High-rise Apartment Research Articles

The Spatial Distribution of the House Mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, in Multi-Family Dwellings.

Simple SummaryThe management of house mice, Mus musculus domesticus, in low-income high-rise multi-family dwellings (MFDs) is often frustrated by the limited resources available through low-bid contracting. An improved understanding of the small-scale distribution of this important public health pest could allow the pest management industry to better allocate its limited time and resources to better managing infestations. This study utilized data from two research projects that measured house mouse infestation rates from four urban low-income MFDs to determine if a significant correlation between neighboring units exists in their infestation status. Results show that such a correlation exists whereby apartments that share a wall, ceiling or floor with a neighboring apartment that has a current infestation are more likely to have existing house mouse activity. This information can be utilized by the pest management industry to design monitoring strategies, during integrated pest management activities, to better ensure the elimination of house mice in low-income high-rise MFDs.The house mouse, Mus musculus domesticus, creates significant public health risks for residents in low-income multi-family dwellings (MFDs). This study was designed to evaluate the spatial distribution of house mice in MFDs. Four low-income high-rise apartment buildings in three cities in New Jersey were selected for building-wide monitoring on two occasions with approximately one year between the monitoring events. The presence of a house mouse infestation was determined by placing mouse bait stations with three different non-toxic baits for a one-week period in all accessible units as well as common areas. Permutation tests were conducted to evaluate house mouse infestation spatial patterns. All four analyzed buildings exhibited a significant correlation between apartments with house mouse infestations and whether they share a common wall or ceiling/floor at both sampling periods except one building during the second inspection, which contained a high number of isolated apartments. Foraging ranges, speed of locomotion, and dispersal behavior of house mice are relatively larger, faster, and more common, respectively, compared to common urban arthropod pests. This could lead to the conclusion that house mice are as likely to infest non-neighboring apartments as those that share a wall or floor/ceiling. However, these results demonstrate that house mouse infestations tend to occur among apartments that share common walls or ceilings/floors. This spatial distribution pattern can be utilized in rodent management plans to improve the efficiency of house mouse management programs in MFDs.

Influence of the louver angle on the performance of the air-conditioning outdoor units in high-rise apartment buildings

The split-type air conditioners are widely used in high-rise apartment buildings in the major urban areas, especially Ho Chi Minh City - Vietnam, because of its convenience. In the apartments with limited space, the installation of outdoor units not in accordance with technical guidelines will affect the performance of the air conditioning system and the aesthetics of the apartment building. The aim of this study is to propose the technical room in apartments for properly installing outdoor units of air conditioning systems. The CFD method is utilized through Ansys Fluent software to determine the inlet air temperature of condensers and COP corresponding to the louver angle of 0o, 10o, 20o, 30o và 40o. The results obtained from the simulations show that increasing the louver angle results in rising the inlet air temperature of condensers and reducing COP. The average temperature of the air which entering the condensers does not change significantly when the louver angle increases from 0o to 30o. When the louver angle is more than 30o, the inlet air temperature of outdoor units exceeds the continuous operating temperature of 48oC. To maintain the high performance of the air conditioner during operation, the louver angle is adjusted as small as possible and limited to a value of about 30o.

Towards a Smart Elevator-Aided Fire Evacuation Scheme in High-Rise Apartment Buildings for Elderly

Staircase evacuation is the major means of fire evacuation for current high-rise residential buildings. However, its feasibility may be questioned as more and more senior citizens live there in the future. The weakness in physical strength and mobility impairment of elderly people may impede the successful implementation of staircase evacuation. It is therefore reasonable to consider using elevators for overall evacuation in high-rise residential buildings. However, enhancing the fire protection of elevators and efficiently controlling the elevator-aided evacuation operations are two major difficulties for applying elevators in building fire evacuation. Recently, the use of smart control for building facility management has become a hot issue in built environment studies. An enabling solution for smart elevator-aided building fire evacuation (SEABFE) is proposed in this article. The solution supports the SEABFE by determining the safer and more efficient elevator-aided evacuation strategy based on real-time fire ground and evacuation progress on the scene. A simulated case study of fire evacuation in a typical high-rise residential building shows that the proposed SEABFE can be successfully performed. Apart from keeping the elevator operation safe, the planned elevator-aided evacuation strategy may save 38.0% of the time compared with the strategy using only staircases in the scene.

