Multi-storey Housing Research Articles

Neighbour noise in multi-storey housing: Public experiences, attitudes and the need for acoustic labelling to ensure consumer protection

Neighbour noise in multi-storey housing: Public experiences, attitudes and the need for acoustic labelling to ensure consumer protection

Assessing the building performance of a 35-year-old multi-story housing: Is it still relevant to the current climate?

Abstract Indonesia’s Ministry of Public Works and Housing initiated the Rumah Susun (Rusun) program to provide adequate housing for middle-to low-income families. The first Rusun, built in East Jakarta in 1989, pioneered multi-story housing in the country. For a residence to be habitable, it must meet health and comfort requirements, such as regarding lighting and ventilation. This study evaluates the 35-year-old Rusun’s building performance and human comfort in two adjacent units with opposite orientations to assess its compatibility with the current climate. Thermal and visual comfort data was gathered through direct measurements and occupant questionnaires. Results indicate that residents find the units rather uncomfortable nowadays, with warm thermal conditions and inadequate illumination. Given the rise in global temperatures over the decades, the field measurements confirmed that both units failed to meet Indonesian National Standards for lighting and ventilation. This study highlights the importance of improving building physics in future Rusun designs to enhance occupant health and comfort.

Diverging timber architecture trajectories in Japan and South Korea: a comparative study

ABSTRACT This study investigates the diverging timber architecture in Japan and South Korea, by means of a cross-country comparative study. The significance of this research lies in its examination of the different trajectories of timber architecture between Japan and South Korea. The novelty and contribution of this research are underscored by its provision of a novel cross-cultural perspective. The research methodology incorporates sophisticated techniques, such as Means-End Chain and Extended Association Pattern Technique (EAPT) respectively. The high degree of respondent agreement, as measured by Fleiss’ kappa coefficient (κ = 0.86), lends robustness to the examination of consumer preferences and perceptions. Key findings of the study reveal that Japanese consumers place a high priority on “energy efficiency,” and seeking a blend of traditional craftsmanship and modern design elements. In contrast, South Korean consumers prioritize “modern and aesthetic” aspects, favor contemporary and innovative designs. Furthermore, the study finds that younger Japanese consumers strongly value sustainability, while older consumers demonstrate a similar level of engagement with wooden multistory housing. Additionally, urban residents in both Japan and South Korea prioritize practicality and modern aesthetics, whereas rural residents in both countries show a preference for traditional aesthetics. The practical applications underscore diverse preferences and guide culturally tailored housing policies.

Housing Environmental Enrichment, Lifestyles, and Public Health Indicators of Neurogenesis in Humans: A Pilot Study.

In response to the rising mental health concerns and cognitive decline associated with the human brain's neurogenesis, which continues until the tenth decade of life but declines with age and is suppressed by poor environments, this pilot study investigates how physical environments may influence public health proxy measures of neurogenesis in humans. This pilot study focuses on the residential environment where people spend most of their time and age in place, exploring the dependency of depression, anxiety, and cognitive impairment variations on spatial and lifestyle variables. A total of 142 healthy adults in England completed a survey consisting of PHQ-8, GAD-7, and CFI questionnaires and other questions developed to capture the variance in spatial and lifestyle factors such as time spent at home, house type layout complexity, spaciousness, physical activity, routine and spatial novelty, and perceived loneliness. Extensive time spent at home has adverse effects on all measures, while multi-storey houses perform better than single-story houses with positive correlations with physical activity and spatial novelty. Separate regression models on the variance in depression, as the most salient dependent variable and reliably associated with neurogenesis, reveal that getting out of the house explains 20.5% of the variance in depression symptoms. At the scale of the house, multi-storey houses explain 16.5% of the variance. Both percentages are closer to the effect of loneliness, which we found to explain 26.6% of the variance in depression. The built environment appears to be significantly associated with changes in cognitive function and mental health symptoms associated with neurogenesis. This pilot study shows the equally important effect of physical and social enrichment, offering critically needed insights for neuroarchitecture and brain health research that is interested in public health.

