Search Results (51)

The residential construction sector is critical to economic stability and housing availability. Residential construction demands often fluctuate due to demographic, economic, social, or market condition variables. This study seeks to investigate the significance of these external variables and produce a predictive model for residential construction demand using ElasticNet regression. Adopting New Zealand as a case study and leveraging datasets from Statistics New Zealand, this research identifies key demographic, economic, and market factors influencing four building categories: retirement villages, apartments, multiunit developments, and standalone houses. The research results indicate that age groups, particularly the 20−39 and 65+ age groups, and economic indicators, such as the house price index and unemployment rates, have high prediction powers. The models showed high accuracy for some categories, with R² values exceeding 0.87 for retirement villages and 0.91 for multi-units. Challenges were encountered with standalone houses and apartments due to residual variance. The research findings highlight the importance of targeted urban planning and policy adjustments to satisfy the requirements of specific age groups, address housing affordability and demographic shifts, and cater to prevailing market conditions. This research provides practical insights and guidance for urban planners, public housing agencies, residential developers, and residential contractors while offering a robust methodological framework for predictive modelling in the construction sector. Full article

Public rental housing complexes in South Korea have played a critical role in addressing housing needs since their introduction in 1989, initially prioritizing rapid quantitative supply. However, challenges such as limited housing quality and evolving socio-economic demands have prompted a shift toward emphasizing qualitative improvements in residential environments. This study investigates changes in residential building layouts in public rental housing complexes constructed during the 1990s, 2000s, and 2010s to understand how planning practices have evolved over time. Using a structured analysis framework, this research examined layout types (orthogonal, parallel, staggered, and mixed) and key planning elements (density, building height, orientation, and building forms) across 24 complexes. The findings reveal a transition from orthogonal layouts with uniform linear flat-type buildings in the 1990s to mixed and parallel layouts incorporating tower-type buildings in the 2000s, reflecting an increased emphasis on density and aesthetics. By the 2010s, parallel layouts persisted but featured diverse building forms, such as modified flat-type buildings and L-shaped configurations, along with variations in floor heights, enhancing spatial efficiency and visual appeal. These changes in the layout forms of residential buildings are particularly driven by the combination of planning characteristics, such as building forms and orientation as well as socio-historical factors. Relevant legal frameworks and institutional systems, such as district unit plans, have played a significant role in shaping these transformations. This study provides insights into the evolution of public housing planning and offers guidance for sustainable and high-quality urban housing development. Full article

In the realm of real estate, each property owns a unique set of characteristics that distinguish it from others. While each property has its own distinctive features, the appraisal process prioritises only those qualities that meaningfully affect the value in the given market context. However, in the dynamically evolving market situation, expectations of real estate buyers can also transform. This study aims to explore how the surrounding environment and micro-location aspects affect the property value, which can deliver valuable outcomes for real estate market participants and researchers. For that purpose, the authors selected nine factors, called non-market attributes, that may affect the estimated value: air quality, noise emissions, green areas, rivers and water reservoirs, kindergartens and primary schools, universities, medical facilities, shopping centres and religious buildings. Moreover, apart from non-market attributes, the authors selected six market attributes usually used for the determination of residential real estate values according to the Polish regulations in this field. The detailed analysis of factors influencing the property value has been conducted based on the residential apartments in the district Zwięczyca in Rzeszów. Specifically, with the use of Pearson’s total correlation coefficients, authors explored market and non-market attributes and examined their relationships with unit transaction prices, attempting to answer the research question on whether non-market attributes can differentiate market values of residential apartments, when local real estate markets are considered. The results demonstrate that all selected market factors have a visible effect on analysed real estate prices and might be adopted for appraisal. Among nine non-market factors, only three of them have a pronounced effect on prices and might be used for the valuation of residential properties on the local market. The combined database of market and non-market factors reveals eight attributes (five market and three non-market) affecting prices of residential apartments. Full article

This article deals with the specific spatial organization of residential buildings and highlights the advantages of ‘floor plans with circular paths’. When renovating the existing floor plans of houses or apartments, different floor plan variants can be designed that enable circular movement. Choosing the best variant is sometimes a difficult process. For this purpose, the so-called QLCM method (quality level of circular movement) was developed, which makes it possible to calculate the quality level of the adapted floor plan variants in terms of circular movement. The method covers the aspects of movement and visibility. Different path types, such as the path from room to room, door to door, door to window, and the path along the outer walls are analyzed. Different types of views such as single, multiple, and wide views are examined. Using the QLCM method, a special quality-level coefficient is calculated for each modified floor plan. The variant with the highest calculated coefficient can be selected for implementation. Based on case studies of converting three typologically different apartments/houses from non-circular to circular floor plans, the benefits in terms of enabling circular movement, increasing visual distance, and the perception of the size of the housing unit are demonstrated. Full article

