This paper presents the underlying concerns uncovered from the literature reviews of the noticeable integration of social and cultural aspects as part of the assessment indices for the Green Building Rating Tools towards holistic implementation as the social-cultural values. In addition, the findings also resulted an additional fourth experiential bottom line to the concept of sustainability being proposed, shifting the obsession from increasing the 'standards of living' towards focusing on 'quality of life'. The exploratory research design adopts case study as the strategy where the study focuses on the socio-cultural aspects of the matrilineal custom Malay community in Malaysia. (C) 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.