Optimising Housing, Health and Sustainability Goals - Poster 2016.

Housing has a crucial influence on health and well-being. In most settings, energy use in the home and for residential construction also accounts for a sizeable proportion of overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The form and quality of housing is a crucial target both for health protection and for the attainment of sustainability goals in relation to energy and GHG emissions. However, housing varies markedly in the degree to which it protects health, especially for low income households, while the evolving risks of climate change and need to meet mitigation targets often require substantial adaptations in the housing sector. Our vision in this project is to use case studies from four contrasting settings around the world to develop and apply methods to improve the design, refurbishment and operation of housing for low-income households that is low cost, low in environmental impact, high performance and improves quality of life and wellbeing. Lessons learned from these case studies will be used to inform the methods and approaches that can be applied in these and other settings.