Public Apartment Research Articles

Balancing thermal comfort and energy efficiency in high-rise public housing in Hong Kong: Insights and recommendations

As global warming intensifies, passive design for public housing in hot and humid climates has become a pressing issue. Achieving a balance between thermal comfort and energy conservation is particularly challenging in low-income public rental housing, where residents may endure extended periods of uncomfortable and unhealthy thermal conditions without resorting to air conditioning. In this study, EnergyPlus simulations are employed in combination with a novel thermal-comfort-based HVAC control approach to evaluate the performance of 14 Passive Cooling Strategies (PCS) in optimizing thermal comfort and energy conservation in high-rise public apartments of various sizes and orientations in Hong Kong, particularly under extreme summer conditions. The results reveal that, during extreme summer weather, the implementation of PCS primarily enhances thermal comfort conditions in May and September, while facing challenges in creating comfortable conditions during peak summer months. Most PCSs struggle to improve indoor comfort while simultaneously reducing energy consumption, with two exceptions: 1) Cross-ventilation-based designs enhance thermal comfort without increasing cooling energy consumption. 2) With energy-saving HVAC and opening control behavior, coupled with the use of fans for improving indoor thermal comfort, all PCSs can achieve a simultaneous improvement in thermal comfort and a reduction in cooling energy consumption. This results in a reduction in summer air-conditioning operation time of up to 50% and a decrease in air-conditioning cooling energy consumption of up to 30%. Regarding the impact of building size and orientation: 1) Small apartments show a heightened sensitivity to PCSs, particularly concerning indoor temperature, thermal comfort, and cooling energy consumption. 2) The influence of building orientation on cooling and comfort time in any PCS varies by less than 10% of its average and is even lower in PCSs with lower internal heat gain.

Embodied energy and carbon assessment of existing affordable apartments in Indonesia

ABSTRACT The Indonesian government is making a tremendous effort in the provision of affordable public apartments (Rusunawa) across the country. Rusunawa buildings were designed and built considering urban planning, environmental impact, architecture, strength, safety, health, comfort, and accessibility requirements. However, in terms of climate change mitigation, there is little analysis of the building type’s embodied energy and carbon emissions. In this study, we investigated the Rusunawa buildings built by the central government, local government, and state-owned housing company considering the typical layout of the existing Rusunawa to identify the building’s embodied energy and carbon emissions using the cradle to end of use boundary. Rusunawa documents were collected and selected based on the required bill of quantity and drawings to quantify the building materials. The impacts of typical building materials on the embodied energy and carbon emissions of the roof, exterior wall, and partition wall were identified. The results showed that the building’s structural systems influenced the resultant embodied energy and carbon footprints the most, followed by walls, roof, painting, ceiling, doors and windows, and flooring. Among these structural systems, the precast concrete had a lower impact than the conventional reinforced concrete on these footprints. Overall, the Rusunawa buildings had an average embodied energy of 3950 to 8766 MJ/m2 and an average embodied carbon emissions of 328 to 871 kgCO2/m2. In particular, Rusunawa clusters, 1BR2 and 2BR1 had the smallest embodied energy and carbon emissions for the one- and two-bedroom apartment types. A high-rise Rusunawa had the smallest embodied energy and carbon emissions per floor area compared to those of low- and mid-rise. Several embodied energy and carbon values were proposed to be the baselines for the future lower-carbon Rusunawa design. These results could be adopted and developed for the central government’s regulations and guidelines to determine the current energy intensity and carbon emission of the existing Rusunawa and also to verify the future Rusunawa design.

