Home Improvement Research Articles

Increasing heat pump adoption: analysing multiple perspectives on preparing homes for heat pumps in the UK

Heat pumps are a solution for decarbonising home heating in the UK. However, the readiness of UK homes for heat pumps is an area of concern regarding the policies aimed at increasing heat pump adoption. This work combines multiple perspectives in evaluating the technical readiness of homes with the market readiness of installers and homeowners to proceed with installing heat pumps. The effectiveness of past heating and energy efficiency policies in the UK are reviewed, along with building regulations, incentives to promote energy efficiency and the effectiveness of heat pump technology in heating homes. Current policies support the cost of a heat pump but home improvements to make homes ‘heat pump-ready’ can be necessary to achieve optimal heat pump system performance.This paper suggests the UK will face three major challenges. First, analysis highlights an ‘eligibility-readiness gap’ describing the difference between homes ‘eligible’ (50%) for the Government’s Boiler Upgrade Scheme—a subsidy for heat pump installations—and the likely level of homes that are heat pump-ready (11%) for successful heat pump installations. Second, semi-structured interviews with heat pump installers identified gaps in capacity to deliver the necessary works to make homes heat pump-ready. As small or medium enterprises, the majority of installers do not currently see adding home improvement services to their existing business model as beneficial. All installers highlighted the need for Government to address the cost of electricity relative to gas. Third, a national survey of homeowners in England with gas boilers (n = 1,021) revealed low awareness of the necessary work to make homes heat pump-ready and low willingness to spend money on them unless supported by Government. This paper shows that the processes and costs involved in making homes heat pump-ready before successful design and installation are underappreciated by homeowners, inadequately served by industry, and insufficiently supported by Government.

Connecting the dots between brand equity and brand loyalty for retailers: The mediating roles of brand attitudes and word-of-mouth communication

Managing and developing brand equity is of crucial interest to retailers. To provide a better understanding of retailer brand equity, we introduce a specific nomological network that brings together operational retailer brand equity dimensions and marketing performance outcomes. More specifically, we hypothesize that consumer attitudes toward the retailer and word-of-mouth communication individually and sequentially mediate the relationship between retailer brand equity and consumer loyalty toward the retailer. Partial least squares path modeling (PLS) was used to test the proposed model with 335 US consumers from the home improvement retail sector. A systematic validation procedure with explanatory (i.e., in-sample) and predictive (i.e., out-of-sample) power assessments and robustness tests such as the confirmatory tetrad analysis and model comparison confirms these specific relationships. The results show that the refined model allows retail managers to link brand equity dimensions to marketing performance more accurately and to predict customer loyalty more reliably.

Socio-ecological risk factors associated with human flea infestations of rural household in plague-endemic areas of Madagascar.

Plague is a flea-borne fatal disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis, which persists in rural Madagascar. Although fleas parasitizing rats are considered the primary vectors of Y. pestis, the human flea, Pulex irritans, is abundant in human habitations in Madagascar, and has been found naturally infected by the plague bacterium during outbreaks. While P. irritans may therefore play a role in plague transmission if present in plague endemic areas, the factors associated with infestation and human exposure within such regions are little explored. To determine the socio-ecological risk factors associated with P. irritans infestation in rural households in plague-endemic areas of Madagascar, we used a mixed-methods approach, integrating results from P. irritans sampling, a household survey instrument, and an observational checklist. Using previously published vectorial capacity data, the minimal P. irritans index required for interhuman bubonic plague transmission was modeled to determine whether household infestations were enough to pose a plague transmission risk. Socio-ecological risk factors associated with a high P. irritans index were then identified for enrolled households using generalized linear models. Household flea abundance was also modeled using the same set of predictors. A high P. irritans index occurred in approximately one third of households and was primarily associated with having a traditional dirt floor covered with a plant fiber mat. Interventions targeting home improvement and livestock housing management may alleviate flea abundance and plague risk in rural villages experiencing high P. irritans infestation. As plague-control resources are limited in developing countries such as Madagascar, identifying the household parameters and human behaviors favoring flea abundance, such as those identified in this study, are key to developing preventive measures that can be implemented at the community level.

How is rooftop solar capitalized in home prices?