ANALYSIS OF ELEMENTS INFLUENCING CHILD SAFETY IN HIGH-RISE BUILDINGS USING ANALYTICAL METHOD

Due to the lack of land in densely populated areas in Malaysia, high-rise residential building has become a trend in the recent years. However, in designing and constructing these buildings, safety considerations have not received adequate attention. This study aims to examine the causes of children falling from high-rise buildings, while the nature and frequencies of such accidents were also investigated. The paper is based on the existing literature, as well as feedbacks from questionnaires and interviews. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) approach within Multi-criteria Decision Analysis was adopted for the analysis undertaken in this study. The outcome reveals that accidents involving child falls can be prevented by establishing appropriate policies and regulations. The strict enforcement of safety laws and regulations will help to avoid untoward accidents and dispel negative thoughts about living in high-rise buildings. The findings elaborate on the ranking of elements that influence child safety in high-rise apartments.

The Behaviour of High-Rise Building with or without Shear Wall under Different Earthquakes

On the 5th June 2015, an earthquake hit Ranau, Sabah with a magnitude of 6.0 that caused 18 casualties and several injuries are one of the examples that show Malaysia is not safe from any seismic event. Most of the structure in Malaysia was designed not to include seismic action. Furthermore, an area that has a high density of population such as in the central region (Klang valley) and several main cities in Malaysia has less available land to build landed housing and uses high-rise apartments as an alternative. High-rise buildings that are normally having problems with soft story mechanisms and plan irregularity which could lead to severe damage when earthquakes happen. This study aims to observe the response of high-rise buildings when under different earthquakes in the presence of shear walls. To achieve this objective two models were modelled and analyzed by using ETABS software, the one with a shear wall and the one with no shear wall. The methods used in this study were the response spectrum method and time-history analysis. In the end, the parameters observed were base shear, story stiffness, story drift, and story displacement. The observations highlighted that the effect of earthquake intensities shows a significant effect. The acquired results indicated that the building with the shear wall is more resistant and strong structures as compared to buildings without shear wall when undergoing seismic analysis.

Feasibility of net zero energy high rise apartment buildings in Australia

Net-Zero Energy (NZE) buildings are gaining popularity globally as a solution to reduce operational energy usage and limit greenhouse gas emissions in the building industry. Their deployment is occurring rapidly as many countries are planning to make it mandatory for new developments. Despite the advancements in research in the various aspects of NZE, significant barriers do exist to its successful adoption and implementation, particularly with respect to high-rise residential buildings which are becoming a major portion of the housing supply in Australia. One of the challenges attributed to the achievement of NZEB performance is the uncertainty involved in selecting appropriate solution strategies that could deliver quality performances. This paper investigated strategies that can deliver NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings in Australia. A calibrated model of 26 storey high-rise apartment building with 396 units was prepared for detailed analysis of NZE strategies using building simulation. The impact of various interventions was evaluated across cities in five climate zones in Australia and a guideline for solution sets that can deliver the goal for each climate zone is presented. The findings show that NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings can be realised in Australia, albeit with some limitations. While the tropical, subtropical and cold temperate climates appear to be more challenging, proper design and optimisation of the envelope proved to be effective in overcoming the challenges imposed by the more demanding climates. The impacts of shading from neighbouring buildings and objects presented the largest impediment to energy production through the façade.

Performance of smart glazed overhang systems for US residential buildings

In this paper, the application of smart glazing systems as shading devices is evaluated for US residential buildings. Specifically, static and dynamic overhangs are considered using smart glazing that can change their tint state to reduce the heating and cooling thermal loads for prototypical housing units in high-rise apartment buildings. The tint settings as well as the overhang tilt angles are specified on hourly, daily, and monthly basis depending on the window orientation and the time of the year to minimize the annual energy demand for the housing units. The performance of smart glazed overhang systems is compared to both static and dynamic shading devices made-up of conventional opaque materials. In addition, the impacts of various design and climatic conditions are considered to assess the energy performance of the smart glazed overhangs. The results of the analysis indicate that the annual energy consumption for existing housing units with conventional windows located in Boulder, CO, can be reduced by over 7% for static smart glazed overhangs and by over 22% for dynamic smart glazed overhangs. These savings are even higher with larger windows and wider differentials between optical properties between clear and dark states. The smart glazed overhangs allow the use of low-cost smart glazing as a retrofit measure for existing buildings. Moreover, the smart glazed overhangs allow the specification of large windows for new constructions with limited energy penalties.

