Search Results (241)

Chainsaws are widely used in various occupational settings, including forestry, landscaping, farming, and by homeowners for tasks like tree felling, brush clearing, and firewood cutting. However, the use of chainsaws poses significant risks to operators and bystanders. This research quantified and compared occupational and nonoccupational injuries caused by contact with chainsaws and related objects during the period from 2018 to 2022. The emergency department and OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) data were used to characterize the cause and nature of the injuries. Results suggest that for this five-year period an estimated 127,944 people were treated in U.S. emergency departments for chainsaw-related injuries. More than 200 non-fatal and 57 fatal occupational chainsaw-involved injuries were found during the same period. Landscaping and forestry were the two industries where most of the occupational victims were employed. Upper and lower extremities were the most likely injured body parts, with open wounds from cuts being the most common injury type. The majority of fatal injuries were caused by falling objects such as trees and tree limbs while using a chainsaw. Our suggestions to reduce injuries include proper training and wearing personal protective equipment, as well as making sure any bystanders are kept in a safety zone away from trees being cut. Full article

Housing affordability is a major determinant of quality of life. Despite the relatively high GDP per capita in Hong Kong (HK) (USD 460,000), about one-third of the population lives in public rental housing (PRH) because they cannot afford private housing. Existing research estimating the benefits of PRH or direct housing supports faces methodological limitations. Addressing this research gap, our study adopts an “in-kind subsidy” approach to estimate the monetary value of PRH, quantifying how much less PRH households might save monthly if they resided in private rental units, after controlling for confounding factors. This paper examines the association of housing types and household savings by applying ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to compare savings among PRH tenants, non-PRH tenants, and mortgage-free homeowners, based on seven rounds of the Household Expenditure Survey data (1989/1990 to 2019/2020). PRH tenants saved significantly more than private housing tenants. In terms of household savings, the value of HK PRH has steadily increased from HKD 4483 in 1999/2000, to HKD 9187 in 2019/2020. For every dollar increase in income, a household would have the propensity to save 0.7 dollars in 2019/2020. Given limited public resources, our findings offer robust evidence regarding the value of public housing. The results underscore the importance of the equitable allocation and effective management of current PRH stock to enhance the upward mobility of low- to middle-income households amid limited housing resources in HK. Full article

Urban residential design influences local microclimates and human thermal comfort. This study combines empirical microclimate data with remotely sensed data on tree canopy cover, housing lot size, surface permeability, and roof colour to examine thermal differences between three newly built and three established residential suburbs in Western Sydney, Australia. Established areas featured larger housing lots and mature street trees, while newly developed suburbs had smaller lots and limited vegetation cover. Microclimate data were collected during summer 2021 under both heatwave and non-heatwave conditions in full sun, measuring air temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, and wet-bulb globe temperature (WBGT) as an index of heat stress. Daily maximum air temperatures reached 42.7 °C in new suburbs, compared to 39.3 °C in established ones (p < 0.001). WBGT levels during heatwaves were in the “extreme caution” category in new suburbs, while remaining in the “caution” range in established ones. These findings highlight the benefits of larger green spaces, permeable surfaces, and lighter roof colours in the context of urban heat exposure. Maintaining mature trees and avoiding dark roofs can significantly reduce summer heat and improve outdoor thermal comfort across a range of conditions. Results of this work can inform bottom-up approaches to climate-responsive urban design where informed homeowners can influence development outcomes. Full article

Indoor radon constitutes a public health issue in various regions across the United States as the second leading cause of lung cancer following tobacco smoke. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency advises radon mitigation interventions for residential buildings with indoor radon concentrations exceeding the threshold level of 4 pCi/L. Despite considerable research assessing the technical effectiveness of radon mitigation systems, there remains a gap in understanding their broader influence on occupant behavior and preferences in residential design. This study aims to investigate the impact of residing in radon-mitigated homes within the Commonwealth of Kentucky—an area known for elevated radon concentrations—on occupants’ preferences regarding healthy home design attributes. The objectives of this research are twofold: firstly to determine if living in radon-mitigated homes enhances occupant awareness and consequently influences their preferences toward health-related home attributes and secondly to quantitatively evaluate and compare the relative significance homeowners assign to health-related attributes such as indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and water quality relative to conventional attributes including home size, architectural style, and neighborhood quality. The overarching purpose is to explore the potential role radon mitigation initiatives may play in motivating occupants towards healthier home construction and renovation practices. Using choice-based conjoint (CBC) analysis, this paper compares preferences reported by homeowners from radon-mitigated homes against those from non-mitigated homes. While the findings suggest a relationship between radon mitigation and increased preference for indoor air quality, the cross-sectional design limits causal interpretation, and the possibility of reverse causation—where health-conscious individuals are more likely to seek mitigation—must be considered. The results provide novel insights into how radon mitigation efforts might effectively influence occupant priorities towards integrating healthier design elements in residential environments. Full article

