Outdoor Environmental Quality Research Articles

Application of convolutional neural network for efficient turbulence modeling in urban wind field simulation

Accurate flow field estimation is crucial for the improvement of outdoor environmental quality, but computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based on the widely used Reynolds-averaged Navier–Stokes method has limitations in this regard. This study developed a turbulence modeling framework based on a convolutional neural network (CNN) to model turbulence in urban wind fields. The CNN model was trained by learning the Reynolds stress patterns and spatial correlations with the use of high-fidelity datasets. Next, the model was integrated into the CFD solver to generate accurate and continuous flow fields. The generalization capability of the proposed framework was initially demonstrated on the simplified benchmark configurations. The validated framework was then applied to case studies of urban wind environments to further assess its performance, and it was shown to be capable of delivering accurate predictions of the velocity field around an isolated building. For more complex geometries, the proposed framework performed well in regions where the flow properties were covered by the training dataset. Moreover, the present framework provided a continuous and smooth velocity field distribution in highly complicated applications, underscoring the robustness of the proposed turbulence modeling framework.

Crowdsourced data as a strategic approach to include the human dimension in outdoor environmental quality assessments

Outdoor environments extend living spaces as venues for various activities. Comfortable open public spaces can positively impact citizens' health and well-being, thereby improving the livability and resilience of cities. Considering the visitors' perception of these environments in comfort studies is crucial for ensuring their well-being and promoting the use of these spaces. However, traditional survey methods may be time- and resource-consuming to gather significant sample sizes, usually focusing on selected homogeneous samples. Crowdsourced data, then, has emerged as an alternative for assessing human perception, as it eases the collection of subjective feedback and potentially amplifies impact and inclusivity. This study presents a strategic approach for analyzing publicly available and willingly reported crowdsourced data from a digital mapping platform in outdoor comfort evaluations, aiming to verify whether these data are informative regarding environmental quality perception and to identify the environmental factors that people are most sensitive to. Urban parks located in New York City served as a case study. A multi-source, interdisciplinary information framework combined crowdsourced reviews with environmental data used to determine prevailing thermal conditions. Overall perception of parks was well-rated, revealing that their attractions and activities are probably the most appealing characteristics for park attendance. Regarding environmental perception, acoustic and thermal factors are clearly the most influential. Acoustics were well-rated, while the main aspect regarding the thermal domain is the recognition of shading as a mitigator for hot conditions. Environmental data provided complementary insights, particularly concerning the range of thermal sensations experienced in urban parks. The findings confirm that willingly reported crowdsourced data can provide valuable insights into urban crowd environmental perception, presenting a potentially suitable and effective method to include the human perspective in environmental quality assessments, as well as to evaluate and predict environmental-related risks.

Social and built environmental factors associated with adult asthma hospital admission in the North Central Texas

Asthma, one of the most common chronic diseases of adults and children, is an important public health concern. The cause of asthma is thought to be a combination of genetic and environmental factors, and a growing body of research has investigated the possible geographic and contextual factors that contribute to asthma prevalence. However, few studies have incorporated geographic and environmental variables into their designs, despite evidence that geography is associated with asthma exacerbation. Additionally, studies of asthma exacerbations among adults are limited. The situation regarding asthma is particularly concerning in North Central Texas (NCT) compared to the national context. In light of this, we analyzed the geographic variation of approximately 12,000 adult patients hospitalized for asthma in the North Central Texas Region, and their association with built environmental features such as land use types, dwelling characteristics, exposure to traffic parameters at the Census Block Group (CBG) level, and pollutant concentrations in the relevant counties for the year 2014. We applied the Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM), and our analysis indicates that there are significant health disparities in the region. We found that the adult asthma hospitalization rate is significantly higher in low-income, low-education neighborhoods with a significant Black population. Furthermore, factors such as increased travel distance to work and substandard dwelling conditions have been found to trigger an increase in hospital visits for asthma patients. Conversely, the presence of greenspace in the surrounding area has been found to help reduce the frequency of asthma-related hospital visits. It is worth noting that both indoor and outdoor environmental quality contribute to adult asthma hospitalizations. Overall, our study highlights the importance of considering geographic and environmental factors in understanding the prevalence and exacerbation of asthma. Our findings suggest that targeted interventions, such as improving indoor and outdoor environmental quality and increasing access to greenspace, may help reduce the burden of asthma in high-risk communities.