The Analysis of Indoor Air Pollutants From Finishing Material of New Apartments at Business Bay, Dubai

Due to fast economic development, Dubai has built many high-rise apartments in a short period of time. The Dubai Municipality attempts to control indoor air quality with strict regulations, but the detailed provisions are still not comprehensive. The objective of this paper is to conduct on-site measurements for new high-rise apartments before moving on to investigate indoor air pollution and to analyze pollutant emissions by type of finishing material. As a methodology, on-site measurements were conducted fornine different housing units (three lower, three middle, and three higher floors) before moving on to investigate the status of indoor air pollution in new apartments. Based on the on-site measurements data, lab experiments with a small chamber for the same finishing materials from the most polluted housing unit (a lower two bedroom unit) were conducted to measure the emission of pollutants over 30 days. The result shows that the average of CH2O (64.4 μg/m3 for studio, 64.5 μg/m3 for one bedroom, and 83.4 μg/m3 for two bedroom) was lower than the standard (100 μg/m3) in all units, while the average TVOC (520.1 μg/m3 in the studio, 509.5 μg/m3 in one bedroom, and 754.7 μg/m3 in two bedroom) exceeded the standard (500 μg/m3) in most of the units. It was proven that regarding the CH2O, silk wallpaper, initial wallpaper, and wallpaper adhesive had the highest emissions and for the TVOC, tile and tile adhesive had the highest emission. During small chamber experiments, CH2O and TVOC emissions tended to decrease gradually over time, but the emission amount changed significantly in high pollutant emission material especially from day 1–10. Therefore, Dubai municipality should establish the regulation for residents to move into their new apartment after at least 10 days to avoid the high polluted emission from the curing process of the interior finishing material.

Energy, environmental and economic performance evaluation of energy pile system under different climate conditions

Energy pile is an innovative geothermal heat exchanger (GHE) in ground source heat pump (GSHP) system, which integrates GHE pipe into concrete pile, and therefore, provides a green solution for indoor air conditioning with fossil fuel consumption substituted by geothermal energy. In the study, we propose a sustainability analysis framework for energy pile system to holistically evaluate the energy-saving potential as well as economic and environmental benefits of energy pile system by integrating the whole building energy modeling software OpenStudio V2.8.0 and energy pile design software GLHEPro V5.0, fully considering components of the energy pile, heat pump, and building. A comparison study is conducted based on a U.S. DOE benchmark high-rise apartment with baseline heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) system, district heating and cooling system, and energy pile system across seven climate zones in China. The results reveal the energy-saving benefits of an energy pile system are highly dependent on climate zones, ranging from 19% to 45%, which correspond to 21–40% utility cost-saving, and 25–36% CO2 emission reduction. Among the seven climate zones in China, the severe cold zones I, VI, and VII benefit the most by applying energy pile systems, while the mild zone V benefits the least in all energy, environmental and economic aspects. The cold zone II and hot-summer cold-winter region III are most favorable to apply energy pile systems because no performance degradation is predicted over years. The hot-summer and warm-winter zone IV is also suitable for energy pile systems, but the payback period is reasonably longer.

Evaluation of Lung Functional Status among People Living in Different Type of Housing in Chennai City

Background: Different housing has its influence on the health of the residents. The high rise apartment is a type of living adapted by people in urban areas of India. It becomes inevitable and poses much convenience and economy without occupying much land area. It is known that the floor of residence is related to the pulmonary function of the individuals.
 Objective: The aim of the present study was to comparatively evaluate the lung functional status among the people living in high rise apartments and individual houses in Chennai city.
 Materials and Methods: The study included 20 healthy individuals, 10 residents from Individual houses and 10 residents from high rise apartments from the 10th to 15th floor. The lung function was measured using RMS Helios 702 spirometer. They were assessed for a lung function test using RMS Helios 702 spirometer. The parameters such as FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC, PEFR, FEF25-75 were assessed, and the statistical test used was independent t test.
 Results: The mean of FVC, FEV1, FEV1/FVC ratio, FEF 25-75, PEFR were maximum in high rise apartment residents compared to individual house residents. Statistically significant change was observed in the FEF25-75 value among the two groups.
 Conclusion: The study concluded an innovative finding that subjects living in high rise apartments showed innovation in finding better lung functions and this may be attributed to the pollution free zone in high floors.

Detecting dengue outbreaks in Malaysia using geospatial techniques.

Dengue is a complex disease with an increasing number of infections worldwide. This study aimed to analyse spatiotemporal dengue outbreaks using geospatial techniques and examine the effects of the weather on dengue outbreaks in the Klang Valley area, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Daily weather variables including rainfall, temperature (maximum and minimum) and wind speed were acquired together with the daily reported dengue cases data from 2001 to 2011 and converted into geospatial format to identify whether there was a specific pattern of the dengue outbreaks. The association between these variables and dengue outbreaks was assessed using Spearman's correlation. The result showed that dengue outbreaks consistently occurred in the study area during a 11-year study period. And that the strongest outbreaks frequently occurred in two high-rise apartment buildings located in Kuala Lumpur City centre. The results also show significant negative correlations between maximum temperature and minimum temperature on dengue outbreaks around the study area as well as in the area of the high-rise apartment buildings in Kuala Lumpur City centre.