Despite notable advancements in smart home technologies, residential energy management continues to face critical challenges. These include the complex integration of intermittent renewable energy sources, issues related to data latency, interoperability, and standardization across diverse systems, the inflexibility of centralized control architectures in dynamic environments, and the difficulty of accurately modeling and influencing occupant behavior. To address these challenges, this study proposes an intelligent multi-agent system designed to accurately estimate and control energy consumption in residential buildings, with the overarching objective of optimizing energy usage while maintaining occupant comfort and satisfaction. The methodological approach employed is a hybrid framework, integrating multi-agent system architecture with system dynamics modeling and agent-based modeling. This integration enables decentralized and intelligent control while simultaneously simulating physical processes such as heat exchange, insulation performance, and energy consumption, alongside behavioral interactions and real-time adaptive responses. The system is tested under varying conditions, including changes in building insulation quality and external temperature profiles, to assess its capability for accurate control and estimation of energy use. The proposed tool offers significant added value by supporting real-time responsiveness, behavioral adaptability, and decentralized coordination. It serves as a risk-free simulation platform to test energy-saving strategies, evaluate cost-effective insulation configurations, and fine-tune thermostat settings without incurring additional cost or real-world disruption. The high fidelity and predictive accuracy of the system have important implications for policymakers, building designers, and homeowners, offering a practical foundation for informed decision making and the promotion of sustainable residential energy practices. Full article

Herein, we address the peculiar lack of scientific reporting on odor potent chloroanisoles (CAs) in the built environment. We have searched and critically examined sources beyond peer-reviewed scientific journals, namely research conferences, parliamentary records, newspaper articles, and cartoons. We provide evidence that CAs evolved on a large scale in Swedish buildings in the early 1970s and evoked a typical sticky malodor that was attributed to mold and gave rise to the term “mold houses”. The term first appeared in Swedish newspapers in 1978, and the media attention increased rapidly. The malodorous “mold houses” reached the Swedish parliament and led to economic compensation for afflicted homeowners. The “mold houses” became “sick houses” as researchers, predominantly from Sweden, introduced and became world leaders on the “sick buildings syndrome” (SBS). Researchers became aware of the CAs but did not mention them in peer-reviewed articles, just as they did not mention a well-known source of the sticky malodor, namely, legacy preserved wood where CAs were formed through microbial methylation of toxic chlorophenols (CPs). Thus, the mold story from the early 1970s was maintained and prevented the malodorous CAs from becoming recognized as indicators of the presence of hazardous CPs. Our study is the first to report the impact of an indoor malodor, not only on a few people, but on society. Full article

The aim of this paper is to diagnose the extent of energy poverty in Poland and identify the instruments used in the public sector at the national level to address this challenge. In the theoretical part of the paper, we will review the literature related to the definition of the concept of energy poverty and the classification and measurement methodology of this phenomenon. In the research part, we will analyze the extent of the energy poverty phenomenon in Poland, review the Polish energy policy, and identify and characterize the instruments for tackling energy poverty in Poland implemented within the framework of national government programs. According to official statistics in Poland, depending on the adopted method of measuring energy poverty, in 2019, it affected between 4.2% and 15.4% of the population (the average across four indicators was 9% of the population). Our analyses confirmed the presence of energy poverty in Poland, which is a consequence of high energy prices and low energy efficiency of buildings. Energy poverty primarily affects people with the lowest incomes. Those particularly vulnerable are homeowners, especially residents of rural areas. The analysis of national strategies showed that although energy poverty is recognized at the government level, it is not a priority for the Polish government. There is a lack of a detailed diagnosis of energy poverty and a comprehensive, dedicated program for its reduction. Poland’s energy policy focuses primarily on limiting emissions and improving energy efficiency in buildings, which leads to the marginalization of the energy poverty issue. Full article

