SUSTAINABLE HOUSING PRACTICES TOWARDS CONSUMERS’ WELL BEING

Abstract

Sustainable development agenda in developing countries focus on relationship between construction and human development, alleviation of poverty and environment. These together with the lack of resources and capacities to improve technologies tend to marginalise the environmental aspects. These impacts are now beginning to be felt by Malaysians therefore, there is an attempt to balance environmental conservation with economic development (Shafii et al., 2007). Sustainable housing is a new concept not only in Malaysia but in most developing countries. Currently, Malaysian housing industries face the challenge of producing an affordable and decent mass housing, especially when consumer satisfaction is a priority. A challenge for the housing industry is how to adopt modern construction technology and management to cater for customisation, without sacrificing the environment.
Recently, the Malaysian government has been focusing more on the housing quality rather than quantity so that residents can enjoy a higher standard of living in line with the nation's progress. Higher standard of living also means higher demand for quality homes. These demands and initiatives have brought changes to the housing industry with improvements from previous setbacks, to make houses more livable and comfortable. The motivation for improving housing quality relates to the overcrowding, insecurity, poor quality, poor ventilation and design, and strained physical infrastructure as well as social services (Shafii & Othman, 2007).