The CHILI Hub

We are a group of researchers from a range of backgrounds, including engineering, public health, clinical medicine, mental health research and education.

Organisations working on the CHILI Hub include University College London, Imperial College London, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Swansea University, UK Health Security Agency, University of Leeds and the Stockholm Environment Institute University of York.

By 2050, the UK should not put more carbon emissions (which lead to global warming) into the atmosphere than it takes out. This is known as the ‘net zero target’.

To meet this target, we need to make buildings in the UK more energy efficient.

Schools and nurseries make up 15% of carbon emissions from public buildings in the UK. Nowadays, more insultation and airtight building designs are used to make buildings more energy efficient. This means less energy is required to heat buildings, but it may also lead to more indoor air pollution becoming trapped, or making it very hot indoors. Respiratory infections also spread more easily in airtight buildings.

Children and young people spend most of their time in school indoors. The indoor environment at school can support children’s physical and mental health, and their education. Therefore, it is important to check and observe how the indoor environment in schools can affect children and young people’s health as school and nursery buildings are being adapted to meet the net zero target.

The CHILI Hub which will focus on six aspects:

Map: We will measure indoor air pollution in classrooms and schools across England and Wales and combine these measurements with measured and estimated outdoor air pollution data. This will help us develop indicators of indoor environments in schools that can be compared between areas.

Understand: We will combine these school indoor environment indicators with national data on children’s health and education, collected by hospitals, pharmacies and schools in England and Wales. We will research the link between indoor air pollution or heat in schools and children’s health and school non-attendance.

Model: We will develop combined building and health impact assessment models, which describe the impact of climate change and energy efficient building alterations, on indoor environments in schools. We will use these models to work out how these changes will affect children’s health in the future.

Test and evaluate: We will evaluate (weigh-up) if existing technology and behaviours to improve the indoor environment support children’s health. This will include examining if installation of air cleaning filters affects children’s use of health services, and if window opening impact children’s comfort in classrooms.

Involve: We will work with children, young people and teachers to develop data collection methods to measure the impact of the indoor environment on children’s health and education.

Engage: We will set up a network of individuals and organisations who work with, or will be affected by making school buildings meet the net zero target. We will work with them to identify and describe any barriers to making school buildings energy efficient.  We will work closely with policy makers, schools, parents and carers, and children and young people to ensure our findings improve health and education for all children.

Registered name: University College London 

This privacy notice tells you what to expect us to do with your personal information that you are giving us on this form.

Contact details

Email: chilihub@ucl.ac.uk

What information we collect, use, and why

We collect or use the following to provide information updates:

• Names and contact details

Where we get personal information from

•    Directly from you

Our lawful bases for the collection and use of your data

Our lawful bases for collecting or using personal information for information updates or marketing purposes are:

•    Consent – by providing us your contact details we have permission from you after we gave you all the relevant information. All of your data protection rights may apply, except the right to object. To be clear, you do have the right to withdraw your consent at any time.

Lawful bases and data protection rights

Under UK data protection law, we must have a “lawful basis” for collecting and using your personal information. There is a list of possible lawful bases in the UK GDPR. You can find out more about lawful bases on the ICO’s website.
Which lawful basis we rely on may affect your data protection rights which are in brief set out below. You can find out more about your data protection rights and the exemptions which may apply on the ICO’s website:

•    Your right of access - You have the right to ask us for copies of your personal information. You can request other information such as details about where we get personal information from and who we share personal information with. There are some exemptions which means you may not receive all the information you ask for. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to rectification - You have the right to ask us to correct or delete personal information you think is inaccurate or incomplete. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to erasure - You have the right to ask us to delete your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to restriction of processing - You have the right to ask us to limit how we can use your personal information. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to object to processing - You have the right to object to the processing of your personal data. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to data portability - You have the right to ask that we transfer the personal information you gave us to another organisation, or to you. You can read more about this right here.
•    Your right to withdraw consent – When we use consent as our lawful basis you have the right to withdraw your consent at any time. You can read more about this right here.
If you make a request, we must respond to you without undue delay and in any event within one month.
To make a data protection rights request, please contact us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.

How long we keep information

•    Your information will be kept for the duration that the CHILI Hub remains active.  Please note you have the right to withdraw consent and ask us to delete your personal information at any time.  Please email chilihub@ucl.ac.uk

How to complain

If you have any concerns about our use of your personal data, you can make a complaint to us using the contact details at the top of this privacy notice.
If you remain unhappy with how we’ve used your data after raising a complaint with us, you can also complain to the ICO.
The ICO’s address:           
Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF
Helpline number: 0303 123 1113
Website: https://www.ico.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Last updated

1 November 2024