An estimated 20% of South Africa's population is currently housed in low cost dwellings. These dwellings are extremely energy inefficient and it has been shown that these households spend almost 20% of their disposable income on heating in winter. This situation is undesirable for both the home owners and ESKOM who must ensure an unusually high electricity demand especially on winter nights. Some of the people don't use electricity for heating but fire and this contributes to the high levels of pollution in these communities. By ensuring better energy efficiency in these houses the demand for electricity will decrease and the pollution levels will obviously decrease as well. The process that strive to reduce this electricity demand is called Residential Demand Side Management (RDSM) and is strongly supported by ESKOM. This dissertation investigated the international experience concerning RDSM and some of the possible steps that could be taken to establish an RDSM program in South Africa. It was discovered that the two most important steps relevant for South Africa would be to install ceilings in low cost dwellings and to install insulation in middle income and low-income households. Various computer simulations using QUICKcontrol, a thermal design software package, was done to assess the effect that these steps would have on energy usage. Before any decisive steps could be taken to install these products in houses, it was important to hear what the public thought of the low-cost ceiling concept. It was decided to conduct a Socio Economic study to estimate the public opinion and the response towards the low cost ceiling turned out to be extremely favorable. The participants supported the idea of a low cost ceiling but the access to the ceiling might still prove to be difficult. Through experience it was found that people often don't want to invest in a certain product if the only benefit is a slight monetary saving. It has become necessary to investigate other aspects concerning the ceiling and insulation that would encourage people to buy into the concept. This line of thinking led to the "Comfort" study. The finding that insulation will ensure that almost three times more people are satisfied with their indoor situation is quite significant. The improvement of the indoor aesthetics if a ceiling is installed in a low-income dwelling is also an important consideration when a decision has to be made to install the product. This type of information could persuade people to purchase these products to the benefit of themselves, ESKOM, the insulation manufacturer and the environment. / Dissertation (M Eng (Mechanical Engineering))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering / unrestricted

This project explores the potential of bamboo as an alternative building material for low cost housing units suitable for urban Ethiopia. The rational for the application of bamboo comes from its abundance throughout the country, and its proven physical properties that equate it to other building material like timber, steel and concrete. The proposed bamboo based design solution concentrates on simplification of construction methods, prefabrication of structural components and vertical densification of housing units, addressing the lack of skilled labor, cost of construction time and urban land respectively. An understanding of the design solution was established by constructing a full-scale section prototype and performing laboratory tests on key structural components.

In South African Townships, socio economic activities of the second economy such as informal trading typically manifest themselves in low quality, left over open spaces along roadsides and transport interchanges. These left over spaces are characteristic of townships and especially low cost housing and Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) communities, due to the emphasis placed on the dwelling units with little regard for the quality of open space. These environments are, over-scaled and not suited to human scale and although used for informal trading, they are not conducive to human or environmental well-being. An entrance precinct with such left over spaces in Olievenhoubosch Township, Centurion, is selected to test the hypothesis of an informal market as a catalyst for quality open space that considers human scale and enables the socio-economic functions of the community. The research starts off by establishing guidelines firstly for quality open space; secondly for human scale and thirdly for socio economic functions. These guidelines are applied at framework level looking at the entire precinct, including an informal market, stream corridor and taxi rank. At masterplan level, the focus is on the informal market. To avoid a merely functional response, the market approach is divided into two aspects, the market development and the spatial or experiential development aspect. These are informed by the established theoretical guidelines, case studies and existing activities and uses onsite. An overarching concept “Indawo Yami” meaning “my place”, ties the two aspects together while expressing the unique character of the community. The concept is born out of the vision of the market as a multifunctional community space that expresses the unique character of the community. The sketchplan proposal suggests that human and environmental well-being could be prime objectives of open spaces in townships all over South Africa. / Dissertation (ML(Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2014. / Architecture / ML(Prof) / Unrestricted