Could mandatory open access to sound insulation performance in housing promote "visibility" of acoustic quality?

Danish Health and Morbidity Surveys representing the population show that ~36% of people in multi-storey housing are annoyed by neighbour noise. National building regulations have existed since 1961 and included sound insulation limits, but complaints to housing organizations and builders appear for both old and new housing. A detailed analysis of national survey results shows that for occupants in multi-storey housing, a strong association exists between self-reported neighbour noise annoyance and various health issues. Building constructions have changed over time and consequently acoustic performance. The Danish standard DS 490 has six acoustic quality classes A-F representing housing built from before year 1900 until now, class C being minimum for new housing. Acoustic quality is invisible. However, the purpose of classification is enabling "visibility", but such information is typically unavailable. With mandatory acoustic classification for new and renovated dwellings, negative "surprises", when moving into new/renovated apartments could be foreseen. While prospective buyers and tenant organizations support acoustic labelling, strong resistance appears from e.g. real estate agents, and contractors. The paper presents advantages of acoustic quality transparency as well as resistance and also provides suggested steps towards implementation to the benefit of people moving to new places or understanding their current situation.

Seismic capacity evaluation of reinforced concrete moment-resisting frames with steel damper columns using incremental critical pseudo-multi impulse analysis

Steel damper columns (SDCs) are energy-dissipating members that are suitable for reinforced concrete (RC) moment-resisting frames (MRFs) and those often used for multistory housing. In a previous study, the authors proposed an energy-based prediction procedure for the peak and cumulative response of an RC frame building with SDCs. In this procedure, the accuracy of the equivalent velocity of the maximum momentary input energy (VΔE1*)–peak equivalent displacement (D1*max) relationship is essential for improved prediction. In this article, the seismic capacity curve (VΔE1*–D1*max relationship) of RC MRFs with and without SDCs is evaluated using incremental critical pseudo-multi impulse analysis (ICPMIA). In the ICPMIA, which is based on a study by Takewaki and coauthors, the structure is subjected to various intensities of critical pseudo-multi impulsive lateral force. An ICPMIA of planer four 8- and 16-story RC MRFs with and without SDCs is performed to obtain their structural behaviors under various intensities of pulsive input. Then, the seismic capacity curve obtained from the ICMPIA results are compared with the predicted results based on the simplified equations. The main findings of this article are as follows. (i) The seismic capacity curve of RC MRFs without SDCs strongly depends on the number of impulsive lateral forces (Np). As Np increases, the seismic capacity decreases. The predicted seismic capacity curve severely underestimates that obtained from the ICMPIA in the case of large Np. This trend is notable when the level of pinching behavior in the RC members is severe. (ii) In the case of an RC MRF with SDCs, however, the influence of Np on its seismic capacity curve is small. The predicted seismic capacity curve agrees very well with that obtained from the ICMPIA. The influence of the level of pinching behavior in RC members on the seismic capacity curve is small.

On a variant of Flory model

We consider a one-dimensional variant of a recently introduced settlement planning problem in which houses can be built on finite portions of the rectangular integer lattice subject to certain requirements on the amount of insolation they receive. In our model, each house occupies a unit square on a 1×n strip, with the restriction that at least one of the neighboring squares must be free. We are interested mostly in situations in which no further building is possible, i.e. in maximal configurations of houses in the strip. We reinterpret the problem as a problem of restricted packing of vertices in a path graph and then apply the transfer matrix method in order to compute the bivariate generating functions for the sequences enumerating all maximal configurations of a given length with respect to the number of houses. This allows us to determine the asymptotic behavior of the enumerating sequences and to compute some interesting statistics. Along the way, we establish close connections between our maximal configurations and several other types of combinatorial objects, including restricted permutations and walks on certain small oriented graphs. We then generalize our results in several directions by considering multi-story houses, by varying the insolation restrictions, and, finally, by considering strips of width 2 and 3. At the end we comment on several possible directions of future research.

