Determination of bioclimatic comfort in three different land uses in the city of Erzurum,Turkey

This study was carried out to determine the human bioclimatic conditions in rural, urban and urban forest areas in the conditions of the city of Erzurum, where an extreme continental climate type prevails. Data were obtained over a 10-month period and human bioclimatic conditions in these three different land-use types were evaluated using human bioclimatic indices, suitable for the data obtained. In the study, thermohygrometric index (THI), which assesses air temperature and relative humidity, and “beer garden days” index, which uses the days when temperature at 21:00 is over 20 °C, were used. While in these three areas “hot” and “comfort” ranges were determined to be 10% of the period, the number of “beer garden” days was only 20 days in rural, 15 days in urban forest and 18 days in urban areas of Erzurum. Consequently, it has been determined that the most suitable area for the human comfort in the conditions of Erzurum is in the urban area which is followed by the urban forest and the rural areas, both for each observation time and across the whole period.     

Do water requirements of Mediterranean gardens relate to socio-economic and demographic factors?

Gardeners can consume a large proportion of total domestic water, depending on their garden type and gardening style. We calculated water requirements of gardens based on species composition and land cover, and determined whether they can be predicted from the socio-economic, demographic and cultural characteristics of households. We recorded the plant species composition, garden cover types, and household characteristics of 258 households in suburbs of the Mediterranean coast of Catalonia. The distribution of the 635 species in these gardens were the input to a cluster analysis, in which semi-natural gardens, vegetable gardens, lawn gardens and ornamental gardens formed strong floristic groups, with ornamental gardens predicted to require the least water inputs and lawn gardens the most. We conclude that only income and a lack of work were related to our water requirement variable, reflecting the expense of water and the propensity of the retired to spend more time in the garden.     

农村生活用水量现状调查及影响因素分析

对比了青岛市农村自测人均生活用水量与实际人均用水量，结果表明：自测人均日用水量为实际人均日用水量的28．13％～81．29％，52％的被调查村民认为其生活用水量在30L／（人·d）以下，远小于实地调查的平均值77L／（人·d），说明多数村民对其日常用水量估计偏低。村庄的工业产值比重、水费的收取和供水时间的长短都是影响农村用水量的因素，它们的单项影响程度分别为231％，184％和159％。     

The potential impacts of sprawl on farmland in Northeast China—Evaluating a new strategy for rural development

China's “building a new countryside” strategy for coordinating urban and rural development and gearing up national economic growth brings challenges to the country's farmland protection. The objective of this study is to evaluate potential impacts of implementing the strategy on farmland and to provide scientific guidelines and decision support for decision makers in northeast China. We analyzed three “building a new countryside” implementation scenarios (Historical Trend, Intensive Development, and Extensive Development) using the SLEUTH urban growth and land cover change model in combination with remote sensing and GIS analysis. The results indicated that farmland loss was inevitable, but revealed large differences in landscape patterns and the amount of farmland loss among the three BNC implementation scenarios. The Extensive Development scenario showed the largest increase in urban and rural residential land, the highest level of landscape fragmentation, and the largest loss of farmland. Farmland loss under the Intensive Development scenario is higher than that under the Historical Trend scenario; however, urban and rural sprawl and the fragmentation of landscape under the Intensive Development scenario were lower than those under the Historical Trend scenario. Consequently, the Intensive Development scenario was recommended for actual “building a new countryside” implementation in the study area. Potential rural sprawl under the Intensive Development scenario was also discussed, which provided useful information for guiding scientific-based decision support and policy making. While most studies of sprawl prediction involve urban centers only, our study presents a case of predicting urban and rural sprawl simultaneously.     

Which factors determine water saving behaviour? evidence from spanish households

In this paper we propose to answer the following questions: What does the adoption of water saving measures by Spanish households depend on? Which factors have the most influence on water saving behaviour? To this end we have conducted an empirical study in which a binary model (probit/logit) with interaction effects between city size, educational level and climatic area, along with other quantitative and qualitative variables, is estimated using household level data. The results of this estimation, together with the evaluation of probability changes that occur when any of the qualitative factors change, suggest that the level of income, the size of the city where the dwelling is, the educational level of the reference person and the climatic location of the city are factors that influence the attitude towards saving water.     