Residential solar installations have increased 10-fold over the past decade and are becoming more common in neighborhoods around the United States. This raises the question of how solar affects housing markets. Is the investment fully capitalized in home values? We review the literature on the solar home price premium and present a model to provide a framework for understanding the empirical challenge of quantifying capitalization. We estimate a hedonic model and find that the residual value of a homeowner-owned solar system at the time of a transaction is roughly fully capitalized into home values when we use a discount rate of 15%. Third-party owned systems exhibit a much lower capitalization. We find that solar homes are more likely to have made home improvements leading to substantial bias when home improvements are omitted. We conclude with opportunities for future research.

The impact of the cost-of-living crisis on population health in the UK: rapid evidence review

BackgroundIn the UK, unique and unforeseen factors, including COVID-19, Brexit, and Ukraine-Russia war, have resulted in an unprecedented cost of living crisis, creating a second health emergency. We present, one of the first rapid reviews with the aim of examining the impact of this current crisis, at a population level. We reviewed published literature, as well as grey literature, examining a broad range of physical and mental impacts on health in the short, mid, and long term, identifying those most at risk, impacts on system partners, including emergency services and the third sector, as well as mitigation strategies.MethodsWe conducted a rapid review by searching PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, and HMIC (2020 to 2023). We searched for grey literature on Google and hand-searched the reports of relevant public health organisations. We included interventional and observational studies that reported outcomes of interventions aimed at mitigating against the impacts of cost of living at a population level.ResultsWe found that the strongest evidence was for the impact of cold and mouldy homes on respiratory-related infections and respiratory conditions. Those at an increased risk were young children (0–4 years), the elderly (aged 75 and over), as well as those already vulnerable, including those with long-term multimorbidity. Further short-term impacts include an increased risk of physical pain including musculoskeletal and chest pain, and increased risk of enteric infections and malnutrition. In the mid-term, we could see increases in hypertension, transient ischaemic attacks, and myocardial infarctions, and respiratory illnesses. In the long term we could see an increase in mortality and morbidity rates from respiratory and cardiovascular disease, as well as increase rates of suicide and self-harm and infectious disease outcomes. Changes in behaviour are likely particularly around changes in food buying patterns and the ability to heat a home. System partners are also impacted, with voluntary sectors seeing fewer volunteers, an increase in petty crime and theft, alternative heating appliances causing fires, and an increase in burns and burn-related admissions. To mitigate against these impacts, support should be provided, to the most vulnerable, to help increase disposable income, reduce energy bills, and encourage home improvements linked with energy efficiency. Stronger links to bridge voluntary, community, charity and faith groups are needed to help provide additional aid and support.ConclusionAlthough the CoL crisis affects the entire population, the impacts are exacerbated in those that are most vulnerable, particularly young children, single parents, multigenerational families. More can be done at a community and societal level to support the most vulnerable, and those living with long-term multimorbidity. This review consolidates the current evidence on the impacts of the cost of living crisis and may enable decision makers to target limited resources more effectively.

Research on E-Commerce Commodity Demand Forecasting and Inventory Optimization Based on Time Series Forecasting Model

In this study, 1996 sets of time series data are extracted from the three dimensions of merchant, warehouse and commodity, and the outliers are removed using the 3σ criterion. Through visual analysis, it was found that home improvement building materials and food and beverages were popular commodities. Then ARIMA and LSTM models were used to forecast the demand. Through 1-wmape index evaluation, LSTM model was found to perform better. Finally, the K-Means cluster analysis is carried out based on the categories of goods, merchants and warehouses, and the cluster number is selected as 70. The cosine similarity method is used to match the newly added dimensions to the category of the cluster in problem 1, and the ARIMA model is used for prediction. The results show that the cosine similarity method can accurately predict the commodity demand, the 1-wmape index is 0.801, and the residual plot presents randomness. The data of November 2022 is added to the original data, and the missing data is processed by linear interpolation. The LSTM model was used to forecast the increase of the total demand during Double 11. By setting a periodic time series with a step size of 30, the model achieves a good accuracy in predicting the demand in June, with a 1-wmape index of 0.829. To sum up, this study comprehensively considers three dimensions of merchants, warehouses and commodities, and uses different models to make accurate predictions. The ARIMA and LSTM models are adopted, while the promotion characteristics are considered and the appropriate LSTM parameters are selected. The research results provide practical forecasting tools and methods for supply chain management.

