Home energy efficiency measures can provide health benefits and protection against overheating

Improving the energy efficiency of homes is one step towards reducing UK greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, and can provide a co-benefit in terms of reduced energy consumption and improved wellbeing. However, retrofitting homes (wall insulation, double or triple glazing, converting lofts into living spaces) and making our homes more airtight can have unintended consequences for indoor environmental quality (IEQ). Provision of additional ventilation could be neglected, leading to overheating and poor indoor air quality (IAQ). The CUSSH project has published several papers relating to potential effects on IEQ, and subsequently human health, due to implementing energy efficiency etrofits and their interaction with a changing climate.

1. Ferguson L, Taylor J, Davies M, Shrubsole C, Symonds P, Dimitroulopoulou S (2020). Exposure to indoor air
pollution across socio-economic groups in high-income countries: A scoping review of the literature and a modelling
methodology. Environment International, 143, 105748. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105748

2. Ferguson L, Taylor J, Zhou K, Shrubsole C, Symonds P, Davies M, Dimitroulopoulou S (2021). Systemic
inequalities in indoor air pollution exposure in London, UK. Buildings and Cities, 2(1). http://doi.org/10.5334/bc.100

3. Tsoulou I, Jain N, Oikonomou E, Petrou G, Howard A, Gupta R, ... Davies M (2022). Assessing the Current and
Future Risk of Overheating in London’s Care Homes: The Effect of Passive Ventilation. International Building
Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA). https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10137961/

4. Symonds P, Rees D, Daraktchieva Z, McColl N, Bradley J, Hamilton I, Davies M (2019). Home energy efficiency
and radon: An observational study. Indoor air, 29(5), 854-864. https://doi.org/10.1111/ina.12575

5. Taylor J, Shrubsole C, Symonds P, Mackenzie I, Davies M (2019). Application of an indoor air pollution
metamodel to a spatially-distributed housing stock. Science of The Total Environment, 667, 390-
399. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.02.341

6. Taylor J, Symonds P, Heaviside C, Chalabi Z, Davies M, Wilkinson P (2021). Projecting the impacts of housing
on temperature-related mortality in London during typical future years. Energy and Buildings,
111233. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enbuild.2021.11123

7. Li X, Taylor J, Symonds P (2019). Indoor overheating and mitigation of converted lofts in London, UK. Building
Services Engineering Research and Technology, 40(4), 409-425. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0143624419842044

8. Symonds P et al (2021a). A tool for assessing the climate change mitigation and health impacts of environmental
policies: the Cities Rapid Assessment Framework for Transformation (CRAFT). Wellcome Open Research, 5:269

9. Symonds P, Verschoor N, Chalabi Z, Taylor J, Davies M (2021b). Home energy efficiency and subjective health
in Greater London. Journal of Urban Health, 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11524-021-00513-6

10. Taylor J & Symonds P. (2021). Estimating spatial variation of moisture risks in English and Welsh dwellings. In
International Conference on Moisture in Buildings. http://dx.doi.org/10.14293/ICMB210061

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