Usage and impacts of the Envirofit HM‐5000 cookstove

Burning solid fuels to fulfill daily household energy needs results in chronic exposure to household air pollution (HAP), which is among the world's greatest health risks. This paper presents the results of a cross‐sectional study of cookstove usage, fuel consumption, and indoor PM_2.5 concentrations in rural and urban Honduran homes cooking with the Envirofit HM‐5000 metal plancha stove (n = 32) as compared to control households using baseline cooking technologies (n = 33). Temperature‐based stove usage measurements showed high HM‐5000 acceptance, with significant displacement of the traditional cookstoves at both the urban (99%, P < .05) and rural study sites (75%, P < .05). However, longer‐term usage data collected in peri‐urban households showed that participants cooked on the HM‐5000 more frequently during the 3‐day monitoring period than during the following 3 weeks. Average indoor PM_2.5 was 66% lower in HM‐5000 households as compared to control households (P < .05). Lower indoor PM_2.5 concentrations observed in participant homes as compared to control households, supported by high usage and traditional stove displacement, suggest the potential for the HM‐5000 to yield health improvements in adopting Honduran households.     

The willingness to pay for in‐house piped water in urban and rural Indonesia

This paper analyses household preferences for in‐house piped water in urban and rural Indonesia via a hedonic price model, specified as a constrained autoregression‐structural equation model (ASEM). ASEM reduces bias due to time‐varying omitted variables and measurement errors. In addition, it provides a convenient way of testing and correcting for endogeneity. On the basis of the Indonesia Family Life Survey data set, we find that on average urban and rural households have the same willingness to pay for in‐house piped water, that is, 34.24 per cent of their monthly house rent. For the 25 per cent urban and rural households with lowest expenditure, this percentage is equivalent to 9.41 per cent and 7.57 per cent of their monthly expenditure, respectively. The findings support a need for further investment in in‐house piped water in both areas, particularly for the households with the lowest expenditure levels.     

Online water-use feedback: household user interest,savings and implications

This paper reports on the short- and long-term impacts of online water-use feedback provided via a smart metering trial involving 120 households in New South Wales, Australia. Near-real time water consumption feedback was provided via an online portal to half of the sample. Water consumption was uniquely analysed one year pre- and post-intervention, and in conjunction with login data. During one year of available access, the intervention group saved an overall average of 24.1 litres per household per day (L/hh/d) (4.2%). Regression analysis showed the significant savings of active users related specifically to portal login activity. Significant short-term effects persisted for 42 days, averaging at 63.1 L/hh/d. The article discusses the implications for research and practice, including a consideration of how, in addition to providing ongoing access, online portals could be leveraged further by water authorities to help meet urgent short-term supply constraints such as in drought.     

重庆城市发展新区村镇住宅建筑用能模型

通过对重庆市城市发展新区村镇住宅建筑能耗的全年调研,得到了重庆城市发展新区村镇居民的用能习惯及村镇建筑的能耗水平。采用分类归纳法,对家用电器测试归纳,并对非用电设施调研估算归纳。基于实测数据和调研估算数据建立了重庆城市发展新区村镇住宅建筑用能模型,并进行验证。结果表明,重庆城市发展新区村镇住宅能源消费形式以电为主,为电＋燃气＋薪柴＋煤＋太阳能的混合型结构;村镇居民用能习惯在使用何种能源的选择上存在差异,但对同一种能源的使用差异性不大。实测数据表明,所建立的村镇住宅建筑用能模型能准确反映重庆城市发展新区新村镇住宅建筑用能的实际情况。     

Adapting household water use in rural Zimbabwe

The study investigated how rural communities in semi-arid areas (1) adapt household water management to effects of climate variability and (2) how such adaptation influences household water usage and its quality. A semi-structured questionnaire was administered to 180 households between July and December 2014 to obtain demographic data on water supply and use. Microbiological quality of source and stored drinking water was determined using a Potatest field kit. In times of water scarcity, households exploited distant (>1 km) sources and stored large quantities (>60 L) of water up to >4 days. Water was re-contaminated by faecal coliforms during storage. Distance to a water source, sharing a source, type of lifting device, type of source and collector of water significantly influenced water supply across villages (p < 0.05). Villagers were more likely to draw less water at greater distances. Point-of-use water treatment and improved hygiene behaviour are recommended.     

住区密度与家庭能耗碳排放相关性研究——以上海曹杨新村为例

住区空间形态及模式类型划分与密度特征相关,家庭能耗产生的空间碳排放与密度分布有着逻辑对应关系。国内外相关研究表明,家庭特征、住房特征和能耗行为等因素对家庭生活能耗有着显著的影响,而有关密度与家庭能耗碳排放之间的相关研究尚需更多实证案例。本文以上海曹杨新村作为研究对象,通过调研问卷数据来估算54个小区样本的家庭能耗人均碳排放值,并对住区密度指标与碳排放进行相关性研究。从回归分析结果看,曹杨新村的家庭能耗消费与家庭特征、住房特征等因素存在着显著的线性关系,且家庭人口规模具有主导作用。在密度指标与碳排放相关性研究中,家庭能耗碳排放在物质密度与人口密度指标中分别具有区段波动性特征,通过进一步分析密度与碳排放影响变量之间的非线性逻辑对应关系,研究得出不同密度区段条件下的住区家庭能耗碳排放差异是居民家庭人口规模、收入水平等相关社会因素叠合作用造成的。因此,判断住区是否"低碳"首先当明确密度区段的选择条件,结合本国国情、地区发展条件、家庭社会经济特征等因素来引导未来住区发展模式。     

