Sustainable thermal technologies and care homes: Productive alignment or risky investment?

Neven, Louis; Walker, Gordon; Brown, Sam P.

doi:10.1016/j.enpol.2014.11.027

Cited by 12 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…Care and extra-care housing schemes are generally hybrid building-types, simultaneously functioning as long-term residences, sometimes nursing environments, and workplaces (Walker, Brown, and Neven 2015). Current regulatory, design and business considerations of care schemes prioritize warmth when considering the thermal comfort of residents (Walker, Brown, and Neven 2015;Brown 2010;Neven, Walker, and Brown 2015).This arrangement provides a complex environment when also considering the thermal comfort needs of the active staff in addition to the vulnerable residents.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Care provision fit for a warming climate

Gupta

Gregg

2017

Architectural Science Review

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The impact of a warming climate has serious implications for older people in care facilities as they are most vulnerable to negative health effects of excessive heat. This paper uses a building simulation approach to examine the current and future risk of summertime overheating and potential adaptive response of four care and extra-care settings representing different construction, technical design and built ages across the UK. Insights from semi-structured interviews with design teams of case studies reveal their awareness and attitudes towards future-proofing design of care settings against climate change and overheating. Modelling results demonstrate the magnitude of projected summertime overheating in care and extra-care schemes, yet there appears to be little awareness amongst designers about the risk of overheating and implementation of long-term adaptation approaches such as external shading, provision of crossventilation. Although age, location, and orientation are found to have notable effect on the magnitude of overheating, they are difficult aspects to change in existing buildings, yet they provide insights into adaptive responses with regard to retrofit, management and use of care settings. Designers also need to focus on long term planning of care settings rather than near future, to anticipate the effects of climate change on care settings.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Care provision fit for a warming climate

Gupta

Gregg

2017

Architectural Science Review

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“…The popularity of facsimiles of point source heating like fires and stoves is not at all surprising and arose similarly in our previous work (Day and Hitchings, 2009;Hitchings and Day, 2011) where our interviewees were likewise fond of flame effects and the feeling of warmth and comfort they invoked, even when they knew really it was just a light. Residential home staff might have disapproved of residents converging around an appliance (Neven et al, 2015), but Henshaw and Guy reveal the pleasure and comfort afforded by the enactment of older ways of warming and the conviviality that came with it. This might be seen as something akin to reminiscence activity, which is widely used for both social and therapeutic purposes with older people (Bornat, 1993).…”

Section: Findings From Specific Settingsmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…As Bickerstaff et al (2015) point out, the introduction of any new (low carbon) thermal technologies will need to involve integration into these existing arrangements. Neven et al (2015) use the phrase 'practice-technology alignment' -there they are talking about the integration of new technologies into the complexity of care homes, but the notion is just as fitting regarding their introduction into other domestic settings, especially private homes where routines, arrangements, habits and layers of meaning have built up over time. Arrangements that can work with these embedded practices and meanings are likely to be much more successful and more readily 'domesticated' than are initiatives that seek to disrupt more radically.…”

Section: Findings From Specific Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low carbon thermal technologies in an ageing society – What are the issues?

Day

2015

Energy Policy

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“…This hybridity can impact (positively and negatively) on the building's risk of summertime overheating; including safety issues, diverging needs and preferences (particularly between staff and residents), user-technology interaction, and questions about who is responsible for thermal conditions (van Hoof et al, 2010). Recent research (Walker et al, 2015;Brown, 2010;Neven et al, 2015) also indicates that the regulatory context and business considerations of a care scheme focus on the provision of good care, which is associated with ensuring no resident is too cold and that they are secure and safe (Walker et al, 2015). These considerations reinforce the idea that care settings should be 'warm' places.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Overheating in care settings: magnitude, causes, preparedness and remedies

Gupta

Barnfield

Gregg

2016

Building Research & Information

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Research in UK and elsewhere has highlighted that older people are particularly vulnerable to negative health effects of overheating. This paper examines the magnitude, causes, preparedness and remedies for addressing the risk of summertime overheating in four case study residential care and extra-care settings across the UK, spanning different building types, construction and age. The methodological approach adopted is interdisciplinary, drawing from building science and social science methods, including temperature monitoring, building surveys, and interviews with design and management teams. The findings suggest that overheating is a current and prevalent risk in the case study schemes, yet there is currently little awareness or preparedness to implement suitable and long-term adaptation strategies (eg. external shading). There was a perception from designers to managers, that cold represents a bigger threat to older occupants' health than excessive heat. A lack of effective heat management was found across the case studies that included unwanted heat gains from the heating system, confusion in terms of responsibilities to manage indoor temperatures, and conflicts between window opening and occupant safety. Given that care settings should provide protection against risks from cold and hot weather, design, management and care practices need to become better focused towards this goal.

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Sustainable thermal technologies and care homes: Productive alignment or risky investment?

Cited by 12 publications

References 20 publications

Care provision fit for a warming climate

Care provision fit for a warming climate

Low carbon thermal technologies in an ageing society – What are the issues?

Overheating in care settings: magnitude, causes, preparedness and remedies

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