Thesis (MEng)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: It is well known that South Africa has a major housing backlog and that the population is growing every year. Consequently, more people are left homeless, without the finances to acquire a minimum standard house. The official backlog in 2012 was defined as 2.1 million units, of which 1.1 million households lived in informal settlements in South Africa. The purpose of this study is to develop a multi-criteria assessment tool that will help a developer to choose between housing systems that can be used in low cost housing developments. Essentially, the tool will aid a developer to allocate funding more appropriately and effectively to develop sustainable communities. The research followed a procedure of identifying challenges experienced in the low cost housing industry, identifying the important factors to consider when assessing low cost housing systems and finally selecting a multi-criteria decision-making model to select a system. The important factors that need to be considered for this study were gathered from literature and industry experience through using the interviewing technique for data collection. The factors identified will be assessed using the multi-criteria decision-making model, called the Evidential Reasoning Approach. This study focuses on housing systems as a whole. Specific attention is given to walling systems, but not to other elements such as the foundations and roofs. The primary factors identified are cost, time, quality, environmental performance, density, alteration capability, resource availability and additional features. These factors were then used to develop a userfriendly assessment tool for choosing between housing systems for the low cost housing market. In conclusion this assessment tool will be available to public and private role players who intend to develop a low cost housing settlement. However, this assessment tool has some imperfections. These are discussed at the end of this study and show how they influence this model. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dit is algemeen bekend dat Suid-Afrika „n groot behuisings agterstand het en dat die bevolking jaarlikse groei. Die amptelike behuisings agterstand in 2012 was gedefinieer as 2.1 miljoen eenhede, waarvan meer as 1.1 miljoen van hierdie huishoudings in informele nedersettings in Suid-Afrika geleë is. Die doel van hierdie studie is dus om „n mulit-kriteria assesserings instrument te ontwikkel wat „n ontwikkelaar sal help om tussen behuisings sisteme te kies, wat vir lae koste behuising ontwikkelings gebruik kan word. Gevolglik , sal hierdie instrument „n ontwikkelaar help om befondsing meer toepaslik toe te ken en om doeltreffende en volhoubare gemeenskappe te ontwikkel. Die navorsings prosedure het begin deur uidagings in die lae koste behuising bedryf te identifiseer, asook die belangrike faktore wat oorweeg moet word as behuisings stelsels beoordeel moet word. „n Multi-kriteria besluitnemings model is gekies wat toepaslik is op hierdie studie. Die belangrike faktore wat in ag geneem moet word, is geïdentifiseer deur literatuur, en industrie ondervinding, deur gebruik te maak van onderhoude om data in te samel. Die kriteria wat geïdentifiseer is sal beoordeel word met behulp van die multi-kriteria besluitnemings model, naamlik Evidential Reasoning Approach. Die kriteria wat gebuik is in hierdie studie het gefokus op die behuisings stelsel as ʼn geheel. Alhoewel spesifieke aandag gegee is aan die mure van die stelsels was ander elemente, soos die dakke en fondamente nie bespreek nie. Die primêre faktore wat geïdentifiseer is, is koste, tyd, kwaliteit, omgewings werkverrigting, digtheid, aanbouings vermoë, beskikbaarheid van hulpbronne en bykomende funksies. Hierdie faktore word gebruik om „n keuse te maak tussen behuisings stelsels vir die gebruik vin die lae koste behuising mark. Die faktore word voorgestel as „n gebruikers vriendelike assesserings instrument. Ten slotte behoort hierdie assesserings intrument beskikbaar te wees aan oopenbare en private belangstellendes wat beoog om „n lae kost behuising nedersetting te ontwikkel. Hierdie assesserings instrument het wel „n paar tekortkomming, wat aan die enide van die studie bespreek word, asook hoe hierdie terkortkomming die model kan beïnvloed.

