THE ESSENCE OF LOW-ENERGY AFFORDABLE HOUSING DESIGN STRATEGIES

2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 59-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masa Noguchi
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Construction Materials ◽  
Housing Quality ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Internal Space ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
The Uk

Nearly one-third of the Scottish population is struggling to heat their home properly today. There is an urgent need for the delivery of low-energy affordable homes. However, the homebuilding industry has no systematic way to deliver such unconventional homes, although the UK government has set out a bold “green” target that all newly-built homes be carbon neutral by 2016. Accordingly, this paper explores the status quo of today's affordable homes being built in Scotland; and secondly, it extends the scope to the review of successfully commercialized low- to zero-energy affordable housing developments in Canada. This study emphasizes the significant impact of design choices on the delivery of low- to zero-energy affordable housing, including housing orientations and configurations; construction materials and systems, including renewable energy technologies; and internal planning, with due consideration to the time-related sun positions and the internal space day-lighting and heat gain potentials. In addition, the paper argues that the absence of clear definitions as to housing quality and affordability, and the lack of industry capacity for technical knowledge learning activities, are potential obstacles that limit the spread of sustainable zero-carbon homes in Scotland today. Moreover, the effect of the design charrette approach being practiced in Canada on the homebuilding decision making process was reviewed, with the aim of providing a base for further discussion on the applicability of Canadian low-energy affordable housing design techniques to sustainable zero carbon homes of the future in Scotland.

scholarly journals A MODEL OF A NEAR-ZERO ENERGY HOME (nzeh) USING PASSIVE DESIGN STRATEGIES AND PV TECHNOLOGY IN HOT CLIMATES

2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashraf T. Syed ◽  
Adel A. Abdou
Keyword(s):  
Energy Consumption ◽  
Energy Conservation ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Base Case ◽  
Solar Pv ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Zero Energy ◽  
Energy Potential ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Passive Design

INTRODUCTION Recent development has seen a drastic increase in energy use trends in Saudi Arabian buildings leading to a demand for an effective course of action for energy conservation and production. A case study-based research initiative exploring near-zero energy potential in Saudi Arabia was undertaken. A 4-bedroom detached single-family faculty residence at King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM) representing common regional housing design trends was utilized. A base case simulation model of the house was developed and validated using short-term and real-time energy consumption data. Three sets of strategies: passive design strategies, representative codes and standards, and renewable technology were employed in the new design of the house. Passive strategies comprised a green roof, a ventilated wall system, a sloped roof, and insulation for thermal bridges. These alternatives helped reduce the annual energy consumption of the house by 17.2%. The most recent version of the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC 2012) was also incorporated along with ASHRAE Standard 62.2 for ventilation. The code and standard together reduced the annual energy consumption by 31.1%. Solar PV was then utilized to reduce grid utilization for the remainder of the house energy loads. This strategy provided 24.7% of the total energy consumed annually. A combination of strategies showed a 70.7% energy consumption reduction, thereby decreasing the energy index of the house from 162.9 to 47.7 kWh/m2/yr. The Zero Energy Building (ZEB) concepts and strategies utilized in this study demonstrate a socially responsible approach to achieving near-zero energy performance for an existing house.

Thermal issues

2001 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
pp. 293-295
Author(s):  
Rob Marsh
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Performance ◽  
Life Cycle Analysis ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Thermal Mass ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Modern Life ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Building Physics ◽  
Typical Design

Max Fordham's perceptive comments (letters, arq 5/3) raise many interesting points on building physics and the environmental performance of buildings. Our article (arq 5/1) summarizes a research project that environmentally analyzed trends in Danish housing design. The results showed that the typical design strategies advocated by ‘traditional’ low-energy and passive housing design methods (large glass areas and heavy thermal mass) are not necessarily the most optimal. Such strategies only take account of the heating demand and do not use modern life-cycle analysis methodologies where the environmental impact of the building materials is also integrated.

scholarly journals Emerging problematics of deregulating the urban: The case of permitted development in England

Urban Studies ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 004209802093696
Author(s):  
Jessica Ferm ◽  
Ben Clifford ◽  
Patricia Canelas ◽  
Nicola Livingstone
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Local Authority ◽  
Housing Quality ◽  
Office Building ◽  
Housing Crisis ◽  
Public Infrastructure ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Orthodox View ◽  
Lost Opportunity

Urban planning systems, processes and regulations are often blamed – by many mainstream economists – for constraining the supply of housing by interfering with the efficient allocation of land by the market and unnecessarily delaying development. In England, this orthodox view has influenced the government’s deregulatory planning reforms, including – since 2013 – the removal of the requirement for developers to apply for planning permission for the conversion of an office building to a residential one (making it ‘permitted development’). Drawing on original empirical research in five local authority areas in England, this article examines the impacts of this deregulation of planning control on the ground. We find that, although more housing units have been delivered than were expected, a focus on housing numbers is eclipsing problems of housing quality, the type of housing being made available and whether it is in sustainable locations. There are also costs of deregulating planning, including direct financial costs and the lost opportunity to secure affordable housing and public infrastructure through planning gain. We conclude by examining the contradictions in the UK government’s approach to addressing the housing crisis and propose there are dangers of deregulating the urban that have consequences for England and other countries pursuing neoliberal reforms.