Investigation of Outdoor Thermal Comfort for Campus Pedestrian Walkways in Thailand

Thermal comfort is an important subject to evaluate the quality of outdoor environments. This study investigated outdoor thermal conditions and the thermal comfort perception of pedestrians using walkways within a university campus in Thailand, located in the hot and humid tropical region. In this field study, microclimate measurements were conducted to assess the physiological equivalent temperature (PET) of walkways, and on-site questionnaire surveys (n = 400) were used to evaluate the thermal sensation votes of pedestrians in different walkway conditions. The results revealed that the neutral PET was 25.2 °C and its acceptable range was 24.6–32.0 °C. Most pedestrians accept the thermal conditions of all walkway types but at different levels of acceptability, albeit in a slightly warm sensation. Among different walkway types, the cantilever-covered walkway with sparse trees yields the closest PET to the neutral PET. The most comfortable and favorable walkway is that with a lower air temperature, less sunlight, and higher wind ventilation. The studies on the outdoor thermal comfort of pedestrian walkways could benefit urban planners and engineers in designing physical and environmental conditions of walkways as well as promoting non-motorized transport and green university campuses.

A conceptual design of circular adaptive façade module for reuse

Climate change has an impact on the ecosystem, and subsequently, it affects the built environment. Building envelope has a vital role in controlling the integration between indoor and outdoor environmental quality. The responsivity of the façade has proven its efficiency in optimizing the global energy performance of buildings. Adaptive façades are multifunctional reconciling envelope dynamic systems that improve sustainability with the purpose of utilizing environmental parameters. This paper tackles the research gap in integrating façades circularity, adaptive envelopes, and design for disassembly. The research investigates the merge between biodegradability, circularity of adaptive façades components, and interior space micro-climate control for energy efficiency. This paper presents a proof of concept for a circular adaptive façade during two phases in its life cycle: operation and reuse phases. A scientific quantitative method took place which is based on a hybrid method; computational simulation, smart control, and an up-scale model. Adaptability is investigated through the façade life cycle from design to disassembly instead of demolition and consequent waste production, by exploiting sustainable materials. As a result, an empirical prototype is constructed. The prototype provides 3 levels of adaptability across the design, operation, and disassembly for reuse. Subsequently, this work proposes an up-scale physical model that can help in mitigating the climate change effects.

Development of an integrated index to quantify thermal comfort and walkability in urban areas

Although outdoor thermal comfort is extensively investigated in urban areas, the measures are barely focused to determine the walkability through these spaces. Therefore, a space with a high level of thermal comfort can experience a low level of pedestrian agglomeration while a space with a low level of thermal comfort can be massively used by inhabitants. Therefore, the solution to urban design and planning can be significantly altered if both dimensions are simultaneously taken into the account. This study investigates the relationship between spatial configuration and thermal comfort potential to evaluate the effect of spatial configuration on outdoor environmental quality. For this purpose, a framework is developed to understand the impact of built urban areas on thermal comfort and space syntax performance using a high-resolution spatial model to simulate the correlation of thermal comfort and betweenness centrality of a case study neighbourhood in the hot and humid climate area of Al-Khobar in Saudi Arabia. The mixed-use neighbourhood is analysed by the universal thermal comfort index and several space syntax metrics. The presented study uses Grasshopper environment and Ladybug and Decoding Spaces tools. The simulation study expressed that significant changes in orientation and buildings heights have a remarkable effect on improving OTC and space syntax in the urban neighbourhood.

Assessing Green Solutions for Indoor and Outdoor Environmental Quality: Sustainable Development Needs Renewable Energy Technology

The survival of humans depends on both natural and manufactured surroundings. Though most people spend their time indoors, there are constantly new challenges to address, and air pollution is one of them. This research considered both outdoor and indoor factors that affected green development agendas. Outdoor factors include fossil fuel combustion, renewable energy supplies, and carbon emissions, whereas indoor factors include industrial waste management, chemical use in production, and green technologies. Against the backdrop of the Indian economy, plagued by severe environmental problems from 1995Q1 to 2020Q4, this research evaluated green alternatives for indoor and outdoor environments. Carbon emissions rise with the use of chemicals in production, with the burning of fossil fuels, and with economic expansion, as shown by the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) testing method employed. In contrast, emissions fall when a nation invests in renewable energy technologies and appropriately manages its industrial waste. Granger causality estimations validated the feedback link between industrial chemical usage and carbon emissions while demonstrating a unidirectional causality from chemical use to green energy demand and fossil fuel combustions. Moreover, burning fossil fuels and energy demand causes carbon emissions. Carbon emissions and fossil fuel combustion are produced due to industrial waste handling. The scale of the use of chemicals is expected to have the greatest impact on carbon emissions over the next few decades, followed by industrial waste, renewable energy supply, fossil fuel combustion, and renewable energy technologies. In order to achieve environmental sustainability via emissions reduction, this study proposed policies for a low-carbon economy, renewable energy source encouragement, and sustainable management. Close attention should be paid to clean energy and environmental sustainability by investing in research and development (R&D) to create a long-term sustainable energy strategy that is environmentally benign.