Walter Gropius, history of the IV CIAM Congress, the Charter of Athens and some of its results

The history of the emergence of the idea of multi-story housing construction is described, starting with the project of the experimental settlement of Spandau-Haselhorst by Walter Gropius and the subsequent report of Gropius to the third CIAM congress. The conditions under which the IV CIAM Congress met are shown - the world economic crisis, the strengthening of authoritarianism in the world, the absence of German, American and Soviet architects, as well as opponents of Le Corbusier in other delegations. The history of the IV Congress and the appearance, ten years after it, of two versions of the Athens Charter are described. The differences between José Luis Sert's version and Le Corbusier's version are presented, as well as some results of its implementation. The implementation of ideas, both different from the Athens Charter and its followers, in Great Britain and the place that the construction of multi-storey housing eventually took in the country is described. An example of construction regulation in Germany is given, which makes the construction of multi-story housing economically unprofitable.

Critical pseudo-double impulse analysis evaluating seismic energy input to reinforced concrete buildings with steel damper columns

Steel damper columns (SDCs) are energy-dissipating members that are suitable for reinforced concrete (RC) buildings and are often used for multistory housing. The evaluation of the peak deformation and hysteretic dissipated energy of such building structures is essential for the rational seismic design of RC buildings with SDCs. In a previous study, the authors proposed an energy-based prediction procedure for the peak and cumulative response of an RC frame building with SDCs. In this procedure, the accuracy of the equivalent velocity of the maximum momentary input energy (VΔE1*)–peak equivalent displacement (D1*max) relationship is essential for high quality predictions. In this article, the VΔE1*–D1*max relationships of RC moment-resisting frames with and without SDCs are investigated using a critical pseudo-double impulse (PDI) analysis based on a study by Takewaki and coauthors. The results show that the VΔE1*–D1*max relationship obtained from the critical PDI analysis agrees well with that calculated from the equations proposed in the previous study.

REKABENTUK KEMUDAHALIHAN SEBAGAI STRATEGI REKA BENTUK DAN PERANCANGAN RUANG DALAMAN KEDIAMAN MELAYU BERBILANG TINGKAT

The home should support life activities, normal daily functioning systems and family individuals by providing some degree of control over the physical environment, encouraging social, religious and environmental interaction. Housing design is now heavily influenced by other cultures and does not reflect the lifestyle of the community, especially the Malays. Many previous researchers are aware that multi-storey house architecture is not suitable for Malay culture. Housing recovery is often seen as a reflection of a person's personality, interests, lifestyle, values, and social standing. Studies have shown that traditional Malay house design (RTM) has design principles that solve many problems related to the environment, social and religious nature. Making it a superior design, evergreen with a superior Malay house design style should be used as a guide in the interior design of multi-storey housing. This study examines the concept of RTM, identifying mobile (flexible), open space design planning with the characteristics of various RTM through environmental, social and Islamic perspectives. The results reveal an understanding of the value and design requirements that will influence the interior space planning of Malays living in multi-storey housing and further suggest a framework of thought and design criteria for multi-storey housing space.

Keberkesanan Taman Poket dalam Meningkatkan Kualiti Hidup Penduduk Bandar di Kawasan Perumahan Bertingkat Kos Rendah di Malaysia

