This report is an exploration of the theoretical and applied aspects of green affordable housing. First, it presents an in-depth examination of the current status of green affordable housing by exploring the synergy between green rating systems which guide and certify developments and the financial and policy mechanisms which either support or curtail them. Second, this report will analyze diverse case studies from around the country in order to examine how green affordable housing is developed in various real-world contexts. Two-tiers of case studies are presented: secondary and primary. Secondary case studies receive a brief overview while the primary case study examines in-depth an ongoing development in Austin, Texas. The primary case is also an example of current innovative movements and provides a glimpse into what the future of green affordable housing might look like. And lastly, conclusions are drawn from the research that itemize best practices in green affordable housing. The report concludes that green affordable housing is not an easy development practice and thus, recommendations are provided to ease some of the existing barriers to further development. This report also concludes that while costbenefit analyses and arguments for energy-efficiency are salient, concerns for public and environmental health need equal weight in the argument and advocacy for green affordable housing. I argue that green affordable housing should be developed with an integrated design process specific to local context, with a local visioning process that cultivates community connections. And most importantly, education for housing providers and tenants regarding on-going operations and maintenance is a crucial part of that integrated design process. / text

This study examines the readiness of suburban towns in Austin for the potential development of affordable and low-income housing through their comprehensive plans and land use policies. The study consists of four sections: an overview of the greater Austin MSA and the developing poverty in the suburban areas, a literature review of the effects of local land use policies on affordable housing production and development, the establishment of a “best practices” metric for local land use policies amenable to affordable housing production, and application of the metric to four localities in the Austin MSA, including Elgin, Dripping Springs, Kyle, and Georgetown. The findings reveal primarily low scores overall for the four localities, and expose the challenges suburban jurisdictions in a high-growth MSA in Texas face when addressing the needs of increasing low-income residents, and display best practices that localities with successful methods use to address those needs. / text

A Thesis submitted to The University of Arizona College of Medicine - Phoenix in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Medicine. / Since the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was signed into law in March of 2010, there have been multiple large survey studies focusing on physicians’ thoughts towards health care policy issues. 1‐6 Unfortunately, there has not been adequate attention paid to medical students’ feelings on reform in the literature. Today’s medical students will enter their practice at a vital time in the ACA’s implementation and will play an integral role in health care reform throughout their careers.7,8 This study is a national project that used a survey tool to demonstrate how well medical students know the details of the ACA and what their feelings are on the legislation. The survey was sent to eight different medical institutions across the country with ten total medical school campuses, using SurveyMonkey to collect results. The institutions were chosen based on their geographic location, mix between private and public institutions, and available investigators at each institution. The survey tool was developed by Tyler Winkelman, MD, from the University of Minnesota after a comprehensive literature review, adaptation of items from his previous survey of medical students in Minnesota performed in 2012, and consultation with physicians and policy experts.9 The survey focuses on student’s opinion of the ACA, knowledge of nine key provisions in the ACA, level of support of key health care policies, feelings towards health care policy education in medical schools, and socio‐demographic information, including political ideology, debt amount and intended specialty. Data analysis was performed using Pearson’s Chi‐square tests and multiple logistic regression models at The University of Minnesota to test for associations between students’ opinion of the ACA and five key predictors: debt, medical school year, political ideology, ACA knowledge, and intended specialty. A total of 2,761 out of 5,340 medical students (52%) responded to the survey, with 63% of students indicating support for the ACA, 75% agreeing that they understand the key ACA provisions, and 56% indicating professional obligation to assist in implementation of the ACA. Students intending to enter surgery or a surgical subspecialty and students who identified themselves as conservative were found to have less support and professional obligation of the ACA when compared to students entering primary care (Internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, internal medicine/pediatrics, or emergency medicine) or identifying themselves as liberal or moderate. Students that were most knowledgeable of the ACA were found to more likely support the ACA and indicate professional obligation towards the legislation. In conclusion, our study found that the majority of medical students indicate support for the ACA and feel they have a professional obligation in assisting implementation. The views of the ACA differ based on student’s political ideology, anticipated specialty, and knowledge of key ACA provisions, but overall, there is optimism that this high level of support can lead to advocacy and successful health care reform down the road.