Legal Protection for Consumers Due to Default in Handing Over Flat Units

This research aims to understand legal protection for consumers due to default in the delivery of apartment units. The research method used by the author is a type of normative juridical research carried out using a statutory approach and a conceptual approach. The research results show that legal protection for consumers is provided through Articles 4 and 7 of the Consumer Protection Law which provides firm and clear direction regarding the rights and obligations of developers and consumers in terms of buying and selling apartment units. It is also regulated in Article 97 of the Condominium Law which states that every actor constructing commercial apartments may not neglect his obligation to provide public apartments for at least 20% (twenty percent) of the area of ​​the commercial apartment building being constructed. The Condominium Law also requires sellers (legal entities) to fulfill technical, administrative and civil requirements with the threat of administrative, civil and criminal sanctions in accordance with the provisions of Article 108 of the Condominium Law.

Assessing the impacts of climate-induced resettlement on livelihood vulnerability: A case study in Jakarta Special Province, Indonesia

Preventive resettlement can mitigate the risks of climate-induced disasters for people living in vulnerable areas. However, given the risks of resettlement, especially its impact on resettlers' livelihoods, it is important to identify individuals whose livelihoods are changed by climate-induced resettlement. This study evaluates a climate-induced resettlement project in a flood-prone area in Jakarta Special Province, Indonesia. The study identified changes in the livelihood vulnerability of resettled households by using the Livelihood Vulnerability Index, which comprises seven major components: socio-demographic profile, livelihood strategy, social networks, health, water, finance, and exposure. We conducted a questionnaire survey in five Rusunawa (public apartments) with 312 households that had resettled from nine original communities. We asked about resettlers' socio-economic status, jobs and income, physical condition, receipt of subsidies, and flood damage before and after resettlement. The values of each indicator in Livelihood Vulnerability Index before and after resettlement were calculated to demonstrate how households' livelihoods changed after the resettlement. The results showed that the exposure, livelihood strategy, and health components of vulnerability were significantly reduced after respondents moved to a less flood-prone location, the built environment of the Rusunawa, and due to the government subsidies associated with the resettlement project. In contrast, other major components, such as social networks, water access, and finance, became more vulnerable due to the loss of kinship and economic activity that had roots in the respondents’ original communities.

Analysis of Typical Layout of Apartment Buildings in Indonesia

It is important to determine typical layouts of residential buildings, even in developing countries for standardization towards a zero-carbon society. In Indonesia, housing development in cities continues rising in parallel with high urbanization rates. This study aims to determine the typical layouts of apartments in Indonesia through qualitative and quantitative building typological analyses. A hierarchical cluster analysis was conducted using the building drawing information constructed across Indonesia from 1986 to 2021. A total of 268 public apartments and 268 private apartments from several major cities were included in the datasets, respectively. As a result, six typical layouts for public apartments and thirteen typical layouts for private apartments were determined for both 1BR and 2BR units. Furthermore, four typical unit layouts from public and private apartments associated with building-scale classifications were proposed, respectively, as the base models for the current typical apartments in Indonesia. The results showed that Indonesian public apartments tended to sacrifice semi-open spaces, such as a wide corridor and an internal void space, to increase the size of units and the number of rooms. Meanwhile, most private apartments were constructed with double-loaded corridor systems without internal voids, which potentially cause poor natural ventilation. The proposed typical layouts will be useful for further building simulations as standard testing models, such as to determine the appropriate cooling techniques for low-carbon apartments.

Features of the urban environment associated with Aedes aegypti abundance in high-rise public apartments in Singapore: An environmental case-control study.

