scholarly journals Effects of Increase in the Cost of Building Materials on the Delivery of Affordable Housing in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1772
Author(s):  
Bimpe Alabi ◽  
Julius Fapohunda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Statistical Technique ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Cost Increase ◽  
Sequential Mixed Methods ◽  
Adequate Provision ◽  
The Cost

Adequate provision of affordable human settlements is a huge challenge in South Africa since its independence. This paper investigates the effects of the cost increase of building materials on affordable housing delivery in South Africa. With potential solutions for cost minimisation of building materials, with the aim of achieving affordable housing delivery in South Africa are provided. This study uses a sequential mixed methods approach, wherein surveys were conducted among the construction professionals (project managers, site managers architects, site engineers, quantity surveyors, contractors, building materials suppliers, and government workers) in the construction industry within Cape Town, South Africa, who were considered as the research participants. The qualitative data obtained from the survey exercise were analysed using content analysis, while the quantitative data were analysed using a descriptive statistical technique on SPSS. The findings attained show fluctuation in construction cost and a rise in maintenance cost (caused by poor workmanship) as significant effects in the cost increase of building materials for affordable housing delivery. Adequate application of the recommendations given in this study will minimise the effects of high cost of building materials and enhance affordable housing delivery. Appropriate handling of the findings given in this study will reduce the effects of the high cost of building materials and augment timely delivery of affordable housing and stakeholders’ satisfaction.

scholarly journals Construction of affordable housing using local building materials

2020 ◽  
pp. 154-165
Author(s):  
V. V. Tytok
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Industrial Waste ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Climatic Conditions ◽  
Raw Material ◽  
Material Base ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
The Cost

Trends in housing development should be based on the geographical location and climatic conditions of the region, national characteristics and culture, natural resources, transport links, density and living standards. Construction significantly affects the socio-economic development of the region. In this regard, increasing the sustainability of the regional construction complex, which is based on the building materials industry and the construction industry is a relevant and promising area of research.Demand in the building materials market continues to stimulate increased interest in the development of new types of efficient and inexpensive building materials. Since construction is one of the most material-intensive sectors of the economy, which consumes a large number of construction materials and products, various measures are taken to reduce their cost.In this regard, recently in the construction seek to make greater use of local building materials. This allows you to unload transport from long-distance transportation and significantly reduces the cost of construction. However, the building materials industry cannot develop by focusing only on natural sources of raw materials, as the costs of their extraction and processing are constantly growing. The use of man-made waste provides production with a rich source of cheap and often already prepared raw materials, which reduces the cost of manufacturing building materials.One of the promising areas in the construction of affordable housing is the maximum use of building materials and products that can be obtained from local raw materials and industrial waste. As local building materials are offered: clay, sand, soil, straw, reeds, flax. The use of industrial waste solves both environmental, fuel and energy problems and expands the raw material base of building materials.

scholarly journals Analysis and Optimization of a Novel Hexagonal Waveguide Concentrator for Solar Thermal Applications

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2146
Author(s):  
Karunesh Kant ◽  
Karthik Nithyanandam ◽  
Ranga Pitchumani
Keyword(s):  
Industrial Process ◽  
Cost Effective ◽  
Solar Irradiation ◽  
Maintenance Cost ◽  
Solar Concentrator ◽  
Thermal Desalination ◽  
Process Heat ◽  
Solar Thermal Applications ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Operation And Maintenance Cost

This paper analyzes a novel, cost-effective planar waveguide solar concentrator design that is inspired by cellular hexagonal structures in nature with the benefits of facile installation and low operation and maintenance cost. A coupled thermal and optical analysis of solar irradiation through an ideal hexagonal waveguide concentrator integrated with a linear receiver is presented, along with a cost analysis methodology, to establish the upper limit of performance. The techno-economic model, coupled with numerical optimization, is used to determine designs that maximized power density and minimized the cost of heat in the temperature range of 100–250 °C, which constitutes more than half of the industrial process heat demand. Depending on the incident solar irradiation and the application temperature, the cost of heat for the optimal design configuration ranged between 0.1–0.27 $/W and 0.075–0.18 $/W for waveguide made of ZK7 glass and polycarbonate, respectively. A techno-economic analysis showed the potential of the technology to achieve cost as low as 80 $/m2 and 61 $/m2 for waveguide made of ZK7 glass and polycarbonate material, respectively, which is less than half the cost of state-of-the-art parabolic trough concentrators. Overall, the hexagonal waveguide solar concentrator technology shows immense potential for decarbonizing the industrial process heat and thermal desalination sectors.

