Design of Dwellings and Interior Family Space in China: Understanding the History of Change and Opportunities for Improved Sustainability Practices

This paper reviews briefly the recent history of dwelling design in China. It notes the rapid changes that have taken place since the 1980s and identifies the way contemporary procurement processes leave out the final fit-out and decoration/refurbishment. A range of stakeholders were interviewed, and access was gained to drawings and other technical data that indicated how the secondary processes were carried out. These are largely ungoverned by regulation in the same way necessary for initial design. The key group is the occupants who drive the fit-out and decoration according to personal and cultural requirements, but often with less than perfect understanding of sustainability. The interior design industry has developed rapidly over the same period and was initially lacking in professional knowledge and understanding (something which can still be found). Advice provided to dwelling occupants was based more on appearance than function and efficiency. Over the same period, beneficial modifications to construction processes have been introduced in relation to structural design, and it should be possible to do the same for sustainability-related design issues. The paper advocates: more regulation; better assessment techniques; more information and guidance for home-owners; and a greater focus on energy issue

WaND Briefing Note 28 Revised Options for UK Domestic Water Reduction - A Review

Demand pressure on UK water supplies is expected to increase in the next 20 years driven by increasing population, new housing development and reducing household size. Regionally and at town level migration will also affect demand particularly in the South-East which is forecast to have a larger than average growth in population and house building. The water demand moderating trends that are considered to have the greatest effect on UK consumption, in approximate order, are: 1. Metering 2. Low flush toilets 3. Normal showers 4. Efficient washing machines 5. Dishwashers 6. Cistern displacement devices (in existing homes with large cisterns) 7. Water efficient gardening measures can play an important role in reducing demand during critical drought period

Defying marketing sovereignty: Voluntary simplicity at new consumption communities

Purpose of this paper: To broaden the scope of or knowledge of collective voluntarily simplified lifestyles in the UK, by exploring whether voluntary simplifiers achieve their goals by adopting a simpler life. Design/methodology/approach: Radical forms of voluntary simplifier groups were explored through participant-observation research. The methodology can be broadly classified as critical ethnography, and a multi-locale approach has been used in designing the field. Findings: Although for some of these consumers voluntary simplicity seems to have reinstated the enjoyment of life, certain goals remain unfulfilled and other unexpected issues arise, such as the challenges of mobility in the attainment of environmental goals. Research limitations/implications (if applicable): This is an ongoing research, however many opportunities for further research have arisen from this study. Quantitative research could be undertaken on the values and attitudes buttressing voluntary simplicity specifically in the UK. The extent to which such communities influence mainstream consumers could be studied both quantitatively and qualitatively. Mainstream consumers’ attitudes to the practices of such communities could prove useful for uncovering real consumer needs. Practical implications: Despite these communities position in the extreme end of the voluntary simplicity spectrum, their role in shaping the practices and attitudes of other consumers is clear. What is original/value of paper: This paper provides new consumer insights that can re-shape policy-making and marketing practice aimed at achieving a sustainable future

Alternative energy supply system to a rural village in Ethiopia

Abstract Background Most households in rural developing countries do not have access to modern energy supply. Household level biogas energy was considered as an option but failed due to lack of sufficient resources for its installation and operation. A community energy system can be an option, but most studies focused on off-grid electricity. This energy system cannot be a realistic option particularly for cooking demand. An efficient and suitable system matching local resources and demand expectation needs to be developed which this study focuses on assessing. Biogas and solar energy technologies are viable to establish such kind of a system since they can be converted to different forms of energy. Therefore, this study aims to determine efficient biogas and solar energy production and utilization options for small scale village energy application in rural Ethiopia. Methods The efficiencies of the production and utilization options are determined based on the system configurations involving resource, conversion, and utilization combination models. We used local resources, data, and relevant literature information for the system analysis. Results The analysis shows that most energy is needed in the form of heat for cooking and a smaller part in the form of electricity (about 10%). The community waste stream converted to biogas will be enough for cooking, but not enough biogas is left to produce enough electricity. Co-digesting altogether provides biogas that can meet only about 75% of the electricity demand. Concentrated solar cookers can be an alternative for cooking in areas where installation of biogas is not possible. About 2-m2 size solar concentrator is sufficient to meet each household’s cooking energy demand. The lighting and appliance energy demand can be met with photovoltaic (PV) energy produced with reasonably sized panels. However, the use of electrical energy for cooking produced with PV cannot be an economic option with the available technologies. Conclusions The community energy system involving anaerobic co-digestion (biogas) and/or solar energy technologies is viable to meet the demand when efficient production and conversion is made based on specific local resource supply and demand