INDOOR AND OUTDOOR AIR AND LIGHTING QUALITY ASSESSMENT IN HIGH-RISE LOW-COST HOUSING IN PENANG

Georgetown, the capital of Penang Island, records the second highest density in Malaysia. On the other hand, those with lower economic status mostly live in low-cost, high-density vertical housing with indoor and outdoor environmental quality. Such housing conditions have severe implications on the residents’ comfort. Hence, this study adopted the mixed-method approach to assess indoor and outdoor air and lighting quality in high-rise low-cost housing. The qualitative approach was deployed to observe three low-cost high-rise housing in Penang while the second approach was quantitative data collected using a survey questionnaire distributed to households in the case study area. This study aims to identify the current environment indoor and outdoor lighting quality in low-cost high-rise housing. The three low-cost housing areas investigated in this study, namely, Taman Ampang Jaya (TAJ) (Seberang Jaya Utara (SPU) district), Halaman Kenanga (HK) (Daerah Timur Laut (DLT) district), and Idaman Seroja (IS) (Daerah Barat Daya (DBD) district), had more than 200 units. Resultantly, the three-housing had an average air and lighting quality, whereas the corridor indicated poor lighting, as well as foul and unhealthy air. Indoor and outdoor air quality and lighting in high-rise housing are related to the environment surrounding the site.

Association between environmental composite quality index score and obesity in children and their family: A cross-sectional study in northeast China

BackgroundChildhood obesity has emerged as a severe public health problem worldwide. Most studies focused on the association between single environmental risk factors and obesity. Thus, we investigate the association between environmental composite quality index (ECQI) score and obesity in children and their families. MethodThe cross-sectional study was conducted among 2354 children and 1761 mothers in Fuxin City, Liaoning Province, in 2015. The information was collected by questionnaires, including environmental factors, heights, weights, and sociodemographic data. We quantitated thirteen indoor and outdoor risk factors and constructed the ECQI. There were 4 household environmental factors in the household air quality index (HAQI) and 9 variables to evaluate the outdoor environmental quality index (OEQI). Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated using the binary logistic regression model after adjusting the most common obesity risk factors. ResultsA higher ECQI score was correlated with a higher risk of childhood obesity and family obesity. Comparing the ECQI score 0–2 to the ECQI score ≥5, ORs with childhood obesity was 1.73 (95%CI, 1.25–2.39, P for trend = 0.001), and 1.53 for family obesity (95%CI, 1.09–2.15; P for trend = 0.003) after adjusted confounding factors. Similarly, a significantly positive association was found between OEQI score, HAQI score, and childhood obesity, family obesity. ConclusionA higher ECQI score was associated with an increased risk of obesity in children and their families. Both HAQI score and OEQI score were associated to childhood obesity and family obesity. Further studies should elucidate the underlying mechanisms.

The Internet-of-Buildings (IoB) — Digital twin convergence of wearable and IoT data with GIS/BIM

Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices in buildings and wearable technologies for occupants are quickly becoming widespread. These technologies provide copious amounts of high-quality temporal data pertaining to indoor and outdoor environmental quality, comfort, and energy consumption. However, a barrier to their use in many applications is the lack of spatial context in the built environment. Adding Building Information Models (BIM) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to these temporal sources unleashes potential. We call this data convergence the Internet-of-Buildings or IoB. In this paper, a digital twin case study of data intersection from various systems is outlined. Initial insights are discussed for an experiment with 17 participants that focused on the collection of occupant subjective feedback to characterize indoor comfort. The results illustrate the ability to capture data from wearables in the context of a BIM data environment.

