Non-profit Housing Associations Research Articles

The energy performance of dwellings with heat pumps of Dutch non-profit housing associations

ABSTRACT Achieving energy efficiency in the built environment requires extensive efforts in the renovation and adaptation of housing stock. A promising design solution is the heat pump. While gas boiler systems are commonly used in Dutch non-profit housing stock, the share of dwellings with a heat pump grew from 1.6% in 2017 to 3.2% in 2021. However, building characteristics and the energy consumption of dwellings with a heat pump are unclear. Therefore, a dataset of 69,422 dwellings with different types of heat pumps has been examined and compared to dwellings with a traditional HR107 condensing gas boiler. This research reports average characteristics and the average actual energy consumption of dwellings with all-electric, hybrid and gas absorption heat pump systems. Dwellings with a heat pump system are on average of higher building quality, their gas consumption is lower and their electricity consumption is higher than dwellings with an HR107 condensing gas boiler. Detailed insight is provided for dwellings with different heat pump systems and for dwellings with different building characteristics. Further research to determine the energy performance of dwellings with specific heat pump configurations is recommended in light of the energy transition in the built environment.

Towards a future sustainable housing stock

This thesis examines the energy performance of dwellings of Dutch non-profit housing associations towards a future sustainable housing stock. Improving the energy performance of dwellings aims to improve the quality of dwellings and therewith to lower the actual energy consumption. Lowering the actual energy consumption of dwellings contributes to the battle against climate change. This thesis addresses four studies. Study 1 assesses the energy performance progress of over two million dwellings of Dutch non-profit housing associations between 2017 and 2020. It gives insights into the development of the housing stock, the effect of changes of and within the stock, the effect of characteristics of housing associations and it relates the improvement of the energy performance to the sectoral goal. Study 2 assesses advanced models to improve estimations of actual energy consumption of dwellings and therewith to better estimate the effect of renovation measures on actual energy savings. Study 3 assesses the energy performance of dwellings with heat pumps. It gives insights into the energy performance of dwellings with heat pumps as a promising renovation measure towards a future sustainable housing stock. Study 4 assesses the process to create a model to benchmark the energy performance in a changing policy context. The four studies contribute to the understanding of the improvement of the energy performance of dwellings of non-profit housing associations towards a future sustainable housing stock.

The energy performance of dwellings of Dutch non-profit housing associations: Modelling actual energy consumption

In Europe, the energy performance of dwellings is measured using theoretical building energy models based on the Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD), which estimates the energy consumption of dwellings. However, literature shows large performance gaps between the theoretically predicted energy consumption and the actual energy consumption of dwellings. The goal of this paper is to investigate the extent to which empirical models provide more accurate estimations of actual energy consumption when compared to a theoretical building energy model, in order to estimate average actual energy savings of renovations. We used the Dutch non-profit housing stock to demonstrate the results. We examined three empirical models to predict the actual energy consumption of dwellings: a linear regression model, a non-linear regression model, and a machine learning model (GBM). This paper shows that these three models alleviate the performance gap by giving a good prediction of actual energy consumption on sectoral cross-sections. However, these models still have shortcomings when predicting the effects of specific renovation interventions, for example newly introduced heat pumps. The non-linear and machine learning model (GBM) outperform the theoretical model in terms of estimating energy savings through renovation interventions.

Monitoring energy performance improvement: insights from Dutch housing association dwellings

The Energy Performance of Buildings Directive (EPBD) enhanced the sustainable improvement of dwellings in the European Union. Member states formulated measurable goals to improve the housing stock, and monitoring systems were developed to give insights into the improvements. In the Netherlands, non-profit housing associations agreed to improve the quality of their housing stock to an average Dutch energy label B (energy index (EI NV) = 1.40) by 2020. Research assessing this progress over time is presented using an annual monitoring system based on 2.0 million energy performance calculations of 264 Dutch non-profit housing associations between 2017 and 2020. The assessment includes: a detailed description of the development of the state of the stock over time; the effect of changes to the stock (construction and demolition) and changes within the stock (different types of retrofit measures); and the different characteristics of non-profit housing associations. Insights from this research show which specific retrofit and other measures are adopted and have substantial impact over time. This provides a useful frame of reference for building stock analysis and accelerating the improvement of the building stock. It also creates a baseline of information for the future sustainable development of this particular stock. Practice relevance This research reveals which energy saving measures are most and least employed over time in Dutch non-profit housing associations sector. Large urban housing associations own a large share of the Dutch non-profit housing stock, and their dwellings have on average a lower energy rating. However, the improvement of their dwellings between 2017 and 2020 is higher than for smaller housing associations, which already have on average a higher energy rating. While the construction and demolition of dwellings contribute to 15.6% of the annual improvement, most of the improvement of the energy performance depends on retrofitting the existing stock. The trends are found to rely most on traditional measures (e.g. the installation of high-efficiency gas boilers and improved insulation). However, the rate of adding photovoltaic (PV) solar systems has increased rapidly in recent years, while futureproof systems (e.g. heat pumps and district heating) only have a steady adoption rate in this sector.