Issues and problems regarding the allocation of open space in high-rise residential buildings that have been determined by the Local Authority (PBT) do not match the population is a problem that has been going on for a long time and has been debated but has not yet been fully addressed even though various strategic measures have been identified and taken to reduce the problem this. Rapidly developing cities have long struggled with the issue of green space requirements. Adding green areas such as pocket parks is one of the actions that can be taken to reduce the effects of rapid urbanization. Research on the effectiveness of pocket parks in improving the quality of life of urban residents in Malaysia has been studied in this study. The main aim of this study is to identify the allocation of pocket park design guidelines by Local Authorities (PBT) for high-rise houses/low-rise apartments in Malaysia and to identify the effectiveness of pocket parks in improving the quality of life of low-cost housing residents in Selangor. To achieve the objective, a questionnaire survey was conducted involving 108 respondents who stayed in three low-cost multi-storey housing. This questionnaire survey discusses the issue of pocket parks in Selangor as well as the role of pocket parks in improving the quality of life of residents. Findings from the analysis of the questionnaire are divided into three parts, which are the demographics of the respondents, the understanding of the pocket park, and the suggestions and improvements of the respondents regarding the effectiveness of the pocket park in improving the quality of life of the people in Selangor. The results of this study show that there are several factors that contribute to the effectiveness of pocket gardens in high-rise residential buildings. The majority of the respondents agreed that the pocket park facilities provided as a whole improve the quality of life of the residents.

Methods of formation of multi-storey residential buildings with green terrace and roofs

Part of the biophilic movement in architecture, which gained momentum in the 21st century and in which buildings are created with elements of nature as part of their structure, is considered. In the study, the genesis, development of multi-story housing with green roofs and terraces was identified, its problems and modern trends were determined. Humanization and improvement of the formation of multi-story housing with landscaped terraces and roofs covers all aspects of the organization of buildings: technological aspect (technologies and methods of greening artificial grounds with plants); morphological aspect (change in the shape of a residential building, change in traditional archetypes of the building's shape); functional and social aspect (the range of functions of roofs and terraces is increasing, from recreational to industrial; in addition to private, common and public spaces are appearing); ecological aspect (increasing biodiversity, requirements for energy efficiency of buildings, introduction of natural components into living space). The morphological aspect is important, which is the main task of architects in terms of forming an expressive and aesthetic composition of the living environment. The main methods of forming housing with green terraces and roofs are defined - the method of using small architectural forms (SAF) and the methods of defragmentation and fragmentation of the three-dimensional shape of the building. Relevant methods of organizing the spatial composition of buildings are identified, namely: green floor, green roof, green shell, through green hole, green stairs, checkerboard, vertical garden, green spiral, various green cascades and a combination of techniques.

Internalisasi Nilai-Nilai Pancasila terhadap Pengaturan Hak Pengelolaan Atas Tanah

Management rights on Land (HPL) is right outside in Act. No. 5 of 1960 on Basic Regulation on Agrarian Principles (UUPA). Management rights on Land (HPL) are state control rights whose implementation authority is partly delegated to management rights on land (HPL) holders. UUPA does not regulate about Management Rights on Land (HPL) which causes problems both in the realm of regulation and practice which creates confusion, chaos and does not reflect justice as the value of the fifth principal of Pancasila. The writing of this law uses a normative-juridical method, using primary legal materials, and secondary legal materials. In practice, initially there was a tendency for Management right on Land (HPL) to only be intended for the "strong economy" or investors and negated the "weak economy" group such as customary law communities. Government Regulation No. 18 of 2021 on Right to Manage, Land Rights, Multi Story Housing Units and Land Registration which is the latest legal basis for management rights on land (HPL) emphasizes the basic principles of management rights on Land (HPL) which are expected to provide justice, especially for the "weak economy" group in the context of improving their standard of living and management rights on land (HPL) will not in fact become a source of agrarian conflicts in the future.

Experimental Study of Glued Laminated Timber (Glulam) from Jackfruit Wood and Coconut Wood for Timber Beams of Level Houses in East Nusa Tenggara

