Ahead of VELUX and Starship’s webinar with Housing Executive, we’re taking a look at the health of Europe’s buildings, and why a holistic approach to building is vital in order to make widespread improvements for public health and wellbeing. Produced by the Buildings Performance Institute Europe (BPIE) and supported by the VELUX Group, The Healthy Buildings Barometer 2024 examines the progress of Europe’s buildings in terms of health benefits for their occupants, and the multi-layered benefits of investing in healthy design from the beginning of a development.
The first Healthy Buildings Barometer was released in 2015, and has acted as a year-by-year update on the progress of the health of Europe’s buildings, keeping track of multiple metrics and performance indicators. These indicators cover many areas that are familiar to the social housing sector, such as air quality, affordability, accessibility and energy performance.
At the heart of the report is the recognition that buildings are not simply physical assets or energy consumers. The report delves into the multiple layers of influence of Europe’s buildings, including their influence on people’s health, comfort, productivity, social connections and resilience to climate change.
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These influences are well-documented, and well known to the social housing sector. Regulation such as Awaab’s Law has made concrete the links between housing and health in the UK, permanently linking provider’s responsibilities to the livelihood and wellbeing of their residents. Despite this, the barometer finds homes at large across Europe have made little progress since the beginning of the reports in 2015, and many Europeans continue to experience poor indoor air quality, inadequate daylight, overheating, damp and unaffordable housing costs.
Research shows that in the modern day, the average person spends nearly 90% of their time indoors throughout their life. This puts into perspective the huge influence housing has on the overall health and wellbeing of the population, and therefore the responsibility faced by housing providers to ensure their stock is the highest standard possible for their residents. For associations and local authorities in the UK, this is especially true, as EPC rating deadlines close in, and providers face constantly shifting standards in the public sector.
A central finding is that healthy buildings deliver multiple benefits simultaneously. Well-designed buildings can improve physical and mental health, enhance learning and workplace productivity, reduce healthcare costs, strengthen community connections and lower carbon emissions. The report highlights evidence showing that healthy renovation programmes could create hundreds of thousands of jobs annually across Europe, generate substantial economic value and significantly reduce energy demand.
On the 2nd July, VELUX and Starship will be hosting an interactive webinar discussing a real life example of healthy home design bringing together housing provider, developer and supplier to create a development with healthy deign and resilience embedded from the beginning, at no extra complexity or cost. Responding to UK-wide social housing challenges through healthier design: the Mungo Park Way case study will show housing CEOs, architects and decision-makers how strategic, healthy design can help to directly ease the pressures faced by the social housing sector today, whilst at the same time guaranteeing a number of health benefits for their residents.
