Apartment Occupants Research Articles

Between Laws and Trends: Unraveling the Dynamics of Vertical Housing Units’ Development under Institutional Forces in the Brazilian Amazon

This paper is based on the recognition of a phenomenon occurring in the real estate market of Belém, Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon. The phenomenon refers to the relative increase in the size of the balconies of residential apartments launched in the city between 2005 and 2017 by construction companies, with the aim of increasing the number of units built per tower. Given that balconies were originally areas of low frequency for the occupants of apartments in this region, the aim of this article was to identify and analyze the institutional factors that support this product development strategy, which is becoming increasingly consolidated among companies. To investigate this phenomenon, we collected data from official documents provided by the Municipal Urban Planning Department (Secretaria Municipal de Urbanismo—SEURB), specifically focusing on the launch of residential high-rise buildings during the specified period. Regression techniques with ordinary least squares methods were applied, as well as econometric models of spatial autocorrelation. The results of the hypothesis tests confirmed the relationship between the restrictive parameters imposed by the city’s Urban Master Plan and the relative increase in apartment balconies. The spatial autocorrelation models confirmed the spatial spillover effect, showing that apartment projects with this characteristic tend to be concentrated in certain areas of the city, influencing each other. In order to discuss this phenomenon, the institutional theory was the protagonist of the analysis, showing how an organizational strategy can adapt to the authority that regulates the occupation of urban land in the city, meeting the two market forces and the demand and supply of apartments.

Reactive oxygen species on indoor surfaces.

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are relatively unstable oxygen-containing radicals or non-radicals, some of which may react with tissues and biomolecules after entering the body. ROS is present in indoor aerosols, but it is unclear how much of that ROS is of indoor origin. Indoor surface films have been hypothesized to be a major source of the ROS observed on indoor aerosols. In this study, the ROS concentration on residential indoor surfaces was measured using a xylenol orange ferrous oxidation assay after wiping and extraction. On genuine surfaces frequently touched by apartment occupants, the concentration was >0.2 nmol cm-2; infrequently touched surfaces were at or below detection limits. On clean glass plates that had been deployed in apartments for 6 weeks, horizontal plates had higher concentrations than vertically oriented plates. The highest concentration, 1.3 nmol cm-2, was observed on a horizontally oriented plate close to an electric stove. To simulate the dynamic oxidation of unsaturated hydrocarbons on indoor surfaces, a surface lipid mixture (SLM) was dosed on 19 glass plates which were then exposed to untreated laboratory air for periods ranging from 1 to 56 days. During the first 5-6 days, the ROS concentration increased roughly linearly to a maximum of 5-6 nmol cm-2. Then the concentration ceased to increase, perhaps because reactive sites had become depleted. After 2 weeks, ROS decreased slowly, possibly due to a combination of volatilization, decomposition and continued formation by autoxidation. These field and laboratory results support the hypothesis that indoor surfaces can be a source of ROS.

Biophilic design: an effective design approach during pandemic and post-pandemic

PurposeThe emergence of Covid-19 and its epidemic features have affected many people around the world. Regardless of the physical and psychological problems caused by it, people must isolate themselves from their surroundings. This problem is more intense in urban areas where people live in crowded apartments and high-rise buildings. During the lockdown, residents of such buildings suffered from disconnection from nature, in addition to the lack of communication with others. As most multi-story apartments and residential complexes do not have separate green spaces and do not provide a safe connection to nature for occupants, it is very tough for the residents of these buildings to endure the disease, and occupants are more vulnerable to disease. Accordingly, this study proposes the biophilic design as an effective approach to provide a secure connection with nature in residential complexes and high-rise apartments.Design/methodology/approachThe questionnaire method was used in this study to analyze the raised hypotheses. Two types of residential zones were selected for the survey and comparing the results. One is apartment units without dedicated green space, and the other is villa houses with private green space. Size of the sample population include 300 people (150 residents of an apartment block and 150 residents of villa homes).FindingsStrict restrictions during the pandemic have prevented people from connecting with nature, especially in urban areas, owing to the lack of separated and dedicated green spaces, whereas connection with nature can be healing and lead to relieving anxiety and stress in this era based on the approved research. Accordingly, applying a biophilic approach to the design process would be helpful.Research limitations/implicationsThe lack of a biophilic project to observe was one of the limitations of this study. Being an available biophilic project in the surroundings could be very helpful to observe and acquire comprehensive knowledge and experiences from the handlers and users of biophilic buildings.Practical implicationsThis study can be beneficial for patients, individuals and occupants of apartments and residential complexes in urban areas who suffer from distance from nature and green spaces during the restrictions of pandemics such as Covid-19.Originality/valueThis study proposes the use of biophilic architecture in the design process of residential complexes and high-rise apartments to provide isolated and dedicated green spaces for occupants, especially during the lockdown when people have been deprived of parks and public green spaces.