scholarly journals Inclusionary Housing: An Evaluation of a New Public Rental Housing Governance Instrument in China

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 305
Author(s):  
Juan Yan ◽  
Marietta Haffner ◽  
Marja Elsinga
Keyword(s):  
Housing Market ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Rental Housing ◽  
Analytical Framework ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Inclusionary Housing ◽  
The Cost

Inclusionary housing (IH) is a regulatory instrument adopted by local governments in many countries to produce affordable housing by capturing resources created through the marketplace. In order to assess whether it is efficient, scholarly attention has been widely focused on its evaluation. However, there is a lack of studies evaluating IH from a governance perspective. Since IH is about involving private actors in affordable housing production, the governance point of view of cooperating governmental and non-governmental actors governing society to achieve societal goals is highly relevant. The two most important elements of governance—actors and interrelationships among these actors—are taken to build an analytical framework to explore and evaluate the governance of IH. Based on a research approach that combines a literature review and a case study of China, this paper concludes that the ineffective governance of Chinese IH is based on three challenges: (1) The distribution of costs and benefits across actors is unequal since private developers bear the cost, but do not enjoy the increments of land value; (2) there is no sufficient compensation for developers to offset the cost; and (3) there is no room for negotiations for flexibility in a declining market. Given that IH is favored in many Chinese cities, this paper offers the policy implications: local governments should bear more costs of IH, rethink their relations with developers, provide flexible compliance options for developers, and perform differently in a flourishing housing market and a declining housing market.

scholarly journals Correction: The Cost of Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision in South Africa

PLoS ONE ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. e0169710 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michel Tchuenche ◽  
Eurica Palmer ◽  
Vibhuti Haté ◽  
Ananthy Thambinayagam ◽  
Dayanund Loykissoonlal ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Male Circumcision ◽  
Voluntary Medical Male Circumcision ◽  
Medical Male Circumcision ◽  
The Cost

scholarly journals Comfort within Budget: Assessing the Cost-Effectiveness of Envelope Improvements in Single-Family Affordable Housing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (6) ◽  
pp. 3054
Author(s):  
Renata Tubelo ◽  
Lucelia Rodrigues ◽  
Mark Gillott ◽  
May Zune
Keyword(s):  
Cost Effectiveness ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
Thermal Conditions ◽  
Building Envelope ◽  
Single Family ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Housing Type ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact

In Brazil, the delivery of homes for low-inc ome households is dictated by costs rather than performance. Issues such as the impact of climate change, affordability of operational energy use, and lack of energy security are not taken into account, even though they can severely impact the occupants. In this work, the authors evaluated the thermal performance of two affordable houses as-built and after the integration of envelope improvements. A new replicable method to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of these improvements was proposed. The case study houses comprise the most common affordable housing type delivered widely across Brazil and a proposition of a better affordable housing solution, built in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil, integrating passive design strategies to increase thermal comfort. The findings reveal a potential for improving indoor thermal conditions by up to 76% and 73%, respectively, if costs are not a concern, and 40% and 45% with a cost increase of 12% and 9% if a comfort criterion of 20–25 °C was considered. Equations to estimate costs of improvements in affordable housing were developed. The authors concluded that there is a great scope for building envelope optimisation, and that this is still possible without significant impact on budget.

scholarly journals Radioactive nuclides in phosphogypsum from the lowveld region of South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol Volume 112 (Number 1/2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xolani Msila ◽  
Frans Labuschagne ◽  
Werner Barnard ◽  
David G. Billing ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Concentration Index ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Activity Concentration ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
Hazard Indices ◽  
Naturally Occurring ◽  
Radioactive Nuclides ◽  
Radium Equivalent ◽  
Activity Concentration Index