Solitary deaths, where individuals die alone and are isolated from the society, have emerged as a major social issue in South Korea. This study aimed to analyze the characteristics, perceptions, and living environments of socially vulnerable groups at risk of solitary deaths, focusing on comparing two neighborhood areas with different housing types to understand regional differences. In-depth interviews were conducted with 100 single-person households in the low-rise residential area of Sadang 4-dong and the public rental apartment area of the Gayang 5 apartment complex. The survey analysis revealed significant regional differences in factors that could influence the prevention of solitary deaths, including the connectivity between units within buildings, visual isolation, the control of appropriate indoor environments, and the frequency of social interactions. Although the Gayang 5 apartment complex, a public rental housing which is over 30 years old, offers advantages in residential safety and building maintenance compared to the low-rise residential area, this positively impacts aspects like housing satisfaction and increased social interactions. Single-person households living in multi-family and multi-household housing in low-rise residential areas generally experience poorer living environments, highlighting the need for more detailed services. These services should include enhanced support for heating and cooling costs, strengthened care services, and improved social networks. For preventing solitary deaths, region-specific strategies and screening tools are required to tailor interventions more effectively. Full article

High-frequency energy data, such as hourly and sub-hourly energy, provide various options for assessing building energy performance. However, the scarcity of such energy data is among the challenges of applying most of the existing energy analysis approaches in large-scale building energy remodeling projects. The purpose of this study is to develop a practical method to define the energy performance of residential house units using monthly energy data that are relatively easy to obtain for existing building stock. In addition, based on the defined energy use characteristics, house units are classified, and energy retrofit measures are proposed for energy-inefficient units. In this study, we applied a change-point regression model to investigate the heterogeneity in the monthly gas consumption of 200 house units sampled from four apartment complexes in Ulsan, Republic of Korea. Using a four-quadrant plane and the fitted model parameters, we identified most energy-inefficient house units and their potential energy-saving measures are assessed. The results indicate that around a 41% energy reduction through enhanced thermal properties and heating systems was achieved. The study responds to the need for a straightforward procedure for identifying and prioritizing the best targets for effective energy upgrades of existing buildings. Full article

This survey of predominantly middle–high-income owner-occupier households in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) assessed household perspectives to residential photovoltaics (PVs) (n = 268). Higher-income households were statistically more likely to (i) accept financial payback times of more than 12 months for the CAPEX cost of a PV system, and (ii) be prepared to contribute up to SAR 10,000 (USD 2666) towards the CAPEX cost of a system. A multiple logistic regression analysis indicated that a high household education level and the dwelling tenure (owner) are key variables that positively influence PV acceptability. Median apartment and villa households in this survey had annual electricity demands of 22,969 kWh and 48,356 kWh, respectively. The available roof area per apartment and villa was assessed, considering parapet shading and roof furniture limitations (the presence of AC units, etc.), at 20 m² and 75 m², respectively. This would accommodate either a 4 kWp apartment system or a 10 kWp villa system mounted horizontally. Time-of-use tariffs or grant subsidies towards the cost of a PV system will be required to enable the surveyed households to meet their stated economic conditions for purchasing a PV system. This indicates that PV policies in KSA will need to be adapted to encourage the uptake of PVs. Full article

In 2023, residential and commercial sectors together consumed approximately 27.6% of total United States (U.S.) energy, equivalent to about 20.6 quadrillion Btu. Factoring in the electrical system energy losses, the residential sector represented approximately 19.7% of total U.S. energy consumption during that time. There were approximately 144 million housing units in the United States in 2023, which is increasing yearly. In this study, information on energy usage in the United States residential sector has been analyzed and then represented as energy intensities to establish benchmark data and to compare energy consumption of varying sizes and locations. First, public sources were identified and data from these previously published sources were aggregated to determine the energy use of the residential sector within the US. Next, as part of this study, the energy data for seven houses/apartments from five different United States climate zones were collected firsthand. That data were analyzed, and the energy intensity of each home was calculated and then compared with the energy intensities of the other homes in the same states using Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) data. The energy intensity for each facility was calculated based on the actual energy bills. Finally, the study evaluated the carbon footprint associated with residential energy consumption in all 50 states to reinforce the importance of sustainable development initiatives. Full article

It is important to reduce the building load and downsize the heat source equipment capacity during construction or renovation carried out toward the achievement of carbon neutrality by 2050 in Japan. However, this sometimes results in the oversizing of the heat source equipment capacity, despite the fact that designers are engaged in the implementation of safety designs while attempting to balance between cost and risk. This study investigated the simultaneous usage ratio of heating based on occupant behavior in an apartment building with the aim of optimizing this capacity. This ratio was defined as a peak load-based approach rather than simultaneity based on the number of people using the system. First, the analysis was conducted for the heating load characteristics for each dwelling unit and each household composition. The subject of this case study was an apartment building located in Sapporo, Japan. Based on these data, a method for creating the curve of the simultaneous usage ratio to avoid a combinatorial explosion was suggested. As a result, the ratio created for about 200 dwelling units was 53.6% in an apartment building and generally stabilized when the number of dwelling units exceeded 30. Finally, a case study was attempted to analyze the influence of changes in household composition on the ratio. If the method proposed in this study for creating the curve of simultaneous usage ratios were to be applied in not only this case study but also in case studies of non-residential buildings such as offices, new results about the curves of ratios that differ from those of apartment buildings could be obtained. Therefore, this case study provides a methodology for statistically quantifying the simultaneous usage ratio as one of the factors in determining the appropriate heat source equipment capacity in the design stage. Full article

