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Fife coal-owners owned their workers houses and controlled the processes of housing provision and allocation. They were both employers and landlords. As a result the spheres of home and work were inextricably linked. This thesis examines the nature of the social relations arising from this "tied" relationship in the light of both local and national, political, economic and social developments, between 1870 and 1930. The themes of deference, paternalism, community, socialisation and social control, and the residual effects of pre-existing social relations, particularly pre-industrial relations of production, are explored. The empirical research concentrates upon the analysis of two coal companies in particular; the Fife Coal Company Ltd. and the Wemyss Coal Company. These companies operated coal mines in contrasting geographical locations; the former throughout inland west Fife and the latter along coastal south-east Fife. Each company built rows of colliers' houses in close proximity to the mines. At the beginning of the period housing for coal-miners was provided, not by speculative builders on the open market, but, by the coal-owners through their company architects and sub-contractors. Houses were provided as part of the employment contract as a means of attracting and maintaining the workforce. By the end of the period, the State, through the agency of local authorities, was the principal provider of working class housing in mining communities; coal companies had withdrawn from the housing market. The thesis attempts to explain this process in terms of changing social relations of production.

It is estimated that 1.6 billion people today live without access to electricity. Most of these people live in remote rural areas in developing countries. One economic solution to this problem is the deployment of small domestic photovoltaic (PV) systems called solar home systems (SHS). In order to improve the performance and reduce the life cycle cost of these systems, accurate monitoring data of real SHSs is required. To this end, two SHSs typical of those found in the field were designed and installed, one in a rural area of the Eastern Cape of South Africa and the other in the laboratory. Monitoring systems were designed to record energy ows in the system and important environmental parameters. A novel technique was developed to correct for measurement errors occurring during the utilization of pulse width modulation charge control techniques. These errors were found to be as large as 47.6 percent. Simulations show that correction techniques produce measurement errors that are up to 20 times smaller than uncorrected values, depending upon the operating conditions. As a tool to aid in the analysis of monitoring data, a PV performance model was developed. The model, used to predict the maximum power point (MPP) power of a PV array, was able to predict MPP energy production to within 0.2 percent over the course of three days. Monitoring data from the laboratory system shows that the largest sources of energy loss are charge control, module under performance relative to manufacturer specifications and operation of the PV array away from MPP. These accounted for losses of approximately 18-27 percent, 15 percent and 8-11 percent of rated PV energy under standard test conditions, respectively. Energy consumed by loads on the systems was less than 50 percent of rated PV energy for both the remote and laboratory systems. Performance ratios (PR) for the laboratory system ranged from 0.38 to 0.49 for the three monitoring periods. The remote system produced a PR of 0.46. In both systems the PV arrays appear to have been oversized. This was due to overestimation of the energy requirements of the loads on the systems. In the laboratory system, the loads consisting of three compact fluorescent lamps and one incandescent lamp, were used to simulate a typical SHS load pro le and collectively consumed only 85 percent of their rated power. The 8 predicted load profile for the remote system proved to be signi cantly overestimated. The results of the monitoring project demonstrate the importance of acquiring an accurate estimation of the energy demand from loads on the system. Overestimations result in over-sized arrays and energy lost to charge control while under-sized systems risk damaging system batteries and load shedding. Significant under-performance of the PV module used in the laboratory system, underlines the importance of measuring module IV curves and verifying manufacturer specifications before system deployment. It was also found that signi cant PV array performance gains could be obtained by the use of maximum power point tracking charge controllers. Increased PV array performance leads to smaller arrays and reduced system cost.

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The perception of thermal comfort is an important factor influencing the acceptability of residential heating strategies. The perceived thermal comfort may affect a person's inclination to try a strategy or to use it on a long-term basis. In the study, perceived thermal comfort was assessed in relation to room temperature, humidity, clothing worn, preferred room temperatures, personal control over the temperatures, and energy consumption. The relationships among these variables were examined for five families participating in a live-in study comparing five residential heating strategies. The strategies tested included closing off bedroom vents/doors, setting the thermostat at 65°F, and the use of a solar greenhouse and a woodstove as supplemental heat sources. The families lived in a retrofitted solar test house for a period of four to six weeks. The house was equipped with a computer which monitored 37 channels of information at ten-second intervals and recorded the data hourly. The data collected included temperatures in every room, inside and outside humidity, wind velocity, and other variables that interplay in comfort levels and energy use. The ten adult respondents completed daily and weekly questionnaires containing Likert-type scales of thermal comfort and checklists of clothing worn. The results suggest the following conclusions: 1) the use of a residential setting to measure thermal comfort under varying environmental conditions can be successfully accomplished, 2) psychological variables such as personal control should be considered and tested by persons involved in standards development for the thermal environment, 3) the ability and experience of the persons to use a strategy can affect the achieved energy saving benefits of the strategy, 4) personal preference in the amount of personal effort a person is willing or able to give will impact on the decision on whether to use certain strategies, 5) heating strategies that can produce a direct source of heat or at least some warmer areas were rated higher by the project participants, and 6) weather can play an important role in the effectiveness of the solar greenhouse as a heating source. / Ph. D. / incomplete_metadata

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M. Arch.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Architecture, 1980. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 131-133). / This thesis deals with inhabitants' modifications of the 19th century sidehall houses in East Boston, now a predominantly Italian neighborhood. On the basis of the data obtained by a survey and observations, the practical reasons and social and psychological implications of each identified pattern of both interior and exterior modification are analyzed. Inhabitant s modify their houses according to their changing living situations, or special needs that are different in each family. They can correspond with the changing living standard in the whole society and developing technology by constantly modifying their houses. Housing modification functions as an important adaptation mechanism especially for working class people who cannot easily move from one place to another because of financial constraints and the tight social relationships among them in the region. Modifications are also a means of self-expression for the inhabitants. As they modify their houses they always try to imply their taste and values through the modifications. They try to define their own territories and personalize them through modifications. Modifications are the results of inhabitants' active reactions to such needs, which are quite essential to them. After all, home modification, which has been ignored by most architects despite its familiarity in the United States, has great significance to the inhabitants, psychologically as well as practically. It enhances the inhabitants' sense of ownership, competence and self-worth. / by Toshihito Yokouchi. / M.Arch.

Kong Kai Chung, Joseph. / "Architecture Department, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Master of Architecture Programme 2002-2003, design report." / Includes bibliographical references. / preface --- p.01 / framework --- p.02-06 / research --- p.07-41 / experiment --- p.42-62 / final --- p.63-90 / appendix --- p.91-95

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