The Correlations between Building Heights and Wind Speed in Determining the Dimension of Windows in a High-rise Residential Building Façade

Climate change due to architecture occurs as a result of technological developments that support the development of materials, electrical mechanics, structures, and building shapes that play a role in increasing emission levels in the air. One type of building in Indonesia that contributes to increasing emissions is the residential building known as rumah susun. This research employs the case study method, observing the Rumah Susun Jatinegara Barat, located in East Jakarta. The case study shows that the use of prototypes that are not environmentally friendly makes a building’s performance worse. The use of precast, which resulted in monotonous window dimensions, is considered the main factor causing the failure of this Rumah Susun Jatinegara Barat to adapt to the surrounding environment. This problem occurred because the openings in the building façades had a monotonous dimension while the wind intensity that hit the building was increasing. The final result shows that the windows on the façades of the case study were not functioning except if all the openings in the residential unit are open. These results prove that the height of a building is an essential factor in planning high-rise flats, especially in Jakarta.

Effect of Different HVAC Control Strategies on Thermal Comfort and Adaptive Behavior in High-Rise Apartments

In the residential sector, householders play an active role in regulating the indoor climate via diverse control measures such as the operation of air-conditioners or windows. The main research question asked in this paper is whether control decisions made by householders are rational and effective in terms of achieving comfort and energy efficiency. Based on a field study in South Korea, this paper explores how a HVAC control strategy for high-rise apartment buildings can affect occupant comfort and adaptive behavior. Two different control strategies: (1) occupant control (OC), where occupants were allowed to freely operate the HVAC system and (2) comfort-zone control (CC), where the operation of the HVAC system was determined by the researcher, based on a pre-defined comfort zone, were applied to, and tested within the participating households in summer. The impact of the two control strategies on indoor thermal environments, thermal comfort, and occupant adaptive behavior were analyzed. We find that the CC strategy is more energy/comfort efficient than OC because: (1) comfort was be achieved at a higher indoor temperature, and (2) unnecessary control behaviors leading to cooling load increase can be minimized, which have major implications for energy consumption reduction in the residential sector.

The cooking and eating experiences of Australian families with children, living in private, inner-city, high-rise apartments

ABSTRACT More Australian families are choosing to live in private, inner-city, high-rise apartments. To date, the cooking and eating experiences of such families, and how their practices are shaped by the design of these apartments, have not been investigated. As children’s health status can benefit from participating in family meals, this study aimed to explore the cooking and eating experiences of apartment-dwelling families in two Australian capital cities. Participants were recruited using purposive sampling and data was collected using photo-elicitation interviews. The experiences of seven mothers aged between 31 and 44 years were explored via two data sources: photographs and semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis revealed three themes: family values related to cooking and eating; adapting to the space and design constraints of small apartments; and compromising values due to these constraints. While open plan kitchen and dining layouts were found to facilitate children’s involvement in cooking, a lack of space and other design constraints of apartment living forced families to compromise their cooking and eating values. The findings substantiate calls for family-friendly apartment design guidelines, and for these to specifically consider what is needed to support families with the health-promoting practices of home cooking and eating.

Effect of high-rise buildings on the surrounding thermal environment

High-rise buildings degrade the thermal environment of their surroundings through wind turbulence, cooling, and excessive heating. This study identifies the role and relationship of geometric (form, orientation, dimension) and material (type, volume) parameters in conditioning the thermal environment around high-rise buildings. We performed the field measurements at four widely separated high-rise apartment buildings at different elevations (675–1050 m above sea level) in Bandung, Indonesia. Temperature, air velocity, and humidity were measured within a 150 m radius around each building three times daily (08–10 a.m., 12–04 p.m., and 06–08 p.m.) for three days in February. Airflow and shading patterns were analysed with Ansys-Fluent CFD and SketchUp software, respectively. Both direct observation and simulations showed that different orientations of buildings relative to the sun and wind can heat or cool the surrounding areas. The sail effect of a high-rise building exposed to direct sunlight can cause hot spots behind the building; choice of building material and use of shadowing can reduce this effect. The wind-tunnel effect can cause cold paths, especially if the area is shaded. Air turbulence and high-velocity airflow can result in uncomfortable conditions in the surroundings, based on the building height. Thus, high-rise buildings profoundly affect local thermal conditions. The results of this study are therefore essential for designing new buildings (and mitigating environmental quality around existing ones) in tropical cities.

