Impacts of energy-efficiency investments on internal conditions in low-income households

Living in cold conditions poses a risk to health, in particular to low-income, fuel-poor households. Improving the energy efficiency of the housing stock may bring multiple positive health gains through improved indoor temperatures and reduced fuel consumption. This study used a multilevel interrupted time-series approach to evaluate a policy-led energy-performance investment programme. Long-term monitoring data were collected for intervention and control households at baseline (n?=?99) and follow-up (n?=?88), creating a dataset with 15,771 data points for a series of daily-averaged hydrothermal outcome variables. The study found that the intervention raised indoor air temperature by on average 0.84?K as compared with control households, thereby bringing the majority of indoor temperature measurements within the ‘healthy’ comfort zone of 18–24°C, while average daily gas usage dropped by 37%. External wall insulation was the most effective measure to increase indoor air temperature. The greatest increases were found in the evening and at night, in the bedroom, and in British steel-framed buildings. No evidence was found that the intervention substantially increased indoor relative humidity levels when accompanied by mechanical ventilation. The study concludes that the multilevel interrupted time-series approach offers a useful model for evaluating housing improvement programmes.     

The effect of market conditions on the housing outcomes of subsidized households: the case of the US voucher programme

Abstract

Since being created in the 1970s, housing vouchers have become the primary mode of federal housing support for low-income households in the US. The voucher programme was designed to provide recipients with the mobility needed to secure higher quality housing in neighbourhoods of their choice. Decades of analysis suggest that the programme has failed to produce the favourable outcomes envisioned by policymakers. To add to our understanding of the outcomes of this important federal programme, this paper seeks to underscore the importance of context-dependent policy analysis. In particular, this study analyses the impact of housing market conditions on the outcomes achieved by voucher recipients. Using neighbourhood and housing outcome data from the American Housing Survey, and median rent and rental market vacancy data, this paper demonstrates the important role that market conditions play in programme outcomes. The results from this study suggest that voucher recipients are successful at improving housing unit quality outcomes regardless of market conditions, but the ability to move to a better neighbourhood is a function of vacancy rates.     

Hybridity in the housing sector: examining impacts on social and private rented sector tenants in Scotland

Abstract

Housing Associations in many countries exhibit increasing levels of ‘hybridity’, as reductions in state financing for social housing, exacerbated by austerity policies since the 2008 crash, have instigated ‘enterprising’ approaches to maintaining income. Alongside this, hybrid organisations have emerged in the Private Rented Sector (PRS), responding to sectoral growth and consequent increases in vulnerable households entering private renting. These developing hybridities have been considered at a strategic level, but there has been little exploration of the impacts on tenants. This article examines two organisations, operating across the social and private rented sectors, to elucidate potential implications for tenants. The research suggests that different forms of hybridity can affect tenant outcomes and, moreover, that examining such impacts is important in understanding hybridity itself. Furthermore, the study suggests that emerging forms of hybridity, particularly in the PRS, may be blurring the boundaries between housing sectors, with implications for policy and research.     

Quantifying energy demand reduction considering householder willingness to apply measures

ABSTRACT

Reducing energy demand in the domestic sector will be an important feature of future energy systems but is challenging to achieve in practice. Solutions lie in a range of building fabric and system improvements as well as adopting more sustainable routines and conceptions of normality in the home. The impact of such measures has so far been quantified without considering the willingness of the householder to adopt them. This paper uses a modelling approach to evaluate the effectiveness of technical and lifestyle measures to reduce energy demand in six households based on monitoring data and insights from interviews. The results are benchmarked against estimated tailored 2050 reduction targets and demonstrate that although these targets are achievable in the studied homes, householders might not always be willing to apply them. The resultant reduction pathways are shown to vary significantly between households, suggesting that bespoke strategies are needed to allow households to identify and select the most appropriate methods that allow them to maximize demand reduction.     

What are the impacts of living in social housing? New evidence from Australia

Abstract

In this paper, we apply statistical matching methods to a national longitudinal dataset of Australians facing housing insecurity to estimate the impacts of social housing on employment, education, health, incarceration and homelessness. We find social housing in Australia provides an important `safety net’ protecting people from homelessness. However, at least in the short run, individuals in social housing have similar outcomes in terms of employment, education, physical and mental health, and incarceration to other comparable individuals not in social housing. These are the first estimates of causal impacts of social housing, simultaneously estimating impacts on a range of shelter and non-shelter outcomes highlighted as important by the broader social housing literature. They also provide an interesting contrast with the existing US estimates. These results are potentially due to strict targeting of individuals into social housing and that they represent the average effect across individuals who may experience substantially different impacts.     

