Open House International

Hasselaar, Evert

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0001

What can a special issue on sustainable and healthy housing contribute to the widespread ongoing debate? Well, there is a need for good examples, for successful strategies and for “stepping stones”, meaning that better practices are based on acquired experience. Also, the young generation has to be prepared for state-of-the art sustainable principles and products and not to treat them as innovations.

Itard, Laure; Bogaard, Maartje van den

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0002

This paper deals with teaching environmental sustainability to students in higher education, focusing on the sustainability of buildings and the built environment and more specifically on energy. Integrating sustainability issues into the curricula of engineering education proves to be a big challenge. The main issues are: the fuzzy definition of sustainability; continuously advancing insights in environmental sciences and mono disciplinary versus multidisciplinary approaches. These issues are put into relation with theories and practice regarding curriculum development and change.

Wassenberg, Frank

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0003

Cities and the neighbourhoods within are dynamic and change continuously. Vital neighbourhoods can cope with changing circumstances like outdated use, changing household compositions, consumer preferences and fashions, political turnovers, global trends and economic cycles. Sustainable areas are vital and flexible to changes. Sustainable urban renewal results in sustainable areas. However, what is sustainable urban renewal, and why is quite a lot of renewal policy, as history shows, not very sustainable? European urban renewal policy can be divided into three separate periods, in which different ideas prevailed. This article shows these three periods on four points of view, the contents, the process, the area and a time-focus, and elaborates these on one particular country, the Netherlands.

Strassl, Inge

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0004

The responsible politician for environment in Vorarlberg spoke at the Energy Gala in November 2002 in Bregenz and said: “It is necessary not only to discuss central regulations but to invest more in decentralised actions”. The communities are central players in this field because they can act in various ways: as authority, owner of buildings and as motivator for the people.Two examples of strategies in Austria are introduced:e5 - program for energy efficient communities (congruent to the European Energy Award)This program supports communities with high ambitions on energy and sustainability. The program helps to give structure, tools and a quality insurance system, so that even smaller communities can act in a professional and efficient way. Additionally it is a labelling and awarding system, which is quite important because a lot of work in the communities happens voluntarily and it is important to give approval to these actors.Energy point system in housing subsidiesIn the federal state of Salzburg the energy point system is a subsidy system for energy-saving measures and the use of renewable energy in housing.Quality points are given, depending on the energetic and ecological quality of a building. Every point increases the subvention that is granted by the government of the federal state Salzburg. Additional points exist, for example, for the use of biomass, solar energy and controlled living space ventilation. Using this simple system, the quality of sponsored housing was increased significantly and the use of renewable energies was successfully introduced into social housing. Today more than 80% of the residential buildings in Salzburg are heated by biomass and more than 60% of the buildings are using solar energy for hot water and heating.

Suschek-Berger, Jürgen; Ornetzeder, Michael

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0005

This article deals with the increasing demand for participation in sustainable refurbishment projects. Based on a recently finished study and some conceptual considerations we present a flexible model for involving occupants and other stakeholders in large-volume residential refurbishment projects. The study draws on fifteen interviews with refurbishment experts and three focus group discussions with occupants of recently finished projects. The article shows that in practice it is important to offer approriate opportunities for participation at each phase of the process. Although refurbishment projects in general run through a series of typical phases there is no such thing as a standardized ‘ideal’ participation process. Rather participation designs for large projects have to be ‘tailor-made’, taking into account occupants' expectations and abilities, legal requirements, the complexity of projected measures, and finally the often well established ‘style of communication’ already used by the housing company.

Mlecnik, Erwin

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0006

More significant reductions in residential primary energy consumption and in space heating in particular, can contribute to achieving climate change and energy efficiency objectives. Project information from demonstration projects is now becoming available for highly energy-efficient renovation concepts.The goal of this research is to understand how owner-occupants can be persuaded to apply far-reaching energy-saving renovations of single-family houses. To this end, the research examines drivers and barriers of owners to adopt highly energy-efficient renovation concepts. Theory on decision processes in innovation diffusion is used, in order to examine the adoption of integrated concepts to achieve high energy performance. Belgian case studies (different building typologies) were examined. Adoption drivers and barriers perceived by owner-occupants are analysed. This leads to improved understanding of characteristics that can persuade future adopters. Possible measures are discussed to overcome barriers in the introduction phase of innovation diffusion, and are illustrated more in detail with a case study. The research shows that especially expectations of improved comfort provide an opportunity for the market entry of integrated concepts. Owners, architects and contractors could benefit from increased attractiveness, competitiveness, affordability and availability of highly energy-efficient renovations. Holistic approaches (stronger coordination and clustered renovation concepts), higher skill competence (education) and improved communication (actor networks, significant economic incentives) are recommended.

