Energy waste is an emerging issue worldwide, with energy conservation goals, such as conscious energy consumption, playing a crucial role in helping the environment. The rapid growth of smart appliances has led to the development of mobile applications, with an increased interest among policymakers to design eco-saving plans for optimizing power and battery consumption. This study aims to explore the usage intention of energy-efficient applications, through young consumers’ energy conservation behavior, behavioral characteristics, and COVID-19 pandemic experience. Based on empirical investigation, a survey was applied in Romania among 590 mobile app users. The data were tested using partial least square structural equation modeling (SmartPLS, version 3). The results indicate the impact of behavioral characteristics, namely, energy conservation attitude, subjective norms, and environmental knowledge on young users’ energy conservation behavior. The influential effect of COVID-19 on energy-saving behavior was also proven. Energy conservation behavior, and functional and hedonic values positively influence Millennials’ and Gen Zers’ energy-efficient app usage intentions. The study also discusses some implications for policymakers, marketers, and software developers, as well as providing theoretical suggestions for future work. 

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Usage intentions, attitudes, and behaviors towards energy-efficient applications during the covid-19 pandemic

Air quality services on climate time-scales for decision making: An empirical study of China

Evaluating security performances of EU countries in the context of sustainable development using fuzzy SMART and ARAS approaches

Malaysia has received an increasing number of migrant labourers yearly due to growing labour market demands. Consequently, the migrant settlements have increased in number, with the settlements often located within the local community's neighbourhood. The location of these settlements has raised a few concerns among affected local communities. In Penang, the second-highest migration city in Malaysia, the local government has taken measures to address these concerns by preparing the Centralised Accommodation Transit (CAT). The CAT is a settlement built for migrant labourers in an effort to segregate them from the local populace in response to the Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) attitude among the local communities. However, the motive behind the NIMBY phenomenon is unclear and needs further investigation. This research investigates the local community's perception towards migrant labour settlements and examines the factors that contribute to the NIMBY attitude towards migrant labour settlements. By adopting and extending the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) framework with an additional variable, “Concern”, this study conducted a survey and a total of 410 questionnaires were collected and analysed by using the PLS-SEM method. The findings confirm that Concern significantly impacts a local community's acceptance towards migrant labour settlements, followed by Perceived Behavioural Control and Attitude. In contrast, Subjective Norms have weak empirical support. The major concern among the local community is crime and safety issues, followed by property devaluation, cultural differences, poor appearances, and hygiene. This study provides the state government with a crucial insight into the local community's concerns about migrant labour settlements. It shows ways to enhance public acceptance of future developments of migrant labour settlements. 

Key determinants enhancing local community acceptance of migrant labour settlements in Seberang Perai, Penang, Malaysia

The purpose of this paper is to identify the preferred communication channels to foster energy conservation behaviour among office building users. Energy demand from the commercial sector in Malaysia is, at 33.2 per cent, the highest after the industry sector, at 45.1 per cent. The country’s progress in actively practising energy conservation is lacking, despite various energy conservation programmes having been launched in recent years. A large amount of energy is wasted by users’ poor energy conservation behaviour. To market voluntary energy conservation behaviour, the delivery of energy conservation messages using the appropriate communication channels remains an important strategy.,This paper involves two-stage data collection. The communication categories associated with a set of channels identified from expert interview serve as the basis for the second stage of empirical data gathering using conjoint analysis. A choice-based conjoint analysis assisted by Sawtooth Software is used to analyse the 525 usable empirical data gathered from a final questionnaire survey among the office building users in Malaysia.,This paper has identified five communication categories associated with a total of 19 channels. The mass media is acknowledged as the most preferred communication channel among office building users in the marketing of energy conservation behaviour, while the least preferred channel to communicate energy conservation information is audio-visual media.,This study contributes to existing literature with a novel case in Malaysia office building by identifying the preferred combination of communication channels in fostering energy conservation behaviour. The findings could benefit the building managers in marketing energy conservation behaviour among office building users to effectively achieve the desired change for sustainable development.

User preferences for communication channels on energy conservation: A case study within Malaysian Government office buildings

Community Acceptance Towards Migrant Settlements in a Sustainable City: What Contributes to the Not in My Backyard Social Phenomenon?

Lighting is an important requirement for people to support their daily activities. Building users in Malaysia commonly rely on artificial lights in the building. However, improper use of artificial light in the room will lead to negative impacts on the occupants' health, comfort and productivity. This study investigates the light levels of the classroom in university. A total of 61 samples were collected and compared to Malaysian Standard 1525:2007, the illuminance for the classroom. The observation was conducted in two sessions a day using lux meter. The results showed that 62% of the classrooms have good illuminance, which complies to the existing requirement of illuminance in Malaysia's classroom, within the range of 300-500lx. The findings of this study provide an overview of the existing illuminance in the classroom in university and serve as a reference to the management for their efforts to improve the indoor environment quality and the student's well-being.

Wee Siaw-Chui

Papers

User preferences for communication channels on energy conservation: A case study within Malaysian Government office buildings

Community Acceptance Towards Migrant Settlements in a Sustainable City: What Contributes to the Not in My Backyard Social Phenomenon?

Classroom illuminance: a case in Malaysian university