An Assessment of Green Mosque Index in Peninsular Malaysia

 Sustainable concept has been frequently discussed and applied in attempts to balance the current
and future needs. Sustainable principles in terms of Green Building Index (GBI) have been applied in various
building types including residential and non-residential buildings. This article suggests a concept of
sustainable religious building (i.e. mosque) to be established by forming green index for mosque. To evaluate
potential sustainable principles for such building type, field observations were carried out in three states in
Malaysia, namely Johor, Terengganu and Selangor in February and March 2015. The study was carried out
qualitatively using non-verbal behaviour and direct observation on 45 selected mosques from the three states.
From the study, 6 potential concepts can be used to establish Green Mosque Index (GMI) namely Energy
Efficiency, Indoor Environmental Quality, Water Efficiency, Sustainable Site Planning and Management,
Material and Resources and Innovation and Design. These concepts are potentially useful as embryos to a
continuous assessment index for mosques in Malaysia.