Examining discrimination in home improvement financing (Home Mortgage Disclosure Act 2012–2016) and neighborhood health in the United States

ABSTRACT Institutional racism by financial institutions historically denied Black homeowners access to home mortgage loans. An understudied aspect of the homeownership continuum is home repair and maintenance, with few studies assessing discrimination in access to funding for home improvement. Using US Home Mortgage Disclosure Act data between 2012 and 2016, we assess individual and census-tract level predictors of applying to, and being denied home improvement loans. We find non-Hispanic Black applicants are significantly more likely to be denied loans (OR: 2.28 p < 0.01), and that loans for areas with a high proportion of non-Hispanic Black residents (OR: 1.09, p < 0.01) are most likely to be denied, while applications in tracts with the highest proportion of non-Hispanic white residents (OR: 0.90, p < 0.01) are least likely to be denied. We find that white (r = 0.203), but not Black (r = 0.02) home improvement applications are correlated with the proportion of Black residents currently residing in the census tract. Additionally, at the census tract level, home improvement loan denial rates are associated with usually getting less than 7 hours of sleep, which is associated with adverse health outcomes. Future research on institutional racism should consider the social and health impacts of discrimination in home improvement loan financing for Black applicants and within Black communities.

Old house new home: Facilitating interior design with RedesignUS in virtual reality

Customized interiors not only reflect personality and offer protection against aesthetic exhaustion, but they also foster a sense of home. Virtual reality (VR) systems have previously leveraged the benefits of immersion, interactivity, and entertainment to empower interior design. These systems, however, largely ignore the need to renovate houses in favor of a more immersive VR experience. To demonstrate the significance of scene reconstruction in redesign, we conducted experience prototyping with 8 professionals, outlining our design goals. Then, we propose RedesignUS, a VR system that enables users to rebuild and customize their own homes. By providing users with the flexibility to synthesize existing room layouts and fine-tune various levels of their homes leveraging inspiration from others’ combinations, RedesignUS offers an unparalleled degree of customization. A 24-user empirical study confirms that our system boosts editing efficiency and allows users to explore more options of home decoration, broadening their design horizons. Furthermore, scene restoration leads to enhanced realism and familiarity, thereby increasing their trust in our system. Overall, our research investigates novel interactive paradigms and insights for DIY home improvement.

Social proof is ineffective at spurring costly pro-environmental household investments

One of the most popular techniques of persuasion in online marketing is social proof, also referred to as social validation. It takes advantage of the fact that when other individuals have decided in favor of a particular behavior people are more likely to follow that behavior as it is perceived as more valid. Yet there is a theoretical reason to be skeptical about the effectiveness of this persuasion technique for the encouragement of more costly investment decisions taken under high uncertainty. This study investigated the effectiveness of social proof in influencing consumer responses to calls for action on a bank’s sustainable home improvement website. A first field experiment investigated whether participants engaged more with a webpage that provided a personalized testimonial or informed users that thousands of other clients had used the bank’s sustainable home improvement services. A second field experiment encouraged clients to use the bank’s services to obtain solar panels and we again investigated whether clients engaged more with a webpage that provided a personalized testimonial rather than without such a testimonial. Clients were directed to these webpages through a newsletter that is distributed to half a million clients of the bank. Overall, our evidence suggests that messages of social proof are ineffective at urging customers to consider larger pro-environmental household investments, let alone making those investments.

Framing energy-efficiency programs: A survey experiment

In the U.S., many low- and moderate-income households live in energy-inefficient homes and are burdened by energy bills. Although energy-efficiency home improvement programs are long-term solutions for home energy problems, the take-up of income-eligible energy-efficiency programs can be low. This study investigates how information framing affects low- and moderate-income individuals' willingness to participate in energy-efficiency programs in the U.S. as informed by prospect theory and regulatory focus theory. The author used a survey experiment to test how framing free energy-efficiency programs as helping homeowners avoid monetary losses versus framing programs as providing energy savings affects respondents' interest in program participation. Results from a national sample of homeowners pre-stratified by income (N = 1590) suggest that gain-framed messages are more effective in encouraging take-up willingness among moderate-income homeowners than loss-framed messages. At the same time, framing's effect on take-up willingness is statistically insignificant among low-income homeowners. Stress about paying energy bills also predicts willingness to take up energy-efficiency programs with statistical significance. This study contributes to helping policymakers customize information about energy-efficiency programs with different framings for individuals across the income strata.