Mental well-being and quality-of-life benefits of inclusion in nature for adults with disabilities and their caregivers

Abstract

The benefits of green space and nature experiences are increasingly being recognised and translated into public health policy and practice. Alongside this trend, inclusion of all people into parks and nature has been an important area of parks and recreation practice. Nature inclusion for those with disabilities, youth, seniors and immigrants has become a focus of Alberta in Western Canada. This study was designed to examine the influence of two such government supported nature interventions, including day trips and a more extensive weekend or week-long nature experience, on mental well-being outcomes. It is a mixed methods pilot study (N = 37) with baseline and post-intervention measures of quality of life using the standard Quality of Life Inventory (QOLI) alongside other qualitative accounts. Quantitative findings, while not statistically significant, show a positive trend towards improved depression markers, greater health satisfaction, improved social relationships (in particular, love and friendship), as well as satisfaction with a sense of community and experiences of helping. In addition to comments within the QOLI, qualitative data were elicited through reflective writing during the nature interventions. Three dominant qualitative themes of inclusive nature experiences were found: ‘Sensory Activation’, ‘Reimagined Social Relations’ and ‘Reinvented Self’.     

Tenant Empowerment Through Innovative Tenures: An Analysis of Woonbron–Maasoevers’ Client's Choice Programme

According to the recent Housing Memorandum (MVROM, 2000 MVROM 2000 Mensen-Wensen-Wonen: wonen in de 21e eeuw [What people want, where people live: housing in the 21st century] The Hague Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment  [Google Scholar] ), Dutch housing associations are expected to actively improve the control of tenants over their dwellings and their living environment and offer them more possibilities to choose their own type of tenure. Before the publication of the Memorandum, associations had already developed various innovative types of tenure, for example fixed rent contracts, tenant maintenance programmes and different forms of sale with discounts and risk-reducing conditions. With the introduction of these tenures, associations aim to contribute to their social objectives by improving tenants' satisfaction with their dwellings and to improve the market position of their stock as well. Our paper discusses innovative types of tenure that have been developed by the Dutch housing associations and their benefits and risks for tenant and landlord. We focus on the ‘Client's Choice’ programme that has been developed by the association WoonbronMaasoevers, which is recognised as a front-runner in offering households a wide range of choice in tenure and which is also illustrative of many of the benefits and risks of the innovative tenures.

We conclude that many of the innovative tenures, including the Client's Choice programme, can contribute to tenant empowerment and freedom of choice. However, low-income households will mostly have to keep relying on (social) rented housing and other forms of empowerment. For the landlord, the Client's Choice programme has the benefit of increasing cash flow, which can be used for (social) housing investments. However, there are also substantial financial risks, concerning the rate of sales, the development of market values and the potential costs of having to buy back all the dwellings at the end of their economic lifespan. Thus, the implementation of the Client's Choice programme on a large scale should be accompanied by measures to control or provide for these risks.     

Effects of indoor environmental parameters related to building heating,ventilation, and air conditioning systems on patients' medical outcomes: A review of scientific research on hospital buildings

The indoor environment of a mechanically ventilated hospital building controls infection rates as well as influences patients’ healing processes and overall medical outcomes. This review covers the scientific research that has assessed patients’ medical outcomes concerning at least one indoor environmental parameter related to building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems, such as indoor air temperature, relative humidity, and indoor air ventilation parameters. Research related to the naturally ventilated hospital buildings was outside the scope of this review article. After 1998, a total of 899 papers were identified that fit the inclusion criteria of this study. Of these, 176 papers have been included in this review to understand the relationship between the health outcomes of a patient and the indoor environment of a mechanically ventilated hospital building. The purpose of this literature review was to summarize how indoor environmental parameters related to mechanical ventilation systems of a hospital building are impacting patients. This review suggests that there is a need for future interdisciplinary collaborative research to quantify the optimum range for HVAC parameters considering airborne exposures and patients’ positive medical outcomes.     

‘Deliberative development’: Australia’s Baugruppen movement and the challenge of greater social inclusion

Abstract

German Baugruppen are the most well-known of the collaborative, self-organized alternatives to speculatively produced multi-residential housing, delivering housing at a significant price discount to market. However, Baugruppen have been criticized for excluding less affluent households with financing and social capital barriers identified by Hamiduddin and Gallent as reinforcing socio-economic stratification. Collaborative, self-organized housing is, however, under-researched and there has been scant attention to financing. Collaborative, self-organized multi-residential housing in Australia is known as ‘deliberative’ development to differentiate it from ‘speculative’ development. We draw on case studies of deliberative development in Australia to reveal how projects are financed and how financing impacts on social equity considerations. Proponents of contemporary deliberative development in Australia are deeply concerned about housing affordability and declining rates of home ownership. This has focused attention on development financing as a key to systemic change paving the way for inclusion of less wealthy households.     