The nexus between urban green space, housing type, and mental health

IntroductionMomentum for urban densification is increasing opportunities for apartment-living, but can result in reduced green space availability that negatively influences mental health. However, in contexts where apartment-living is atypical and commonly viewed as secondary to house-ownership, it may be a stressful antecedent condition (or marker of selective processes aligned with psychological distress) wherein occupants could benefit disproportionately from green space.MethodData were extracted from the Sax Institute’s 45 and Up Study baseline (2006–2009, n = 267,153). The focus was on subsets of 13,196 people living in apartments and 66,453 people living in households within the cities of Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong. Multilevel models adjusted for confounders tested associations between psychological distress (Kessler 10 scale) with percentage total green space, tree canopy and open grass within 1.6 km road network buffers.ResultsPsychological distress was higher in occupants of apartments (11.3%) compared with houses (7.9%). More green space was associated with less psychological distress for house-dwellers (OR = 0.94, 95% CI = 0.91–0.98), but there was no association for apartment-dwellers. More tree canopy was associated with lower psychological distress for house-dwellers (OR = 0.88, 95% CI = 0.85–0.92) and apartment-dwellers (OR = 0.87, 95% CI = 0.79–0.96). Open grass was associated with more psychological distress among house-dwellers (OR = 1.06, 95% CI = 1.00–1.13) and also for apartment-dwellers (OR = 1.20, 95% CI = 1.07–1.35).ConclusionsOverall, investments in tree canopy may benefit the mental health of house and apartment residents relatively equally. Urban tree canopy in densely populated areas where apartments are common needs to be protected. Further work is needed to understand factors constraining the prevention potential of open grass, to unlock its benefits for mental health.

Mitigating the toilet flush noise: A psychometric analysis of noise assessment and design of labyrinthine acoustic Meta-absorber for noise mitigation.

Modern apartments in major cities are usually made of lightweight structures with inadequate acoustic properties, leading to a growing number of noise complaints by residents of inadequate sound insulation in high-rise buildings. When a toilet is flushed, loud and irregular sounds like humming, gurgling, or bubbling, "explosive" fury from vacuum-assisted toilets are generated. Though these toilet flushing sounds are not very harmful, they can still be perceived as nuisances by users nearby. The toilet flushing noise has posed a serious concern among apartment occupants and adjacent residents, causing health problems like sleep disturbance and irritation. In this study, the psychoacoustical investigations have been performed in four stages. In the first stage, the toilet flushing noise was recorded for several toilets with two designs: a close-coupled floor-mount toilet and a back-to-wall mount toilet. The second stage evaluated the physical and psychoacoustical characteristics of those recorded flushing sounds using psychoacoustic analysis software. The noise qualities were determined in the third stage by assessing autocorrelation function/interaural cross correlation function factors from the post-processed recorded sound data. Finally, we designed and successfully demonstrated an innovative acoustic meta-absorber prototype for mitigating the toilet flushing noise. The results have revealed a significant reduction in loudness because of meta-absorbers.

Urban shared energy systems and behaviour change − simulating a common pooled resource problem

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to test a new methodology for simulating shared electricity generation among small groups of neighbours with Ostrom’s (1994) principles of common pool resource (CPR) (human behaviour-based) efficiencies. The approach does not anticipate exclusive off-grid communities but instead, diverse energy users taking advantage of the averaging effects of aggregation, the social benefits of a CPR and direct action on emissions.Design/methodology/approachThe study tested three groups of five adjacent − or same-building − neighbours for three months to measure how electricity demand (import) is affected by an in-home display issuing nudges and sanctions by the group around a simulated (limited capacity) shared solar and battery system. A control group of six homes’ energy data was obtained for the same period.FindingsTwo groups reduced their energy demand with weak but significant correlation between stimulus and reduced energy demand and one group increased demand. There were no significant effects in time-of-use behaviours.Research limitations/implicationsThe study shows that the interaction between consumers and energy systems can in this instance be simulated with inexpensive equipment. Studying dynamic interactions between people and systems provides new data where supply simulations have been one-sided. There is support in this work that the energy supply can be presented as a rivalrous commons system.Practical implicationsUrban adjacent neighbours (and apartment occupants in the same building or campus) exhibit emergent group behaviours around electricity use conservation and time-of-use. Managing energy demand is very difficult but very important for making consumer behaviour “fit” the future supply of energy which may be unreliable and limited.Social implicationsThere are likely social benefits and other overflow benefits when neighbours can share a critical resource. There are other critical services that may be managed according to the Ostrom commons principles. The sharing group will be more resilient in terms of electricity but also in terms of social capital.Originality/valueThe work builds on the work of Rachel Coxcoon and others who have identified that groups perform better at certain challenges than individuals do. This aligns with scale and operational efficiencies in shared renewable energy infrastructure. Shaping behaviour and the generation systems together for optimal outcomes is new work.