Wood is a construction material that is familiar to the wider community. Wood can be used in construction. The purpose of this study was to determine the specifications of the physical properties, mechanical properties, tensile strength and flexural strength of laminated wood (glulam), in jackfruit and coconut wood beams originating from the East Nusa Tenggara region in multi-storey house buildings. The tests carried out included testing the water content, testing the tensile strength and bending strength, testing the tensile strength and bending strength on glulam beams using epoxy glue adhesives. The results of this study showed that jackfruit wood and coconut wood aged 15 years and 20 years had an average moisture content of 15 years, namely 15% and 26%, the average specific gravity was 0.54 (tons/m3) and 0.46 (tons/m3). Meanwhile, the average water content for 20 years is 15% and 32%, the average specific gravity is 0.58 (Ton/m3) and 0.45 (Ton/m3). The tensile strength of intact and glulam wood of jackfruit and coconut wood was obtained from laboratory results on SNI 7973-2013 calculations, the average tensile strength of intact jackfruit and coconut wood was 84.40 MPa and 80.73 MPa. The flexural strength of intact beams and glulam of jackfruit and coconut wood aged 15 years was obtained from laboratory results on SNI 7973-2013 calculations of the flexural strength of intact beams for 15 years, the average being 71.81 MPa and 26.07 MPa. At 15 years of age, the flexural strength of glulam beams was the highest variation 1 and variation 2 (Jackfruit, Coconut, Jackfruit) mean 76.00 MPa and 41.85 MPa. The flexural strength of intact beams and gulam of jackfruit and coconut wood aged 20 years was obtained by laboratory results on SNI 7973-2013 calculations of flexural strength of intact beams, which were 80.27 MPa and 29.73 MPa respectively. At the age of 20 years, the highest flexural strength of glulam beams were variations 1 and 2 (Coconut, Jackfruit, Coconut) with an average of 80.40 MPa and 48.76 Mpa.

Analysing light pipe two-side aperture in dense population housing to improve the visual and thermal condition

Daylight is one of the essential criteria for decent housing. However, in an urban kampung, access to daylight is limited due to the high-density population in urban Kampung Kota. This study aims to improve the visual and thermal conditions by modifying the aperture of the light pipe based on visual daylight distribution, illuminance level, and thermal conditions in multi-storey houses in hot-humid climates. Light pipe was developed experimentally through the simulation model to investigate the performance and impact on the visual and thermal conditions like operational temperature and RH in densely populated Kampung Kota without vertical apertures. According to the results, the two-aperture light pipe residential space enhanced the current situation but did not fulfill the standards. The two aperture light pipe visually improved daylight distribution by 1.05% –31.36% and illumination level by 8.4% - 14.8%. We also found that light pipe also impacts thermal conditions with a 10.92% RH reduction while at the same time increasing temperature up to 10.57%. Therefore, it can be concluded that a two-aperture light pipe has the potential to be applied to actual conditions in hot-humid climates.

Research on the Evaluation of Green Technology Renovation Measurement for Multi-Storey Houses in Severe Cold Regions Based on Entropy-Weight-TOPSIS

In the context of global warming and the energy crisis, a large amount of energy consumed by the construction industry has a negative impact on climate change. Green retrofitting for older multi-story houses can significantly reduce energy consumption and pollutant gas emissions. However, a comprehensive evaluation method is needed to select suitable retrofitting methods. This paper established a green renovation evaluation system, including five dimensions from the green concept, and 16 evaluation indexes. Making an old multi-story house in Shenyang the research object, 16 transformation plans were generated through orthogonal experiments. The total weights of each index were derived through entropy weighting and expert scoring, and then the best retrofit solution was selected using the improved TOPSIS method. The best retrofit solution was evaluated to reduce energy consumption by 3016.4 kWh/m2 and pollutant gas emissions by 3934.3 tons over the remaining 35 years of its life cycle while generating an economic benefit of approximately 1.58 million yuan. These study results show that the retrofitting of external walls significantly affects the building’s energy consumption; exterior windows present the most negligible impact. The photovoltaic facilities provide significant energy savings.

Balance of Interests and Dispute Resolution in the Retrofitting of Elevators in Existing Multi-Story Houses in Tianjin

With the aging of China’s population, the retrofitting of elevators in existing multi-story residential buildings has been steadily promoted with the support of the government, but the regulations and policies guiding the retrofitting of elevators have not been able to solve the disputes related to compensation relief, cost sharing, and safeguard measures well. The existing types of disputes are mainly civil and administrative. After searching and analyzing, civil disputes can be divided into three categories: nuisance removal, economic loss, and procedural defects, and in practice, there are problems with different standards for judging the eligibility of litigation subjects, limitations of litigation by low-rise owners, and lack of compensation mechanisms. Based on the current situation of retrofitting elevators to existing multi-story residential buildings in Tianjin, this paper analyzes the existing dispute resolution paths from the balance of interests of relevant subjects to promote the implementation of retrofitting elevators to existing multi-story residential buildings.