Evaluating the potential of improving residential water balance at building scale

Earlier results indicated that, for an average household, self-sufficiency in water supply can be achieved by following the Urban harvest Approach (UHA), in a combination of demand minimization, cascading and multi-sourcing. To achieve these results, it was assumed that all available local resources can be harvested. In reality, however, temporal, spatial and location-bound factors pose limitations to this harvest and, thus, to self-sufficiency. This article investigates potential spatial and temporal limitations to harvest local water resources at building level for the Netherlands, with a focus on indoor demand. Two building types were studied, a free standing house (one four-people household) and a mid-rise apartment flat (28 two-person households). To be able to model yearly water balances, daily patterns considering household occupancy and presence of water using appliances were defined per building type. Three strategies were defined. The strategies include demand minimization, light grey water (LGW) recycling, and rainwater harvesting (multi-sourcing). Recycling and multi-sourcing cater for toilet flushing and laundry machine. Results showed that water saving devices may reduce 30% of the conventional demand. Recycling of LGW can supply 100% of second quality water (D_Q2) which represents 36% of the conventional demand or up to 20% of the minimized demand. Rainwater harvesting may supply approximately 80% of the minimized demand in case of the apartment flat and 60% in case of the free standing house. To harvest these potentials, different system specifications, related to the household type, are required. Two constraints to recycle and multi-source were identified, namely i) limitations in the grey water production and available rainfall; and ii) the potential to harvest water as determined by the temporal pattern in water availability, water use, and storage and treatment capacities.     

Analysis of freshwater consumption patterns in the private residences of Kuwait

Weekly water consumption data from 48 households in Kuwait were collected over a period of one year. Based on these data, the average per capita water consumption inside a house in Kuwait was estimated to be in the range 182–2018 l/d/person, with an average of 814 l/d/person. Linear regression and neural network models, fitted to the observed data, suggest dependence of the residential water consumption on the number of bathrooms and rooms in the residence, size of the attached garden, income level of the household, atmospheric temperature, relative humidity, and number of people in the residence.     

Water-Availability Assessment and Corresponding Public-Health Implications for a Rural Area in Nigeria

This paper presents a case study which describes water-availability problems and corresponding public-health implications for a rural area in Nigeria. A water-availability assessment was carried out in eight villages which are controlled by the Jalingo Local Government of Taraba State. Questionnaires were used to obtain data from sixty households (approximately 650 participants) concerning issues of water-supply sources, water quantity, water quality and community participation in water-resources projects. It was found that (i) community well water is the major source of water, (ii) 35% of the inhabitants depend on well water during the wet season, and (iii) 69% depend on it during the dry season. About 80% of the households have access to less than 30 litres of water per person per day and, because of low water availability, there is a prevalence of water-related diseases.     

Effect of electricity price reform on households’ electricity consumption in urban Ethiopia

Until recently, the price of electricity in Ethiopia was among the lowest in the world. Such low prices have contributed to a substantial financial deficit for the government-owned electric utility and led to a degradation in the quality of electricity services delivered to customers. In December 2018, the utility increased the electricity tariff to help to finance improvements in the quality of electricity services. This paper studies the effect of the revised tariff on urban household electricity consumption and alternative fuel expenditure. The study relied on two rounds of household survey data and six years of electricity consumption data from the utility company. The study finds that prepaid customers reduced their electricity consumption by about 22 kWh per month in the post-tariff-adjustment periods, equivalent to about 10% of electricity expenditure and 14% of daily consumption. In the overall sample, however, consumption slightly increased over time. These results imply that the price elasticity of demand for electricity in urban Ethiopia is highly inelastic. Moreover, households did not shift substantially toward the use of alternative fuels. The findings indicate that governments and utilities in settings where electricity is priced well below cost-covering levels may be able to increase revenues and improve their balance sheets with relatively modest effects on households’ electricity consumption, though effects from more substantial tariff hikes should be examined.     

