging the refuse chamber

The size of the refuse chamber is currently 2m x 2m which is too small to accommodate a
residential area this big. we can see from the pictures where the refuse chamber is not big
enough to accommodate the huge rubbish bins. this unfortunately causes bad smell and also
bad sight around that area. the refuse chamber should at least be 3m x 4m, gated and roof.
this is to ensure that the bad smell produced by the waste would affect the residents living
around that area.

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 7. Extending the overhang

Based on our observations, we have noticed that the overhangs provided are not enough to
shield the openings from heavy rains and extreme sunlight during daytime. From the picture
attached we can see that the overhangs are roughly 300mm which is considered short,
whereby the ideal overhang needed for our climate would be 1000mm/1m.

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6.0 CONCLUSION

As a conclusion, we believed that Kenari Flats have a relatively poor waste and rubbish
disposal system due to the nature of the flat being low cost. However, we’ve also diagnosed
that one of the few main issues also sprouted from the bad habits of the people living in that
area. They should realize that with proper discipline and management, these waste issue can
be curbed by almost 50%. Not only that, the lack of gutter also causes the building to be
exposed to heavy rains and extreme sunlight which resulted in the poor condition of the
building. High exposure of the concrete wall to the extreme weather in Malaysia requires a
lot of maintenance starting from the paints needed to repaint the building from time to time
and also the manpower needed to get rid of the moss growing on the walls of the flats.

Through this project, we have learned that it is important to integrate the proper area of
building services needed for the type to building that we’re designing to prevent
overestimation of the area needed. for example, we can see from the refuse chamber provided
that it is obviously too small to accommodate the amount of people living in Kenari Flats.
Integration of wise design is also important to prevent the living lifestyle of the residents in
the future to be stunted by the bad environment which may bring discomfort to their five
senses and also their everyday life. Apart from that, we should always take in mind of the
extreme temperature of Malaysia where it is hot and humid all year round while designing the
buildings. As we are constantly receiving a huge amount of rainfall and sunlight all year
round, it is important to provide enough shade to prevent growth of living things such as
moss on concrete walls which may cause high maintenance of the building. Not only that,
providing enough shades is also important to prevent concrete degradation of the buildings.

Last but not at least, we have managed to understand and identify the relevant information
related to water supply, water and waste disposal, and also sewerage system. We have also
learned to understand and explain principles, the systems, space implications and
regulations related to water supply, water and waste disposal, and also sewerage system.
Understanding and identifying these relevant information will help us a lot when designing
the spaces needed for a residential area.

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7.0 REFERENCES

Britannica, T. E. (2011, February 07). Waste disposal. Retrieved from

https://www.britannica.com/technology/waste-disposal-system

Industrial Waste Treatment Handbook. (n.d.). Retrieved from

https://www.sciencedirect.com/book/9780750679633/industrial-waste-treatment-handbook

National Ministry of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government. (2015, September
05). Waste Management in Malaysia: In the Dumps. Retrieved from
https://cleanmalaysia.com/2015/09/04/waste-management-in-malaysia-in-the-dumps/

R. (2017, April 15). What is Waste Management and Methods of Waste Disposal? Retrieved
from
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/waste-management-and-waste-disposal-methods.ph
p

Soakaways. (n.d.). Retrieved from​ ​http://nwrm.eu/measure/soakaways

Storm Water Drainage (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.who.int/water_sanitation_health/hygiene/plumbing16.pdf

There are 5 types of waste, do you know them all? (2017, July 24). Retrieved from
https://4waste.com.au/rubbish-removal/5-types-waste-know/

What is Waste Management and Methods of Waste Disposal? (2017, April 15). Retrieved
from
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/waste-management-and-waste-disposal-methods.ph
p

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