Unequal access to energy efficiency in US multifamily rental housing: opportunities to improve

The energy efficiency of US multifamily rental housing is compared with other housing types. A real and growing energy efficiency gap is documented, particularly for lower income households. Findings are based on data from the 2005 and 2009 US Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS). Individual energy efficiency features related to HVAC (heating, ventilation and cooling) systems, appliances, and the building envelope are analysed along with weighted and unweighted total energy efficiency indices. Multifamily units occupied by low income renters had 4.1 fewer energy efficiency features in 2005 and 4.7 fewer in 2009 compared with other households. If the number of efficiency features was on par with other housing, the savings could be in the range of US$200–400 per year for most lower-income renters in multifamily buildings. There is an astonishing lack of information on how efficiency retrofits would affect property (real estate) metrics such as cash flow and value. Available evidence suggests that millions of US properties could be good retrofit investment opportunities. Better efficiency would allow renters to increase spending on food, healthcare and other essentials. This is not only an economic issue: it has implications for household health, social equity and environmental problems tied to energy consumption.     

从公共住房到租金优惠券——美国低收入阶层住房政策演化解析

本文对美国低收入阶层住房政策的演化过程作了介绍 ,分析了其中三种典型住房政策的实施效果。在把握我国国情的基础上 ,借鉴美国住房政策演化过程的经验教训 ,为建立我国弱势人群住房政策提出了建议。     

Housing tenure, housing costs and poverty in Flanders (Belgium)

This article deals with the relation betweenhousing and poverty in Flanders (Belgium). Wedescribe how home tenure and housing costsdeveloped differently for different incomegroups. Furthermore, we assess the impact ofthese evolutions on poverty and welfaredistribution. Our analyses show that in theobserved period homeownership increasedstrongly among higher-income categories andremained stable or even decreased amonglow-income households. Average housing costsincreased more for low-income households thanfor high-income households, leading to a sharpincrease in problematic rent-to-income ratiosfor the former. It appears that especially theprivate rented sector is problematic. Thesocial rented sector is evaluated ratherpositively. Taking account of housing costsleads to higher poverty levels and higherwelfare inequality compared to the situationwhere only current income is used to calculatepoverty and welfare distribution.     

Uptake of energy efficiency interventions in English dwellings

Little detailed evidence has previously been available regarding the uptake rate or prevalence of energy efficiency interventions among specific household groups. This study uses the Home Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) to investigate both the combination of measures that have been installed, and in which dwellings, according to key neighbourhood socio-demographic variables, including income and tenure. Analysis of 2000–07 data indicates that approximately 40% (9.3 million) dwellings in England had approximately 23.7 million efficiency measures installed, with an average of 2.5 measures per dwelling. Building fabric-related measures were the most frequent (e.g. cavity wall insulation, loft insulation and glazing) with an average of 2.1 million installed each year. Dwellings with the highest number of fabric interventions (the top 20%) were more likely to be found in areas with low income, with more owner-occupied dwellings, experiencing lower winter temperatures, having a lower proportion of flats, and having a slightly higher proportion of older adults and children. Energy efficiency installations have tended to occur among specific types of households or parts of the building stock. These findings have implications for the design of future government programmes for targeting energy efficiency measures to specific household groups or dwelling types.     

加拿大多伦多市低收入者住房保障政策

加拿大多伦多市具有较多的低收入者,加拿大为解决这些居民的住房问题,制定了一系列住房保障政策。文章详述了加拿大多伦多市的几种建房援助计划,以供我国政府解决低收入者的住房问题提供参考。     

The Effect of Housing Expenses and Subsidies on the Income Distribution in Flanders and the Netherlands

This study explores the role of housing expenses and subsidies with respect to income distribution in Flanders (the northern part of Belgium) and the Netherlands in 2005–2006. It analyses income poverty and inequality by comparing equivalent disposable income before and after housing expenses with a relative poverty threshold and the Gini coefficient. Poverty and income inequality increase in both ‘countries’ when equivalent disposable income is corrected for housing expenses. Furthermore, the relative position of outright owners and social tenants regarding poverty improves. Housing subsidies play a (partly) different role in Flanders and the Netherlands. The implicit social rent subsidy in Flanders and the explicit housing allowance in the Netherlands serve the same goal; however, they both redistribute income relatively strongly in favour of low-income tenants. The tax relief system on the other hand increases income inequality in society, in both Flanders and the Netherlands, whereas our comparative analysis suggests that tax relief does not have a moderating effect on net housing expenses.     

