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Despite great development in residential buildings that Saudi Arabia has witnessed over the last two decades, there is still a lack of understanding and of evaluating the thermal performance aspects of the buildings. The rapid developments that took place in such a short time have ignored environmental considerations and produced exotic buildings that have poor thermal performance. The existing residential building stock built during the economic boom of the 70's and afterwards is having problems balancing between a comfortable indoor climate and reasonable usage of energy. To resolve this issue, the thermal performance of these buildings needs to be improved. But, in the absence of proper knowledge about the performance of these buildings, any proposed suggestions will be a matter of speculations. The research aims to address the notion of energy conservation in existing apartment building in Makkah, Saudi Arabia. It is concerned with identifying the thermal characteristics and the quality of indoor environment in this building type as well as investigating the behaviour of the occupants and their domestic energy demands. This background sets the base to test energy saving measures and to review their effectiveness and their applicability. The study provides information for the parties with direct relation to this issue, authority and policy makers, building professionals, and occupants to assist them in understanding the current situation and promote the selection of the most appropriate strategy. In this study, a comprehensive fieldwork survey, that comprises social survey of 600 apartments and physical measurement survey for eight case studies, have been performed. Thermal performance of the different building components and their dynamic interaction has been simulated thoroughly by a computer program for building energy analysis VisualDOE-2.5). The simulation has been employed to theoretically predict the thermal roles of building components and the impact the occupants have as building users. The program tested strategies for potential energy savings. The simulation model has demonstrated a 19% and 31% reduction in cooling load as a result of applying insulation materials and shading device in respective order. The findings have been integrated to highlight the problems of energy conservation issues in existing apartment buildings, producing recommendations and suggestions for further research avenues to complement work.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 113-118).

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 187-195).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1976. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 127-130).

Thesis--Wisconsin. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 233-252).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1963. / Typescript. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Among the literature on work-residence relations two perspectives contribute to a potential geographical point of view. Of these, the demographic approach has been largely descriptive in its attempt to distinguish areas which are deficient in labour from those which have a labour surplus. The ecological approach is considered to be more promising but in its present form has certain inadequacies. In essence, this approach proposes a theory of urban spatial structure in terms of a priori assumptions. The major assumption with respect to the journey to work is that the frictional effect of distance results in the residential concentration of workers about their place of work. It then follows that the residential distribution of urban populations will be determined by the dominance of the central district relative to peripheral workplaces. The major thesis of this study is that the efforts of workers to minimize the costs of work-travel operates within the context of an existing urban spatial structure, which is itself uniquely determined by the conditions of site and the sequence of growth. The ecologist's argument is that workers of high socioeconomic standing will travel further to work than those of low socioeconomic standing because of their enhanced ability to bear the cost of work-travel. In Vancouver, variation in the length of the journey to work is shown to be a function of the relative concentration of workplaces and residences for each occupational group, rather than of the socioeconomic standing of the worker. A model is developed to describe the orientations of commuting patterns in Vancouver for each major occupational group. This suggests that these are the results of the varying quality of residential space rather than a crude distance determinism. Downtown Vancouver employs a growing proportion of the city's labour force as Vancouver increasingly assumes the role of regional capital. Although the residential distribution of the labour force embraces the entire city as ecological theory suggests, each occupational group is drawn from a distinct residential area. More rigorously, a high correlation is found between the income of workers and costs of housing in the residential area from which they come. In contrast, the correlation between the worker's income and the distance he travels to work downtown is not clear. These findings throw some light on the variation in automobile work-trips generated to downtown from each residential zone. A greater proportion of automobile work-trips originate in those high-cost residential areas in which the majority of the high-income downtown workers live. Not only are the origins of these trips locally concentrated, but they are generated more strongly to certain parts of downtown than others. The residential distribution of the workers of peripherally located workplaces is clustered in the way suggested by ecological theory. However, clustering occurs only in areas of uniformly low housing costs and only for industrial workers. Office workers of peripheral workplaces are drawn from a generally city-wide residential distribution. In Vancouver, it would appear that distance from the workplace is a less important determinant of residential location than the costs of housing. The concentrative effects of the cost-minimization process have less relevance than has been supposed, and even where they are applicable, operate only where housing costs are uniform. In brief, commuting patterns are superimposed upon a pre-existing, uniquely-determined urban spatial structure. Further research should indicate the extent to which this is true for other cities. / Arts, Faculty of / Geography, Department of / Graduate

The problem of creating stable and healthy urban communities and efficient land use planning is related to the problem of reducing residential mobility. Residential mobility has been defined as "the mechanism by which a family's housing is brought into adjustment to its housing needs". However, it must also be seen as a method of coping with a variety of social, physical and economic problems which, furthermore, create additional problems. Residential mobility is a reflection of the instability prevailing in our urban society and, at the same time, a contribution to it. There is some evidence that residential mobility promotes mental ill-health, undesirable social conditions, and appears to be the cause of certain urban planning problems. The purpose of this Thesis is to analyse some of the motivational factors in residential mobility and to investigate the possibility of reducing mobility and instability by providing housing which may satisfy a family's changing housing needs and by creating neighborhoods which assist in the formation of integrated communities. The contention of this Thesis is that apart from a family's desire to adjust housing to its functional needs, it also has to adjust residence to changing status and prestige needs. It is assumed for certain groups in society that their vertical occupational mobility is the cause of their social mobility, and that members of these groups periodically adjust their residences primarily in order to satisfy their status and prestige needs. These persons become dissatisfied because of their changing socio-economic status, and although their need for segregation may be anticipated, the features which serve to satisfy their changing needs cannot be incorporated in one dwelling and one neighborhood; therefore, these persons have to move periodically. The investigation of the relationship between changing status needs and residential adjustment was confined to thirty-nine Middle Management persons employed by a local utility corporation. Attitudes, descriptions, reasons and factual data were obtained by means of an interview schedule. Attitudes and factual data were correlated in order to establish the individual's perception of the relationship between occupational, social and residential mobility. On the basis of ratings provided by the respondents, a "Status Hierarchy of Residential Areas" was developed which served to measure each respondent's "status increase". Subsequently, each person's reasons for moving from a residence and selecting a new residence were analysed, with special focus on the individual's concern with status and prestige. Finally, the results of each separate investigation were correlated and the number of persons were identified who moved for reasons of status and prestige. The results of the investigation indicate that a majority of the Middle Management group moved into their present or previous residences in order to adjust residences to their status and prestige needs. Furthermore, a greater number of persons were concerned with the qualities of the residential district rather than the house, as a symbol of their social status. In the final analysis, the author concludes residential mobility which is generated by social mobility of certain occupational groups cannot be reduced unless the value structure of this society is altered. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Community and Regional Planning (SCARP), School of / Graduate

Thesis (M.A.)--Trent University, Peterborough, Ont., 1999. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. Includes bibliographical references.