An experimental green roof linking research and practice at University of Malaya

Led by Professor Amir, a campus living lab brought environmental design, cultural planting and staff participation into one multidisciplinary research platform.

At a glance

AI-assisted planting visualisation based on project photographs; the right-hand panel illustrates fuller planting. Source photographs: Hazreena Hussein, Therapeutic Gardens in Malaysia (2019).

Role: Project lead and Principal Investigator
Location: Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Host: University of Malaya
Period: From 2015 to 2016
Industry collaborator: IEN Consultants, particularly Managing Director Gregers Reimann
Academic collaborators: Prof. Dr. Norhaslina binti Hassan and Prof. Dr. Safiah @ Yusmah binti Muhammad Yusoff
Research setting: Experimental green roof at the Faculty of Built Environment, University of Malaya

The story

A campus as a living laboratory

From 2015 to 2016, Professor Amir Ghaffarianhoseini led the experimental green-roof project as Principal Investigator for the grant, working with IEN Consultants in Kuala Lumpur, particularly its director Gregers Reimann, and with Prof. Dr. Norhaslina binti Hassan and Prof. Dr. Safiah @ Yusmah binti Muhammad Yusoff. This was one of several projects Amir undertook on the University of Malaya campus to explore its potential as a living laboratory, connecting academic research with practical interventions in the built environment.

Environmental design with cultural value

At the Faculty of Built Environment, Amir worked with the award-winning Environmental Sustainable Design consultancy IEN to select suitable native plants with cultural and environmental value. His intention was to involve the faculty’s academic staff in making the garden, creating opportunities for participation, shared ownership and a closer relationship with their everyday working environment.

One intervention, several dimensions of research

Amir conceived the roof as a platform for interconnected research questions: its potential to reduce temperatures and air-conditioning energy demand; improve green views from staff offices; support focus, wellbeing and productivity; and examine how participation in creating and caring for the space could influence staff engagement. Sensors and weather stations were incorporated to support environmental monitoring and analysis. The ambition was to connect building performance, landscape, workplace experience and participation within a single research setting.

A collaborative research platform

Led by Amir and developed with academic and industry collaborators, the project established a setting for subsequent studies across environmental and human dimensions. The 2018 co-authored chapter Essence of Green Roof: UM Campus as an Experimental and Computational Living Lab towards Enhancing the Outdoor Thermal Comfort Conditions documents the living-lab approach.