Aedes aegypti abundance in residential estates is hypothesized to contribute to localised outbreaks of dengue in Singapore. Knowing the factors in the urban environment underlying high Ae. aegypti abundance could guide intervention efforts to reduce Ae. aegypti breeding and the incidence of dengue. In this study, objective data on Ae. aegypti abundance in public apartment blocks estimated by Singapore's nationally representative Gravitrap surveillance system was obtained from the National Environmental Agency. Low and high abundance status public apartment blocks were classified based on the Gravitrap Aegypti Index, corresponding to the lowest and highest quartiles respectively. An environmental case-control study was conducted, wherein a blinded assessment of urban features hypothesised to form breeding habitats was conducted in 50 randomly sampled public apartment blocks with low and high abundance statuses each. Logistic regression was performed to identify features that correlated with abundance status. A multivariable logistic model was created to determine key urban features found in corridors and void decks which were predictive of the Ae. aegypti abundance status of the public apartment block. At a statistical level of significance of 0.20, the presence of gully traps [Odds Ratio (OR): 1.34, 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 1.10, 1.66], age of the public apartment block [OR: 2.23, 95% CI: 1.48, 3.60], housing price [OR: 0.33, 95% CI: 0.16, 0.61] and corridor cleanliness [OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.40, 1.07] were identified as important predictors of abundance status. To reduce Ae. aegypti abundance around public apartment blocks and potential onward dengue transmission, gully traps could be remodelled or replaced by other drainage types. Routine inspections of Ae. aegypti breeding should be targeted at older and low-income neighbourhoods. Campaigns for cleaner corridors should be promoted.

Classification of typical layout design for Indonesian apartment buildings

Along with rapid urbanization, housing development increased in major cities worldwide. Public and private apartments have been constructed rapidly in Indonesia to accelerate housing provision, particularly in urbanized areas of major cities. From the early era of apartment construction to the present, many design prototypes have been implemented for various specific purposes such as energy-saving. Nevertheless, no comprehensive study has determined a typical layout of apartment buildings in Indonesia. The typical layout design is useful as the base model for building simulations. This study sought to classify the typical layout design of public and private apartments in Indonesia, using the selected building drawing data ranging from 1986 to 2021. We obtained primary data consisting of 268 public apartments from 22 cities and 268 private apartments from 9 major cities in Indonesia. To determine the typical layouts, both qualitative and quantitative analyses were conducted. As a result of this study, a pair of typical public and private apartment buildings which include the 1-bedroom unit and 2-bedroom unit types have been selected as the typical layout of the Indonesian apartment building. The results of the typical layout classification could be utilized as a standard testing model for designing future apartment building prototypes.

Spatial Methods for Inferring Extremes in Dengue Outbreak Risk in Singapore.

Dengue is a major vector-borne disease worldwide. Here, we examined the spatial distribution of extreme weekly dengue outbreak risk in Singapore from 2007 to 2020. We divided Singapore into equal-sized hexagons with a circumradius of 165 m and obtained the weekly number of dengue cases and the surface characteristics of each hexagon. We accounted for spatial heterogeneity using max-stable processes. The 5-, 10-, 20-, and 30-year return levels, or the weekly dengue case counts expected to be exceeded once every 5, 10, 20, and 30 years, respectively, were determined for each hexagon conditional on their surface characteristics remaining constant over time. The return levels were higher in the country's east, with the maximum weekly dengue cases per hexagon expected to exceed 51 at least once in 30 years in many areas. The surface characteristics with the largest impact on outbreak risk were the age of public apartments and the percentage of impervious surfaces, where a 3-year and 10% increase in each characteristic resulted in a 3.8% and 3.3% increase in risk, respectively. Vector control efforts should be prioritized in older residential estates and places with large contiguous masses of built-up environments. Our findings indicate the likely scale of outbreaks in the long term.

Impacts of Changes in Traffic Conditions on Preference for Public Apartments

Impacts of Changes in Traffic Conditions on Preference for Public Apartments

Համատիրություն. պարտադրված կամավորություն/Condominium: Forced Volunteering

To this day, there is talk about the creation of condominiums in 1996, their good and bad sides, advantages, disadvantages and the expediency of applying this principle and speed. The Soviet model of multi -apartment building management, which operated in the cities of our republic and in Yerevan for about 80 years, including the first 5 -7 years of independence, had more components of the principle of state property management. Therefore, the modernization of that old model had to include the new realities and the fact that in the early 1990s public apartments in apart ­ ment buildings were privatized free of charge to the residents. What did the creation of condominiums give to the city authorities from the point of view of man ­aging and maintaining the housing fund? Concerns increased, or was the institute formed by condo ­miniums able to take on the burden of the systemic process, which until then was carried out by the housing management offices attached to the municipality? In the article, using the example of the city of Yerevan, we tried to find out to what extent the presence of condominiums and domestic activities have dispelled the concerns of apartment building owners and city authorities in terms of building management and maintenance.