Affective Experience Measurement in Outdoor Environment via Machine Visual Cognition

Outdoor environments with quality landscapes can benefit people’s physical and mental health. Real-time assessment on individuals’ environmental affective experience can improve the scientism in measuring the quality of outdoor environments. Existing measurement methods are often insufficient for the cases of a larger site area or sample size. The machine visual cognition of Artificial Intelligence can realize the recognition of facial expressions and the changes in video images, which supports high-precision and long-cycle measurements on individuals’ affective experience in outdoor environments. Taking an urban community square as the study site, this research simultaneously collects participants’ facial data from video images and their electrodermal activity data, wherein Convolutional Neural Network algorithm model is trained with a deep learning algorithm, i.e. codec–SVM optimized model, whose reliability is tested through an additional experiment. The research reveals that: 1) The accuracy rate of the main and additional experiments in measuring individuals’ affective experience is 82.01% and 65.08%, respectively; 2) The additional experiment verifies the application potential of the codec–SVM optimized model; And 3) the model works more effective for outdoor scenarios with varying usage behaviors and open views. Therefore, machine visual cognition can be used for emotion measurement in a larger site area or sample size and contributes to the effectiveness of landscape optimization efforts, especially as an instrumental tool to study the affective experience of the ones who have communication or reading disability. The findings also demonstrate the model’s great potential in building Smart Cities with refined public services.

Establishment of Key Performance Indicators for Green Building Operations Monitoring—An Application to China Case Study

Released green building evaluation standards for operation stage include a huge number of indicators, which are very comprehensive and systematic. However, the indicators of these standards are very complicated and a large amount of time and manpower are consumed for their evaluation. To evaluate the operational performance of green buildings more practically and efficiently, some studies collect the operational data for part of the indicators (mainly focusing on building energy performance, indoor environmental quality or occupant satisfaction), which are too rough to evaluate the performance of green building. This paper proposed a total of 27 key performance indicators (KPIs) for green building operations monitoring. The number of proposed indicators is much fewer than the evaluation standards, as well as suitable for long-term monitoring, which can dramatically reduce evaluation time and cost. On the other hand, the indicators involving Outdoor environmental quality, Indoor environmental quality, HVAC system, P&D system, Renewable energy system, Total resource consumption and User behavior, which are more comprehensive and systematic than the conventional monitoring studies for operational performance of green building. Firstly, an indicators library for operations monitoring of green building was established based on relevant standards and literature review in this field. Secondly, “SMART” principle and Delphi method were adopted to select the key performance indicators for green building operations monitoring. Different background experts regarding green building industry were chosen to screen the most relevant, accessible and measurable indicators. Subsequently, two projects in China were selected for case study of key performance indicators proposed in this paper for green building operations monitoring to validate the feasibility and advancement.

Personal exposure to indoor aerosols as actual concern: Perceived indoor and outdoor air quality, and health performances

Indoor environmental quality (IEQ) is known to affect personal health performances. A respiratory illness symptom can be an indicator of health performance that is related to the personal exposure concern and the IEQ. However, little is known about the effect of personal exposure to either indoor or outdoor sources on the human perception of the IEQ. Here, we conducted a study to evaluate the association of human perception and health performance to exposure assessments by analyzing questionnaire survey obtained from 396 students and 64 parents. To test exposure conditions at different scenarios, schools and homes located in rural and urban areas were selected. We assessed the IEQ by measuring temperature, relative humidity, particulate matters, and CO2 level. Also, the effect of potential pollutant factors on the IEQ was evaluated at three different cases: vacuum cleaning, cooking, and air purifier operation. From the IEQ measurement, there was no difference in PM10 and airborne bacteria concentrations between urban and rural areas of both schools and homes. But, PM2.5 showed significant difference between the areas. CO2 levels in schools were correlated to the number of students. This study shows that health performance was strongly associated with people's perception of outdoor environmental quality. We found that perception can be considered a predictor of health performance as a health-related environmental marker. This study suggests the importance of reviewing public regulations regarding control of potential indoor pollutant sources, use of air purifiers and aspects indicative of satisfaction with indoor environmental exposure.

Water nebulization to counteract urban overheating: Development and experimental test of a smart logic to maximize energy efficiency and outdoor environmental quality

