New Bradford study launched to investigate the impact of energy efficiency retrofits on indoor air quality, health, and the environment
Health researchers from Bradford are to play a lead role in investigating how improving the energy efficiency of social housing can impact on residents’ health, indoor air quality and carbon emissions.
It follows the award of a major grant to the Bradford Institute for Health Research from the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR).
The UK has some of Europe’s oldest and least energy-efficient housing stock, contributing to approximately a fifth of the country’s carbon emissions.
Housing-related illnesses cost the NHS around £1 billion each year, with poor indoor air quality and damp and cold conditions linked to respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health problems.
Retrofitting homes through measures such as adding insulation, improving heating systems, or upgrading inefficient windows aims to create warmer, more energy-efficient homes while reducing carbon emissions. However, such changes could also alter airflow and indoor air quality, leading to a potentially higher risk of developing damp and mould.
Led by the internationally renowned Born in Bradford research programme, the Healthy Homes study will break new ground by monitoring more than 400 homes, owned by social housing provider Incommunities, over an 18-month period, measuring indoor temperature, humidity, air quality, and energy use changes before and after retrofit works.
Researchers will also assess the long-term impact of retrofitting on residents’ respiratory, cardiovascular, and mental health, evaluate environmental benefits by estimating reductions in carbon emissions, and explore the potential health and economic savings for the NHS and wider society.
Dr Tiffany Yang, Co-Principal Investigator, said: “This research will provide vital insights into how upgrading social housing can benefit both health and the environment while identifying any unintended consequences of retrofit that could negatively affect health or emissions.”
“By closely monitoring these homes, we will understand how retrofitting impacts their indoor environment and how that can affect the health of the resident. It will provide us with real-world outcomes and help to guide future policies to benefit those who need it most.”
Healthy Homes is a partnership between the Bradford Institute for Health Research, which is based at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, University College London, and the Universities of Cambridge, Leeds, Manchester, and York, the Bradford Council Health Determinants Research Collaboration, and Bradford’s largest social housing provider, Incommunities.
The study will work extensively with communities and stakeholders to gain insight into the retrofitting process.
Rachael Dennis, Chief Executive at Incommunities, said: “We’re delighted to be the partner housing association in this study. Over the next 3 years we’ll be carrying out retrofit work on 3,000 Incommunities homes. This ambitious programme of work will reduce energy bills, tackle fuel poverty, and make homes warmer, healthier, and more affordable for families.
“The findings from the Born in Bradford Healthy Homes study will help create recommendations for the government, social housing providers, and housing developers to ensure that retrofitting has the best chance of benefitting both the health of residents and the environment.”
Further information
Born in Bradford, based within the Bradford Institute for Health Research (BIHR) at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, is an internationally recognised research programme which aims to find out what keeps families healthy and happy. We use this information to work with the local authority, health, education and voluntary sector providers across Bradford district to develop, implement and evaluate ambitious programmes to improve population health.
We have a vast ‘city of research’ infrastructure which includes detailed health and wellbeing information on Bradfordians enrolled in our three birth cohort studies and a connected routine dataset of health, social care and education data for over 700,000 citizens living in Bradford and Airedale. We host a range of initiatives to improve health working with the local authority, health, education, cultural and voluntary sector providers.
You can find out more about our research programme at www.borninbradford.nhs.uk