A Study on the Importance Evaluation of Apartment Design Elements

As apartments have recently become more advanced and diversified, the Government of South Korea has expanded the design guidelines of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, which used to be applied only to public apartments, to private houses since March 2010. In addition, local governments’ policies, such as “the Seoul Metropolitan Government’s Building Standards” and “Gyeonggi-do Apartment Design Standards”, are also moving toward emphasizing the quality of housing design. This study aims to find out what are the most important elements of the design of apartments and community facilities. As a result of conducting Focus Group Interview (FGI) to related experts, 6 items on the design elements of apartment, 29 items on detailed design elements, 5 items on community facility design and 17 items on detailed design elements were derived. An analysis of the importance in design elements showed that the number one design element of apartments is the interior design and which also shows that residents consider the space they own more important. The most important element of community facility design is the outdoor space and which is the most important for residents of residential complexes to have access to outdoor space for community exchange and bonding.

BIM Implementation On Design Phase Toward Low Embodied Energy Apartment: Comparative Study On 3 Alternatives Architectural Wall Materials

One of the efforts to decrease environmental impact due to construction activities is by reducing Embodied Energy in design phase. In the design phase, EE can be associated with the usage of construction materials. On the other hand, the Building Information Modeling (BIM) can be an alternative approach in improving the effectiveness and efficiency material usage. The aim of this paper is to explain how to implement BIM in calculating and reducing the value of EE. The research methodology is a mix qualitative-quantitative method that conducted by using a case study and utilized BIM model of low-cost public apartment. The EE calculation is based on material properties of the BIM model and it also depends on the unit price analysis of each construction works. Furthermore, the Life Cycle Analysis (LCA) method is used to calculate the EE of materials properties value. In order to find the best EE reduction value, a comparison analysis is conducted that it compared the use of conventional materials (as alternative 1) and 2 types of substitution materials there are prefabricated wall panels and concrete masonry unit. Thus, the EE reduction value can be seen and the best low EE material will be used as a reference in the next phase of the construction process.

The external renders of the early 20th century architecture

External renders are an essential part of the architecture of the first half of the 20th century. The aesthetic effect of such plasterwork was achieved by surface treatment, colouring or by using various filler components that acted with their colour or structure. The binder of the plasters was most often Portland cement which played an important role in the processing of plasters or surface finishes, and in addition, formed the functional properties of the plasters (hardness, durability, resistance to external conditions).This paper summarizes the results of a survey focused on the characterization of components used for the creation of external rendering taken from several architecturally significant buildings in the city of Brno dating back to the first half of the 20th century (villas, apartment buildings, public apartment houses). The survey into the collected samples performed by means of petrographic (light polarizing microscopy) and phase (powder X-ray diffraction) analysis revealed interesting information concerning the wide range of materials (components) used and the craftsmanship involved in their processing, all of which fundamentally influence the art-craft and utility properties of the buildings. The information gathered can serve as an important source of information for the renovation of early 20th century architecture.

Partnership Scheme Alternatives for Low-Cost Rental Public Apartment in Indonesia

The low-cost apartment development program is one of the reliable solutions to reduce housing backlog in Indonesia, especially in some major cities, due to land scarcity and high price of land. In order to accelarate the low-cost apartment, either ownership or rental apartment, it needs the private sector’s involvement. However, it requires suitable partnership scheme to attract the private sector and to deal with the land provision problem. The objective of this study is to propose partnership scheme alternative for low-cost apartment. Interview to nine government officers (ministry and local) and three person from private sector companies have been conducted to explore the possibilities of the proposed scheme. The result shows that there two major groups of scheme alternatives, which are classified based on the land owner. The first group is the scheme, which government owns the land, while the second group is the scheme, which the land is owned by the private sector. The first group has three alternative schemes, while the second one has two alternative schemes.