Fortifying futures: how older boomerangers in English multigenerational households boost resilience through social capital accumulation and distribution

Abstract

Multigenerational households (MGHs) are the UK’s fastest growing household type. This paper critically explores the relative influence of ‘Generation X’ in shaping social capital accumulation and distribution strategies within English MGHs. We contend that this cohort, described here as ‘amalgamation generation’, (older ‘boomerangers’) recognize how the quintessential inter/intra generational forms of social capital present in MGHs may be consolidated to boost resilience at a time of economic uncertainty and social instability. We challenge therefore the largely negative discourse surrounding boomerangers which exist in existing scholarship. Our analysis highlights the dialectical relationship between the concepts of resilience and social capital when applied to multigenerational living. In doing so, we highlight the relevance of network centrality, shared family values, an awareness of the natural life cycle and the importance of family ‘social capital bank’ in promoting the overall cohesion of the MGH. The extent to which English MGHs may be construed as a liquid, temporal and fluid asset over space, place and time is explored.     

Parental background and housing outcomes in young adulthood

Abstract

Scholars and policy-makers are concerned that young adults’ housing opportunities are becoming more dependent on their family background. This could hinder social mobility and exacerbate inequality. Using data from three cohorts of young people drawn from the Office for National Statistics Longitudinal Study of England and Wales, this study examines how parental attributes in childhood are linked to young adults’ housing outcomes two decades later. The results show that young adults’ housing outcomes have changed considerably over time and are persistently stratified by parental class and tenure in ways that vary by gender. Housing outcomes have become somewhat more polarised by parental tenure over time as the children of renters became relatively less likely to enter homeownership and more likely to rent privately. This suggests that renters became an increasingly ‘marginalised minority’ in the late twentieth century, with consequences for their children’s housing careers and future social inequality.     

Environmental influences on indoor walking behaviours of assisted living residents

Regular walking behaviours can improve older people's physical, psychological and social health. This project examined the relationships between assisted living facilities’ design features and residents’ indoor walking behaviours through surveys and field evaluations. Surveys were conducted in 18 assisted living facilities in the US state of Texas. Researchers gathered information from 343 residents about their walking behaviours, participation in other activities, health and demographic status, and perceptions of the environment. Field evaluations were conducted to collect objective physical environment measures. Facility information was provided by the administrators. Multivariate hierarchical regression analysis showed significant influences of physical environments on indoor walking behaviours. Indoor recreational walking was related negatively to the number of stories of the building and positively to the perception of looped corridors. Different types of utilitarian walking, such as ‘walk to other activities’, ‘walk to front entry' and ‘walk to mailbox' were influenced by specific design features. The number of utilitarian walking types was marginally influenced by the number of stories of the building. These findings will help inform the design of activity-friendly assisted living facilities and the creation of health promotion programmes for frail older people.     

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.     

From Geddes’ city museum to Farrell’s urban room: past,present, and future at the Newcastle City Futures exhibition

ABSTRACT

Genuine engagement about how best to achieve liveable urban futures should be part of planning’s raison-d’etre but it has a chequered history of delivery. Exhibitions harnessing the communicative power of mixed media and linked to a progressive and responsive programme of focused discussion and debate remain relevant to community consultation and civic engagement. Terry Farrell’s concept of the ‘urban room’ to involve citizens in engaging with the past, present, and future of towns and cities offers a contemporary refreshment of the approach propounded by Patrick Geddes from the early 1900s. The possibilities of creating novel and compelling opportunities for civic discourse in this guise are explored in this review article though the Newcastle City Futures pop-up exhibition and events held in Newcastle upon Tyne, UK in 2014. This event carries lessons for imagining how planners, developers, governments, and community groups may come together to critically and creatively forge future propositions for the urban condition.     

Dwelling performance and adaptive summer comfort in low-income Australian households

Increasing reliance on air-conditioning to improve summertime comfort in dwellings results in higher energy bills, peak electricity demand and environmental issues. In pursuit of social equity, society needs to develop ways of improving cooling that are less reliant on air-conditioning. Designing homes to emphasize adaptive thermal comfort can reduce this reliance, particularly when combined with improved dwelling thermal performance. A multi-method evaluation of 10 low-income dwellings in the state of Victoria in Australia is presented, including low-energy and ‘standard-performance’ houses. The combination of performance monitoring and householder interviews reveals new insights for achieving summertime comfort. The low-energy houses without air-conditioning were both measured and perceived as more comfortable than the ‘standard-performance’ houses with air-conditioning. The low-energy households achieved improved personal thermal comfort through a combination of improved fabric performance augmented with adaptive comfort activities (e.g., opening/closing windows). This outcome reduces reliance on air-conditioning, reduces living costs and energy consumption, and improves environmental outcomes. There is a need to integrate lessons from adaptive thermal comfort theory and strategies into minimum building performance requirements and standards, as well as wider design strategies. It is evident that adaptive comfort has a role to play in a transition to a low-carbon housing future.     