Effectiveness of household reverse-osmosis systems in a Western U.S. region with high arsenic in groundwater

It is well known to the public in Lahontan Valley in rural Nevada, USA, that local aquifers produce water with varied, but sometimes very high concentrations of arsenic (>4 ppm). As a result, many residents of the area have installed household reverse-osmosis (RO) systems to produce drinking water. We examined performance of RO systems and factors associated with arsenic removal efficiency in 59 households in Lahontan Valley. The sampling results indicated that RO systems removed an average of 80.2% of arsenic from well water. In 18 of the 59 households, arsenic concentrations exceeded 10 ppb in treated water, with a maximum in treated water of 180 ppb. In 3 of the 59 households, RO treatment had little effect on specific conductance, indicating that the RO system was not working properly. Two main factors lead to arsenic levels in treated water exceeding drinking-water standards in the study area. First, arsenic concentrations were high enough in some Lahontan Valley wells that arsenic levels exceeded 10 ppb even though RO treatment removed more than 95% of the arsenic. Second, trivalent As(+3) was the dominant arsenic species in approximately 15% of the wells, which significantly reduced treatment efficiency. Measurements of specific conductance indicated that efficiency in reducing arsenic levels did not always correlate with reductions in total dissolved solids. As a consequence, improvements in taste of the water or simple measurements of specific conductance made by technicians to test RO systems can mislead the public into assuming the water meets safety standards. Actual measurements of treated water are necessary to assure that household RO systems are reducing arsenic concentrations to safe levels, particularly in areas where groundwater has high arsenic concentrations or where As(+3) is the dominant species.     

The potential for decentralized reclamation and reuse of household greywater in peri‐urban areas of Bangkok

A survey was conducted of 400 households in the peri‐urban area of Bangkok to investigate typical household water consumption, daily water use activities, public perception towards wastewater reuse and detergent consumption. Four categories of greywater, including cooking, dish washing, bathing and laundry washing wastewater, their properties and potential application for reuse were examined. Average water consumption was estimated to be 208 L/person/day. The wastewater was already reused in 42% of households, and that laundry wastewater was widely used for plant watering and floor washing. More than 80% of households accepted the use of treated greywater, while 50% of households did not accept the use of treated blackwater. Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD) and suspended solid (SS) were high in cooking, dish washing and laundry, and lower in bathing wastewater, while anionic surfactant were high in laundry and dish washing wastewater. The finding results clearly demonstrate the possibility of greywater reclamation and reuse in the area.     

长沙市居住建筑能耗调查及偏相关分析

对长沙市70户具有代表性住户的居住建筑概况、生活方式、对热环境的评价及能耗情况进行了调查统计,采用SPSS统计分析软件对长沙市居住建筑能耗的影响因素进行了分析。长沙市居住建筑能耗具有明显的季节性,上一年12月至2月和6月至8月是能耗的高峰期。偏相关分析表明居住建筑总能耗、单位建筑面积能耗与家庭年收入、家庭常住人口密切相关,与建筑面积、建筑总层数、住户所在楼层、建筑朝向、供暖方式、空调方式不显著相关。     

Financial sustainability of rural water supply: An analysis of cost recovery,revenue collection,and efficiency

Maintaining a financial sustainable pipe water supply (PWS) is one of the serious challenges in sustainable provision of water supply in rural areas. Poor revenue collection and willingness to pay for the service is adding severity to the problem. This study analyses the factors affecting revenue collection in rural water utilities and measures its efficiency in maximizing revenue and average hour of water supply per day. The findings convey that cost recovery is a failure in rural water supply even they are not able to generate revenue. Inactive community participation, the notion of free water supply, unaccountable payment is main reason for poor revenue collection. Therefore, active community participations, educating the household on water supply, adoption of accountable payment mode will be a step towards revenue generation. To attain efficiency, the utilities can expand their output revenue and hours of water supply by 22% without altering their input. This study is an empirical contribution in the field of sustainable provision of water supplies, which address the problem of poor revenue generation in rural water supply and find out the reason for it.     

Critical factors affecting affordability of mortgage housing in Kenya

This study investigated factors affecting affordability in the mortgage housing sector in Kenya. Housing affordability is a major problem experienced by urban households in Africa. According to the African Development Bank (The middle of the pyramid: Dynamics of the middle class in Africa, market brief, 2011), only three per cent of the entire African population can afford a mortgage. In Kenya, the Centre for Affordable Housing Finance in Africa has estimated that only eleven per cent of urban households earn enough to support a mortgage. Attempts were made in this study to develop an empirical model to reveal the underlying factors affecting housing affordability in Kenya. Applying a multiple regression approach, the model identified that affordability of mortgage housing in Kenya is significantly driven by clusters of factors related to the households’ social-economic factors, property attributes, loan characteristics and the macroeconomic environment. Specifically, the interest on mortgage, number of households’ dependents, loan-to-value ratio, type of mortgage instrument, number of income earners in a household, real gross domestic product per capita and size of household are the critical factors affecting affordability with the greatest contribution to the affordability problems of households in the mortgage housing sector in Kenya.