Applying circular economy principles to the renovation of existing buildings is increasingly recognized as essential to achieving Europe’s climate and energy goals. However, current decision-making frameworks rarely integrate life cycle carbon assessment with multi-criteria evaluation to support circular renovation strategies. This paper introduces an innovative framework that combines life cycle carbon assessment with multi-criteria decision analysis to identify and sequence circular renovation measures. The framework was applied to a residential case study in the Netherlands, using IES VE for operational carbon assessment and One Click LCA for embodied carbon assessment, with results evaluated using PROMETHEE multi-criteria analysis. Renovation measures were assessed based on operational and embodied carbon (including Module D), energy use intensity, cost, payback period, and disruption. The evaluation also introduced the embodied-to-operational carbon ratio (EOCR), a novel metric representing the proportion of embodied carbon, including Module D, relative to operational carbon savings over the building’s lifecycle. The homeowner’s preferences regarding these criteria were considered in determining the final ranking. The findings show that circular insulation options involving reused materials and designed for disassembly achieved the lowest embodied carbon emissions and lowest EOCR scores, with reused PIR achieving a 94% reduction compared to new PIR boards. The impact of including Module D on the ranking of renovation options varies based on the end-of-life scenario. The framework demonstrates how circular renovation benefits can be made more visible to decision-makers, promoting broader adoption. Full article

The higher integration of photovoltaic (PV) units is an inevitable component of smart city development. Thanks to smart meter devices that can record the exchange of power between the grid and customers, it is expected that homeowners and businesses will tend to install PV arrays on their rooftops and parking lots to benefit from selling power back to the grid. However, the overvoltage issue resulting from high PV penetration is a major challenge that necessitates the active power curtailment of PV units to ensure power grid stability. Fairness-oriented methods aim to minimize the active power of PV units as much as possible, adopting a fairer approach, and then address the PV owner’s satisfaction with fair profit and loss. Maintaining voltage within a limited standard range under very low load conditions while prioritizing PV inverters’ participation in reactive power contribution and attempting to ensure fairer curtailment of active power presents challenges to existing control design approaches. This paper presents twelve new volt–watt curve design methods to achieve these goals and address the challenges. The methods yield polynomial curves, piecewise linear curves, and single linear curves. A unique voltage sensitivity value for each PV inverter is used to determine the control region area and the slope of the curve at the starting point in certain instances. The effectiveness of the proposed methods is discussed by evaluating their capabilities on the 37-bus IEEE system. Full article

Background and Objective: Aging in place (AIP) refers to the ability to remain in one’s home and community as one ages. While AIP is widely regarded as beneficial, disparities in housing stability, accessibility, and affordability create inequitable barriers. Current clinical AIP interventions focus on individual-level solutions, often overlooking broader socio-economic and structural determinants.This study examines how community-based interventions, particularly those from Rebuilding Together Richmond (RT-R), address these gaps through home modifications and critical repairs. Methods: Using the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) Research Framework, demographic and service data from home modifications from a community-based organization, RT-R was analyzed. Descriptive statistics assessed the characteristics of homeowners served, the types of repairs performed, and their potential impact on AIP. Repairs were categorized as structural or occupational to evaluate their contributions to home safety and accessibility. Results: RT-R provided repairs for 33 homes, benefiting 47 individuals all of whom were Black or African American living in a ZIP code with high eviction rates. The majority (63.8%) were female, and 51% were older adults and/or had a disability. Structural repairs were more frequent than occupational modifications reflecting both homeowner needs, service availability, and community organizational goals. Conclusions: Housing stability is a critical yet overlooked factor in AIP. Integrating clinical AIP interventions with community-based solutions can more effectively address health disparities, reduce institutionalization risks, and improve long-term livability. Partnerships between healthcare practitioners and organizations like Rebuilding Together are essential to advancing equity in AIP. Access to housing is not accessible housing, and to remove barriers, practitioners and community-based organizations should expand their appreciation of obstacles to include historical, contemporary, economic, and environmental factors to work toward equity in aging in place for all. Full article

This study examines the impact of housing price increases on income inequality using the dynamic system GMM for OECD countries (2010–2021). We test the hypothesis that housing price appreciation affects income distribution differently based on economic development levels and homeownership patterns. The analysis is conducted both for the entire sample and by dividing countries into two groups based on per capita income, Group 1 (16 countries) with below-median per capita GDP and Group 2 (17 countries) with above-median per capita GDP, to account to account for structural differences in housing markets, financial systems, and wealth accumulation mechanisms. The findings show that rising housing prices help reduce income inequality, especially in countries that are relatively low-income and where more low-income households own their homes. Specifically, our estimates indicate that a one-point increase in the housing price index leads to a statistically significant (p < 0.05) 0.21 percentage point reduction in the Gini change rate in lower-income countries. However, in higher-income countries, the effect of housing prices on inequality is statistically insignificant, suggesting that the relationship between housing markets and income inequality varies across different economic contexts. This insignificance likely stems from countervailing forces: while housing appreciation increases wealth for homeowners, higher housing costs may disproportionately burden lower-income households through rental markets in these economies. The findings highlight the importance of country-specific housing programs that consider homeownership patterns and financial market access in tackling inequality, along with comprehensive public social policies. Our study has implications for policymakers seeking to address inequality through housing market interventions, particularly during the post-2008 recovery period and into the early pandemic phase. Full article