Social and contextual determinants of heat pump adoption in the US: Implications for subsidy policy design

Building electrification with heat pumps (HPs) is an important pillar of decarbonization. The US Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) of 2022 provides unprecedented cash incentives to households. However, little is understood of peoples’ preferences or constraints, and hence of the efficacy of these incentives. We develop a residential heating appliance choice model that identifies socio-demographic, contextual and economic determinants of adoption using structural estimation methods with data from the American Housing Survey (AHS). We find that households in warmer, urban areas, with younger heads of household, in larger homes, and with better insulation are more likely to adopt HPs. Using New York state as a case, we predict willingness to pay (WTP) for and adopt HPs under the IRA incentives. We estimate that half of New York households would be willing to adopt HPs by 2030, setting aside other market barriers that could prevent actual adoption. The total subsides would amount to almost four times the IRA’s initial allocation of 9 billion for home improvement for the entire US. The subsidy cost of replacing 70 percent of the heating appliance stock by 2030 could be a third higher. However, this cost could be reduced by 15 percent if subsidies were weighted more towards higher income households, implying a modest trade-off between equity and cost efficiency. These findings underscore the importance of better understanding the heterogeneous home and household conditions that influence HP adoption. Funding for building electrification would have to be increased substantially to achieve high adoption rates.

Restoring Consumer Trust in a Home Improvement Service Provider with Negative Reviews

With the growth in technology, the use of digital information to learn about a product or a service has increased substantially. Generally, users tend to trust a service provider until they find negative information. However, when their trust is violated, it becomes difficult to rebuild it. This study focused on the type of response that a service provider can provide to restore a user’s trust. We recruited 400 participants through Qualtrics Research Services for a 2*5 between subjects study. The findings suggest that irrespective of the type of accusation, i.e., morality- or competence-based, both an elaborate apology and denial restore the trust in the service provider. However, these ratings fell within the average range, suggesting that both are only an initial action and additional information is needed to regain the trust lost due to an accusation.

Application of TOPSIS as a DSS in the Selection of Home Improvement Grant Recipients

This study aims to compare the TOPSIS method with the SAW and ELECTRE methods which have been presented in previous research in making decisions on home improvement grant recipients. This research utilizes data and findings from prior studies concerning the selection process for recipients of home renovation assistance, employing the SAW and ELECTRE methodologies. Using the TOPSIS method obtained results that have significant differences. The TOPSIS method provides positive and negative ideal solutions, this is more detailed in supporting the decision-making process. By displaying the web-based TOPSIS method, it is hoped that users with an interest in decision-making can access it more easily. The results indicate that the positive ideal solution may symbolize an ideal housing state, such as a well-maintained house, while the negative ideal solution may represent a subpar housing condition.

Ethno-Racial Stratification in the Refinanced Mortgage Market

The mortgage industry is a key component of ethno-racial stratification in wealth and homeownership. Previous research demonstrates that unequal treatment of minorities has created inequality in access and exclusion to low-cost mortgage loans in the housing market. While prior studies have documented the disadvantages Black and Latino home seekers face in obtaining a mortgage, these studies have not considered the obstacles that current homeowners face when seeking to refinance their mortgage. This study draws on annual data from the Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) from 2018 to 2019 to assess ethno-racial disparities in refinanced mortgage outcomes by loan purpose. I demonstrate that loan rejections and high-cost loans are highest among Black homeowners seeking to refinance their home, especially when trying to make home improvements or cashing-out equity from their home. In general, Asians and Latinos perform in between Whites and Blacks across mortgage outcomes and loan purpose. These trends are particularly true when examining adverse loan outcomes for applicants seeking a cash-out refinance. Implications for ethno-racial stratification and the wealth gap are discussed.