Industrialized house building productivity growth

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to understand if and how industrialized house building (IHB) could support productivity developments for housebuilding on project and industry levels. The take is that fragmentation of construction is one explanation for the lack of productivity growth, and that IHB could be an integrating method of overcoming horizontal and vertical fragmentation.Design/methodology/approachSinge-factor productivity measures are calculated based on data reported by IHB companies and compared to official produced and published research data. The survey covers the years 2013–2020 for IHB companies building multi-storey houses in timber. Generalization is sought through descriptive statistics by contrasting the data samples to the used means to control vertical and horizontal fragmentation formulated as three theoretical propositions.FindingsAccording to the results, IHB in timber is on average more productive than conventional housebuilding at the company level, project level, in absolute and in growth terms over the eight-year period. On the company level, the labour productivity was on average 10% higher for IHB compared to general construction and positioned between general construction and general manufacturing. On the project level, IHB displayed an average cost productivity growth of 19% for an employed prefabrication degree of about 45%.Originality/valueEmpirical evidence is presented quantifying so far perceived advantages of IHB. By providing analysis of actual cost and project data derived from IHB companies, the article quantifies previous research that IHB is not only about prefabrication. The observed positive productivity growth in relation to the employed prefabrication degree indicates that off-site production is not a sufficient mean for reaching high productivity and productivity growth. Instead, the capabilities to integrate the operative logic of conventional housebuilding together with logic of IHB platform development and use is a probable explanation of the observed positive productivity growth.

Energy-Based Prediction of the Peak and Cumulative Response of a Reinforced Concrete Building with Steel Damper Columns

A steel damper column is an energy-dissipating member that is suitable for reinforced concrete (RC) buildings and multistory housing. To assess the seismic performance of buildings with steel damper columns, the peak displacement of the whole building and the energy dissipation demand of the dampers must be evaluated. This article proposes an energy-based prediction procedure for the peak and cumulative response of an RC frame building with steel damper columns. The proposed procedure considers two energy-related seismic intensity parameters, namely the maximum momentary input energy and the total input energy. The peak displacement is predicted considering the energy balance during a half cycle of the structural response, using the maximum momentary input energy. The energy dissipation demand of the dampers is then predicted considering the energy balance during a whole response cycle using the total input energy. The local responses (e.g., peak drift, maximum plastic rotation of beams, maximum shear strain, and energy dissipation demand of dampers) are predicted using pushover analysis. Numerical analysis results for 8- and 16-story RC buildings show that the proposed prediction method achieves satisfactory accuracy.

Construction details affecting flanking transmission in cross laminated timber structures for multi-story housing

The desire of the building developers to leave the surfaces of cross laminated timber constructions in multi-story housings visible for the building user, leads to acoustic problems with the flanking sound transmission that cannot be controlled by means of wall linings. As a result, controlling flanking sound transmission by measures directly in the joint is getting increasingly important. The main parameter for describing the vibrational power transmission over a junction between structural elements is the vibration reduction index Kij. For this quantity, some planning values are spread over numerous publications. None of the currently available data sources represents a holistic view on the building acoustic performance of the on the market available products for elastic interlayers and fasteners which are used in a wall-ceiling junction. The following paper shows results of measurements of vibration reduction indexes of different configurations of a wall-ceiling joint in a test facility. Different elastic interlayers and fasteners were investigated. The vibration reduction indexes spread from 16db to 26dB as a function of the joint configuration and the load applied on the joint. The measurement results obtained are discussed and the essential parameters for influencing the flanking sound transmission are worked out and quantified.