Several mature urban climate mitigation technologies have been proposed to date. What mostly hinders their wide implementation is that their efficiency heavily depends on the local microclimatic specificities, since they cannot self-adjust to the environmental changes. This study aims at investigating benefits and impacts of smart logics applied to outdoor cooling, by field testing a web of nebulizers coupled to a bespoke fuzzy controller piloting the pump. The cooling action was tweaked as convenient to maintain comfortable conditions and to avoid energy wastage whenever unneeded. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first application of fuzzy logic to water spraying systems (or to any other controllable urban climate mitigation technology) targeting comfort and energy optimization. The prototype was field monitored in comparison with the conventional on-off control, in two Italian urban contexts (Cfa and Csa climatic zones) over 15 days in the hottest months of the year. The cooling and humidification action was thoroughly characterized by mapping both the horizontal and vertical profiles and by applying advanced Artificial Intelligence techniques to spot the main environmental drivers. The maximum cooling (measured between the sprayed area and an undisturbed reference) touched 7.5 °C and 6.14 °C in the two locations, respectively. The energy saving achieved under fuzzy control versus the temporized control, was spectacularly high in the wetter and windier location with an average of −51.2% and a maximum of −67.5%. The comfort benefit was also substantial: the temperature never deviated from neutrality by more than ±2 °C, whereas with the on–off, this threshold was surpassed between the 14% and the 20% of the time by even more than 5 °C. The results suggest that smartly controlled nebulization is an energy-efficient and comfort-effective strategy to counteract urban overheating. Furthermore, solar-powered solutions are well suited as proved by the preliminary design estimation we included.

Effect of seasonal changes on usage patterns and behaviours in educational precinct in Melbourne

Successful urban open spaces can largely contribute to the enhancement of humans' day to day life. Among the determinants of the quality of outdoor environments, high priority is given to ambient climatic conditions. This study is aimed to understand the usage pattern of outdoor spaces in an educational precinct and to discover its linkage to thermal conditions. The target population was the visitors of the main open spaces of an educational precinct selected as the case study in Melbourne, Australia. Three types of data collection methods including questionnaire survey, unobtrusive observation and field measurements were employed to collect information about usage patterns and behaviour in the three consecutive seasons (spring 2014, summer 2015 and autumn 2015). The results shed light on the seasonal usage pattern of the precincts and the role of function of place (place character) on people's presence outdoors. The research findings are expected to inform guidelines on managing outdoor spaces, particularly within university campuses.

NP27 - Outdoor Learning Environments as Active Food Systems: Effectiveness of the Preventing Obesity by Design Gardening Component

Objective: To assess the impact of a Gardening Component on 4–5 year olds enrolled in 15 childcare centers in Wake County, North Carolina, using a waitlist/control group, randomized controlled trial research design (2017–2022). Description: Fifteen centers were selected in 2018 and randomly assigned to intervention/waitlist/control groups to evaluate the impact of fruit and vegetable (FV) gardening on children's physical activity, FV liking, FV knowledge, and FV consumption. A standardized approach to garden installation was used locating six identical raised planting beds (8' x 2') at each intervention center, with similar, controlled growing conditions. Six FV types were selected and planted consistently at each center. Physical activity was measured using accelerometers. Fruit and vegetable liking and knowledge was measured via a modified electronic method (Carraway-Stage, et la.2014) using portable tablets. Fruit and vegetable consumption was measured using the Fruit & Vegetable Snack Tool (Witt & Duncan, 2012). Outdoor environmental quality was assessed using the Preschool Outdoor Environment Measurement Scale POEMS (DeBord, et al. 2005) and Best Practice Indicators (Cosco & Moore, 2014). The study is conducted in collaboration with the Department of Food, Bioprocessing, and Nutrition Sciences, Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Horticultural Science, North Carolina State University. First data gathering wave was completed in April 2018. Evaluation: Preliminary results will be ready for distribution in Fall 2018. Conclusions and Implications: Because childcare centers are policy-sensitive institutions, evidence underscoring the benefits of fruit and vegetable gardening may encourage regulators to adopt supportive rules (Tandon, Walters et al. 2016). With approximately 76% of the U.S. population living in areas with an annual growing season >200 days (IIASA 2013), a gardening component may be a promising obesity prevention strategy for young children in those regions, where 77% of total (120,000 approximatley) U.S. regulated childcare centers are located (CCAA 2012). Funding: 2017-68001-26354. The following is the supplementary data to this article: Download .pdf (26.68 MB) Help with pdf files Poster

Variations in Staff Viewpoints regarding Children’s Outdoor Play in Japanese ECEC Playgrounds

This study aimed to reveal variations in Japanese early childhood education and care (ECEC) centers’ practices and thoughts regarding outdoor play and relationship between the two. A questionnaire was distributed and the answers from 1,659 centers were analyzed. First, it was revealed that the frequency and perceived importance of practice in outdoor environments are different between centers. Some outdoor practices are thought to be important in many centers while others are not. Second, a confirmatory factor analysis showed that centers varied in their practices and the perceived importance of direct or indirect guidance for children in outdoor play although indirect guidance was rated highly in many centers. This means that the varied thinking about outdoor play in Japanese centers can be seen in how they teach physical activities or make use of playgrounds. Third, it was revealed that thoughts about fostering children’s build strength and acquire athletic skills vary between centers and centers focusing on such things had high scores in direct guidance while centers focusing on children’s wonder or interests had low ones. In conclusion, we can consider ECEC’s outdoor play practices and perception together and what centers value is important in discussing the quality of outdoor environments for children’s development.