Participatory system dynamics modelling for housing,energy and wellbeing interactions

The built environment is a key target of decarbonization policies. However, such policies often have a narrow objective and narrow focus, resulting in ‘policy-resistance’ and unintended consequences. The literature attributes these unintended consequences to a narrow financial focus, adverse incentives, and inadequate handling of knowledge, skills, communication and feedback gaps, but it provides little advice on how these complex interactions can be captured. This paper illustrates the development and application of an integrated approach to address these complex interactions with regard to housing performance, energy, communal spaces and wellbeing. In particular, it explores the dynamics created by these relationships with simulation modelling in participatory settings, and with a diverse group of stakeholders. The simulation results suggest that monitoring is key to improve the performance of the housing stock besides energy efficiency; and investments in communal spaces positively affect the adoption of energy-efficiency measures and the wellbeing of residents. The evaluation results for participatory workshops show this approach was found useful by the stakeholders for supporting more integrated decision-making about housing. In future research, this approach can be implemented for policy problems in specific contexts.     

Housing expenditure and housing policy in the West European rental sector

This contribution depicts therecent development of the housing expenditure quotefor various income groups in the social and privaterented sector in six West European countries. Thedevelopment reflects the similar policy efforts inthese countries, not only to reduce the regulatoryand subsidizing role of government but also topromote market mechanisms within the housing system.The analysis shows a recent rise in the gross aswell as the net rent quote in both rental sectors ofthe six countries. The one exception is the privaterented sector in Belgium. Despite the application ofhousing allowances, the lower-income groups have hadthe biggest increase in net rent quote. In addition,all six countries have recently seen an increase inthe concentration of low-income groups in the socialrented sector, where their presence was alreadystrong. If this trend persists, it will affect theposition of the social rented sector, the sociallandlords, but especially the low-income groups inboth the private and the social rented sector.     

Telling tales: using stories to remake energy policy

To benefit and protect the populace, government policies often promise aspirational changes to current practice. Different kinds of narratives are important in the framing, explanation, motivation, and understanding of policies and strategies. For example, the UK government's 2008 Climate Change Act proclaimed that all new homes will be zero carbon by 2016. This ‘hero story’, where society is ‘saved’ by clever technologies, is inspiring, positive and familiar. An alternative is the ‘learning story’, where things are not quite as simple as they first seemed. In a learning story, protagonists are normal people who need to overcome a challenge. In energy policy, the learning story could address the gap between the technical potential and what is achieved in practice. Three real-world examples from retrofit and new-build projects are used to show how implicit narratives can create conflict when the tellers (e.g. researchers) have to tell one kind of story but have data for the other. Recommendations are provided for a balanced approach to the deployment of different kinds of tales by policy-makers, researchers, implementers and users. Harnessing the learning story and developing a ‘caring story’ could motivate policy-makers and the public to invest effort in building performance.     

Telling stories: the role of narratives in rental housing policy change in New Zealand

Abstract

This paper examines the emergence of the regulation of housing conditions in the private rental sector as a policy issue in New Zealand using an analysis of narratives in media, advocacy and political texts. Narratives are evident in public discourse and are the stories told by interest groups to identify and cast a problem as a policy issue in a way analogous to the beliefs of the speaker. This case study shows that while the narratives used by advocates for policy change were effective in raising the issue, they were ineffective in overcoming a counter-narrative of excessive regulation by the government and concerns of possible rent rises. This opposition to regulation of the private sector by a right-leaning government needs to be more effectively countered by more powerful intersecting narratives, if evidence on the relationship between housing, health and safety is to become the basis for effectively implemented government policy.     

New energy retrofit concept: ‘renovation trains’ for mass housing

A large operation is required to make Europe's existing housing stock more energy efficient, in terms of both demand reduction as well as the installation of local renewable energy technologies. The combination of overall (national) energy targets and the European Union's Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) targets suggests the scale of this task involves the retrofitting of millions of houses. An example of a large-scale, rapid process is presented where a series of houses have been retrofitted using a standardized process. A pilot project exploring this strategy has been completed in Kerkrade, the Netherlands. Several innovations were introduced, tested and refined for the renovation of 150 houses: a serial retrofit process, a renovation time of ten days per house with the houses inhabited during the process, and responsibility for energy performance assigned to the construction team. The construction process is a ‘renovation train’ moving from one house to the next. The experiences are now being used and developed for a follow-up project: a new concept can be used to scale up the process from 100 to 10 000 renovations a year.     

Public choice theory and rental housing: an examination of rental housing contracts in Ghana

This paper extends both the literature on rental housing in Ghana and the global literature on the critique of public choice analyses in terms of focus, methods and positioning. It argues that, contrary to the assumption that all housing policy changes are driven by internal national processes, in the case of Ghana at least, neither tenants (through their use of their greater numbers) nor landlords (through the use of their stronger financial and hence political power) exclusively influence housing policy. Both parties have some power, but landlords use theirs to change rents arbitrarily and decide whom to invite or keep as tenants, whilst tenants seek to use their power by lodging complaints with the state, albeit to little effect as the power of landlords is overwhelming. There is a strong basis to call into question the public choice argument that it is fair for landlords to extract windfall rent from tenants since their efforts or talents do not increase rent.     

