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Radon (Rn 222) is a significant contributor to natural radiation exposure in residential environments such as single-family houses and multistory buildings. This study monitored radon activity concentration (RAC) in 455 apartments in 30 multistory buildings in Buzău, Romania. Integrated measurements of the RAC using CR-39 nuclear track detectors were conducted for a period of 3 to 4 months. The results revealed that the RAC varies between buildings, with an annual average between 33 and 77 Bq/m3. This variation may be attributed to poor ventilation and the chimney effect in common ventilation ducts, which may facilitate radon displacement vertically. Also, apartments with low occupancy or inadequate ventilation showed higher radon levels of up to 285 Bq/m3. The study highlights the potential risk of increased radon exposure in energy-efficient buildings due to poor ventilation, emphasizing the need for special attention to radon mitigation measures in building design. The results emphasize that the RAC is influenced by building characteristics, room use, and ventilation, with significant implications for health risks in urban residential environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rapid increase in urbanization and the number of residents living in high-rise apartment buildings, the quality of living environments in terms of the facility, safety and hygiene of high-rise housing has become an important topic. Although numerous studies have investigated occupant satisfaction through subjective assessment, only few studies have used objective assessment methods, such as expert evaluation, to elucidate the quality of high-rise apartments and the related occupancy factors. According to the dataset from Toronto's RentSafeTO programme, which provides the results for 9928 high-rise apartments evaluated using 20 quality indicators, this study conducted a factor analysis and identified two main factors for assessing high-rise housing: building structure and building facilities. Furthermore, this study used multiple regression models and census data to analyse the housing quality at the regional level. The results of social housing and private housing differed. Labour force attributes, education, immigration and ethnic origin significantly affected the quality of private housing. The results provide important directions for the post-occupancy evaluation of high-rise apartments. In addition, demographic factors significantly affected residential quality. This study provides a basis for the government to formulate equal and unbiased support for high-rise building maintenance and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article has the objective of revealing the history of duplex apartments in Havana in the period from 1940 to 1959, and its influence on the growth in height of the city. This is a historical investigation, in which 27 apartment buildings were documented, six of them made up entirely of duplex apartments. From the mid-1940s, duplex apartments proliferated in Havana. This article argues that this new type of apartment fostered higher profits in the rental housing industry, by permitting the increase of the number of dwellings in a building, without contravening contemporary Planning Regulations (Ordenanzas de Construcción) with regard to the permitted number of floors. As high-rise buildings multiplied in the city, following the passing of the Horizontal Property Law in 1952, these apartments, along with penthouses, proved to be the most desirable types, for being associated with a higher economic standing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Investigated strategies that can deliver NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings in Australia. • It was challenging for tropical, subtropical and cold temperate climates to meet the NZE targets. • Design and optimisation of the envelope was effective in overcoming the challenges imposed by the more demanding climates. • The impacts of shading from neighbouring buildings presented the largest obstacle to energy production through the façade. • Study demonstrated a need to include density factors in the design consideration for NZE high-rise residential designs. Net-Zero Energy (NZE) buildings are gaining popularity globally as a solution to reduce operational energy usage and limit greenhouse gas emissions in the building industry. Their deployment is occurring rapidly as many countries are planning to make it mandatory for new developments. Despite the advancements in research in the various aspects of NZE, significant barriers do exist to its successful adoption and implementation, particularly with respect to high-rise residential buildings which are becoming a major portion of the housing supply in Australia. One of the challenges attributed to the achievement of NZEB performance is the uncertainty involved in selecting appropriate solution strategies that could deliver quality performances. This paper investigated strategies that can deliver NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings in Australia. A calibrated model of 26 storey high-rise apartment building with 396 units was prepared for detailed analysis of NZE strategies using building simulation. The impact of various interventions was evaluated across cities in five climate zones in Australia and a guideline for solution sets that can deliver the goal for each climate zone is presented. The findings show that NZE performance for high-rise residential buildings can be realised in Australia, albeit with some limitations. While the tropical, subtropical and cold temperate climates appear to be more challenging, proper design and optimisation of the envelope proved to be effective in overcoming the challenges imposed by the more demanding climates. The impacts of shading from neighbouring buildings and objects presented the largest impediment to energy production through the façade. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While occupancy-based control and other demand management control strategies have demonstrated potential, little is known about how these changes in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) control impacts occupants' perception of the thermal conditions in their home. In this paper, occupants' thermal comfort perceptions and use of thermostat overrides under three different control strategies (programmable thermostat operation, occupancy-reactive control, and pre-cooling/pre-heating for load shifting) are analyzed. Thermal comfort data were collected through six occupant surveys administered to 54 participants in the summer and winter months in two high-rise condominium buildings in Toronto, Canada. Minor changes to reported thermal sensation scores were observed in both the occupancy-based and load shifting control scenarios, however, overall reported thermal sensation scores remained neutral. Occupants' use of overrides did not change significantly during occupancy-based control periods, however, during load shifting control, occupants frequently overrode strategy temperature setpoints – which indicates that many participants likely experienced thermal discomfort beyond their tolerance level. Occupants' use of strategy overrides during load shifting control strategy operation in the cooling season significantly reduced strategy efficacy. Reducing the maximum temperature setback during load shifting control to 3 °C during the cooling season was recommended to reduce occupant override and improve realized peak-period load reductions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article investigates the relationship between verticality and home. It develops the idea of 'verticality as practice'. This appreciates verticality not as something that takes place in three-dimensional landscapes, but as the outcome of everyday practical activity. Examining a modernist high-rise estate, the Aylesbury Estate in London, the article identifies and examines a range of vertical practices, illustrating how they are intertwined with home. Vertical practices, such as those associated with the view, help to make a unique and special home, becoming intensely meaningful to residents. However, they also unmake dimensions of home when they interact with the estate's marginality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper regards specific context of public spaces in "shadow" of tall buildings located in European cities. Majority of tall buildings in European cities were built in last 15 years. Tall buildings appear mainly in city centres, directly at important public spaces being viable environment for inhabitants with variety of public functions (open spaces, green areas, recreation places, shops, services etc.). All these amenities and services are under direct impact of extensive shading coming from the tall buildings. The paper focuses on analyses and representation of impact of shading from tall buildings on various public spaces in cities using 3D city models. Computer environment of 3D city models in cityGML standard uses 3D LiDAR data as one of data types for definition of 3D cities. The structure of cityGML allows analytic applications using existing computer tools, as well as developing new techniques to estimate extent of shading coming from high-risers, affecting life in public spaces. These measurable shading parameters in specific time are crucial for proper functioning, viability and attractiveness of public spaces -- finally it is extremely important for location of tall buildings at main public spaces in cities. The paper explores impact of shading from tall buildings in different spatial contexts on the background of using cityGML models based on core LIDAR data to support controlled urban development in sense of viable public spaces. The article is prepared within research project 2TaLL: Application of 3D Virtual City Models in Urban Analyses of Tall Buildings, realized as a part of Polish-Norway Grants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fundamental and determining geomechanical factors that ensure the safety of high-rise construction are discussed. Characteristics used in selecting a geomechanical model for the beds of high-liability structures, and a mechanical model for the bed soils and surrounding mass are analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, amid the debates of sustainable development and urban compactness, there has been a widening interest to reintroduce high-rise living in cities. Several European cities including London and Manchester are once again building high-rise housing as part of their urban housing strategy. Elsewhere, in Asia, Hong Kong and Singapore are distinguished by their high-rise public housing developments. With nearly half of the world's population living in urban areas, the unfolding trend is towards a more urban-style development with taller buildings included as an inevitable housing solution. Drawing on findings from a study of Singapore public housing residents' living experience, this paper aims to look at the increasingly important question of the liveability of high-rise living by discussing the occupants' appreciation and concerns of high-rise. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, inner-city Melbourne has experienced a dramatic growth in the construction of high-rise housing, a relatively unfamiliar housing form in Australia. In this paper we examine narratives concerning ethnicity that circulate among those involved in the planning and construction of this new high-rise housing. Our aims are two-fold: first, we wish to show that part of the ‘making sense’ of things that goes on in the developers' narratives in this context concerns the ethnicity of the occupants envisaged for the housing. High rise is an alien housing form in Melbourne, and attributing alternative characteristics, including ethnicities, to potential occupants, allows developers to ‘place’ people as a natural fit for the new housing form. Second, we wish to demonstrate how developers' narratives about the probable occupants of the new housing, and their reasons for being there, are complexly situated in the processes leading to the production of this housing in the places it is located. The narratives, as we see it, are part of the political economy of the housing production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High-rise buildings degrade the thermal environment of their surroundings through wind turbulence, cooling, and excessive heating. This study identifies the role and relationship of geometric (form, orientation, dimension) and material (type, volume) parameters in conditioning the thermal environment around high-rise buildings. We performed the field measurements at four widely separated high-rise apartment buildings at different elevations (675–1050 m above sea level) in Bandung, Indonesia. Temperature, air velocity, and humidity were measured within a 150 m radius around each building three times daily (08–10 a.m., 12–04 p.m., and 06–08 p.m.) for three days in February. Airflow and shading patterns were analysed with Ansys-Fluent CFD and SketchUp software, respectively. Both direct observation and simulations showed that different orientations of buildings relative to the sun and wind can heat or cool the surrounding areas. The sail effect of a high-rise building exposed to direct sunlight can cause hot spots behind the building; choice of building material and use of shadowing can reduce this effect. The wind-tunnel effect can cause cold paths, especially if the area is shaded. Air turbulence and high-velocity airflow can result in uncomfortable conditions in the surroundings, based on the building height. Thus, high-rise buildings profoundly affect local thermal conditions. The results of this study are therefore essential for designing new buildings (and mitigating environmental quality around existing ones) in tropical cities. • High-rise buildings affect the temperature and airflow in their vicinity. • We measured temperature and wind speed around four high-rise buildings. • Construction materials, orientation, and massing of buildings all had an effect. • In the tropics, buildings should avoid long east–west walls. • They should also avoid walls that block the wind like sails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the problems of the residential highrise building as a typical individual form of modern housing for the woman and the child in India. Like the modern city in general, the residential highrise building as a typical individual form of modern housing poses more problems for the woman and the child than for the adult man. Most empirical findings, however, show that families with children generally prefer other housing forms in which the connection with the outside is more direct, or at least the lower floors of highrises. The spatial requirements of the child vary by age. Problems of the small child which, anyway, cannot be left alone, are relatively easy to solve, provided a private open space, a convenient place for a pram and an adequately dimensioned elevator are at hand. Experience shows that balconies of individual dwellings similar to private gardens or courtyards, are neither popular with older children nor of much value for their development. The main problem of open spaces on the ground is the difficulty for the mother and for the child to reach them and the lack of close contact between mothers up in their apartments and the children playing below.

The article focuses on the economic aspects of the rationale for high rise housing in Great Britain, to indicate some of the costs and benefits of high rise and to argue that some of the problems, for example those concerning defensible space, fit squarely into the framework usually adopted by economists when examining issues of public concern. The main responsibility of the economist in this debate is to remind other participants that both costs and benefits have to be considered and that as with all goods and services which generate externalities the social optimum is not necessarily achieved by a policy of total abandonment but by an evaluation of the social costs and the social benefits.

This research supports Fanning's (1967) discovery that the vertical location of dwelling units is directly related to the level of psychological strain experienced by residents. However, this relationship is shown to hold only among women. Among men, floor level of dwelling units and psychological strain are inversely related. Attempts made to attenuate these relationships by controlling for twelve control variables and household composition, child supervision, confinement, and social isolation items as possible intervening variables are unsuccessful. Stepwise multiple regression with dummy variables representing interaction terms is used to analyze the data, which were obtained from interviews with 442 residents of public housing projects in two midsized Canadian cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the use of timber as an efficient building material. It also cites several examples of such achievements including completion of an eight-floor wooden office block in Austria and a nine-storey residential project in London. It mentions that timber used in construction is assembled from solid panels made from multiple layers of wood and other materials.

An introduction is presented in which the editor discusses some research within the issue on topics including the ethical and economic implications of the competition for the tallest skyscraper, the high-rise housing design in Singapore, and a six-star rated tall building in Sydney, New South Wales.