A constellation of challenges, including changing family types and shrinking household size, housing affordability, and ecological impact, can be addressed through a different approach to private dwelling. These are widespread challenges, but the challenges of affordability and changing demographics are acutely present in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, making it a fertile site to explore these issues. The thesis design addresses this constellation of challenges by adding layers of shared space to individual dwellings. The design draws from cohousing: common houses with shared facilities, parking at the periphery, massing the buildings around pedestrian circulation, and creating shared outdoor spaces. Cohousing is hybridized with a “big house” idea which puts dwellings for three to five families in a single building, where the main rooms are shared by all. Through these features the design encourages a sense of community, while taking advantage of shared facilities to improve affordability and reduce environmental impact.

Electricity is directly linked to the economy of a country: when electricity is limited and the price for electricity is very high, the high electricity price will have a negative influence on the economy of the country. Owing to the increasing power shortage in the world, and South Africa in particular, today, the need for reliable and economical electricity has risen drastically. The 100 MWth (40 MWe) PEPER power plant is a possible alternative that will help fight the lack of reliable, clean and affordable electricity in the world today. Owing to the small consumption area of the PEPER power plant, each city, mine and industry, for example, can have its own PEPER power plant in order to ensure reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity. This dissertation presents a case study and the relevant economic model for the PEPER power plant in order to determine whether the PEPER power plant may be considered as a possible electricity source. The production costs of the PEPER are presented in US$/kWh and compared with the industrial and household electricity costs (in US$/kWh) of various countries. This is done in order to determine whether it will be economically feasible to construct a First-of-a-kind (FOAK) or Nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) PEPER power plant in the industrial and household sectors of a selected country. In the economic model of the PEPER plant, the fixed capital investment costs for a FOAK PEPER plant were estimated to be US$367,199,411 and the fixed capital investment costs for a NOAK (eighth) PEPER plant were estimated to be US$238,429,665. The working capital for the first two years of the PEPER plant’s lifetime was estimated to be US$17,228,740. The production cost of the PEPER plant was estimated to be 0.038 US$/kWh. The sensitivity analysis conducted demonstrated that FOAK PEPER plants could be established in countries in which the electricity income is 0.145 US$/kWh or more. NOAK PEPER plants (all the PEPER plants constructed after the eighth PEPER Techno-economic analysis of the 100 MWth PEPER plant Confidential 3 plant is erected) could be established in countries with an electricity income of 0.10 US$/kWh or more. The PEPER plant presented here could be used: 1. as a training tool; 2. to test fuels and materials; 3. to accumulate high temperature nuclear data; and 4. as an electricity source for the industrial and household sectors of selected countries. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010

Electricity is directly linked to the economy of a country: when electricity is limited and the price for electricity is very high, the high electricity price will have a negative influence on the economy of the country. Owing to the increasing power shortage in the world, and South Africa in particular, today, the need for reliable and economical electricity has risen drastically. The 100 MWth (40 MWe) PEPER power plant is a possible alternative that will help fight the lack of reliable, clean and affordable electricity in the world today. Owing to the small consumption area of the PEPER power plant, each city, mine and industry, for example, can have its own PEPER power plant in order to ensure reliable, affordable and sustainable electricity. This dissertation presents a case study and the relevant economic model for the PEPER power plant in order to determine whether the PEPER power plant may be considered as a possible electricity source. The production costs of the PEPER are presented in US$/kWh and compared with the industrial and household electricity costs (in US$/kWh) of various countries. This is done in order to determine whether it will be economically feasible to construct a First-of-a-kind (FOAK) or Nth-of-a-kind (NOAK) PEPER power plant in the industrial and household sectors of a selected country. In the economic model of the PEPER plant, the fixed capital investment costs for a FOAK PEPER plant were estimated to be US$367,199,411 and the fixed capital investment costs for a NOAK (eighth) PEPER plant were estimated to be US$238,429,665. The working capital for the first two years of the PEPER plant’s lifetime was estimated to be US$17,228,740. The production cost of the PEPER plant was estimated to be 0.038 US$/kWh. The sensitivity analysis conducted demonstrated that FOAK PEPER plants could be established in countries in which the electricity income is 0.145 US$/kWh or more. NOAK PEPER plants (all the PEPER plants constructed after the eighth PEPER Techno-economic analysis of the 100 MWth PEPER plant Confidential 3 plant is erected) could be established in countries with an electricity income of 0.10 US$/kWh or more. The PEPER plant presented here could be used: 1. as a training tool; 2. to test fuels and materials; 3. to accumulate high temperature nuclear data; and 4. as an electricity source for the industrial and household sectors of selected countries. / Thesis (M.Ing. (Nuclear Engineering))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010

