Investigating the overheating risk in refurbished social housing

Global average surface temperatures are predicted to rise from 1 to 5°C by 2100. Also, extreme events such as heat waves are expected to increase in intensity, frequency and duration. In most of Europe and other developed countries, existing buildings are projected to form from 70% to 80% of the built stock by 2050. Investigating the risk of overheating in the existing building stock is therefore crucial in order to adopt measures which can help to mitigate what it can be a lethal effect of global warming: prolonged exposure to high temperatures in buildings. By collecting measured data, this study investigates indoor temperatures and thermal comfort in bedrooms, kitchens and living rooms of 46 newly-retrofitted free-running social houses in Exeter, UK during the summer 2014. The overheating risk was evaluated using the CIBSE TM52 adaptive benchmark. It was seen evidence of 10 out of 86 rooms overheating in 9 dwellings. It was found that kitchens and bedrooms are the rooms with the greater overheating risk among the monitored spaces. It was also found that old and vulnerable occupants are at a higher risk of being exposed to high indoor temperatures due to fact that they spent most of their time indoor and also because of poor indoor ventilation.