Mavrogianni, A.; Davies, M.; Wilkinson, P.; Pathan, A.

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0007

Climate change presents potential increased threats to the comfort and health of urban populations as a result of higher summer temperatures. This paper reviews recent research on the climate change adaptation potential of urban environments and focuses on a major conurbation, London. Recent work relating to the impact of exposure to heat on population health is also noted. Data obtained from a pilot monitoring study carried out in a subset of 36 dwellings (from a total of 110 dwellings in the overall study) across London during the summer of 2009 is then discussed. Preliminary results illustrate the need to quantify the net impacts of individual building characteristics and the location of each dwelling within the London heat island. During a hot period, more than 40% of the monitored bedrooms failed the recommended overheating criteria during the night time. There was some indication of purpose built flats being more prone to overheating. The potential use of such data as the basis of a heat-related health risk epidemiological model for London is discussed. Such a tool would help health policy makers to target the most vulnerable building types and areas.

Ormandy, David

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0008

After ten years of development, the English government adopted the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS) as the prescribed method for assessing housing conditions. Prior to 2006, the assessment was based on the condition of the building and the presence of necessary facilities. Being ‘building focussed’, the basis of the severity of the condition was the extent and cost of any remedial works considered necessary to make the dwelling ‘fit for human habitation’. The HHSRS shifts the focus to the potential threat to health and safety from any defects and deficiencies. The assessment takes account of the likelihood of a hazardous occurrence, and the probable severity of harm that could result from such an occurrence. This approach acknowledges that defects that would be relatively inexpensive to deal with can pose a serious threat to health and/or safety.Work on the development of the HHSRS included matching data on housing conditions with data on health outcomes. The analyses of the matched database provided information on, among other factors, the range and severity of harm outcomes associated with particular hazards. As the health data used was that available from hospitals and general practitioners, it meant that the health outcomes were those serious enough for the victim to seek medical attention. It has now been realised that it is possible to compare the one-off cost of works to remove or reduce housing hazards with the estimated annual saving to the health service. Using this approach, it has been estimated that poor housing in England is costing the health service around £600 million a year. This cost to the health service is estimated to be around 40% of the total cost of poor housing to society.

Hussein, Muhannad Haj; Barlet, Aline; Semidor, Catherine

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0009

Traditionally, in Palestine, outdoor spaces played a crucial role in organizing and improving the living quality of the living units, while this important role in modern housing design is lost by a stark separation between internal and private external spaces (balconies, verandas and yards). This separation is disconnecting private inside and outside spaces whereas in the traditional courtyard houses there was a continuity between the inside and the outside. This paper investigates the socio-environmental criteria and characteristics of private outdoor spaces that could play an improving role in the living quality of future housing design. So, a comparative study between contemporary and traditional outdoor spaces characteristics was carried out in two different cities in two different climatic zones of Palestine. The contemporary housing was evaluated by conducting a survey over 300 dwellings of different housing typologies (detached houses/apartment flats), while the characteristics of traditional design were analyzed from the old historical part of these cities. The results of this paper demonstrate that the private outdoor space is a major contributor to enhance housing sustainability. It presents the distinctive qualities of courtyard concept, which ought to be reintroduced consciously into the design of future housing in order to improve the living quality. The paper also identifies the most important factors that ensure those qualities and forms the basis for further research.

Visscher, Henk

2010 Open House International

doi: 10.1108/OHI-02-2010-B0010

From whatever perspective we look upon the sustainability and health quality of housing, the quality improvement of the housing stock will be of major importance. To achieve the goals of reduction of fossil energy use, large scale refurbishments programs will have to be carried out. This goes together with the necessity to prevent the ageing stock from deterioration and to improve the physical quality of neighborhoods and dwellings for livability reasons.