The impacts of occupant behaviour on energy performance, thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and health in social housing

The UK’s largely inefficient housing is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions and a contributing factor to poor health outcomes of its residents. The social housing stock built between WWII and the 1980’ is the same with a number of high-profile cases related to significant health impacts. It is largely accepted that user behaviour can have a significant contributory factor to these factors. Focusing on a single “flagship” sheltered housing block in East London the aim of this research is to understand and identify post-occupancy user behaviours that affect indoor air quality, thermal comfort, and energy usage, with the purpose of recommending retrofitting strategies. A questionnaire survey was conducted with the occupants to collect data on their behaviour patterns, preference and experiences related to energy use, ventilation and any associated health symptoms that they attributed to their living environment. Preliminary results show that to achieve thermal comfort and the healthiest environment residents must engage with behaviours that are both thermally inefficient and high energy consuming. Further analysis is required to make suitable recommendations, but these could include the installation of mechanical ventilation or providing low energy alternatives for acceptable IAQ. Any change to the building fabric must be accompanied by an education, reward, and support scheme to meaningfully change behaviour. By considering the user behaviour of occupants, retrofit measures can be more effective in reducing carbon emissions whilst also maintaining health environments for residents.