Social representations of children in higher density housing: enviable,inevitable or evil?

Abstract

An increased focus on housing diversity in planning policy, international flows of capital and changing lifestyle preferences are resulting in increased higher density housing often marketed towards professional singles, couples without children and ‘empty nesters.’ Despite this, families with children currently dwell in higher density housing, either by choice or by necessity. This research identifies the social representations surrounding children in higher density housing in Australia’s third largest city, Brisbane. It does this by analysing newspaper media published between 2007 and 2014 and through 46 interviews with residents and built-form professionals from Brisbane. The research finds four key representations; that children belong in the suburbs; increasing support for wealthy families in higher density housing; an economic argument for the lack of family-appropriate apartments; and an increasing acceptance of medium-density housing for younger households. This research draws attention to the winners and losers in housing debates and the ‘common-sense’ assumptions that impact housing outcomes.     

A critical analysis of research of a mass-housing programme

ABSTRACT

A recent expansion of mass-housing programmes has occurred in emerging economies. The analysis of research on programmes raises questions about what type of research is produced and what its impact is on housing. The Brazilian ‘My House, My Life’ (Minha Casa, Minha Vida – MCMV) programme demonstrates that more of the same type of housing is produced and that the focus of most research repeats the same mistakes. Three million homes have been built and the research community has examined the programme’s social, economic and environmental impacts. A total of 2477 scientific studies on MCMV are analyzed. Few studies were found to assess living conditions from a user perspective at the residential unit scale. Although improvements have occurred on some social issues, the siting of housing on the urban periphery is problematic for urban mobility, social segregation and aesthetic monotony. Also, the design model does not respond to the diverse needs of inhabitants. Opportunities are identified for actions and essential missing research on mass housing. Retrofit strategies are urgent and social cost studies should induce change to the design model. Evidence-based research is needed to support policies and design processes for affordable and quality housing solutions that value users, their needs and aspirations.     

Einfluss der vom menschlichen Körper absorbierten Solarstrahlung für das Wärmeempfinden in Gebäuden

Influence of solar radiation absorbed by the human body on the thermal sensation of building occupants. One of the key aspects of sustainable building is the well‐being of occupants, which is greatly influenced by indoor climate conditions. Thermal comfort is a vital ingredient of satisfaction with people's surroundings. It is to be expected that solar radiation will have a favourable influence on indoor social areas particularly in the winter months when radiation is predominantly diffuse. In contrast, direct exposure to sunshine in summer or on very sunny days in winter can quickly make people feel uncomfortable near windows and this must be counteracted by appropriate measures to protect them from the sun. The significance of solar radiation for the thermal sensation is illustrated on the basis of a further development of Fanger's approach by means of simulations. The main results are summarised in this article.     

Personalising Architecture: The Contribution of Neorealism to Italian Architecture through the INA-Casa Programme (1949–56)

Abstract

After the Second World War, neorealism was fundamental as a spatial register of the time while simultaneously contributing to the creation of a visual culture at a key moment in Italian history. Although the term has been adopted ad hoc in architecture, transfers between neorealism and architecture are still not fully understood and significant grey areas remain. Against this backdrop, recent studies have suggested approaching neorealism not from the standpoint of the disciplinary autonomy of architecture, but from its active and bidirectional link with other forms of artistic expression, approached through the cultural climate of the time in Italy. Within the field of architectural theory, a significant number of works that have been linked to neorealism belong to new neighbourhoods that were developed through state social housing programmes. For this reason, this article uses the INA-Casa programme as a lens for examining neorealism’s penetration in architecture, based on the hypothesis that this programme’s written regulations were inflected by the neorealist environment during its first settennio (1949–56). It sets out to consider if and how a neorealist making existed in architecture by analysing the first two INA-Casa design manuals, which are seen here as an example of a rule book for the theory of architecture.     

Healing built-environment effects on health outcomes: environment–occupant–health framework

ABSTRACT

An investigation examined the structured scientific evidence on healthcare facilities (the healing built environment – HBE) and its impact on patients’ health outcomes under a holistic conceptual evaluative framework. The integrative review considered 127 papers (of which 59 were review papers). It found there was no adequate framework that could integrate existing research findings holistically. Such a holistic framework needs to demonstrate the cumulative and interactive effects of various HBE characteristics on patients’ health outcomes and wellbeing. An environment–occupant–health (E-O-H) framework is proposed, taking a holistic perspective to identify and evaluate different HBE characteristics. The E-O-H framework should support future research by (1) identifying the HBE characteristics that affect health outcomes; (2) defining appropriate future research designs; and (3) understanding the need for holistic analysis of the integrated effects of diverse HBE characteristics on health outcomes.