No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Delaware, 2008. / Principal faculty advisor: Rebecca J. Sheppard, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.

The work in this thesis examines the land utilisation and simulated thermal performance of a pair of two-storey, three bedroom, semi-detached earth sheltered houses based on an existing residential development in South Wales, UK. When designed as Exposed South Wall type earth sheltered houses, which incorporate a number of passive solar design principles, each house provides a ratio of 0.508 for the internal floor area to the overall plot area, which is more efficient than 0.319 for a non earth sheltered house on the same development site. The simulation study has shown that the temperature of the earth sheltering the ground floor rooms is relatively stable on the coldest and warmest day of the CIBSE test year of 1985, but fluctuates widely on the same days at 1500 mm below ground level. The stable earth temperatures enable the ground floor rooms in twenty computer models to record higher resultant temperatures than the first floor rooms, on both the above days. In addition, the temperature range between models in the ground floor rooms is much smaller than in the first floor rooms where there are three variations of earth cover of 1500, 750 and 250 mm. With 100 mm of externally placed polystyrene insulation and an exposed, insulated and south facing first floor wall, 1500 mm of earth sheltering and family occupancy is required, so that both the ground and first floor rooms record resultant temperatures between 18 and 21 °C. With an insulated first floor buffer wall and Trombe wall or a non-insulated first floor buffer wall and insulated passive solar conservatory higher resultant temperatures are recorded and thinner earth covers become feasible with family occupancy. By increasing the insulation to 300 mm of polystyrene the thickness of earth cover and the inclusion of a first floor passive solar collector becomes less significant in recording comfortable internal resultant temperatures. However, the internal resultant temperatures exceed the upper comfort temperature of 23 °C in most rooms in the family and single adult occupied earth sheltered houses. Three optimum design solutions are given which record comfortable internal temperatures and that provide designers with a choice of earth cover, first floor design configuration and insulation thickness.

In this paper , analytical techniques are developed for evaluating the performance of passively heated buildings. As most buildings use conservatories to enhance their performance , the direct gain types having attached conservatories are considered in detail. The complexity of the problem is minimized by ensuring all equations are developed from first principles. Auxilliary energy predictions for space heating by the method is in close agreement with monitored data for three occupied houses in Milton Keynes in England.

Urban communities are undergoing a period of rapid change prompting concerns about community fragmentation. By building social cohesion and revitalizing civic participation, community development is viewed by many as a remedy to offset the weakening of community ties. This thesis explores how a community agency- based worker might help a fragmented community (re)build itself. By employing a single case study methodology, this thesis applies community development theories and related concepts to examine how a multicultural neighbourhood in east Vancouver mobilized community action. The case study found that a community capacity building framework, when supplemented with other community development tools, is an effective model for strengthening community leadership and building social connections. The study draws attention to the different kinds of social and cultural capital required to develop neighbourhood solidarity and bridge cultural differences in creating an inclusive community building process. The community worker was based in a unique form of community agency called a neighbourhood house. By providing resources needed for encouraging leadership and developing social connectedness the neighbourhood house was found to be a key asset for building community capacity. However, the study revealed that a neighbourhood house's participation in community building is constrained by the multiple community roles and relationships that it must maintain to ensure operational funding and a stance of political neutrality in its everyday dealings. The case study concludes with a set of recommendations for basing community development functions in a neighbourhood house. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

Saudi society is undergoing dramatic social transformation, brought about by rapid industrialisation and massive urbanisation. In this period of haste, home environments have experienced significant changes. There was a strong temptation by architects to pick Western houses designs off-the-shelf and by occupants to furnish their houses with modern imported furniture. A surplus economy made such 'shopping' possible. But while the Saudi society was transforming it would be an over simplification to term it `Westernising'. The new home environment leads us to question: how does modern furniture relate to the present-day Saudi family? Does modern furniture hinder or support Saudis' cultural values and identity? The aim of this study is to identify the influence of the use and meaning of modern furniture on the home environment in Jeddah. The study examines the home environment as a system within which constituents communicate continuously to reach different stages of compatibility. People communicate to furniture by using it and shaping its form, and furniture communicates to people by conveying how it is used and what it stands for (meaning). A model of nine stages has been developed to identify the possible relationships between form, use and meaning. The model is then used to analyse r, the relationship between occupants and furniture in both the traditional and contemporary home environment. The methodology of the study is qualitative. The data collection includes in-depth interviews with older women who lived in the traditional houses of Jeddah and housewives in contemporary houses, house floor plans, site and museums visits, a literature review, statistical data of furniture and appliances imported to Saudi Arabia, and other data related to social changes in Saudi Arabia. It has been found that traditional furniture was highly compatible with use, values and occupants' expression of identity. Modern furniture was introduced mainly for its meaning function and was incompatible with cultural values. Because cultural values have resisted change, some traditional furniture is still used and new local furniture was developed. This has led to an increase in the number of rooms, as some are used to express identity while others are used to maintain activities driven by traditional values.

As our major cities increase in size, more and more families may be expected to prefer central housing in the form of an apartment to the outlying single family house. In the major cities the need to achieve greater densities in order to make more economical use of our land is another factor of growing importance. Although the rate of construction of apartment buildings hag increased in recent years, there has been little recognition of the fact that certain families with children may increasingly wish to live in apartments due to the benefits offered by housing located close to employment, social and cultural facilities. The social values of families differ, depending on the orientation and interests of the members, and may be expected to affect the housing type desired. The group which might be better served by apartment housing may be larger than expected. However, at the present time apartment houses have certain disadvantages for family living. Some complaints which are commonly raised are discussed in this thesis. Clearly any improvements aimed at making the apartment environment suitable for family living must take into account the social needs and roles of the family and its members. A thorough study of sociological literature on the family and its needs was carried out. These needs ape discussed and interpreted in terms of their housing significance and implications for the apartment environment. It is concluded that with some changes in the present way of building apartments, and with the provision of various facilities necessary for family development on a communal or community basis, the apartment environment could be adapted to family living. Additional proof of the feasibility of making the apartment environment acceptable for family life can be seen in the Swedish housing situation. There a large proportion of families with children are housed in three and four story walk-up apartments, without suffering any hardship. The stress in Sweden, moreover, is on community planning with all the requirements of the people in mind, rather than on one isolated aspect of the total picture (i.e. the construction of dwellings). The dwelling unit alone is not considered to be adequate to take care of all the social needs of the family. Facilities for outdoor recreation, hobbies, cultural and other activities, are seen as a necessary extension of the home. They are provided outside the home, but as close as possible to it. Since the Canadian people have lived traditionally in their own houses, some prejudice against other housing types can be expected to linger. However, if the apartment environment provided as many of the amenities popularly associated with the single family home as possible, in addition to being centrally located, public prejudice may be expected to disappear in time. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

A study of the experiential aspects of architecture using a small house as the vehicle for exploration. / Master of Architecture