Affordable housing production for low income groups by land use zoning plans in harbor areas of Copenhagen

ABSTRACT Housing expenses have the highest share in household budgets of low-income groups in Copenhagen leading to affordability problems. To provide affordable housing (AH) for low-income groups, the municipality developed a zoning plan in 2015 aimed to reserve up to 25% of land for new AH production. This qualitative case study compares the affordability of homes produced by private sector and nonprofit housing associations for low-income young groups at the risk of poverty and families in North and South Harbor areas of Copenhagen. Also, this paper explores local housing partnership agreements since 2009 and zoning plan developments in Copenhagen since 2015. Findings present the role of local governments in shaping socio-economic structure and partnership agreements that led to the development of AH by land use zoning in Copenhagen. In North Harbor, there were no AH units for families and young groups until 2020 when they were produced according to this zoning plan. The discussion presents the AH development in the higher property value harbor areas as a small but promising solution and a leading example for other Scandinavian countries.

The energy performance of dwellings of non-profit housing associations in the Netherlands 2017 - 2018

Following regulation of the European Union, objectives were formulated to reduce energy consumption of the built environment in the Netherlands. For the stock of Dutch non-profit housing associations it was agreed to improve the average energy performance to an average energy index of 1.40 in 2020. This research assesses and gives insights in the progress to this objective for over 2.0 million dwellings of over 250 Dutch non-profit housing associations in 2017 and 2018. The assessment consists of an analysis of applied renovation measures, changes of the stock like new construction and demolishing, and clarifying characteristics of housing associations. It is concluded that large urban housing associations with adequate financial positions drive the improvement of the average sectoral energy performance. The improvement happens for a large part within the existing stock, mostly with traditional improvements like improved heating installations and improved insulation. Innovative solutions like: photovoltaic solar systems, combined heat and power systems, biomass systems, heat pumps and external heating, are responsible for a relative small part of the improvement within renovations. New construction and demolishing are also responsible for a relative small part of the annual improvement, but there is potential to improve this.

The Power of Institutional Legacies: How Nineteenth Century Housing Associations Shaped Twentieth Century Housing Regime Differences between Germany and the United States

AbstractComparative welfare and production regime literature has so far neglected the considerable cross-country differences in the sphere of housing. The United States became a country of homeowners living in cities of single-family houses in the twentieth century. Its housing policy was focused on supporting private mortgage indebtedness with only residual public housing. Germany, on the contrary, remained a tenant-dominated country with cities of multi-unit buildings. Its housing policy has been focused on construction subsidies to non-profit housing associations and incentives for savings earmarked for financing housing. The article claims that these differences are the outcome of different housing institutions that had already emerged in the nineteenth century. Germany developed non-profit housing associations and financed housing through mortgage banks, both privileging the construction of rental apartments. In the United States, savings and loan associations favored mortgages for owner-occupied, single-family house construction. When governments intervened during housing crises in the 1920/1930s, they aimed their subsidies at these existing institutions. Thus, US housing policy became finance-biased in favor of savings and loan associations, while Germany supported the housing cooperatives.

Risk, resilience and effectiveness in the non-profit sector: the case of housing associations

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine emergent risk and resilience strategies being adopted by non-profit housing associations faced with uncertainties as a result of public funding austerity and the implications of welfare reform. Design/methodology/approach – The study draws on an evidence review of the impacts of welfare reform on social housing conducted for the Scottish Government and on analysis of annual reports, circulars and other grey literature, including risk registers produced by a range of housing providers in Scotland. Findings – In some associations, exposure to new risks is generating fresh thinking about effectiveness and performance measurement, and is also stimulating the development of new strategies and activities aimed at creating a more resilient business model. Practical implications – Managers of non-profit housing providers need to focus on both risk and resilience if they are to successfully combine conventional business accountability with their obligations to tenants and the local communities their organisations serve. Social implications – Housing associations are a key gatekeeper protecting and supporting vulnerable tenants and disadvantaged communities from the impacts of austerity and welfare reform. It is essential that as organisations they effectively manage risk and develop resilient principles that allow them to continue as ongoing concerns into the long term. Originality/value – The paper asks challenging questions about the link between the purpose or mission of an organisation and its conceptualisation of risk, arguing that resilience is a vital consideration alongside risk for non-profit organisations with a social mission.