Venison serves as a sustainable alternative to conventional protein sources and is closely tied to wildlife conservation efforts. This study sought to identify key factors influencing wild game consumption. Researchers conducted a self-administered mail-back survey targeting 5000 Illinois homeowners. Variables such as gender, dietary preferences, prior consumption experience, family involvement in hunting, and participation in outdoor activities were analyzed using Pearson correlation tests and logistic regression. The findings revealed that individuals who had previously consumed wild game, recently engaged in hunting or fishing, maintained a meat-rich diet, were male, or resided in rural areas were more likely to consume wild game. In conclusion, understanding these factors can help promote hunting as a sustainable food procurement method, raising awareness of its role in the food system and fostering greater societal acceptance of wild game meat. Full article

Expanding the installation and use of renewable energy sources will help Europe reach its energy and climate goals. Additionally, users of small-scale photovoltaic systems will be essential to the energy transition by forming renewable energy communities (RECs). This paper offers a techno-economic analysis of the Italian REC incentive system and a suitable business model to encourage residential photovoltaic and battery installations and lower electricity costs. In this paper, we present a community model that includes a set number of prosumers, a growing number of consumers, and various configurations and management strategies for photovoltaic (PV) and battery systems. Key elements of novelty include (i) the implementation of a fully-solar REC with PV and storage under the Italian incentive scheme, (ii) the introduction a of novel centralized BESS control strategy based on firm generation that maximises energy sharing while minimising its grid impact, (iii) the economic profitability analysis of the PV and storage system for consumers and prosumers when different BESS control strategies are applied. The simulation results show that energy performance increases if a centralized battery management strategy is activated and more consumers join the community. In addition, the proposed business model shows that the best profitability is achieved when there are as many consumers as prosumers. Most importantly, the approach was extended to the extreme case of a “fully solar-powered” community, demonstrating that the REC model is viable even with the current PV and battery costs. Finally, we show that fully solar-powered communities can be easily implemented where homeowners have enough surface for PV installation and purchase a central battery through crowdfunding. Full article

This study examines the mediating effect of subjective housing quality between housing conditions and mental health, using survey data from ten Chinese mega-cities. The results from multi-level linear regression models show that housing areas are highly associated with subjective housing quality and that renters have lower levels of subjective housing quality than homeowners. At the community level, the age of housing tends to diminish its subjective quality, while a lower plot ratio is associated with more favorable evaluations of housing conditions. Surprisingly, educational resources in proximity to housing are negatively associated with subjective housing quality. Subjective housing quality is closely linked to mental health. Additionally, the results show that home ownership significantly strengthens the association between subjective housing quality and mental health. Namely, the mediating effect of subjective housing quality on the relationship between housing conditions and mental health is stronger for homeowners than for renters. Full article

This study aims to assess the factors influencing homeowner behaviour regarding climate-adaptive renovations. This study extends the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) by integrating additional factors such as inherent homeowner qualities (IHQs) and building attributes (BAs) to better capture climate-adaptive renovation decisions. Different configurations for the impacts of these additional factors were tested, and their correlation to homeowner attitudes (ATs) and homeowner intentions (INTs) was studied. The results indicate that attitudes related to beliefs about climate change impacts are the strongest predictors of climate-adaptive behaviour. It was also found that IHQ was a strong determinant of homeowner attitudes and had a strong indirect impact on homeowner intentions to perform climate-adaptive renovations. Given the significant role of cognitive attitudes in shaping climate-adaptive behaviours, policy interventions should focus on fostering more climate-conscious attitudes. Targeted public campaigns can highlight localised climate risks and the benefits of adaptive renovations. Sharing narratives from regions affected by severe climate events, potentially in the form of targeted workshop sessions, could make climate risks more tangible, especially for those without direct exposure, fostering greater public engagement and adaptive actions. Full article