A Study on the Possibility of Using the Community Facilities in Apartment Housing Complex for Aging in Place to the Elderly

Recently, in Korea, interest in the residential environment for practicing the Aging in Place has increased. The AIP is based on housing provision and care services. The purpose of this study is to explore the possibility of linking residential environments with care services. This study using the Contents Analysis method to explore the possibility of a caring environment used the community facilities in the apartment housing complex. This study’s results are as follows. First, welfare trends have been derived from the integration and linkage of related ministries and service contents for care, the generalization of caregivers, and comprehensiveness of service contents. Second, the function of the current care service is not a service that requires specialized facilities, so it can be installed in the community facilities of the apartment. Third, the community facilities in a private and public apartment have legal differences in the user and type of facilities, also the community facilities in a private apartment are uniformity. The welfare service facilities in a public apartment can accommodate care services, and the similarity of types of community facilities in a private apartment is an easy condition for accepting care services. Finally, the existing public apartment housing laws are already implementing a phased community facility system. Such a facility system requires amendment of laws and regulations that extend to the private sector.

중국 본토에서 홍콩으로 이주한 신이민자의 사회경제적 상태와 함의

This study set out to examine the social and economic causes of 2019 Hong Kong Protests instead of political ones as media and researchers reported that the Umbrella Revolution of Hong Kong in 2014 began with a political cause but had Hong Kong citizens’ social and economic complaints at its root. 2019 Hong Kong Protests also began with political causes including the Fugitive Offenders amendment bill and the guarantee of the Hong Kong system, but there are more and more data reporting that the deterioration of Hong Kong citizens’ social and economic life worked at the bottom of the protests. The present study focused on new immigrants under the ultimate goal of investigating the effects of increasing new immigrants on the lives of Hong Kong citizens. The results were as follows: first, the number of new immigrants was reduced recently. Recent data shows that the accumulated number of new immigrants amounts to 1.50 million, but the number of new immigrants with the settlement pass and that of inadmissible immigrants are dropping gradually in recent years; secondly, the study examined the economic state of new immigrants and found that their participation rate in labor continued to rise. The proportions of immigrants are increasing in service and sales and non-skilled labor, which will affect Hong Kong citizens that have worked in low-wage jobs. The income of new immigrants is rising, which means that their settlement in the Hong Kong society is accelerating; and finally, a look at the social state of new immigrants reveals that supports for the Comprehensive Social Security Assistance are decreasing over time with no big increase in expenditures. The percentage of public housing is dropping among new immigrants, whereas that of individual homes is rising among them, which indicates that their penetration into public housing, which Hong Kong citizens had concerns with, is not happening. Like income, the settlement of new immigrants in Hong Kong housing is intensified. In addition, the population using Putonghua is growing in Hong Kong. These results suggest that new immigrants are competing against Hong Kong citizens in economic aspects including employment and participation rates in labor in the Hong Kong society. There are, on the other hand, no negative influences including growing expenditures for new immigrants in Comprehensive Social Security Assistance. New immigrants do not violate the right of Hong Kong citizens in housing welfare including public apartments. Rising income, growing percentage of individual homes, and increasing use of Putonghua indicate that new immigrants have become stable in their settlement in the Hong Kong society. It means that the growing number of new immigrants has not exerted as negative effects on the lives of Hong Kong citizens as the citizens’ concerns.

