An investigation into overheating in social housing dwellings in central England. (June 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Morey, Johanna; Beizaee, Arash; Wright, Andrew
• Is Part Of: Building and environment. Volume 176(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-06
• Subjects: Summer temperature -- Thermal comfort -- Overheating -- Social housing -- English homes -- Monitoring; ASHRAE American Society of Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning -- CI confidence interval -- CIBSE Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers -- CVRMSE Coefficient of Variation of the Root Mean Squared Error -- EHS English Housing Survey -- EPC Energy Performance Certificate -- NMBE Normalised Mean Bias Error -- R2 Coefficient of Determination -- SAP Standard Assessment Procedure -- SD Standard deviation -- TM Technical Memorandum; Buildings -- Environmental engineering -- Periodicals; Building -- Research -- Periodicals; Constructions -- Technique de l'environnement -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 696
• DOI: 10.1016/j.buildenv.2020.106814
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0360-1323

Abstract

Abstract: Recent empirical studies have evidenced overheating in UK dwellings during hotter periods. Vulnerable people living in social housing dwellings may be less able to tolerate heat stress or to adapt. This study is the first large scale monitoring study to investigate overheating risk in social housing dwellings in central England against three overheating risk assessment criteria. Indoor temperature data for summer 2015 were analysed for 122 free-running social housing properties, of varying type and age, against the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE) static guidance, and the adaptive methods of TM52 and TM59. The mean bedroom and living room temperatures were 21.2 °C and 21.7 °C, respectively. Bedrooms were more likely to overheat than living rooms using the static criteria, with 42% of bedrooms exceeding 5% of occupied hours over 24 °C, and 40% exceeding 1% of occupied hours over 26 °C. 24% of living rooms exceeded 5% of occupied hours over 25 °C, and 5% exceeded 1% of occupied hours over 28 °C. Against TM52, only 1% of bedrooms and 2% of living rooms overheated. Against TM59, 5% of bedrooms and 1% of living rooms overheated. Analysis by various property categories identified those types of property which were more prone to overheating. Highlights: Summer temperatures inside 122 English social housing dwellings were measured. Overheating was assessed against both static and adaptive criteria for summer 2015. Significant proportions of dwellings were uncomfortably warm based on static criteria. Only a few properties were overheated according to adaptive thermal comfort criteria. Flats, post 1995 dwellings and those with high SAP ratings were significantly warmer.