Residential Life Research Articles

Residential Life

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Energy consumption reduction at all stages of residential buildings life cycle by means of queuing systems

Buildings are the largest source of carbon emissions and energy consumption around the world. Currently, the construction sector focuses on energy efficient and carbon emission reduction technologies to reduce the effect of a green house and improve the environment. The energy aspects of buildings depend on the early design process. The energy consumed by the building can be reduced to 80% by optimizing the orientation, the shape of the building, the insulation and ventilation during the design and management of the facilities after the completion of the construction. The reductions of energy consumption are fundamental to the International Energy Agency (IEA) goal, which is to reduce global carbon emissions by 77% against the projected data for 2050 to achieve the stabilized CO2 level provided by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). In this issue, research and development of energy-efficient technologies are important, which play a crucial role in reducing initial costs and increasing energy conservation. To do this, it is recommended to use simulation modeling of the queue management system, which has practical application for both large systems and for private systems.

Ground Source Heat Supply in Moscow Oblast: Temperature Potential and Sustainable Depth of Heat Wells

The paper is devoted to a problem of increasing the efficiency of low-potential geothermal heat in heat pump systems of residential buildings the Moscow oblast of Russia, including Moscow. Estimates of a natural geothermal potential in the Moscow oblast (based on climatological data for the period from 1982 to 2011) are presented and a “Typical climatic year of natural soil temperature variations for the geoclimatic conditions of the Moscow oblast, including the city of Moscow” is proposed. Numerical simulation of the influence of geothermal energy potential and the depth of heat wells on the efficiency of ground source heat pump systems for the heat supply of residential buildings is carried out. Analysis of the numerical simulation showed that the operation of a heat pump system in a house heating mode under the geoclimatic conditions of the Moscow oblast leads to a temperature drop of the heat-exchange medium circulating through heat wells to 5–6°C by the end of the first 10 years of operation, and the process stabilizes by the 15th year of operation, and further changes in the heat-exchange medium temperature do not any longer significantly affect the temperature of the heat-exchange medium in the heat well. In this case, the exact dependence of the heat-exchange medium temperature drop on the depth is not revealed. Data on the economically expedient heat well depth for the conditions of the Moscow oblast ensuring a net present value for the whole residential building life cycle are presented. It is found that the heat well depth of 60 m can be considered as an endpoint for the Moscow oblast, and a further heat well deepening is economically impractical.

Bridging the Cultural Gap: Relationships Between Programmatic Offerings and First-Generation Student Benchmarks

Inherent challenges affect first-generation students’ persistence from as early as the first college year. Using cultural capital as a guide, this study is unique in that it investigates the contribution of first-year policies and programs to the success of first-generation students in 57 bachelor’s degree–granting institutions across five states (California, Florida, Iowa, Texas, and Pennsylvania). We identified at least three policies that seem to hold promise toward improving the experience and outcomes for first-year first-generation college students. These policies were (a) residential life or campus support staff who are available and knowledgeable, (b) faculty who attend faculty orientation that includes information about first-year student experiences, and (c) faculty who attend first-year student orientation or attend first-year conferences or workshops. However, policies we might naturally expect to have been useful (e.g., information dissemination to parents, early alert intervention initiatives) showed no statistical significance. The article concludes with implications and recommendations.

The Limits to Authority: Developer Interventions and Neighbour Problems on a Master Planned Estate

Master planned estates are large suburban developments built by a private sector developer. As part of its pursuit of building ready-made communities, the Developer becomes active in the management of the estate for years after its completion, subsequently finding itself in the difficult position of running, rather than simply building, new communities. In this paper, this challenge facing the Developer is explored with reference to Foucault’s writing on the problematics of governing under liberalism and the question of what is within the competence of the state and what is not. This paper shows how corporate property developers pose themselves similar questions and face the effects of demarcating certain spheres of residential life as not within their domain. The example addressed here is the issue of managing problems between neighbours and the tensions arising from residents’ expectations that this is indeed a matter of development control.

Young individuals as microcosms of the Portuguese crisis

ABSTRACTThe Portuguese crisis affected the country’s collective identity, and ‘the timing of life’ at which it struck individual lives in this case is also significant. Quantitative figures show that young people were particularly affected by this crisis. However, a long-run qualitative approach provides a multilayered and quite complex view of what this crisis is embedding in young people’s lives and minds. In qualitative research on ‘middle class’ transitions to adulthood carried out in 2009, 52 young adults were interviewed about their educational, residential, occupational and romantic lives. In a follow-up study, these individuals’ trajectories, plans and expectations are now updated; their past and present confronted; and effects of the crisis on their lives questioned. The discussion is held in the form of a critical approach to the theories of individualisation, and goes to the heart of the ‘generation in itself’ vs. ‘generation for itself’ and ‘biographies of choice’ vs. ‘discourses of choice’ debates.

