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Design of social housing must adapt to climate change, major university warns
Researchers at the University of Manchester have found that future climate change will need a clear shift in the sector towards summer cooling requirements in social housing.
Design of social housing must adapt to climate change, major university warns #UKhousingResearchers at the University of Manchester have found that future climate change will need a clear shift in the sector towards summer cooling requirements in social housing #UKhousingThe study was published in conjunction with MDPI, a publisher of open-access scientific journals. The major university believes it has implications for grid capacity, occupant well-being and energy affordability.
This is because future climate change alters the demand for heating and cooling in the summer and winter months.
In 2019, heating accounted for around 45% of total energy consumption. In order to reduce this, the study has argued that a comprehensive understanding of homes and how climate change will affect their energy performance in the future is needed.
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The study recorded a likely substantial increase in cooling demand projected for 2050 and 2080, suggesting that cooling demand will rise in 2050 by nearly 140%.
Researchers suggested that by using the correct typical-year data that represents long-term historical data used to test housing designs, this would allow homes to be built which are better suited to the increased need for cooling requirements.
By building homes in such a manner, the amount of energy used to meet demands for heating and cooling could be reduced, therefore reducing the consumption of fossil fuels.
At the start of this year, the government published new build design guidance that places focus on quality and places that are resilient to climate change.
Alongside designing buildings that cope with climate change, the plans aim to create well-located spaces that encourage social interaction, green spaces to reduce overheating and rooms sized to promote health and well-being.
Dr Claire Brown, a PhD researcher at the University of Manchester, said of the research: “The implications of climate change for the residential energy system are far reaching.
“These emerging stresses challenge the viability of a ‘business-as-usual’ approach to housing provision and highlight the need for adaptive, forward-looking design and policy interventions to prevent future harm to residents of social housing in the UK and beyond.”
The concern over overheating also comes as the Climate Change Committee reported last year that there are currently 6.3 million homes in England at risk of flooding due to the UK being unprepared for the effects of climate change.
Following this, the boss of a heat pump firm warned that the UK government’s efforts to reduce the ratio of gas to electricity costs is happening too slowly to keep up with climate change.
The West Midlands Combined Authority was one of only a few regions to have published a five-year plan to act on climate change.
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