Murtagh, NM; Gatersleben, B; Fife-Schaw, C; (2017) Resilience to overheating in homes in southern England: Householders' awareness and preparedness. In: Gorse, C, (ed.) Sustainable Ecological Engineering Design for Society (SEEDS): Conference Proceedings from the Third International Conference. Leeds Beckett University: Leeds, UK.

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Abstract

In southern England, climate projections show increasing likelihood of the number and duration of heatwaves. With over 80% of the 2050 UK housing stock already built, the householder is an important gatekeeper to making the built environment more resilient to overheating. The National House Building Council and others have issued recommendations for mitigating actions, including more insulation, better ventilation, shading and reflective external surfaces. Research on overheating has tended to investigate building physics, overlooking the role of the householder in making modifications. Important questions remain, including to what extent do householders perceive a threat of overheating events; are they aware of recommendations for precautionary actions; have they taken or do they intend to take action and what has guided actions that have already been taken. The current study aims to address these questions and to provide a baseline against which changes in the effects of the experience of overheating, perception of threat and level of action in future years can be compared. A survey was conducted with a large-scale sample (n = 1007) of urban/suburban householders in the south of England, balanced across housing type. Of the sample, 67% had already experienced overheating in their home but perception of risk and awareness of the recommended actions were low and intention to take further action was very low. Nonetheless, actions had been taken, ranging from ventilation (82.8%) to awnings/shutters to glazing (9.4%). Reasons for taking action varied by action type, with comfort featuring heavily for insulation and ventilation, and aesthetics for planting and a pale exterior surface. Although reducing overheating was the top reason for installation of awnings or shutters, very few householders had taken this action. Recommendations for policy are discussed including differential targeting of population segments and using messages that align with householders’ motivations.

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