Реалии и перспективы сельской ипотеки в жилищной политике на селе

The analysis of organizational and economic mechanisms for improving the housing conditions of the rural population presented in the article within the framework of the State Program of the Russian Federation "Integrated development of rural territories" for the period of this program in terms of the federal project "Development of housing construction in rural areas and improvement of the level of household improvement" revealed the weaknesses and strengths of the organizational and economic tools used in this project and mechanisms for improving the housing conditions of the rural population and ensuring a sustainable reduction in the proportion of unsuitable for accommodation of the housing stock.The improvement of organizational and economic mechanisms in the field of housing policy in rural areas is aimed at reducing the number of rural families registered for a long time as those in need of housing.&#x0D; Based on the research, directions are proposed to improve the existing organizational and economic mechanisms for improving the housing conditions of the rural population in order to increase the share of the total area of well-maintained residential premises in rural settlements, including by restructuring budget allocations within the framework of the Federal Project "Development of housing construction in rural areas and improving the level of home improvement".

Comparative Outcomes of Sacubitril/Valsartan Use After Hospitalization for Heart Failure Among Medicare Beneficiaries Naïve to Renin-Angiotensin System Inhibitors

Sacubitril/valsartan improves outcomes in patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) compared with angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (ACEis). However, data on postdischarge outcomes in renin-angiotensin system inhibitor (RASi)-naïve patients are limited. We included Medicare beneficiaries aged ≥65years who were hospitalized for HFrEF in the Get With The Guidelines-Heart Failure registry between October 2015 and June 2019, had part D prescription coverage, and were not on RASi therapy during the 6months before hospital admission. We examined the associations between sacubitril/valsartan prescription at hospital discharge and outcomes at 30days and 1year after discharge using overlap-weighted median regression and Cox proportional hazards models. The end points included "home time" (defined as days alive and out of any health care institution), mortality, and rehospitalization. Among 3,572 patients with HFrEF and who are naïve to RASi therapy, at discharge, 290 (8.1%) were prescribed sacubitril/valsartan and 1,390 (38.9%) were prescribed ACEis and angiotensin receptor blockers. After adjusting for baseline characteristics, patients prescribed sacubitril/valsartan had a longer median home time (parameter estimate 27.0days, 95% confidence interval [CI] 12.40 to 41.6, p <0.001) and lower all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 0.74, 95% CI 0.61 to 0.91, p=0.004) at 1year than patients not prescribed sacubitril/valsartan. The prescription of sacubitril/valsartan was not significantly associated with all-cause rehospitalization (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.74 to 1.03, p=0.10) or heart failure rehospitalization (HR 0.87, 95% CI 0.70 to 1.07, p=0.19). In a restricted comparison of patients discharged on sacubitril/valsartan versus ACEis and angiotensin receptor blockers, there were no significant differences in the outcomes. In conclusion, in this contemporary population of RASi-naïve patients with HFrEF from routine clinical practice, compared with not initiating, the initiation of sacubitril/valsartan at discharge was associated with longer home time and improvements in overall survival.

BASIC REQUIRED PROGRAM OF COMPACT HOUSE FOR ELDERLY WITH LOW INCOME

This paper aims to develop basic designs of compact houses for older persons with low income in Thailand. Due to their low financial income, most Thai senior citizens end up in old, dilapidated houses with environment risks for falling or other serious accidents. In this work, a compact house was designed using the universal design concept to improve the quality of life for the elderly. There are three main areas in the house design: sleeping area, utility area, and bathroom, with a total area of approximately 17.6 sq.m. for a one-person residence. The house design is based on data collected through a questionnaire and field survey with more than one thousand participants. The result showed that the living pattern of Thai older persons are mostly similar. The sleeping and utility areas are shared, and in some cases, utility areas are also used for other purposes such as working and food preparation. Home improvement for Thai elderly people must also concern three aspects which are 1) community technology, 2) determination of space utilization (zoning), and 3) size. It was found that international standards can be slightly adapted to suit the locals’ behaviors, physiques, both in natural and social contexts. This paper would be beneficial for architects, designers, or anyone who interacts with house owners on their residential preference. Policy maker may use this as a basis for the cost analysis of house improvement policy for older persons in the future.

