Too Hot to Retire?

Nearing your twilight years can be a daunting experience, and when it comes to thermal comfort you will certainly feel colder in the winter and find it harder to regulate your temperature in the summer. Add the anxieties of climate change then you have the added concern of longer, hotter, summers and colder, wetter, winters. For the foreseeable future, the gradual temperature increase may not seem overly alarming in the UK, rather a welcomed excuse to tan without needing to travel abroad. However, for older populations, this gradual change can be a significant threat to their health.

As well as warming temperatures, the UK has an ageing population; people over the age of 75 will account for 13% of the population by 2035 who often spend most of their time in residential environments or care settings that are disproportionately susceptible to overheating. Heat stress can impact the health of the elderly much more than it can with younger generations, therefore, it is crucial that we future proof care settings to ensure that their time spent indoors is enjoyable and thermally ‘comfortable’.

What might ease some of the apprehensions is the knowledge that some of our brightest minds are working behind the scenes to ensure that we can be comfortable in our older age, whatever the weather. ClimaCare is a research project initiated by the University College of London (UCL) who are looking to investigate the existing conditions and future proof care settings in line with rising temperatures to mitigate the impacts of heat stress. Early research has already indicated that care facilities are presently overheating, even under non-extreme settings. Here at Shade the UK we have been fortunate enough to help the researchers at UCL on this project.

The ClimaCare project has been sectioned into two phases, the first being research into existing care home conditions and the associated health impacts of overheating (ClimaCare1); this has now concluded and the results are as follows.

A few findings from ClimaCare1

Five London Care Homes were studied over the summer of 2019 as part of ClimaCare1. Of the five Care Homes, all were found at some point to be exceeding the recommended temperature limit of 26°C set out by Public Health England. The mean daily temperatures over the summer ranged between 23°C and 29°C (Figure 1). Additionally, a finding even more concerning was that the indoor daily maximum temperatures during heatwaves reached between 31.2 and 34.2°C. Dynamic thermal modelling results from ClimaCare1 show that mean internal temperatures in the five care homes remained predominantly above the 26°C threshold during the five-day heatwave period and are projected to remain at significantly higher levels under future climate scenarios. The increase in average temperature in care homes due to climate change is estimated to be +2°C and +4°C in 2050 and 2080, respectively.

Figure 1: Monitored temperature (°C) in the five studied care homes by ClimaCare

Regarding building performance, ClimaCare1 indicated that the building construction age of care homes is a key determinant factor for overheating risk, with higher summer thermal comfort reported by staff and residents in older, heavyweight buildings. Simulation analysis suggested that older buildings characterised by higher rates of heat loss and higher levels of thermal mass are likely to benefit more from the application of high albedo materials rather than external shading methods. Comparatively, new-builds with higher levels of thermal insulation were argued to benefit more from increased ventilation rates and appropriate external shading systems. Through the same simulation analysis, night ventilation was discovered to be the single most effective passive cooling technique for all building types and construction ages.

In summary, ClimaCare1 has helped unveil existing overheating problems in London-based care settings and suggestions of practical solutions. In identifying these issues, more research can now commence to assess how we can best mitigate the impacts of overheating and climate change.

Future research opportunities

The outcomes from ClimaCare1 have led to an up-scaling of research that will be lead by ClimaCare2. ClimaCare1 concludes with three routes of future action to guide ClimaCare2 in generating positive impact in the care homes:

Pathway 1
Providing building construction practitioners responsible for the design and delivery of health care and care homes with improved climate change adaptation design and decision-making tools. This will facilitate the development of best practice guidance provided by professional organisations and associations.

Pathway 2
Providing policymakers and regulators, such as Care Quality Commission, with evidence-based recommendations to help revise regulation and policies pertaining to thermal comfort and energy efficiency in care settings.

Pathway 3
Providing care home managers, front line staff, and residents with best practice guidelines for the optimum operation of care environments in a warming climate.

ClimaCare2 acts on the information discovered in the first, with additional data now being collected from fifty care homes around the UK as opposed to five and is due to conclude in October of 2022. . The data will be used to create a building stock model to help predict future overheating risks. Moving forward, this project aims to help to shape policy, producing refined guidance for practitioners, businesses, and policymakers. The findings and subsequent policy changes will ensure that we are all more comfortable in later life and encourage action to ensure that those already in care homes see improvements to their climate.

What can you do from home to help?

It is with hope that the above gives a good insight into the ongoing research regarding overheating in care homes, but you don’t have to be a research fellow at the UCL to assist with cooling in the built environment. Encouraging and employing passive cooling techniques, be it at your own home, a family member’s or maybe even a new housing development you are working on is taking a significant step towards tackling overheating. Some examples include:

• Open windows and doors before reaching for the fan to improve ventilation

• Consider installing window shades before air conditioning

• Don’t paint outdoor surfaces dark colours or replace greenery with pavement as vegetation is cooling and dark colours absorb more heat.

Lastly, check in on your relatives in hot periods; especially those most vulnerable! You can contact us at Shade the UK if you have any overheating questions or concerns regarding yourself or any loved ones here.