Risks to health, wellbeing and productivity from overheating in buildings

• Tenure: Households in the social sector had a higher prevalence of overheating, both in the living room and in the main bedroom (26% and 29% respectively) compared with households in the private sector (13% and 17%) The survey results of occupants’ perception of comfort were similar to the measured results above. [...] For example, a shift towards home- based care would increase the importance of internal temperatures in the home for heat-related impacts, and the recent shift to home-working due to the COVID-19 pandemic (if maintained in the long-term) could also increase the importance of overheating in homes for overall worker productivity (also discussed in Box 3).* Without additional adaptation actions the c. [...] These include anticipatory adaptation actions to reduce the exposure and vulnerability of the population to overheating in buildings, and actions to put in place effective emergency plans which can function well to minimise impacts in periods of hot weather. [...] Building Form Designing the shape and layout of a building can reduce the risk of overheating by using the building form to shade key areas and facilitating the preferred ventilation strategy 15 Risks to health, wellbeing and productivity from overheating in buildings Box 4 Role of air conditioning Active cooling, such as air conditioning, uses electricity to run and expels waste heat into the env. [...] The aim of the requirement is to protect the health and welfare of the occupants of a building by reducing the occurrence of high indoor temperatures.