How knowledge and political ideology affects rental housing policy in Ontario,Canada: application of a knowledge paradigms framework of policy change

A case study of the Tenant Protection Act in Ontario, Canada is presented. A Conservative government elected in 1995 introduced an Act to deregulate rents and amend the Ontario Human Rights Code to allow use of income criteria to screen potential tenants. Document review and in‐depth interviews with tenant advocates were applied to understand how tenant advocates in Toronto used knowledge and other strategies to influence the legislation in the context of a new framework of policy change. The findings revealed that while different forms of knowledge, scientific, anecdotal and critical, had some influence on the process, the political ideology of the government played a significant role in determining the influence of opponents to legislation. The research concludes that while the neo‐liberal political ideology of the government did not consistently influence policy making in all areas, housing policy was particularly sensitive to political ideology. While the views of tenants did not influence the Conservative government, they did influence the policies of the Opposition parties that called for the restoration of social housing and rent control. On 2 October 2003, an Opposition party supporting these positions was elected in the Ontario general election.     

Governing comfort in France: from hygienism to sustainable housing XXth–XXIst century

Abstract

This article intends to present the notion of comfort as a central element in housing policies. Comfort is liable to an analysis in terms of governance and enrichment of the Housing Regimes theory. Thereby it develops in the first part a socio-historical analysis of housing standards production patterns in France from the 19th century to current day. It distinguishes the hygienist period, the modernist period and the environmental period. For the latter, it shows how private and institutional stakeholders operate. In the second part it analyses the results of a qualitative and quantitative survey of one thousand French homeowners. It reveals the various acceptations of the notion of comfort and the diverse integration of the energy conservation targets in practices. A new social differentiation appears through the capabilities to use new technologies and control the environment.     

武汉市某政府办公楼的能耗模拟与节能措施分析

根据武汉市某政府办公楼的能源审计与能耗模拟,得到了该大楼的各项能耗指标.给出了围护结构、空调系统、照明系统的节能改造方案以及投资回收期,并探讨了室内温度及系统COP值的设定.     

Beyond the Normative: Low Income Private Renters' Perspectives of Housing Affordability and Need for Housing Assistance

Housing need in Australia has typically been measured using a normative measure of the percentage of income spent on housing costs. However, this normative measure has tended not to correspond with the level of need as measured by the applications for housing assistance. This article reports on a research project commissioned by the Queensland Department of Housing in 2001, examining how low income private renters view their housing situation, with a particular focus on affordability. The Department wanted to better understand the reasons for why people apply for assistance, and how helpful normative affordability analyses are in describing and finding responses to housing need. The findings challenge the conventional wisdoms, dominant discourses and research standards which are commonly used and applied about affordability and housing need. In particular, the research raises serious questions about relying on quantitative analysis alone to appreciate the complexity of housing needs and the potential demand for assistance.     

'Changing the mix': contestation surrounding the public housing stock transfer process in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania

This article presents the findings of a study examining the rationale and practices of stock transfer from state housing authorities to community housing associations in three Australian states--Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. It begins with an analysis of the policy context that has informed debates about housing management and supply options in Australia. The main section of the article draws on written documentation and interviews with policy actors and tenants in each of the case studies to highlight the conflicts and tensions that surface in moves to reconfigure the management of public housing. Alongside a brief discussion about the policy themes that emerge from the findings, it is suggested in the conclusion that the continuing contestation and uncertainty about the stock transfer process is symptomatic of the national 'policy vacuum' about the future direction of public housing in Australia.     

浅谈城市中低收入家庭住宅设计

通过对城市中低收入人群的生活需求、心理需求及经济能力等方面的分析,提出了城市中低收入家庭住房的规划模式,就城市中低收入家庭的住宅建筑设计进行了探讨,从而使中低收入群体实现自己的生活理想。     

The role of housing policy in perpetuating conditional forms of homelessness support in the era of housing first: Evidence from Australia

Abstract

Despite widespread enthusiasm for Housing First approaches to addressing homelessness, conditional models of support that require ‘housing readiness’ persist in many jurisdictions. Existing research cites an ongoing commitment to conditionality amongst homelessness services providers as a key reason for its persistence. In this paper, we argue that State housing policies also play an important role in perpetuating conditionality in the homelessness sector. Drawing on research carried out in an Australian jurisdiction, we show how policies regarding the supply and allocation of social housing compel homelessness service providers—including Housing First services—to employ conditionality practices. We also demonstrate the detrimental impact this has on the housing outcomes of homelessness people with complex needs. We conclude that our findings challenge the claim made by some that Housing First constitutes a ‘paradigm shift’, and instead highlight the complex processes of policy translation and assemblage that shape the adaptation of Housing First in different contexts.     

中低收入者住宅的有效节能设计途径

文章主要从住区规划和建筑设计的角度，阐述了中低收入者住宅节能的必要性、研究策略及技术措施，旨在为今后的经济适用房设计和建设提供有效和简易经济的节能措施。