Measured energy and water performance of an aspiring low energy/carbon affordable housing site in the UK

2011 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 117-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary M. Gill ◽  
Michael J. Tierney ◽  
Ian M. Pegg ◽  
Neil Allan
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Energy ◽  
Measured Energy ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Housing Site

scholarly journals Activating Sustainable Building Technology’s Role in Contemporary Housing Design Strategies for Low-Income People after COVID19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 945 (1) ◽  
pp. 012069
Author(s):  
Abeer Samy Yousef Mohamed
Keyword(s):  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Arab Countries ◽  
Design Strategies ◽  
Sustainable Building ◽  
Economic Dimension ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Sustainable Housing ◽  
Building Technology ◽  
The Social

Abstract In the developing world, practical steps are taken to provide adequate, sustainable housing, especially for low-income people within technological age capabilities in construction by searching for new techniques of building technology to meet that goal. In the Arab countries, contemporary housing design is particularly effective because it is the primary unit of the contemporary urban fabric and the basic cell that constitutes most of the city’s area. So the following research questions are discussed in this study: What are the challenges facing contemporary sustainable housing design in specific affordable housing for the lower-income groups? What is the potential for sustainable building technology to meet that goal considering the social and economic dimension of the COVID 19 pandemic? What are the ambitions that they set out to achieve in that house? To emphasize the essential role of sustainable building technology and techniques in acquiring and implementing different goals and actual needs of all strata of society.

Development of Quality Indicators of Housing Design (QIHD), an Approach to Improve Design Quality of Affordable Housing

2015 ◽  
Vol 40 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-17
Author(s):  
Afaq Hyder Chohan ◽  
Adi Irfan ◽  
Jihad Awad
Keyword(s):  
Quality Indicators ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Quality Parameters ◽  
Housing Quality ◽  
Design Quality ◽  
Housing Design ◽  
Improve Design ◽  
Site Development ◽  
Design And Construction

This research has been conducted to determine the design quality indicators and parameters for affordable housing in Karachi Pakistan. The absence of quality in Karachi housing resulted from various factors ranging from policy failure, violation of bylaws, population, housing scarcity and non availability of quality parameters etc. The amalgamation of these factors eventually lowers the quality of housing and ultimately results deficient housing design and construction. Because of this trend the end users experience the nuisance of unplanned maintenance and bear the tax of heavy repair and reworks. Significance of research has been accomplished through developing design quality models for both professional and users. This research has eventually evaluated forty eight (48) quality indicators for housing design (QIHD) from listed 65 design quality variables farmed in seven sections. This research concludes that existing design quality of affordable housing in Karachi could be enhanced through improving the design, construction, services, site development and neighborhood and sustainability. The QIHD model will provide the opportunity for design and construction professionals of city to rethink their housing design intellect in context of the housing quality.

Net zero carbon: Energy performance targets for offices

2021 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 349-369
Author(s):  
Robert Cohen ◽  
Karl Desai ◽  
Jennifer Elias ◽  
Richard Twinn
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
Minimum Energy ◽  
Energy Performance ◽  
Consultation Process ◽  
Net Zero ◽  
Extensive Consultation ◽  
Operational Energy ◽  
Legislative Framework ◽  
Zero Carbon ◽  
The Uk

The UKGBC Net Zero Carbon Buildings Framework was published in April 2019 following an industry task group and extensive consultation process. The framework acts as guidance for achieving net zero carbon for operational energy and construction emissions, with a whole life carbon approach to be developed in the future. In consultation with industry, further detail and stricter requirements are being developed over time. In October 2019, proposals were set out for industry consultation on minimum energy efficiency targets for new and existing commercial office buildings seeking to achieve net zero carbon status for operational energy today, based on the performance levels that all buildings will be required to achieve by 2050. This was complemented by modelling work undertaken by the LETI network looking into net zero carbon requirements for new buildings. In January 2020 UKGBC published its guidance on the levels of energy performance that offices should target to achieve net zero and a trajectory for getting there by 2035. This paper describes the methodology behind and industry perspectives on UKGBC’s proposals which aim to predict the reduction in building energy intensity required if the UK’s economy is to be fully-powered by zero carbon energy in 2050. Practical application: Many developers and investors seeking to procure new commercial offices or undertake major refurbishments of existing offices are engaging with the ‘net zero carbon’ agenda, now intrinsic to the legislative framework for economic activity in the UK. A UKGBC initiative effectively filled a vacuum by defining a set of requirements including energy efficiency thresholds for commercial offices in the UK to be considered ‘net zero carbon’. This paper provides all stakeholders with a detailed justification for the level of these thresholds and what might be done to achieve them. A worked example details one possible solution for a new office.

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