Indoor Thermal Comfort Improvement through the Integrated BIM-Parametric Workflow-Based Sustainable Renovation of an Exemplary Apartment in Seoul, Korea

Apartment buildings are the most common housing typology in South Korea. The mass construction of apartment neighborhoods during a period of rapid economic growth (1970–1997) involved the minimization of material use and quality, as well as industrialized construction processes. Accordingly, apartment buildings require essential renovation after only 20 years of operation. This study focuses on the improvement of thermal comfort for the renovation of an exemplary apartment building based on an integrated Building Information Modeling (BIM) and parametric software framework. The existing apartment was reconstructed with BIM software, and the virtual model was utilized for a parametric building energy simulation to calculate the thermal comfort condition of occupants during the entire year. The thermal comfort analysis results defined the criteria for the development of an enhanced building envelope system characterized by modular panels. The parametric energy simulation was executed for the renovated apartment condition with the enhanced envelope system, and the thermal comfort improvements were quantified by comparing the results for the apartment condition before and after renovation. This study aims to provide the tools and criteria for the comfort analysis of apartment occupants, as well as propose sustainable solutions for the improvement of thermal comfort in aged buildings with similar conditions, internal distribution, and construction components.

Summer sleep quality and change of bedroom thermal environment – from the beginning to the end of sleep

Relations between bedroom thermal environment changes and subjective sleep quality and thermal comfort were surveyed for 63 apartment occupants during midsummer in Osaka. Changes of Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) of 123 air-conditioned and 41 naturally ventilated nights were compared. 1) For air-conditioned bedrooms, sleep quality was better for smaller changes of WBGT from the beginning of sleep and for faster changes of WBGT to constant from the beginning of sleep. 2) For naturally ventilated bedrooms, a) WBGT increased from the beginning of sleep and decreased toward the end of sleep for higher sleep quality nights. However, WBGT decreased from the beginning of sleep and increased toward the end of sleep for lower sleep quality nights. b) The WBGT change was smaller for thermally comfortable nights.

Modifying behaviour to save energy at home is harder than we think…

A 2-year study was carried out in a sample of 120 apartments in two cities in Israel, Jerusalem and Nesher, in which different strategies to influence energy consumption were tested using an interventional case-control design. Socio-demographic attributes of individual households were recorded and building thermal performance was evaluated by detailed computer simulation. Attitudes of the study participants to environmental issues were assessed to identify potential motivations for energy savings. Although year-on-year energy consumption increased for exogenous reasons in all test groups, in Jerusalem the increase in the maximum intervention group (which received detailed information on energy consumption patterns over time, and individually tailored energy-saving tips) was 2.5%, compared to 9.5% in the reference group, which received only generic energy saving tips. The difference among groups in Nesher was not significant. A multivariate analysis confirmed that the attempt to influence apartment occupants’ behaviour failed to generate a statistically significant reduction in domestic energy consumption. The study underlines the importance of controlling for endogenous factors, such as weather and building thermal performance, while evaluating the effectiveness of different intervention strategies, to avoid potentially wrong inferences about the effectiveness of such strategies. We conclude that effective behaviour modification may require repeated implementation of a broad range of tools over a sustained period of time.

Social Capital and Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of Public Rental Apartment Occupants: Study at Jambangan Rusun Surabaya

Housing needs in major cities in Indonesia are increasing due to urbanization. The solution taken by the government is to provide rental housing (rusunawa). Low income families who initially live in slums need some adaption when moving into the rusunawa. The purpose of this research is to analyze the socio-demographic relationships of families, social capital and subjective well-being (SWB). Using quantitative method and household survey, this study was conducted by giving questionnaires and interview to 90 residents of 396 rusunawa units. The study use regression analysis. Thus, the result shows that social capital, the social network, and trust, determine the SWB. If SWB is an indicator of the process of adaption of a person or family in a new place, in this study, we concluded that these two variables were very important for the resident. Using social networking and trust, these residents can adjust to a new housing milieu.

