Adapting the homes of older people: A case study of costs and savings

Meeting the demand for independent living from the increasing number of older people presents a major challenge for society, government and the building industry. Older people's experience of disabling conditions can be affected by the design and layout of their accommodation. Adaptations and assistive technology (AT) are a major way of addressing this gap between functional capacity and the built environment. The degree of adaptability and the differences in the average cost of adaptation of different types of property are large and there is major variation within property type. Based on a series of user profiles, it was found that a comprehensive package of adaptations and AT is likely to result in significant economies arising from a reduction in the need for formal care services. This finding is sensitive to assumptions about how long an individual would use the adaptations and AT, as well as to the input of informal care and the nature of their accommodation. The present study, which focused on social housing, has implications for how practitioners specify ways of meeting individual needs as well as providing a case to support the substantial increase in demand for specialist adaptation work.

A clocking technique with power savings in virtex-based pipelined designs

This paper presents the evaluation in power consumption of a clocking technique for pipelined designs. The technique shows a dynamic power consumption saving of around 30% over a conventional global clocking mechanism. The results were obtained from a series of experiments of a systolic circuit implemented in Virtex-II devices. The conversion from a global-clocked pipelined design to the proposed technique is straightforward, preserving the original datapath design. The savings can be used immediately either as a power reduction benefit or to increase the frequency of operation of a design for the same power consumption.

An investigation of the impact of time of generation on carbon savings from PV systems in Great Britain

PV only generates electricity during daylight hours and primarily generates over summer. In the UK, the carbon intensity of grid electricity is higher during the daytime and over winter. This work investigates whether the grid electricity displaced by PV is high or low carbon compared to the annual mean carbon intensity using carbon factors at higher temporal resolutions (half-hourly and daily). UK policy for carbon reporting requires savings to be calculated using the annual mean carbon intensity of grid electricity. This work offers an insight into whether this technique is appropriate. Using half hourly data on the generating plant supplying the grid from November 2008 to May 2010, carbon factors for grid electricity at half-hourly and daily resolution have been derived using technology specific generation emission factors. Applying these factors to generation data from PV systems installed on schools, it is possible to assess the variation in the carbon savings from displacing grid electricity with PV generation using carbon factors with different time resolutions. The data has been analyzed for a period of 363 to 370 days and so cannot account for inter-year variations in the relationship between PV generation and carbon intensity of the electricity grid. This analysis suggests that PV displaces more carbon intensive electricity using half-hourly carbon factors than using daily factors but less compared with annual ones. A similar methodology could provide useful insights on other variable renewable and demand-side technologies and in other countries where PV performance and grid behavior are different.

Energy savings in buildings or UHI mitigation? Comparison between green roofs and cool roofs

The intensification of the Urban Heat Island effect (UHI) is a problem that involves several fields, and new adequate solutions are required to mitigate its amplitude. The construction sector is strictly related with this phenomenon; in particular, roofs are the envelope components subject to the highest solar irradiance, hence any mitigation strategy should start from them and involve their appropriate design process. For this purpose, cool materials, i.e. materials which are able to reflect a large amount of solar radiation and avoid overheating of building surfaces have been deeply analyzed in the last years both at building and urban scales, showing their benefits especially in hot climates. However, green roofs also represent a possible way to cope with UHI, even if their design is not straightforward and requires taking into account many variables, strictly related with the local climatic conditions. In this context, the present paper proposes a comparison between cool roofs and green roofs for several Italian cities that are representative of different climatic conditions. In search of the most effective solution, the answers may be different depending on the perspective that leads the comparison, i.e. the need to reduce the energy consumption in buildings or the desire to minimize the contribution of the UHI effect.

Energy savings potential in existing houses : Energy simulation results for Dalarna's single-family housing stock

Vägar till en halverad energianvändning i Dalarnas byggnadsbestånd

Influences of infrastructure and attitudes to health on value of travel time savings in bicycle journeys

In this paper we investigate how attitudes to health and exercise in connection with cycling influence the estimation of values of travel time savings in different kinds of bicycle environments (mixed traffic, bicycle lane in the road way, bicycle path next to the road, and bicycle path not in connection with the road). The results, based on two Swedish stated choice studies, suggest that the values of travel time savings are lower when cycling in better conditions. Surprisingly, the respondents do not consider cycling on a path next to the road worse than cycling on a path not in connection to the road, indicating that they do not take traffic noise and air pollution into account in their decision to cycle. No difference can be found between cycling on a road way (mixed traffic) and cycling in a bicycle lane in the road way. The results also indicate that respondents that include health aspects in their choice to cycle have lower value of travel time savings for cycling than respondents that state that health aspects are of less importance, at least when cycling on a bicycle path. The appraisals of travel time savings regarding cycling also differ a lot depending on the respondents’ alternative travel mode. The individuals who stated that they will take the car if they do not cycle have a much higher valuation of travel time savings than the persons stating public transport as the main alternative to cycling.

Does financial education influence retirement savings? An examination of Australian employees

In order to ensure a financially secure retirement, Australians will need to plan and save for their retirement many decades before they retire.

The age pension, paid for out of Commonwealth government taxes is currently the backbone of the retirement system, but will not replace as much pre-retirement income in the future as it does today. Given the shift from the defined benefit style to the accumulation style, superannuation funds involve considerably more uncertainty, and as such, one might have thought that individuals would be saving more on their own. But personal saving outside of superannuation plans is virtually non-existent. Combine the retirement income crunch with the dramatic increase in life expectancy, and the need for careful retirement planning and sacrificing current consumption for later consumption becomes imperative for ensuring the financial security of older Australians. The hard question is whether individuals will be prepared to make the necessary sacrifices today to ensure a more secure financial future in retirement? This paper explores the willingness of individuals to make these sacrifices, and whether financial education can influence individuals in this difficult decision.

Evaluating the impact of financial literacy programs on the retirement savings of superannuation fund members

Currently, in Australia, the age pension, paid for out of Commonwealth government taxes, forms the basis of Australia’s retirement income system, however, given the reality of an ageing population has compelled the government to undertake a number of measures to shift the responsibility for saving to the individual, forcing them to accept an increasing level of responsibility for their financial decision-making. In the light of the changing retirement environment, it would be expected that Australians’ would ensure that they became financially literate, however, despite the amount of information and advice available in the market place, this is not the case, and they do not appear to be appropriately prepared for their retirement. Recognising the importance of financial literacy, an increasing number of government agencies, employers, superannuation funds and schools are implementing financial literacy programs in Australia. This article provides an overview of the impact that attending a financial education seminar has on the retirement decisions and settings of participants. Evidence is provided from this research that in the short term, providing financial education programs make a difference to an individual’s intended retirement settings. However, the impact of these education programs in changing investment behaviour is less conclusive.

Conceptual framework of the precautionary principle approach in the decision-making process

This article reviews the precautionary principle as an approach in addressing decisions with far reaching environmental consequences under scientific uncertainty. The precautionary principle is intended to assist with structuring environmentally risky decisions toward sustainable development. It responds to the lack of scientific evidence of a potential environmental problem. There is currently no framework to assist with the process indicating the areas of importance and stages of decisionmaking. This paper suggests a framework to assist with the process of decision-making for complex environmental problems. The main areas of concern are the issues relating to the costs, risks, and benefits assessments. The main stages of the framework includes; definition of the problem, analysis of the potential environmental risks, assessments of specific anticipated legal, social, economic, political, and technological impacts, review of the key players (social, organisation and government) obligations, comparison of alternatives available, determination of accountability, implementation, decision making, monitoring and control processes.