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It was the purpose of this study to determine the accessibility and usability of mobile homes for elderly residents. A sample of 50 elderly persons was interviewed with an instrument developed by researchers at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University who conducted the project entitled "Mobile Homes Accessibility and Usability for Independent Elderly Residents." The majority of elderly persons in the sample were females who lived alone, more of whom had mobility problems than health problems. The residents had lived in the mobile home an average of six years and the majority owned rather than rented. The mobile homes were a median size of 720 square feet and an average age of 11.5 years. Of the 95 accessibility and usability features considered, an average of 46 features were present at the time of purchase or when the units were first occupied, and an average of seven features had been added by the residents. Linear regression, t-test, analysis of covariance and Pearson Product Moment Correlation tests were used to examine the relationships between features present, added and total in the units and the independent variables. Health problems were significantly and negatively related to the number of features present at purchase in the mobile homes. Mobility problems of the residents were significantly and positively related to the total number of features in the mobile homes. Larger and newer mobile homes were found to have a greater number of total features. / M.S.

The issues from past projects are shown to be used in subsequent projects. By continuing to investigate selected issues they become increasingly articulated. / Master of Architecture

The main purpose of this study was to investigate a model of predictors of acceptance of housing alternatives among the nonmetropolitan population. The study analyzed data from the Southern Regional Research Project, S-141, “Housing for Low- and Moderate-Income Families." The sample consisted of 1,234 households and a subsample of 556 over age 55. The independent variables for this study were: housing situation, housing satisfaction, concept of home, and demographics, including age. The dependent variable was acceptance of housing alternatives. The work of Rogers (1962, 1983) and Rogers and Shoemaker (1971) on the adoption process of innovations formed the theoretical framework for this study. The Total Knowledge Index of Weber, McCray, and Claypool (1985), based on the decision stage of the adoption process of Rogers and Shoemaker (1971), was used to measure acceptance of six types of alternative housing: active solar, passive solar, apartment/multifamily, earth-sheltered/underground, manufactured/mobile home, and retrofitted/energy-improved. Multiple regression was used to test the first hypothesis that the age of the respondent would explain more variation in acceptance of housing alternatives than could be explained by given set of independent variables. Age did not significantly add to the amount of variation in acceptance that could be explained by the model of predictors. For the subsample over age 55 the addition of age significantly increased the amount of variation in acceptance. More of the variation in acceptance was explained by the model of predictors with the over age 55 subsample than with the entire sample. The second hypothesis involved regressing the set of predictors, excluding age, on each of the three age independent groups (under 55, 55 - 64, and age 65 and over). The set of predictors explained significantly more of the variation for the age defined groups of 55 to 64 and those age 65 and over than it did for the group under 55. Therefore, it appears that age is important in the prediction of acceptance of housing alternatives with the set of independent variables in this study, particularly for individuals over age 55. / Ph. D.

Yes / After more than 3500 years of occupation in the Neolithic and Bronze Age, the many lake-dwellings’ around the Circum-Alpine region ‘suddenly’ came to an end. Throughout that period alternating phases of occupation and abandonment illustrate how resilient lacustrine populations were against change: cultural/environmental factors might have forced them to relocate temporarily, but they always returned to the lakes. So why were the lake-dwellings finally abandoned and what exactly happened towards the end of the Late Bronze Age that made the lake-dwellers change their way of life so drastically? The new research presented here draws upon the results of a four-year-long project dedicated to shedding light on this intriguing conundrum. Placing a particular emphasis upon the Bronze Age, a multidisciplinary team of researchers has studied the lake-dwelling phenomenon inside out, leaving no stones unturned, enabling identification of all possible interactive socio-economic and environmental factors that can be subsequently tested against each other to prove (or disprove) their validity. By re-fitting the various pieces of the jigsaw a plausible, but also rather unexpected, picture emerges. / Swiss National Science Foundation

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This Thesis is aimed at evaluating the options of renovation for an existing residential building to make it more energy efficient. The various aspects in the basic structures of residential homes are discussed in order to help the user identify the areas of the house for which renovation is required to improve the energy efficiency of the building. These aspects include doors, roof and wall in addition to various systems of electrical wiring, mechanical systems of ventilation, heating and cooling and plumbing systems for the efficient flow of water throughout the house. The renovation options have been described in detail to provide as many possibilities to the user as possible. The building taken for renovation is a 1953 suburban home which has been awarded the honor of being the first building to be labeled as Zero Energy Home in its vicinity. This has made the home so efficient that its expenditure of energy has become equivalent to its energy generation, therefore, cancelling each other out and creating an estimate of zero energy.

The purpose of this research, based on classical diffusion of innovations theory, was to examine factors related to the probable adoption or nonadoption of energy-efficient housing alternatives, specifically passive and active solar and earth sheltered/underground dwellings. Three types of factors were examined: demographics (geographical location by state, type of household, stage in family life cycle, race, age, and educational level); energy (belief in the energy crisis, the impact of energy on housing decisions, efforts to reduce utility costs, average monthly utility costs, and the presence of energy-conserving features in the dwelling); and, local regulatory codes for building (the presence of housing alternatives in the locality, the presence of regulatory codes, and the prior need for variances in order to construct alternative forms of housing). The study utilized daca collected as part of a regional research project, S-141, Housing for Low- and Moderate-Income Families. Data from households were collected by means of an interview schedule using a random sample of 1804 households from four counties selected in each of seven southern states after stratification on the basis of income and the number of nonfarm households. Data from local building officials in the same counties were collected using mailed questionnaires. Techniques of analysis utilized included the chi-squared test, analysis of variance, analysis of covariance, the t-test, and discriminant analysis. Findings indicated that probable adopters of the housing alternatives were usually younger, had more education, were in the earlier stages of the family life cycle, believed in the energy crisis, believed the energy situation had impacted housing decisions, had attempted to reduce utility costs, and lived in houses with more energy-conserving features than probable nonadopters. / Ph. D.