Using mobile phone data to evaluate access to essential services following natural hazards.

Natural hazards bring about changes in the access to essential services such as grocery stores, healthcare, schools, and day care because of facility closures, transportation system disruption, evacuation orders, power outages, and other barriers to access. Understanding changes in access to essential services following a disruption is critical to ensure equitable recovery and more resilient communities. However, past approaches to understanding facility closures and inaccessibility such as surveys and interviews are labor-intensive and of limited geographic scope. In this article, we develop an approach to understanding facility-level inaccessibility across a broad geographic area based on location-based services data collected from cell phones. This approach supplements current approaches and helps both researchers and emergency response planners better understand which communities lose access to essential services and for how long. We demonstrate our approach by analyzing loss of access to supermarkets, schools, healthcare facilities, and home improvement stores in Southwest Florida leading up to and following the landfall of Hurricane Irma in 2017.

From product to service – strategies for upscaling smart home performance monitoring

ABSTRACT Smart home technologies provide an opportunity to address the housing design or retrofit-performance gap and to improve the building regulations. It is currently used to manage comfort, security, and resource efficiency but, adoption remains piecemeal, and disparate. This study aims to explore how householder perceptions of housing quality, and the cost–benefit of improvements informs the adoption of smart technologies. Further, it bridges the theory-to-practice gap by proposing the product-as-service domains that can be deployed for the upscaled implementation of smart home performance monitoring. The survey method returned 972 nationally representative responses. Factor analysis was then used to establish the housing quality priorities, and home improvement drivers that combine to inform the adoption of smart home performance monitoring. Findings show that householders will adopt technologies in return for a ‘benefit’ if reliable smart systems and data-feedback mechanisms are packaged as: (a) commerce services to support utility efficiencies and cost savings, (b) convenience and control services to improve comfort and wellbeing, (c) information and communication services to inform behaviours and decisions, and (d) entertainment services to satisfy hedonic needs. The paper concludes with practical, scalable implementation strategies for smart home performance monitoring. Thus bridging the gap between theory and practice.

MR.D.I.Y. “the Malaysian sweetheart”

Learning outcomes Upon completion, successful students will be able to examine the importance of digitalisation as a competitive tool in business management; use a suitable theory to justify the need for an organisation to engage in e-commerce; develop suitable strategies/solutions to challenges faced by a business organisation in the world of digitalisation of business; explain the way data analytics and digitalisation can affect business strategies and marketing functions; and identify and explain various considerations in the internationalisation of business. Case overview/synopsis MR.D.I.Y. “The Malaysian Sweetheart” is a case about a home improvement company that has transformed itself from a regular hardware shop into a favourite home improvement retailer in Malaysia. The case looked at the influence of e-commerce and digital transformation marks a rethinking of how an organisation uses technology, people and processes in pursuit of new business models and new revenue streams, driven by changes in customer expectations around products and services. Such transformation has indeed created opportunities and challenges for business organisation throughout the globe in their pursuit of staying competitive for MR.D.I.Y. even though they are considered the largest home improvement retailer in Malaysia. The case also introduces the students to the Uses and Gratification Theory that underpins the e-commerce business model. The management of the company is concerned about its future given the rising competition and gloomy economic conditions. Complexity academic level The target group for this case is undergraduate students. Specifically, it is suitable for those in the field of Entrepreneurship taking e-commerce/small business management/entrepreneurship courses. The main purpose of this case study is to assist students in critically examining how a small business evolved from a tiny neighbourhood shop to become a household name at the national level and eventually emerged as the largest home improvement company locally and abroad. Specifically, the case can be applied to topics like Retailing in Electronic Commerce, Innovative EC Systems, Social Commerce and Launching an Online Business, which all are related to the courses on E-Commerce, and this case is also suitable to any other contemporary business management module. Additionally, educators can use this teaching case as a tool in an executive programme for senior, middle and lower managers to shape their thoughts and attitudes toward managing a contemporary retailing business. With this case, it is hoped that students would be able to understand and decide wisely if they encounter similar circumstances in the future. Supplementary material Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.