Is energy efficiency capitalized into home prices? Evidence from three U.S. cities

We test for evidence that energy efficiency features are capitalized into home prices in three U.S. metropolitan areas. Using hedonic regressions and multiple matching procedures, we find that Energy Star certification is associated with higher sales prices in two of the markets: the Research Triangle region of North Carolina and Portland, Oregon. We find that local “green” certifications in Portland and in Austin, Texas, are also associated with higher prices and that the estimated price impacts are larger than those from Energy Star. Matching on observables proves to be important in some cases, reducing the estimated impacts compared with models without matching. We calculate the implied energy savings from the estimated premiums and find that, in the Research Triangle market, the Energy Star premiums approximately equal the savings that program is designed to achieve, but in Portland, the premiums are slightly greater than the program's savings due to low energy costs in the region.     

The development of private sheltered housing in Scotland: a changing market

The provision of sheltered housing for sale in Scotland has experienced rapid growth since the opening of the first scheme in 1982. Development has been geographically concentrated in a small number of inner city and rural (coastal) areas. The expectation of continued rapid expansion is unlikely if recent trends of slower growth continue. This paper uses evidence from interviews with developers and owners of sheltered and mainstream housing, to examine the possible future contribution of the private market. On the basis of such evidence it raises questions about the relevance of some existing planning policies.     

Housing in the new cities of Egypt

The New Cities of Egypt represent a major effort to redistribute investment and population away from Cairo and the Delta in a brave attempt to use desert land. Through a study of three cities under construction, the reliance on government‐built walk‐up flats for housing provision is discussed and its relevance for later phases questioned. In conclusion, the efficacy of the New Cities as counter‐attractions is doubted in the absence of effective controls on the growth of Cairo.     

Household size and composition and implications for housing need in Kumasi,Ghana: a research note

A simple method of calculating the scale of housing need for Kumasi, Ghana, uses two likely variations in household size distribution and an overcrowding threshold of 3 p.p.r., and a measure of preference. The two household size distributions take account both of trends and of changes which may occur if and when new housing is provided. At that time, released from the current constraints, household formation along traditional lines may again be possible. The preferred supply equates households’ perceived need to their ability to pay at current rents. The resulting range of rooms required is wide but even the lowest need is so far in excess of supply that conventional approaches are self‐evidently inadequate and greater client involvement must be encouraged.     

Roadside dusts and soils contamination in Cincinnati,Ohio, USA

Roadside dusts and soils were collected from various nonindustrial districts in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA, and analyzed for lead and copper contents. Results showed that the recent lead phase-down action has reduced the level of lead, but the concentrations of both metals are still higher than the background levels for normal soil. Elevated concentrations of copper in heavily traveled highways were noted, suggesting that much of the copper pollutants is probably of automotive origin. The concentration of lead was found to vary with housing age, and higher levels of contamination in the older neighborhoods were observed. This result is probably ascribable to the accumulation of residues from leaded gasoline and lead-based paint in the past and the use of coal fire for space heating in older houses.     

Landfill gas - a potential environmental hazard

Methane derived from the decomposition of organic material contained within a landfill may escape beyond the site boundary where it can pose an explosion or fire hazard. Methods are described to prevent die occurrence of such lateral gas migration. Problems due to the accumulation of gas in buildings, erected on landfill sites, have occurred and techniques are now available to overcome these at some sites. However, it is recognized that at other sites, redevelopment should not be allowed to take place on die grounds of safety.     

Housing growth,forests, and public lands in Northern Wisconsin from 1940 to 2000

Rural, forested areas throughout the United States are experiencing strong housing growth with potentially detrimental impacts on the environment. In this paper, we quantify housing growth in Northern Wisconsin over the last sixty years to determine if growth rates were higher near public lands, which may represent an important recreational amenity. We used data from the U.S. Census to produce decadal housing density estimates, “backcasts,” from 1940 to 2000 for northern Wisconsin to examine “rural sprawl” in northern Wisconsin and its relationship to forested areas and public lands. We integrated housing density estimates with the 1992/1993 National Land Cover Dataset to examine the relationship between rural sprawl and land cover, especially forests. Between 1940 and 2000, private land with <2 housing units/km² decreased from 47% to 21% of the total landscape. Most importantly, housing growth was concentrated along the boundaries of public lands. In 14 of the 19 counties that we studied, housing growth rates within 1 km of a public land boundary exceeded growth rates in the remainder of the county, and three of the five counties that did not exhibit this pattern, were the ones with the least amount of public land. Future growth can be expected in areas with abundant natural amenities, highlighting the critical need for additional research and effective natural resource management and regional planning to address these challenges.     

Climatic design of vernacular housing in different provinces of China

For 2000 years, the inter-connexion between the specific structure of the Chinese eastern climates and the cultural background have produced remarkable vernacular housing types, both well adapted to the local conditions, and reflecting consistent values and knowledge. Stemming from a similar archetypal form, each house plan is translated through the specificity of the climate and resources of its site. One can think that the value and the diversity of this housing stock is due to the combination of the specific structure of the Chinese eastern climates, which creates the contrast of cold-dry winters and hot-humid summers, with the structure of the Ming t'ang, which contains the opposition of the yin and the yang. These two strong factors imprint a substantial cultural and conceptual unity upon all these housing types. Moreover, on the one hand, the geographical variations and, on the other hand, the local building materials generate a large diversity of housing types, of building techniques and of climatic devices which can be observed all around the country. These lessons could be valuable design guidelines from the past for the future.     

A training consultancy for an Ethiopian I.D.A. urban programme evaluated

The author contributed to a short ‘in service’ course for staff engaged on a World Bank upgrading project for Ethiopian housing. The project includes both the building of new houses by self‐build co‐operatives on the periphery of Addis Ababa, and the upgrading of a dense inner city area in conditions of acute deprivation. The paper is a highly personal account of the author's impressions of the value of such initiatives.     

A review of methods of public land ownership and allocation for housing in Iran

In the aftermath of the 1979 revolution, the new administration adopted a number of policies to address the question of land ownership, supply and allocation in order to tackle the acute shortage of housing in the urban areas. In 1982, the Five‐Year Urban Land Act was passed by the Parliament. Subsequently a body called the Urban Land Organisation (ULO) was set up to co‐ordinate the process of land preparation and allocation. The 1982 Urban Land act empowered the government to: (a) expropriate certain categories of abandoned urban land, and (b) to set a temporary time schedule of five years during which the act's work will be monitored.

This paper sets out to examine the policies related to urban land which have been introduced and implemented in the 1980s in Iran.