The time to create better indoor climates is now — we need an inside equivalent of EPCs
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It is 17 years since house sellers and landlords in the UK were required by law to provide Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs) to potential buyers and tenants. Based on an independent inspection of insulation levels, heating systems and windows, the scheme has undoubtedly improved energy efficiency, raised the value of the best performing properties and allowed the public to make better informed decisions.
Yet EPCs largely miss the importance of our indoor climate. We spend more than 60 per cent of our time indoors at home, and there is strong evidence that good ventilation, plentiful daylight and temperature regulation not only alleviate the symptoms of asthma and other respiratory conditions, but help us all to sleep, perform and feel better during the day.
For decades the UK has been in a race to the bottom when it comes to air quality in the home, developing smaller houses with smaller rooms and windows. Crudely speaking, we are “encaving” ourselves, contrary to our instinct to spend time outdoors enjoying daylight and fresh air.
In my experience, we can do better. I have been part of a team behind a project in Denmark called Living Places, which sought to create low-carbon, healthy homes using readily available building materials and with a price tag no greater than that of a comparably sized traditional home.
The project has confirmed my view that we can create the indoor climate equivalents of EPCs. Putting a number on what matters most to our health and wellbeing means that we can ask for it, manage it, track it and, not least, order it when we buy or build a home.
The case is compelling. First, the necessary data already exists through the Active House Radar tool, which shows the balance between “people” aspects (levels of daylight, thermal environment, indoor air quality, acoustics) and “planet” parameters (carbon footprint and impact as well as water and energy usage). The key is that these are connected, allowing us to make truly informed decisions about what is often our biggest lifetime investment — buying a home.
Second are the potential financial gains. Data from the Living Places project shows that improving indoor climates in Denmark could bring economic benefits of up to DKr78.4bn (£8.8bn) by 2050, through health savings and better productivity. Just imagine what would be possible in the UK, where the population is more than 11 times that of Denmark.
Third is timing. The UK government has pledged to build 1.5mn new homes over the next five years, so the opportunity to create better indoor climates is here and now. The data exists — missing the chance to use it would be a grave error.
Industry and government should take note of the lessons learned from Living Places. The team behind the project has captured these in a “recipe book” of methods and data which has the potential to transform the sustainability of homes, workplaces and schools and substantially reduce the contribution that the construction industry makes to CO₂ emissions across Europe — currently more than 30 per cent.
The recipe book covers information on the carbon footprint of material sourcing, production and transportation, plus the construction and installation of every component, be that a bolt or a plank of wood. It covers subsequent emissions from repairs and replacements during the first 50 years of the building’s life, and it also provides a value for the environmental impact of repairing or replacing things such as roof tiles or a section of pipe.
The key to success here is moving away from the traditional linear approach to housebuilding, towards ‘transformative partnering’. Living Places involved developers, architects, engineers, contractors and others, collaborating from the very start and at every stage of the process, repeatedly refining their approaches and constructively challenging each other’s ideas and methods.
The result? A prototype house in Copenhagen produces an estimated 28 tonnes of CO₂ during its construction and over the first 50 years of its life — less than a third of the 102 tonnes for a benchmark two-bedroom house in Denmark.
The Living Places trove of material is now available to those aligned to its philosophy. Several companies, including Denmark’s biggest housebuilder, HusCompagniet, have forged partnerships to implement the principles in projects of their own.
The resulting houses will not necessarily be built from wood, feature steep roofs or focus on shared community spaces as Living Places in Copenhagen does — and nor need they. Living Places isn’t about architecture, it’s about changing mindsets and embracing new principles.
Lone Feifer is Director for Sustainable Buildings at the VELUX Group and co-author of ‘Living Places — Principles and Insights for a New Way of Thinking Buildings’
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