Residential Life

Higher Education AbstractsVolume 52, Issue 4 p. 394-394 RESIDENTIAL LIFE Residential Life First published: 03 October 2017 https://doi.org/10.1111/hea.12094_34Read the full textAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume52, Issue4October 2017Pages 394-394 RelatedInformation

Supporting Chinese Undergraduate Students in Transition at U.S. Colleges and Universities

The Chinese undergraduate student population currently represents 12.8% of all international students enrolled in the United States (Institute for International Education, 2015a). In an effort to understand the experiences of this population in their first year of college in the United States, a phenomenological study was conducted using a conceptual framework comprising Schlossberg’s Transition Model (Schlossberg, Waters, & Goodman, 1995) and the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Model (Museus, 2014). Three transition types were identified – academic, social/personal, and linguistic – and participants’ preparation, sources of institutional support, and coping strategies for moving through these transitions were examined. Recommendations for practice include: multi-faceted, mandatory orientation programs; ongoing workshops and resources beyond orientation; and improvements to housing and residential life opportunities and experiences.

The Global Imaginary of International School Communities: a Case Study from Germany

This thesis explores the ‘global imaginary’ of an international school community located in Germany. It examines how globally-oriented social imaginaries are constructed, negotiated and contested within such gated communities comprised of both expatriates and host country nationals. It highlights the role of the international school market and the role of the ‘local’ in the production of these ‘global’ imaginaries that not only impact community membership, but also its members’ residential life in Germany. International schools have developed into a thriving, lucrative educational network –offering an English-medium, ‘international’ education to facilitate internationally-mobile families as they move from country to country. Not only are international schools educational facilities, they are also strong ‘international’ communities comprised of both expats and host country nationals. Where international school literature is typically focused on the educational experience of expats (or ‘Third Culture Kids’) attending international schools, little has been written on the extent to which membership impacts residential life, not only for expats, but also for host country nationals. Moreover, the role of the ‘local’ in the construction of ‘global’ imaginaries and international school community membership has not been thoroughly investigated. It is argued in this thesis that while international schools place a particular emphasis on the distant local to uphold institutional globally-oriented principles and branding, the immediate local is not only eclipsed, but this overshadowing plays a role in the construction of the ‘global’ orientation. There is also a gap in literature concerning large-scale ethnographic projects looking into international schools located in Europe – a gap which this thesis aims to fill through the use of participant observations, semi-structured interviews and focus group sessions that took place in Germany between 2012 and 2015.

Duration, timing and order: How housing histories relate to later life wellbeing

Accumulation, critical period and social mobility are three powerful, interrelated life course mechanisms often tested using relatively crude empirical measures. This contribution wants to highlight the possibilities of life history data in grasping the importance of duration, timing and order of housing over the life course, by examining its association with wellbeing in later life. Housing is a key dimension of life course socioeconomic position, as the most common form of wealth accumulation in the UK. Our study makes use of the residential life history data, from birth up until the age of 50, collected in wave 3 of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA), in a combination of sequence analysis, cluster analysis and regression techniques. A longer duration of renting and owning accommodation is related to respectively worse and better later life affective and eudemonic wellbeing. Moving more in childhood is not associated with later life wellbeing, while frequent moving in young adulthood has a positive association with affective and eudemonic wellbeing. Moving more in midlife is associated with lower life satisfaction. Ten distinct housing careers emerge, illustrating the importance of accommodating heterogeneity in the population. Downward housing trajectories are associated with significantly lower later life wellbeing, while growing up abroad as a child is associated with higher later life wellbeing.

Residential Life

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Ageing in place: residential satisfaction in Polish housing-estate communities

ABSTRACTDuring the period of economic and political transformations in Poland, considerable changes occurred in large housing estates, while demographic transformation and housing-stock ageing starting to aggravate social and spatial problems. The serious issue currently dominating such estates concerns the process of natural ageing of the housing stock and residential ageing which is associated with the reduction of residential mobility and demographic ageing of people living in the large housing estates. This paper intends to identify ageing of the estates’ population in the context of the evaluation of residential life quality. The authors concentrated on analysis of 2002 and 2011 statistical data, as well as data collected during their field surveys conducted in 2010–2012. Detailed studies were carried out on seven estates in five cities and towns in Poland (Kraków, Poznań, Tarnów, Żyrardów and Dzierżoniów). To identify the residential standard and quality of life, surveys were conducted on housing estates which allowed the researchers to establish the essential factors which determined the level of satisfaction of older people with regard to their place of residence. The authors also determined the course of changes in the perception of particular aspects of life quality in the process of residents’ ageing in the selected places of residence.