Abstract We evaluated the suitability of phosphogypsum from the Lowveld region of South Africa (LSA), for the manufacturing of building materials, with reference to (1) the National Nuclear Regulator Act 47 of 1999 and (2) the radioactivity associated risks as quantified in terms of the external and internal hazard indices, the activity concentration index and the radium equivalent. The distribution of radioactive nuclides in the LSA phosphogypsum was also examined. Analyses of 19 samples of the phosphogypsum show that phosphogypsum contains lower activity concentrations of naturally occurring radioactive nuclides of uranium and thorium and their progeny than the 500 Bg/kg limit set for regulation in South Africa. The potassium-40 (40K) activity concentration was below the minimum detectable amount of 100 Bq/kg. The values obtained for external and internal hazard indices and the activity concentration index were: 2.12 0.59, 3.44 0.64 and 2.65 0.76 respectively. The calculated radium equivalent Raeq was 513 76Bq/kg. The final decision regarding phosphogypsum’s suitability for use as a building material should consider scenarios of use.

We Never Built Small Modular Reactors (SMRs), but What Do We Know About Modularization in Construction?

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benito Mignacca ◽  
Giorgio Locatelli ◽  
Mahmoud Alaassar ◽  
Diletta Colette Invernizzi
Keyword(s):  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Project Managers ◽  
Schedule Compression ◽  
Small Modular Reactors ◽  
Key Characteristics ◽  
Additional Costs ◽  
Structured Knowledge ◽  
The Cost

The key characteristics of small modular reactors (SMRs), as their name emphasized, are their size and modularity. Since SMRs are a family of novel reactor designs, there is a gap of empirical knowledge about the cost/benefit analysis of modularization. Conversely, in other sectors (e.g. Oil & Gas) the empirical experience on modularization is much greater. This paper provides a structured knowledge transfer from the general literature (i.e. other major infrastructure) and the Oil & Gas sector to the nuclear power plant construction world. Indeed, in the project management literature, a number of references discuss the costs and benefits determined by the transition from the stick-built construction to modularization, and the main benefits presented in the literature are the reduction of the construction cost and the schedule compression. Additional costs might arise from an increased management hurdle and higher transportation expenses. The paper firstly provides a structured literature review of the benefits and costs of modularization divided into qualitative and quantitative references. In the second part, the paper presents the results of series of interviews with Oil & Gas project managers about the value of modularization in this sector.

scholarly journals Investing in community: community land trusts and affordable housing in Calgary

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leah Dow
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Oil And Gas ◽  
The United States ◽  
Trust Model ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Land Trusts ◽  
Land Trust ◽  
Viable Solution ◽  
Community Land Trust ◽  
The Cost

The cost of affordable rental units in Calgary is amongst the highest in Canada, despite a rental vacancy rate that is 3 percent higher than the national average (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, 2017). Nearly 1 in 5 Calgary households are struggling to pay for shelter costs and as of 2016, more than 42,000 households were spending more than 50 percent of their incomes on shelter, putting this population at a greater risk of becoming homeless due to job loss or from some other unexpected financial hardship (City of Calgary, 2017). Counter to popular belief, economically depressed communities with weak rental and housing markets such as Calgary following the 2015 collapse of the oil and gas sector can be subject to a critical lack of affordable housing. A soft housing market cannot make up for an insufficient range of affordable and non-market housing options. In other cities facing similar challenges, especially those in the United States, the formation of Community Land Trusts has proven to be a viable solution for providing both affordable rental and affordable ownership opportunities for residents who are struggling to afford the cost of housing in their area. This paper explores whether the Community Land Trust model is an appropriate tool to augment Calgary’s limited supply of affordable housing and will end with five recommendations to encourage the adoption of the Community Land Trust model in Calgary. Key Words: affordable housing, affordable ownership, Calgary, community land trust, small-scale affordable development.

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