I researched the strategies that city officials and housing developers used to address NIMBY concerns about low income housing developments. I conducted interview research with planning commission members, their staffs, and housing developers from two cities. I wanted to understand what strategies the interviewees employed to address NIMBY concerns, if best practices were used during the planning process, how well those practices were followed, how effective those approaches used were in a real world setting, and inquire about alternative methods. The findings indicated that population density and median income were the relevant factors regarding NIMBY related issues. Also, traffic concerns, classism, and ageism were found to be prevalent NIMBY concerns. The strategies used included early engagement of residents, studies being conducted to identify credible issues, and the use of the judicial system. The methods outlined were the best practices used, and were effective in addressing NIMBY concerns. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Graduate Center for Social and Public Policy / MA / Thesis

I estimate two models of consumer health insurance choices where individual attributes and e.g., income, age, gender, cost, etc. affect qualification for specific programs e.g., Medicaid and Medicare, but also affect the choices individuals make. From these results, I assess how these attributes affect health insurance choices using the 2008 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. I then use these results to predict how individual health insurance choices change with the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) in 2014. My predictions estimate that more 50 percent of those who become eligible for Medicaid under ACA will switch to Medicaid or choose to have both Private and Medicaid insurance.

Honduras faces the highest levels of economic inequality in Latin America, 66% of the population live in poverty, 8.1% is the unemployment rate and 1.1 million the housing deficit. One million affordable housing units need to be built to cover the shortfall, which is concentrated mainly in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Choloma. Building at least half a million new homes and improving about 600,000 that do not meet the minimum conditions of habitability is what is needed in Honduras, particularly in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa is required. In Honduras, the government has the goal to massify new low-income affordable housing developments around cities, with an estimated 12,000 new households to be constructed across Honduras by the end of 2018. But as in most developing countries, sustainable design is not taken into consideration when it comes to affordable housing developments, yet low income-families are highly affected from increasing energy prices and environmentally related health issues. These large-scale projects could minimize local and global environmental impacts and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, if sustainable guiding standards are embraced during design, construction, and maintenance. The rising cost of utilities are affecting low-income families in “affordable” housing developments, the energy expenses force them to make hard choices between basic needs or going back to informal settlements. For this reason, reducing operating and maintenance cost should be a priority for low-income housing design Passive design is any technology or strategy that increase energy-efficiency and thermal comfort by taking advantage of the climate, without the need for expensive mechanical systems. The study analyses different passive design strategies that are applicable for affordable housing developments. Such strategies are orientation, shading, natural ventilation, daylight, and open spaces. The aim is to address energy efficiency and thermal comfort by evaluating and suggesting solutions that improve the quality of life of low-income families in affordable housing developments. The application of passive design strategies showed a 44% reduction in electric utilities, a base case and a proposed design was modeled in eQuest, energy modeling software. The results show a significant reduction towards low-income families’ housing expenses.

Housing Partnerships (HPs) are collaborative arrangements that assist communities in the delivery of affordable housing by combining the strengths of the public and private sectors. They emerged in several states, counties, and cities in the eighties as innovative solutions to the challenges in affordable housing resulting from changing dynamics of delivery and production. My study examines HPs with particular emphasis upon the identification of those factors associated with the successful performance of their mission of affordable housing. I will use the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) framework in this study. The identification of performance factors facilitates a better understanding of how HPs can be successful in achieving their mission. The identification of performance factors is significant in the context of the current economic environment because HPs can be viewed as innovative institutional mechanisms in the provision of affordable housing. The present study uses a mixed methods research approach, drawing on data from the IRS Form 990 tax returns, a survey of the chief executives of HPs, and other secondary sources. The data analysis is framed according to the four perspectives of BSC: the financial, customer, internal business, and learning and growth. Financially, revenue diversification affects the financial health of HPs and overall performance. Although HPs depend on private and government funding, they also depend on service fees to carry out their mission. From a customer perspective, the HPs mainly serve low and moderate income households, although some serve specific groups such as seniors, homeless, veterans, and victims of domestic violence. From an internal business perspective, HPs’ programs are oriented toward affordable housing needs, undertaking not only traditional activities such as construction, loan provision, etc., but also advocacy and educational programs. From an employee and learning growth perspective, the HPs are small in staff size, but undertake a range of activities with the help of volunteers. Every part of the HP is developed to maximize resources, knowledge, and skills in order to assist communities in the delivery of affordable housing and related needs. Overall, housing partnerships have played a key role in affordable housing despite the housing market downturn since 2006. Their expenses on affordable housing activities increased despite the decrease in their revenues.