Train RAs to provide students with a better experience

Some disability services offices offer training to faculty members about academic accommodations and students' concerns. Training efforts should also include residential life staff, who work with students for a major portion of their day and who are in a different dynamic with students, since they themselves are students.

The impact of peer mentoring on the mentors

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of first generation peer mentoring experiences on retention, grade point average and students’ perception of their academic and leadership development.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a mixed methods approach. Focus groups and interviews were utilized to determine the reported leadership experiences of the mentors. Descriptive statistics were used to compare grade point averages and retention rates.FindingsThe study found peer mentors in residential life perceived an increase in leadership skills; including role modeling, time management, personal confidence, and problem solving. The peers were challenged in their roles, and perceived these challenges to help them to grow as leaders. When compared to their peers, the peer mentors experienced increased retention and similar grade point averages. The results indicated that peer mentoring experiences can be beneficial for the mentors who are first generation college students, even experiences that are particularly challenging.Research limitations/implicationsThe biggest limitation to this study is the fact that this was a small sample, without a control group. A further limitation is that it was difficult to get students to participate in the study. Future research might examine peer mentoring experiences of first generation students on larger campuses or on multiple campuses to allow for a control group of first generation peers without a peer mentoring experience.Practical implicationsThe results indicated that peer mentoring experiences can be beneficial for the mentors who are first generation college students, even experiences that are particularly challenging.Social implicationsDue to the potential for their success, these types of experiences should be expanded for first generation students, a group that is at a higher risk for drop out. Special attention should be paid to ongoing training in peer mentoring experiences, given the level of commitment by the mentors.Originality/valueWhile other studies have examined the impact of peer mentoring on those that have been mentored, and a few have examined the impact of the experience on the mentors themselves this study extends the research by looking at first generation college students. This is valuable because first generation students continue to lag in their success in college and practical research on what can improve the student experience for this group is necessary.

Residential Life

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Helping Students Understand Intersectionality: Reflections from a Dialogue Project in Residential Life

In this chapter, the authors share insights from a dialogue project focused on intersectionality within a residential life setting and discuss additional strategies for helping students understand intersectionality.

AC motor diagnostics system based on complex parametric analysis

The article deals with the principle of evaluation of technical condition, based on a comprehensive analysis of the motor parameters which is a main unit in mechanical engineering. Diagnostics system and residential life assessment of electromechanical equipment is presented based on the AC engine and algorithms of its work. The important challenge of diagnostics remains the well-timed faults detection and maintenance and repair organization. The solution of such challenge remains accuracy and reliability of diagnostic systems.

Residential Life

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Qualitative study of welcome houses: a recent initiative designed to improve retention in therapeutic communities

Background: Welcome houses (WHs) have been introduced as a stage at the start of some European therapeutic communities (TCs) to improve treatment retention. In contrast to the structured, rule-bound approach of many residential therapeutic facilities (often described as ‘total institutions’ (TIs)), WHs provide a relatively ‘gentle’ introduction to residential life. This article explores the influence of WHs on treatment retention from the perspective of TC staff and residents.Methods: Thirty-five qualitative interviews were conducted in two TCs with WHs in the United Kingdom. Participants included staff (n = 13), current residents (n = 13) and former residents (n = 9). Interviews were transcribed, coded and analyzed using framework.Results: Participants reported that retention was affected by three core factors: ‘intensive care and support’, ‘rules and order’ and ‘time and space’. Each factor was described as influencing retention both positively and negatively, but via different mechanisms. WHs seemed to increase retention amongst people who had never been in residential treatment previously or who had complex needs, but decrease retention amongst those who were more stable at treatment entry.Conclusion: WHs retain many of the core characteristics of TIs, but in an adapted ‘softer’ form. As such, WHs might be better described as ‘reinventive institutions’. WHs should not be a mandatory stage within TCs. Rather TC providers should consider each new resident’s need for WH as part of their assessment. Further research is needed to quantify the impact of WHs on retention and to test apparent associations between retention outcomes and resident characteristics.

Residential Life

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