Application of Passive Design Strategies for New Low-income Affordable Housing Developments in San Pedro Sula, Honduras

Abstract

Honduras faces the highest levels of economic inequality in Latin America, 66% of the population live in poverty, 8.1% is the unemployment rate and 1.1 million the housing deficit. One million affordable housing units need to be built to cover the shortfall, which is concentrated mainly in Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and Choloma. Building at least half a million new homes and improving about 600,000 that do not meet the minimum conditions of habitability is what is needed in Honduras, particularly in the cities of San Pedro Sula and Tegucigalpa is required. In Honduras, the government has the goal to massify new low-income affordable housing developments around cities, with an estimated 12,000 new households to be constructed across Honduras by the end of 2018. But as in most developing countries, sustainable design is not taken into consideration when it comes to affordable housing developments, yet low income-families are highly affected from increasing energy prices and environmentally related health issues. These large-scale projects could minimize local and global environmental impacts and improve the quality of life of its inhabitants, if sustainable guiding standards are embraced during design, construction, and maintenance. The rising cost of utilities are affecting low-income families in “affordable” housing developments, the energy expenses force them to make hard choices between basic needs or going back to informal settlements. For this reason, reducing operating and maintenance cost should be a priority for low-income housing design Passive design is any technology or strategy that increase energy-efficiency and thermal comfort by taking advantage of the climate, without the need for expensive mechanical systems. The study analyses different passive design strategies that are applicable for affordable housing developments. Such strategies are orientation, shading, natural ventilation, daylight, and open spaces. The aim is to address energy efficiency and thermal comfort by evaluating and suggesting solutions that improve the quality of life of low-income families in affordable housing developments. The application of passive design strategies showed a 44% reduction in electric utilities, a base case and a proposed design was modeled in eQuest, energy modeling software. The results show a significant reduction towards low-income families’ housing expenses.