Determination of an acceptable comfort zone for apartment occupants in South Korea: An empirical analysis of cooling operation

Occupants of apartment blocks tend to wear less clothing and exhibit lower metabolic rates than occupants of other building types. Further, the use of air conditioning systems to maintain certain comfort levels within living spaces automatically generates financial cost.Therefore, in this study, an acceptable comfort range that differs from the conventional normative comfort range was established. A thermal comfort control method was designed to satisfy both the economic and comfort requirements, and experiments were conducted accordingly. Subsequently, empirical data on cooling were obtained via surveys and measurements and employed to derive regression equations for the thermal sensation vote, comfort sensation vote, and percentage dissatisfaction, which indicate occupant comfort. The derived regression equations were used to graph the comfort range, and the overlap region was plotted on a psychrometric chart to enable identification of an acceptable comfort zone.The suggested acceptable comfort zone, which applies to apartment blocks in Korea, is outside the conventionally recommended comfort zone and can satisfy various occupant preferences, contribute to reducing energy consumption, and facilitate maintenance of comfortable living environments.

Incorporating user values into housing design through indirect user participation using MEC-QFD model

This study aims to incorporate user values into housing design. Incorporating user values is essential for developing quality housing. Data was gathered in three stages using the Means-End Chain and Quality Function Deployment models. To identify the factors that create values, the MEC model was conducted using soft laddering interviews with 15 apartment occupants in Bushehr, Iran. Next, weight assessments were done for value creators. With data from the first phase, a hard laddering questionnaire survey of MEC was created and distributed among 150 respondents. Nine architects developed design strategies in a focus group discussion to establish the House of Quality of QFD based on responses. The developed strategies involved four main categories including Building Organizational Emphasis, Interior Design Emphasis, Exterior Design Emphasis, and Indoor Environmental Emphasis. The combination of MEC and QFD facilitates indirect user participation and fulfills person environment congruence.

A Comparative Study on Sick Building Syndrome by Apartment Unit Plan with and without Cross Ventilation

The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of different types of apartment unit plan on symptoms related to SBS. The apartment floor plans covered in this study are divided between two types: plans with and without cross ventilation. The major methodology for the study was a survey that used an array of question items selected from preceding research related to SBS and preliminary study. The survey was conducted in August and September 2012 (summer), a season reported to show a higher rate of occurrence of SBS, and surveyed a total of 120 households, 60 households for each apartment plan type. The conclusion drawn from the findings of the survey is as follows. First, SBS symptoms were reported to occur from one and a half to two times more frequently among occupants of apartments without a cross ventilation floor plan than among those with a floor plan allowing cross ventilation. Second, narrow and enclosed spaces with built-in closets, such as entryways or bathrooms, were found to be more commonly associated with SBS symptoms. Even the living room was cited as among the areas associated with SBS symptoms by occupants of apartments with a floor plan lacking cross ventilation. Third, a majority of occupants were found to use ″bake-out″ to reduce the effects of SBS, but their satisfaction with this measure was low. As for ″natural ventilation,″ the level of satisfaction was reported to be higher among the occupants of cross ventilation plan apartments, but relatively lower among their counterparts.

Identifying preferences of apartment dwellers: a case study in Michigan, USA

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the current affordable apartment dwelling quality attributes, and the preferences of eastern Michigan's urban young and poor, with a view to making recommendations for improvement based on findings.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through the questionnaire instrument administered to a representative sample of 32 apartment dwellers. Some ordinal ranking scales were developed and treated in a quantitative manner by assigning ordered Likert scores to them, while others were measured using ratio scales. Spearman rho's correlation and Kruskal–Wallis H test were conducted on the data.Findings – Among the key conclusions, it was observed that the choice to dwell in an apartment may be simply deliberate and a real preference, and not necessarily connected with income, gender or age. The overwhelmingly majority of apartment occupants rejected to pay more for environmentally sustainable apartments.Research limitations/implications – It is acknowle...

Symptoms and Perceived Indoor Air Quality among Occupants of Houses and Apartments with Different Ventilation Systems

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the occurrence of symptoms and the perception of poor indoor air quality among the occupants of houses and apartments with different ventilation systems. The study population consisted of the 473 occupants of 242 dwellings in the Helsinki metropolitan area who responded to a self-administered questionnaire (response rate 93.1%) after a two-week period of indoor air quality measurements. The symptoms of interest were those often related to poor indoor air quality including dryness or itching of the skin; dryness, irritation or itching of the eyes; nasal congestion (“blocked nose”) nasal dry-ness; nasal discharge (“runny nose”); sneezing; cough; breathlessness; headache or migraine; and lethargy, weakness or nausea. Perception of coldness; warm-ness; draught; dryness; stuffiness; and sufficiency of air exchange was also requested. The age-standardized period prevalences of the symptoms and complaints were systematically more common among the occupants of the apartments than those of the houses. The occupants of the houses with natural ventilation seemed to have more symptoms and complaints than those with balanced ventilation. However, in the apartments with balanced ventilation the occupants reported, in general, more symptoms and complaints than those with natural ventilation.