In South Africa issues regarding the dissatisfactory delivery of low-cost housing developments are well known. Low-cost housing has generally been delivered in a manner which attempts to address housing backlogs, instead of focussing on establishing quality environments and sustainable communities. In order to address the current deficient approaches to low-cost residential development, a literature and empirical investigation was conducted with the purpose of exploring the South African status quo. Issues for improvement were researched within the existing knowledge base. The literature reviewed for this study encompassed government literature, policies and legislation as well as work from both national and international authors from a variety of fields, given the diverse nature and multiple impacts related to housing development. These literary works provided evidence to the conclusions drawn and informed the recommendations made accordingly. The empirical research conducted included several structured interviews, the distribution of questionnaires and the evaluation of various South African case studies. Empirical results added a quantitative measure to the evidence provided by the literature study and thus offered further conclusions and recommendations. The recommendations made were categorised according to their contribution to planning, management and design. It is believed that the adoption of these preliminary recommendations may greatly improve the housing delivery process and quality of life experienced by low-income beneficiaries. The issues covered in this study include research, conclusions and recommendations on: * Investigating the South African status quo with regard to housing policies and legislature. * Identifying the merits of historical theoretical models and their value in modern day housing development. * Discussing the importance of a locally focussed development approach with regard to the role of local municipalities versus provincial authorities in low-cost residential development. * Identifying the value of low-cost housing in local economic development and sustainable socio-economic growth. * Discussing the role of community participation in delivering sustainable neighbourhoods and communities. * Investigating the need for higher density development with specific reference to the integration of various housing typologies. * Exploring the relevance and benefits of alternative construction materials in low-cost residential development. * Exploring the informal backyard rental sector. * Exploring the approaches followed in South African case studies of varying successes in various provinces. It should be noted that the research conducted for this study, the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made provide substantial value, but are all mainly provided as preliminary concepts to be elaborated in a future PhD study. / Thesis (MArt et Scien (Urban and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

In South Africa issues regarding the dissatisfactory delivery of low-cost housing developments are well known. Low-cost housing has generally been delivered in a manner which attempts to address housing backlogs, instead of focussing on establishing quality environments and sustainable communities. In order to address the current deficient approaches to low-cost residential development, a literature and empirical investigation was conducted with the purpose of exploring the South African status quo. Issues for improvement were researched within the existing knowledge base. The literature reviewed for this study encompassed government literature, policies and legislation as well as work from both national and international authors from a variety of fields, given the diverse nature and multiple impacts related to housing development. These literary works provided evidence to the conclusions drawn and informed the recommendations made accordingly. The empirical research conducted included several structured interviews, the distribution of questionnaires and the evaluation of various South African case studies. Empirical results added a quantitative measure to the evidence provided by the literature study and thus offered further conclusions and recommendations. The recommendations made were categorised according to their contribution to planning, management and design. It is believed that the adoption of these preliminary recommendations may greatly improve the housing delivery process and quality of life experienced by low-income beneficiaries. The issues covered in this study include research, conclusions and recommendations on: * Investigating the South African status quo with regard to housing policies and legislature. * Identifying the merits of historical theoretical models and their value in modern day housing development. * Discussing the importance of a locally focussed development approach with regard to the role of local municipalities versus provincial authorities in low-cost residential development. * Identifying the value of low-cost housing in local economic development and sustainable socio-economic growth. * Discussing the role of community participation in delivering sustainable neighbourhoods and communities. * Investigating the need for higher density development with specific reference to the integration of various housing typologies. * Exploring the relevance and benefits of alternative construction materials in low-cost residential development. * Exploring the informal backyard rental sector. * Exploring the approaches followed in South African case studies of varying successes in various provinces. It should be noted that the research conducted for this study, the conclusions drawn and the recommendations made provide substantial value, but are all mainly provided as preliminary concepts to be elaborated in a future PhD study. / Thesis (MArt et Scien (Urban and Regional Planning))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