No-Smoking Policy in Russia: Awareness and Perceptions Among Bashkortostan Adolescents

This study aims to describe adolescents’ knowledge and endorsement of tobacco policies in the Russian Federation. We first describe the history of tobacco control policies, and then examine Bashkortostan adolescents’ perceptions of current policies, as well as non-compliance. The Russian Federation has enacted several smoke-free policies that may reduce exposure to second-hand smoke. Among 716 high school students surveyed, over 90% correctly understood the smoke-free rules in public places, school, apartment hallways and elevators, and public transportation. However, only 24% understood that there were no such rules currently applied inside apartments. Approximately 40% witnessed non-compliance in public places and school and 61% in apartment stairs and elevators. The highest compliance was observed in public transportation (85%). Two thirds of 57 recent smokers had violated one of these policies. Adolescents disciplined or suspended from school were more likely to be non-compliant with no smoking policies. Better and widespread education on tobacco laws, enforcement, and potentially more severe penalties for violations should be implemented in the Russian Federation to increase compliance.

Apartment industry terminology in online news articles: a follow-up study

ABSTRACTThe right choice of words can have a remarkable effect on how the public views apartments, dispelling stereotypes through the use of more appropriate terminology. A leading multifamily housing organization suggests these terms be replaced with a more contemporary vocabulary:unit is replaced with apartment homecomplex is replaced by apartment communitytenant is dropped in favor of the term residentlandlord is rejected in favor of the term community managerAs the apartment industry continues to strive for and maintain a positive image, this investigation replicates an earlier study in which online news articles were reviewed for terminology considered more appropriate in the apartment industry to identify if use of appropriate terms has increased. Although the scope of articles was expanded for this study compared to the pilot study, findings showed that unfavorable terms were still being used in publications. This study has implications for the media and for the apartment industry, as well as opportunities for university classrooms and other researchers.

에이징 인 플레이스(Aging in Place) 개념을 고려한 공공임대아파트 커뮤니티시설의 노인공간 계획

This study paid attention to the elderly space considering Aging in Place in pubic rental apartment housing corresponding to the population aging. Along with general population aging, deep consideration on elderly space in public rental apartments is inevitable in that tenant qualification assume elderly over 65 years as preferential tenant and that in general the mentioned elderly tenants continue to reside over 8 years. Thus, the troublesome problems of public rental apartments with social exclusion and alienation has been made point of contention and the role of the elderly space in the community facilities has been reconsidered. This study aimed at suggesting elderly space planning scheme cultivating a sense of community by activating the community and activating the local community as a base for Healthcare of Community Facilities in 2030. This study has perceived the limit of existing community facilities through literature review of the theoretical survey and case analysis and performs quantitative analysis on connectivity between the Space size of the community facilities as interviewing with residents, managers, and analyzing drawings. This allows the residents in the complex, from local residents as well as aging facilities as necessary and not isolated from the local community through communication and communities responding to. Community facilities for elderly boost aging in place through space.

Survey on household energy consumption of public apartments in Bandung City, Indonesia

Indonesia has been experiencing population and high economic growth in line with rapid urbanization. As a consequence, the needs for living areas increased faster and enormous number of residential buildings, especially apartments, have been developed in major cities, such as Bandung, resulting in further growth of energy consumption.Thus, it is necessary to develop energy-saving sustainable apartments in Indonesia in order to cope with escalating energy issues. This paper reveals the detailed profiles of household energy consumption of apartments in Bandung City, Indonesia. A survey within the city was conducted (n=100) in 2016 to obtain household energy consumption data of public apartments. The detailed information about household appliances and domestic energy consumption profile among households were investigated through the face-to-face interviews and the measurement of appliances’ capacities by using the watt checker. The annual average energy consumption including electricity and gas was calculated. The results show that the annual average operational energy for public apartments are 9.8 GJ/year. The annual average energy for cooking accounts for the largest percentage (48%) of operational energy followed by refrigerator (27%), lighting (10%), entertainment (9%), cooling (3%), etc. The profiles of CO 2 emissions are similar with those of energy and the potential energy-saving strategies for apartments in Indonesia were proposed.