Floor Plan Analysis of Detached Houses for the Low-income Households

Abstract

Energy poverty has been defined as low-income households who paid energy cost more than 10% of their ordinary income. Therefore, there are various subsidy programs focused on house remodeling for low-income households and one of them is the Home Energy Efficiency Assistance Program which have done by Korea Energy Foundation since 2007. The aim of the program is to improve the thermal performance of dilapidated dwellings and analyzed the detached house for the low-income households to develop the building typology. The database contained approximately 3,061 households which was obtained from the program in 2013 and the results of the study were like this; 1) For the shape of residential houses, the number of rectangular shaped building was higher than non-rectangular shaped ones. 2) For the orientation of buildings, the south layout of the detached housing was dominant to gain heating energy into buildings. 3) For the floor area, the average floor area was <TEX>$44.2m^2$</TEX>, although its size varied wide variations, which range from <TEX>$6.3m^2$</TEX> to <TEX>$107.1m^2$</TEX>. 4) For the windows and doors, the south-facing window was larger than the other side. Finally it would be possible to determine the characteristics of residential houses for low-income families. A future study could establish typology of low-income housing that it would estimate the performance of each model building before and after the retrofit to improve the energy performance.