Enhancing Thermal Comfort in Urban Desigin of Mansoura Campus by Using Simulation Tools Case Study 'Faculty of Science Urban Design'

Egyptian campuses are paining from damage in all life systems of their built environments or new urban environment. The main problem is that there are no sustainable arrangements for urban campus. Also, what makes the problem bigger is that gap between theoretic sustainable arrangements and corresponding practical arrangements. Because the difficulty of controlling the outdoor thermal environment it is important to provide thermal comfortable environments which meet user's expectation. In order to understand the long-term thermal comfort in outdoor environment. Attractive public open spaces can help as key design elements for enhancing life quality in urban areas and to reduce the bad effects of urbanization. open spaces should meet the expectation of potential users and present the right mix of sustainable aspect. The research uses digital simulation software to compare temperature degrees and air flow rates measures in outdoor environmental quality standard to simulate the thermal comfort of pedestrians in urban open spaces. Sky view factor (SVF) plays an important role on the thermal environment due to solar radiation fluxes and is one of the main factors. The study recommended using digital simulation in initial design phase to get accurate predictions of urban environment performance.

Monitoring an outdoor smoking area by means of PM2.5 measurement and vegetal biomonitoring.

The extension of pollutant accumulation in plant leaves associated with its genotoxicity is a common approach to predict the quality of outdoor environments. However, this approach has not been used to evaluate the environmental quality of outdoor smoking areas. This study aims to evaluate the effects of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) by assessing particulate matter 2.5μm (PM2.5) levels, the pollen abortion assay, and trace elements accumulated in plant leaves in an outdoor smoking area of a hospital. For this, PM2.5 was measured by active monitoring with a real time aerosol monitor for 10days. Eugenia uniflora trees were used for pollen abortion and accumulated element assays. Accumulated elements were also assessed in Tradescantia pallida leaves. The median concentration of PM2.5 in the smoking area in all days of monitoring was 66 versus 34μg/m3 in the control area (P < 0.001). In addition, the elements Al, Cd, Cu, Ni, Pb, Rb, Sb, Se, and V in Tradescantia pallida and Al, Ba, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mg, Pb, and Zn in Eugenia uniflora were in higher concentration in the smoking area when compared to control area. Smoking area also showed higher rate of aborted grains (26.1 ± 10.7%) compared with control (17.6 ± 4.5%) (P = 0.003). Under the study conditions, vegetal biomonitoring proved to be an effective tool for assessing ETS exposure in outdoor areas. Therefore, vegetal biomonitoring of ETS could be a complement to conventional analyses and also proved to be a cheap and easy-handling tool to assess the risk of ETS exposure in outdoor areas.

Housing Sustainability Challenges in a Nigerian City

&lt;p class="ber"&gt;&lt;span lang="EN-GB"&gt;This paper discusses housing sustainability challenges and applicable sustainable urban renewal strategy for Nigerian cities, and thereby emphasizes the dimension of government-instituted urban renewal policy. This is with a view to projecting the need for urban housing sustainability with respect to developing countries A field survey conducted in Ile-Ife, a typical Nigerian city in its South-Western region is used to appraise the extent of the housing sustainability challenges. The four areas for the survey- Itakogun-Okerewe, Ogbingbin, Obalufon-Ilara and Igboya, were purposively selected from the Ife Central Local Government which constitutes the central area of Ile-Ife. The conditions of the houses and neighbourhoods were assessed by means of administration of questionnaire to residents and observation. In each of the four areas surveyed, the findings indicated that the built environment was deplorable. The indoor and outdoor environmental quality factors were unsatisfactory to respondents and the essential services were not in serviceable condition. The study concluded that the poor and uncomfortable housing and environmental living conditions in the city core areas reflected the stress of urbanization. The findings, though limited in scope to one typical Nigerian city, give insight that housing challenges of urban central areas are in unsustainable dimensions. It was recommended that there must be a commitment to adequate and far-reaching urban renewal programmes based on sustainability, energy conservation and human comfort. Government intervention in the dynamics of the urban environment in Nigeria is urgently required to effect good governance and acceptable urban management.&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;