Thermal performance optimization for housing unit design in a cold region of China

Current housing unit design focuses on performance optimization, such as building energy use, daylighting, and occupant comfort. There is significant potential for efficient optimization in the early design stage. This paper proposed a building energy demand optimization framework that considers building design variables for housing unit design in Beijing. First, a high-rise apartment building was designed using geometric and thermal envelope parameters. Second, a thermal load simulation of the housing unit was performed. Third, sensitivity analysis and multi-objective optimization were conducted to evaluate the building’s performance. Finally, a neural network was trained to predict the thermal load. A comparison of the base case and optimal cases revealed that more than 20% of energy demand could be saved. In addition, the effect of the parameters on the thermal load and the lighting schedules on the unit’s energy load were analyzed.

Seismic Analysis of L-Shape Multi-Storey RCC Building with X-Bracing in Different Effective Location and Pattern

Abstract: In this day and age of urbanization, there is a strong need for a large-scale high-rise apartment building in every city but high-rise construction systems are extremely difficult to construct in any seismic region due to the intense and disruptive nature of seismic forces. Seismic forces have the highest risk of causing the most harm to high-rise buildings. To meet this need, the Civil Engineering industry is constantly developing new groundbreaking techniques. To solve this problem RCC or steel bracings are provided in high-rise buildings which help to the low down the effect of seismic and wind forces. The main objective of this paper is to locate an effective position and pattern of the RCC X-bracing system in the L- shape multi-storey building which is subjected to seismic forces. According to a previous reference paper, X-bracing produces better results than other bracing systems. Analysis the seven types of frame models are taken – (1) Normal L-shape building without bracing, (2) Xbracing are provided at the face of L-shape building, (3) X-bracing are provided alternative pattern at the face of L-shape building from bottom to top floor, (4) X- bracing are provided zig-zag pattern at the face of L-shape building, (5) X-bracing are provided at the corner of L-shape building, (6) X-bracing are provided alternative pattern at the corner of L-shape building from bottom to the top floor, (7) X-bracing are provided zig-zag pattern at the corner of L-shape building. Developed and evaluated by response spectrum analysis method (Linear dynamic analysis) as per IS 1893-2000 using STAAD PRO V8i. In the present work G+12 storey, the L-shape frame structure is analyzed by using X-bracing. It is analyzed and the results of the Following Parameters are taken - (1) Peak storey shear, (2) Base shear, (3) Nodal displacement, (4) Maximum bending moment, (5) Total quantity of steel in the whole structure, (6) Total volume of concrete in the whole structure are evaluated and compared. Keywords: RCC Bracing, Seismic Behavior, Seismic Analysis, Peak Storey Shear, Base shear, Nodal Displacements, Maximum Bending Moment, The Total Quantity of Steel, The Total Volume of Concrete

Automatically shedding loads for lighting systems in corridors and public areas in high-rise apartment buildings

Currently, the lighting system for corridors and public areas in high-rise apartment buildings uses LED systems to replace Sodium lamps, halogen lamps... Although LED lights have been put into use, there are economic benefits such as lower power consumption and longer durability (life expectancy) according to the manufacturer's explanation. But in practice, the LEDs are used with pulse sources with operating voltages from 170VAC to 240VAC and continuous operation time without rest, often resulting in power loss due to overload or the life of the capacitor is reduced. Therefore, in order to improve the life span and efficiently use the energy source, the researches have studied the switching process control such as [1], [2], [3], [5]. This paper presents a new research direction Automatically shedding loads for lighting systems in corridors and public areas in high-rise apartment buildings for greater efficiency.

Automatically shedding loads for lighting systems in corridors and public areas in high-rise apartment buildings

Automatically shedding loads for lighting systems in corridors and public areas in high-rise apartment buildings

Smart management services for high-rise apartments in Beijing, China

ABSTRACT High-rise apartments are one representative form in the era of urbanization. However, the management of the high-rise apartment is not easy because of large household densities and the complex structures. Advanced technologies have permeated our daily lives and management services are becoming more intelligent. The aim of this study is to explore the smart management service model of high-rise apartments by investigating the current state of management services and residents’ consciousness of it, as well as to identify necessary management services. A survey was conducted in two apartment complexes with a focus on the actual users’ demands and preferences. The results show that the characteristics of the common space would be decided by considering residents’ diverse needs for these common spaces. Further, residents of high-rise apartments lack awareness and experience of technologies for smart management. This suggests that smart management services should be developed in consideration of the perspectives of the residents to satisfy their psychological and safety needs. Virtual social spaces would be provided to create a sense of neighborhood among the residents. With a human-centered approach, this study would be a basis for the development of smart management services supporting the quality of residential life in high-rise apartments.