A carência habitacional é atualmente um dos maiores desafios urbanos para as políticas públicas das cidades brasileiras e deve impulsionar a busca de soluções tecnológicas para o desenvolvimento de habitações com baixo custo e desempenho satisfatório. Nesse contexto se insere o sistema construtivo de painéis monolíticos de concreto moldados in loco. Nesta pesquisa apresenta-se uma proposta de desenvolvimento de concretos destinados ao sistema construtivo de painéis monolíticos moldados in loco, tendo como referencial, além dos requisitos técnicos de trabalhabilidade, resistência mecânica e durabilidade, a influência dos painéis no desempenho térmico das habitações. Com isso, o desenvolvimento dos concretos assim como a definição de espessura do painel de vedação foi realizado, considerando as particularidades das oito diferentes zonas bioclimáticas brasileiras e as tipologias construtivas adotadas pela Companhia de Desenvolvimento Habitacional e Urbano (CDHU) e Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF). Por meio de simulações computacionais do desempenho térmico de edificações térreas (com laje plana, com laje inclinada e sem laje) e multipavimentos (cobertura e segundo pavimento), avaliaram-se as espessuras dos painéis (8, 10 e 12 cm) e as massas específicas dos concretos (1600, 1800, 2000, 2200 e 2400 kg/m³) adequadas em relação às características climáticas das localidades analisadas, utilizando como parâmetro a norma NBR 15575 Edifícios habitacionais de até cinco pavimentos - Desempenho, da Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas. A partir da avaliação do desempenho térmico das tipologias selecionadas, dentre os concretos e as espessuras de painéis analisadas, observou-se que as tipologias com painéis de concreto com massa específica de 2400 kg/m³ e com espessura de 12 cm foram as que apresentaram os melhores resultados para as oito regiões bioclimáticas analisadas. / Nowadays, the lack of housing has been one of the biggest urban challenges to the Brazilian public policies and should impel the search for technological solutions by the development of housings with low-cost and satisfactory performance. In this context is the constructive system of cast-in-place monolithic panels of concrete. This dissertation presents a proposal for the development of concretes destined to the system having the technical requirements of workability, mechanical resistance and durability, and the influence of the panels peculiarities on the thermal performance of the housings as reference. Herewith, the development of concretes as well as the panels thicknesses definition has been realized, considering the particularities of the eight different Brazilian climate zones, and the constructive typologies used by the Companhia de Desenvolvimento Habitacional e Urbano do Estado de São Paulo (CDHU) and Caixa Econômica Federal (CEF). By means of computational simulations of thermal performance of one-storey (with plane and inclined slabs, and without slab) and multi-storey (last and second floors) constructive typologies, the suitable panels thicknesses (8, 10 and 12 cm) and concretes densities (1600, 1800, 2000, 2200 and 2400 kg/m³) in relation to the climatic characteristics of the analyzed places were determined, having the standard NBR 15575 Residential buildings up to five storied Performace of the Associação Brasileira de Normas Técnicas as parameter. Starting from the evaluation of the thermal performance of the selected typologies, among concretes and panels thickness analyzed, the use of concretes panels with densities of 2400 kg/m³ and thicknesses of 12 cm has been presented better results for the eight Brazilian climate zones.