Energetic Communities

The necessity for transition in the energy sector is beyond dispute and high on the political agendas. Climate change, the depletion of fossil fuels and the vulnerability of economies to resource speculation and unreliable political systems in the producing countries lay path for a broad implementation of smart alternative solutions. This means the integration of more sustainable renewable energy sources in the existing supply structures or the displacement of existing systems by new ones. Cities and communities are central players in the energy transition process. Energy demand is determined by the built environment. Renewable energy production needs space. The conflicts between different interest groups often break out in the context of local implementation measures that affect urban planning and the appearance of landscapes. Small- and medium-sized communities might prove to be game-changers in the overall energy transition because many problems have to be solved within their ambit. Urban planning is dealing with the numerous processes of urban change. Energy is a fairly new task to be addressed and many stakeholders lack experience and criteria for strategic decision making. After a period of fierce determination to turn the wheel against climate change, it seems that there is a growing resignation among politicians, planners and the public because some things have not turned out the way we’d expected and the hope for quick solutions fades. Rebound-effects seem to eat up the savings to a good extent, and alternative ideas of how sustainable energy systems may be put into place have not yet been persuasive in many cases. Energy systems have proved to be complex. They are still perceived to be important but in practice there is a growing uneasiness about the right steps to take. The overarching research question of this thesis is: What do decision makers in smalland medium-sized communities need to become more successful in implementing energy transition processes? For the research project this general question was broken down into four primary research questions: How can communities anchor and monitor long-term energy transition visions in their communal development plans? What tools and models are available for urban energy system analysis? How can tools and models be adapted to the specific demands and boundary conditions in the case study communities to ensure long-term implementation of appropriate technologies and measures? How does the practical implementation of the adapted tools work in the case study and what barriers must be overcome for long-term success? To answer these questions a combination of review of the current state of scientific literature of the thematic field with a practical application and evaluation of ‘real’ implementation projects was chosen. This appears to be a beneficial approach to scientific research in planning disciplines. The first research question is closely connected to urban planning and strategy. To anchor energy transition goals in these disciplines the potentials and consequences of political energy visions were studied. To monitor developments and progress existing indicator systems were reviewed and adapted to the needs of small- and medium-sized communities. For this overall target-definition the question of 'Exergy Thinking' in planning urban environments and energy systems was discussed. This basically means to create a deep understanding of the quality aspects in energy demand and supply systems and to be aware for better matching solutions. This approach opens many options for the integration of renewables in the heating and cooling supply. It showed that the definition of a clear long-term target or 'energy vision' supports the implementation of measures because it facilitates communication and controversy. The large number of available tools and scientific methods for the analysis and optimization of communal energy systems was reviewed to answer the second research question. The results from this work mainly led to the one central challenge that has to be solved whenever complex modelling and strategic decision making are affected: Data. Data describes the status-quo and gives necessary information on the complex system interactions and influence factors. The options to create a concise data framework for the central objective were addressed in two steps. From literature, existing models and approaches general data frameworks were collected and summarized. Since the method was to be applied to the test case study the data was validated and tested under the case study conditions. This showed deviations and necessary specifications but as well a good analogy to the default data. From this a transparent and adjustable spreadsheet-model was developed to create scenarios for the case study and to answer the fourth research question. To create a holistic picture of the communal energy system and the effects of increased exploitation of renewables geographic information systems (GIS) show very valuable functionalities. Especially since the processing and interpretation of geographic information is anchored in urban planning disciplines and creates an easy access if energy system information is integrated. The open data architecture of GIS allows the integration of different data types as long as they have a spatial correlation. This enables to retrieve valuable results from a scenario model even with rather fragmented and incomplete data. To show the effects of different implementation strategies represented by the different 'energy visions' three energy scenarios were run for the case study. These three scenarios represent central 'beliefs' or ' approaches' in energy transition as well as overall development indicators and specific local aspects. Therefore the success of energy transition measures remains limited if not all essential development parameters take a favorable course. The scenario evaluation shows some interesting results and shows the principal usability of the approach and the model. The base-case scenario shows that the community already reaches good results for the global energy indicators because of the existing measures. On a medium and long-term these measures are not sufficient though to stay on a good course. Especially the long-term developments in some cases produce unexpected results. For instance the rather unfavourable development of CO2-emissions in the renewable energies scenario was not a predictable result at first glance. Here the effects of the chosen technologies and the effects of superior developments show their impact. As well the huge impact of the assumed efficiency measures was somewhat unexpected. Even though the assumed refurbishment rates do not exceed national recommendations and the efficiency qualities are far from passive-house standard, the efficiency scenario shows the fastest and best results for the global environment indicators. This can be explained by the fact that the demand reduction optimally complements the existing renewable energy strategy and can show its full potential in this combination. The results of the smart-city scenario show the expected and desired trends of a moderate and balanced long-term strategy that leadsto a slower but continuous positive development in all the analysed energy system indicators. The long-term trends of the scenarios and the effects of following ‘plain’ strategies can be visualised well with the model and the developed scheme. Therefore the initial research questions can be answered positively. The framework gives good and useful results and offers many options for future extension. Certainly the next and most important aspect to include into the framework is the question of costs and economic effects. The overall investment and operational costs for the measures in the different scenarios will be very different. Efficiency measures especially in the existing building stock are costly while the costs for PV-plants will most probably further decline. This is certainly a shortcoming for the efficiency scenario. A future study could as well look at overall economic effects of the different strategies for the benefit of the community. Basic figures on the economic effects of renewable energy systems are already available (Hirschl et al. 2010) and could be implemented. This would certainly make the framework more beneficial for communal stakeholders. The model is transparent and simple enough to go this way in the near future and the achieved results of this thesis project are a good basis for this. The realisation of energy systems as sketched in the smart cities scenario still demands some changes in the regulatory boundary conditions and some new technologies mainly in the information and communication technologies. Smart and electricity grid compatible buildings which can contribute services in grid stability are an issue still to come and contribute to the integration of renewable electricity. The integration of renewable heat in communal supply systems is a big future opportunity to realise LowEx potentials in the heating and cooling sector. Stakeholders in small- and medium-sized communities should be encouraged by the outcomes of the thesis to take initial steps on the energy transition path, since the results that can be reached with state-of-the-art technologies are very encouraging. Energy transition on a large scale depends on the local implementation. Despite the fact that public and scientific focus and attention is mostly on the megacities, it will be the countless small initiatives that will turn the tide

Culture Change in Nursing Homes: How Far Have We Come?

Presents findings from the Commonwealth Fund 2007 National Survey of Nursing Homes on the extent to which nursing homes have adopted the principles of culture change and are delivering resident-centered care, as well as the benefits the changes have brou