Ownership status, symbolic traits, and housing association attractiveness: evidence from the German residential market

This study investigates whether the non-profit and for-profit status of housing associations implies a symbolic meaning and represents an informational cue that potential renters may value. Referring to the stereotype content model, we examine the relationship between renters’ perceptions of the stereotypical dimensions of ‘competence’ and ‘warmth’ of management-related images and, subsequently, rental housing attractiveness. Using a between-subject-experimental design (for-profit vs. non-profit housing associations) in a German rental market context, a sample of 200 respondents was placed in a hypothetical rental offering situation and asked to evaluate the rental provider with respect to stereotypical perceptions. The study results show that the extent to which the management of a housing association is perceived to behave unselfishly and consistently with moral codes (warmth) and is able to bring about one's intent (competence) are positively related to rental housing attractiveness. The results imply that symbolic trait inferences have incremental value beyond the instrumental attributes of a rental offering, such as rental price or housing comfort, in the explanation of rental housing attractiveness. For a citizen-oriented rental housing policy, the study suggests that policy-makers should make reflections on the limitations of privatisation measures and should promote the capacity of public and non-profit rental offers and housing associations.

The credit crunch and subsidized low-income housing: the UK and US experience compared

This paper examines how the mortgage crisis and subsequent recession have affected subsidized rental housing in the United Kingdom and the United States. These two nations approach the housing needs of low-income households in very different ways and to very different degrees. In the UK, non-profit housing associations are pivotal to the production and management of affordable rental housing; in the US, the affordable housing system revolves mostly around a single program, the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Yet the crisis destabilized key parts of both countries’ subsidy systems and raised important questions about their sustainability in the future. The UK responded sooner and arguably more effectively than the US to the crisis. However, over the longer term, the prospects for affordable housing development are likely to be more difficult in the UK than in the US.

Public housing and the value of apartment quality to households

The application of hedonic price approaches to obtain estimates of the households' value of apartment characteristics is invalid for regulated housing markets such as public housing. We introduce and apply an alternative method that allows us to estimate the renters' marginal willingness to pay for apartment characteristics based on residential mobility. We focus on the households' marginal willingness to pay for quality of apartments. We find that, on average, households place a monetary value on quality which is close to the non-profit housing associations' costs of providing quality.

Kollektivhuse – Hovedstaden på forkant

Selv om der blev etableret visse fælles foranstaltninger i noget af det filantropiske byggeri, der skød frem i 1850'erne og 60'erne, hørte det egentlige kollektivhus det 20. århundrede til: En boligbebyggelse med selvstændige lejligheder, i nogle tilfælde for grupper med særlige boligbehov, med tilknyttede fællesfaciliteter for beboerne. I udgangspunktet centralkøkken med spisesal og restaurant, andre aflastende servicetilbud for den daglige husførelse, daginstitution, indkøbsmuligheder og senere tillige selskabslokaler, gæstehotel, hobbylokaler m.m.<br /><br />Abstract<br />As one of the first places in Europe, cooperative housing was built on Frederiksberg in 1903 by a philanthropic building society under the management of principal Otte Fick. During the years 1916-1930, the Danish Welfare State's housing policy was established. In this connection, the municipality of Copenhagen stood behind the policy by subsidizing eight blocks of cooperative housing - in all<br />1,125 flats - through a considerable amount of public funds. In Copenhagen itself and on Frederiksberg, non-profit housing associations as well as entrepreneurs supported this policy.<br />While most of the cooperative housing had central kitchens with dining rooms, some had a number of common facilities such as day-care centres, domestic help and/or modern washers and dryers. Some of the cooperative housing also had a local grocery store for the residents and the surrounding neighbourhood.<br />The cooperative housing was planned by some of the leading architects of that era and the majority of the flats had a room with a box bed, a small kitchen and an entrance hall; and all the flats had a toilet, a shower, and central heating. There was also a plan which encompassed flats facing out to corridors. The design of the cooperative housing included closed or open courtyards, L-shaped houses,<br />or blocks of flats surrounded by small gardens. Furthermore, it was considered innovative to build residential properties intended for certain social groups that had specific housing requirements. On the housing market, it was particularly troublesome to acquire self-contained flats for single parents with children and<br />elderly women - primarily people from the working class and the lower middle class.<br />In 1930, the Danish capital, comprised of Copenhagen and Frederiksberg, was on the forefront of housing development compared to the rest of Denmark and internationally. It would also create an important foundation for widespread building construction of cooperative housing in the future. However, this type of housing never really caught on in the ordinary construction business in the<br />20th century. On the other hand, it succeeded in positioning itself as an essential means of housing especially for both handicapped and elderly people.<br />

Organizational Networks in a Corporatist Housing System Non-Profit Housing Associations and Housing Politics in Vienna, Austria

Organizational Networks in a Corporatist Housing System Non-Profit Housing Associations and Housing Politics in Vienna, Austria

The Role of Danish Non-profit Housing Associations in Improving Danish Housing Conditions

The Role of Danish Non-profit Housing Associations in Improving Danish Housing Conditions