Accurate electricity demand forecasting serves as a vital planning tool, enhancing the reliability of management decisions. Apart from that, achieving these aims, particularly in managing peak demand, faces challenges due to the industry’s volatility and the ongoing increase in residential energy use. Our research suggests that employing deep learning algorithms, such as recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and gated recurrent units (GRU), holds promise for the accurate forecasting of electrical energy demand in time series data. This paper presents the construction and testing of three deep learning models across three separate scenarios. Scenario 1 involves utilizing data from all-day demand. In Scenario 2, only weekday data are considered. Scenario 3 uses data from non-working days (Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays). The models underwent training and testing across a wide range of alternative hyperparameters to determine the optimal configuration. The proposed model’s validation involved utilizing a dataset comprising half-hourly electrical energy demand data spanning seven years from the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT). In terms of model performance, we determined that the RNN-GRU model performed better when the dataset was substantial, especially in scenarios 1 and 2. On the other hand, the RNN-LSTM model is excellent in Scenario 3. Specifically, the RNN-GRU model achieved an MAE (mean absolute error) of 214.79 MW and an MAPE (mean absolute percentage error) of 2.08% for Scenario 1, and an MAE of 181.63 MW and MAPE of 1.89% for Scenario 2. Conversely, the RNN-LSTM model obtained an MAE of 226.76 MW and an MAPE of 2.13% for Scenario 3. Furthermore, given the expanded dataset in Scenario 3, we can anticipate even higher precision in the results. Full article

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

Seoul is the first city in South Korea to provide affordable social housing, beginning in 2015. Despite the importance of studying its space, configuration, and functionality, which impact the residents’ quality of life, research on social housing in Seoul is sparse. The purpose of this study is twofold: (1) to analyze the spatial layout and utilization of social housing and (2) to compare it to the layout and utilization of public rental housing provided by Seoul Housing & Communities Corporation (SH). A total of 120 units from 30 social housing projects open to the public in Seoul were selected. This study found that social housing in Seoul primarily consists of compact housing units targeting young adults and newlywed couples, with a high proportion of diverse spatial configurations. In South Korea, while the SH specialized floor plan is commonly used as a standardized prototype in contemporary apartments, the floor plans for social housing exhibit a broader range of shapes and spatial configurations. Distinct criteria are employed for space separation in designing social housing. Separating bedrooms or kitchens may be the priority depending on the specific housing unit, resulting in multiple layouts. The results suggest that ongoing research could contribute to exploring improved approaches for region-specific social housing design and enhancing residential environments. Full article

The research presents approaches to the complex refurbishment of multi-family buildings constructed during the mass construction period in Serbia. These buildings comprise a quarter of Serbia’s housing stock, are characterized by high energy consumption for heating, and have major spatial and organizational deficiencies: small apartments, outdated and inflexible spatial organization, and the absence of elevators. The subject of the research is the application of the methodology of complex and integrated refurbishment by adding volume to existing multi-family buildings with the goal of achieving higher energy efficiency while remodeling and modernizing residential units and improving vertical building communications. The research presents a comparative analysis of the energy performance and spatial organization of the existing building and three variants of building improvement: Case 1 (without volumetric additions), Case 2 (with volumetric additions—relocating vertical communications), and Case 3 (with volumetric additions—expanding usable living space). Based on the Knaufterm simulations, the energy savings for heating energy consumption compared to the existing state are 81% in Case 1, 89% in Case 2, and 87% in Case 3. Based on predefined parameters of spatial comfort, a comparative analysis of spatial comfort in residential units was conducted for all three improvement variants. Full article

Building integrated photovoltaic (BIPV) systems can achieve high yields through high percentages of building envelope surface coverage associated with material savings by substituting conventional building envelope components and avoiding land-use change to install open-land PV installations. This article discusses the life cycle assessment (LCA) and the life cycle costing (LCC) of BIPV systems in timber-hybrid building extensions and envelope renovation systems of three exemplary buildings in the Republic of Korea: apartment, mixed-use commercial/industrial, and low-rise multi-unit residential. The BIPV system’s electricity production was quantified with simulation tools. Minimum and average carbon LCAs were calculated using a global product inventory database for 50 years. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emission savings by substituting conventional energy supplies were calculated based on the associated primary energy demands. LCC calculations were based on international datasets for BIPV LCC for 25 and 50 years. As a result, the BIPV system-associated GHG emissions can be decreased by up to 30% with a payback time of 12 (apartment) to 41 (mixed-use building) years for buildings with full PV coverage. The positive cumulative net present value (NPV) for both LCC scenarios encourages economic investments in building renovations with BIPV systems. Full article

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. Full article