Mapping indoor overheating and air pollution risk modification across Great Britain: A modelling study

Abstract

Housing has long been thought to play a significant role in population exposure to environmental hazards such as high temperatures and air pollution. However, there is sparse data describing how housing may modify heat and air pollution exposure such that housing's role in poor health and mortality from these hazards may be estimated. This paper describes the development of individualaddress level indoor overheating and air pollution risk modifiers for Great Britain, for use alongside historical weather, outdoor air pollution, population socio-economic data, and mortality data in a large-scale epidemiological investigation. A geographically-referenced housing stock database was developed using the Homes Energy Efficiency Database (HEED) and the English Housing Survey (EHS). Simulations of unique combinations of building, fabric, occupation, and environment were run using a modelling framework developed for EnergyPlus 8.0, estimating indoor temperature metrics, indoor/outdoor ratio of pollution from outdoor sources, and indoor air pollution from multiple indoor sources. Results were compiled, matched back to individual properties in HEED, and the results mapped using Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Results indicate urban areas had higher numbers of buildings prone to overheating, reduced levels indoor air pollution from outdoor sources, and higher air pollution from indoor sources relative to rural areas, driven largely by variations in building types. The results provide the first national-scale quantitative estimate of heat 2 and indoor air pollution modification by dwellings, aggregated at levels suitable for inclusion in health analysis.

Estimating the Influence of Housing Energy Efficiency and Overheating Adaptations on Heat-Related Mortality in the West Midlands, UK

“…Certain dwelling variants, such as flats, mid terraced houses, and bungalows were found to be at elevated risk of high indoor temperatures. Heat-related adaptations to dwellings showed decreases in indoor temperatures in line with previous modelling studies on overheating in housing [13,14], while changes to indoor temperatures following energy efficiency adaptations also reflect those from previous modelling studies [11,12].…”

Inhabitant actions and summer overheating risk in London dwellings

“…M. Porritt, Cropper, Shao, & Goodier, 2012;S. Porritt, Shao, Cropper, & Goodier, 2011;J. Taylor et al, 2016;Tillson, Oreszczyn, & Palmer, 2013).…”

“…proposed necessary changes to policy frameworks and business procedures. There is also a growing trend towards the development of urban heatwave vulnerability indices for urban environments, such as London, that allow the mapping of overheating risk and identification of prioritisation areas by public health policymakers (Mavrogianni, Davies, Chalabi, et al, 2009;J. Taylor et al, , 2016Tomlinson, Chapman, Thornes, & Baker, 2011;Wolf, McGregor, & Analitis, 2013;.…”

Development of an England-wide indoor overheating and air pollution model using artificial neural networks

“…in Peacock, Jenkins, and Kane 2010;Mavrogianni et al 2012;Oikonomou et al 2012;Gupta and *Corresponding author. Email: p.symonds@ucl.ac.uk Gregg 2013; Hamdy and Hensen 2015;Taylor et al 2015aTaylor et al , 2015bTaylor et al 2016), with results indicating a wide range in overheating risks with top-floor flats, bungalows, and those with poor ventilation at increased risk. Overheating in UK homes has been comprehensively reviewed by the Zero Carbon Hub (ZCH 2015b).…”