Natural Ventilation and Body Heat Comfort: An Evaluation of Residents Satisfaction in Ogbomoso, Nigeria. (Published)
This study evaluates the variations in the level of natural ventilation in houses across the three main residential density zones of Ogbomoso. The study employs two approaches. First, it surveys the perception of residents with respect to the body heat comfort in their houses. Second, it examines the window opening sizes for compliance with floor areas considered desirable for effective natural ventilation in a warm humid climate like Nigeria. The main objective is to validate residents perception of body heat comfort through the assessment of window opening to floor areas ratio. The methodology employed is the multi-stage sampling procedure where houses are sampled from sampled streets, and a household head sampled from each house, such that the perception of residents and evaluation of window and floor areas ratio are both carried out on the same household and house, respectively. The result shows that residents’ satisfaction as well as window to floor areas decreases with residential density zones.
Keywords: Body Comfort, Body Heat, Natural Ventilation, Perception, Satisfaction, Warm humid
APPRAISAL OF OCCUPANTS’ SATISFACTION OF SOCIAL CONSIDERATIONS OF PUBLIC HOUSING IN ANAMBRA STATE, NIGERIA. (Published)
The perception of the occupants in public housing estates in Awka and Onitsha towns in Anambra State was evaluated using Adam’s Equity Theory that hinges on balancing inputs and outputs. The thrust of this study lies on social amenities. The survey of the study area revealed 2,805 occupants comprising mainly housewives and 2,805 house units. The sample size, derived from Taro Yamani technique was 842 and from this figure, stratified random sampling was adopted to arrive at the obtained data. Complete responses were 797 comprising 299 occupants in Awka and 498 occupants in Onitsha. A 21-item structured questionnaire on public housing (QPH) consisting of six (6) sections was developed, which consisted of 5-point Likert rating scale ranging from 1-5 in which respondents indicated the extent of their perception of listed variables. The mid-point of 3 implied that any result significantly different from this mean value was assumed to be either positive or negative. This instrument was face and content validated. Cronbach Alpha Technique index was used for reliability test which gave a value of 0.90. A pre-test on a sample of 30 respondents of one non-studied public housing estate was conducted. The research questions were processed using percentages, means, Chi-square, Contingency Table Analysis (CTA) and One way Categorical Data Analysis of Variance (CATANOVA), while the hypotheses were tested using Z-test. The results of this study show that (1). The 51.4% of occupants responding positively to social factors of public housing in Onitsha are greater than the 33.7% responding positively to it respectively in Awka. It can then be stated from this work that in planning a housing estate such checklists as design and construction, affordability, habitability, environmental and social amenities should be included so as to satisfy the major stakeholders and the occupants.
Keywords: Occupants, Satisfaction, social considerations and Public Housing