This study examines the potential to conduct building thermal performance simulation (BPS) of unconditioned low-cost housing during the early design stages. By creating a set of regression models (meta-models) based on EnergyPlus simulations, this research aims to promote and simplify BPS in the building envelope design process. The meta-models can be used as tools adapted for three Brazilian cities: Curitiba, São Paulo and Manaus, providing decision support to designers by enabling rapid feedback that links early design decisions to the buildings thermal performance. The low-cost housing unit studied is a detached onestory house with an area of approximately 51m2, which includes two bedrooms, a combined kitchen and living room, and one bathroom. This representative configuration is based on collected data about the most common residence options in some Brazilian cities. This naturally ventilated residence is simulated in the Airflow Network module in EnergyPlus, which utilizes the average wind pressure coefficients provided by the software. The parametric simulations vary the house orientation, U-value, heat capacity and absorptance of external walls and the roof, the heat capacity of internal walls, the window-to-wall ratio, type of window (slider or casement), and the existence of horizontal and/or vertical shading devices with varying dimensions. The models predict the resulting total degree-hours of discomfort in a year due to heat and cold, based on comfort limits defined by the adaptive method for naturally ventilated residences according to ANSI ASHRAE Standard 55. The methodology consists of (a) analyzing a set of Brazilian low-cost housing projects and defining a geometric model that can represent it; (b) determining a list of design parameters relevant to thermal comfort and defining value ranges to be considered; (c) defining the input data for the 10.000 parametric simulations used to create and test the meta-models for each analyzed climate; (d) simulating thermal performance using Energy Plus; (e) using 60% of the simulated cases to develop the regression models; and (f) using the remaining 40% data to validate the meta-models. Except by Heat discomfort regression models for the cities of Curitiba and São Paulo the meta-models show R2 values superior to 0.9 indicating accurate predictions when compared to the discomfort predicted with the output data from EnergyPlus, the original simulation software. Meta-models application tests are performed and the meta-models show great potential to guide designers decisions during the early design. / Esta pesquisa avalia as potencialidades do uso de simulações do desempenho térmico (SDT) nas etapas iniciais de projetos de habitações de interesse social (HIS) não condicionadas artificialmente. Busca-se promover e simplificar o uso de SDT no processo de projeto da envolvente de edificações através da criação de modelos de regressão baseados em simulações robustas através do software EnergyPlus. Os meta-modelos são adaptados ao clima de três cidades brasileiras: Curitiba, São Paulo e Manaus, e permitem uma rápida verificação do desconforto térmico nas edificações podendo ser usados como ferramentas de suporte às decisões de projeto nas etapas iniciais. A HIS considerada corresponde a uma unidade térrea com aproximadamente 51m2, composta por dois quartos, um banheiro e cozinha integrada à sala de jantar. Esta configuração é baseada em um conjunto de projetos representativos coletados em algumas cidades brasileiras (como São Paulo, Curitiba e Manaus). Estas habitações naturalmente ventiladas são simuladas pelo módulo Airflow Network utilizando o coeficiente médio de pressão fornecido pelo EnergyPlus. As simulações consideram a parametrização da orientação da edificação, transmitância térmica (U), capacidade térmica (Ct) e absortância () das paredes externas e cobertura; Ct e U das paredes internas; relação entre área de janela e área da parede; tipo da janela (basculante ou de correr); existência e dimensão de dispositivos verticais e horizontais de sombreamento. Os meta-modelos desenvolvidos fornecem a predição anual dos graus-hora de desconforto por frio e calor, calculados com base nos limites de conforto definidos pelo método adaptativo para residências naturalmente ventiladas (ANSI ASHRAE, 2013). A metodologia aplicada consiste em: (a) análise de um grupo de projetos de HIS brasileiras e definição de um modelo geométrico que os represente; (b) definição dos parâmetros relevantes ao conforto térmico, assim como seus intervalos de variação; (c) definição dos dados de entrada para as 10.000 simulações paramétricas utilizadas na criação e teste de confiabilidade dos meta-modelos para cada clima analisado; (d) simulação do desempenho térmico por meio do software EnergyPlus; (e) utilização de 60% dos casos simulados para o desenvolvimento dos modelos de regressão; e (f) uso dos 40% dos dados restantes para testar a confiabilidade do modelo. Exceto pelos modelos para predição do desconforto por calor para Curitiba e São Paulo, os demais meta-modelos apresentaram valores de R2 superiores a 0.9, indicando boa adequação das predições de desconforto dos modelos gerados ao desconforto calculado com base no resultado das simulações no EnergyPlus. Um teste de aplicação dos meta-modelos foi realizado, demonstrando seu grande potencial para guiar os projetistas nas decisões tomadas durante as etapas inicias de projeto.

Thesis (MPA.) -- University of Limpopo, 2000. / Refer to the document

African women in the past were not given equal opportunities with men in planning and construction of their houses. As a result there is no clear indicative level of participation of women during the planning and construction of their houses. The People’s Housing Process is one of the approaches adopted by government and community organizations to encourage community participation in their housing projects but; women’s involvement is still not clear. Therefore this research is aiming to understand the activities performed by women, their roles in related activities, and the methods that they used to get involved in the planning and construction of their houses. A Qualitative research has been conducted to identify the level of women’s engagement in planning and construction of their houses in the People’s Housing Process (PHP) project at Piesang River. The findings of the study revealed that the Urban Poor Fund (UPF) savings system, together with the government subsidy for housing, empowered women to participate in planning and construction of their houses at Piesang River. Moreover; the findings indicated that town planning procedures and bylaws were not properly applied during project planning and implementation. In conclusion this dissertation recommends the formation of Municipal Community Partnership (MCP) for Piesang River FedUP community and EThekwini municipality, in which both stakeholders work together to address the way forward for the project in preference to continuing blaming each other for the shortfalls. / M.T.R.P. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban 2013.