Browsing by Author "Azar, Elie"

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A Review of Passive Design Strategies and Their Effect on Thermal Resilience in Low-Income Households
(Elsevier Science S.A., 2025) Kokatnur, Tejas; Ferreira, Shane; Akkoc, Busra Karadeniz; Markarian, Elin; Nojedehi, Pedram; Qiblawi, Seif; Azar, Elie; 01. Çankaya Üniversitesi
Climate change is causing more frequent and extreme weather events (e.g., heat waves and ice storms) that disproportionately impact low-income households with poor building conditions. Passive design strategies offer a promising solution to enhance building thermal resilience; however, little is known about their actual application and effectiveness in low-income households under different climate conditions. This paper presents a scoping literature review of 123 articles that evaluated passive design strategies applied to low-income housing contexts. The detailed article review shows that wall-and roof-related passive design strategies (e.g., insulation, sealing) are the most frequently studied and effective strategies, increasing comfort hours and energy savings with a wide variation of up to 24 % and 67 %, respectively. Combined strategies often outperformed individual strategies. In contrast, some studies reported unintended consequences following the adoption of passive design strategies, such as increases in energy demand reaching as high as 50 %. Such findings shed light on the need for design processes to consider multiple performance metrics, as well as behavioural and socio-economic factors that require more in-depth investigation, such as energy poverty and rebound effects. Detailed recommendations are finally provided to guide future research and applications on the topic, covering the need to (i) explore and combine underrepresented thermal resilience strategies and metrics, (ii) follow more standardized reporting practices, (iii) quantify costs and identify implementation barriers, and (iv) integrate participatory research methods to support technical assessments with contextual knowledge of the studied low-income households and communities.
Citation - WoS: 3
Citation - Scopus: 3
Examining Disparities in Energy Poverty and Indoor Environmental Quality Satisfaction Among Canadian Households
(Elsevier Sci Ltd, 2024) Nojedehi, Pedram; Gunay, Burak; O'Brien, William; Papineau, Maya; Azar, Elie; Schweiker, Marcel; Saglam, Nese Ganic; 01. Çankaya Üniversitesi
This study explores the relationship between income, dwelling quality, and indoor environmental quality (IEQ) perceptions. We conducted a survey of approximately 1100 Canadian residents from a variety of socioeconomic groups capturing a representative sample of Canadian society. It employs new thresholds to align the subjective perceptions of energy poverty with objective measures. Statistical analyses reveal notable differences in IEQ perceptions among income groups. While high-income respondents consistently express higher satisfaction levels across multiple IEQ domains than middle-income ones, the latter report higher satisfaction levels than those with lower incomes. Wealthier households typically have more rooms, with all income groups reporting a median of three bedrooms. Lower-income respondents tend to spend a larger proportion of their income on energy bills per capita, despite consuming less energy per capita. Around 41% of lower-income respondents report facing challenges in paying utility bills, compared to 24% and 16% in middle- and upper-income groups, respectively. We present energy poverty thresholds that are customized based on survey responses from the different income groups, informing policymakers to consider downward revisions of thresholds to address the subjective aspect of energy poverty better. The unequal IEQ and energy poverty perceptions we document across income groups highlight the need for targeted interventions to improve welfare among vulnerable households.
Citation - WoS: 14
Citation - Scopus: 15
Reflections on the Evidentiary Basis of Indoor Air Quality Standards
(Mdpi, 2022) Mahdavi, Ardeshir; Azar, Elie; Bandurski, Karol; Bourikas, Leonidas; Harputlugil, Timucin; Schweiker, Marcel; Berger, Christiane; 40295; 05.02. Mimarlık; 05. Mimarlık Fakültesi; 01. Çankaya Üniversitesi
Buildings are expected to provide healthy and comfortable indoor environmental conditions for their users. Such conditions have diverse dimensions, including thermal, visual, air quality, auditory, and olfactory aspects. Indoor environmental quality standards, guidelines, and codes typically inform professionals in the building design and operation phase in view of procedural, contractual, and legal boundary conditions. Given this critical role of standards, it seems significant to examine the applicability and scientific validity on a regular basis. In this context, the present paper focuses on the standard-based definition of indoor air quality (IAQ) indicators and their respective values. Hence, the main aim of this effort is to study several common national and international IAQ standards in view of the scope to which they include direct or indirect evidence for the validity and applicability of their mandates and requirements. To this end, selected IAQ standards were assessed via a structured schema that includes not only basic information, quality indicators, and suggested and recommended value ranges, but also any reference to scientific studies. The findings of this effort identify certain issues with the transparency of the chain of evidence from the results of technical literature and standard-based IAQ recommendations. Moreover, recommendations are made for the development of future transparent and evidence-based IAQ standards and guidelines.