Shelter indoor environment and health. Measuring the impact of shelters on health worldwide.

There are more than seventy-nine million displaced living in shelters globally due to natural disasters and conflicts. The vast majority of these populations are encamped in countries subjected to extreme climate, and most of them are living in shelters where indoor living conditions are incredibly severe. While these populations are expected to live in this situation temporarily, they can end up living in shelters for decades. Prolonged exposure to poor shelter environment has resulted in increased morbidity and mortality rates and reduced life expectancy.
High indoor temperatures and poor indoor air quality (IAQ) in shelters are far from ideal. They represent the main factors jeopardizing occupants’ health and are associated with both physical and mental issues. However, despite the acknowledged importance of indoor temperatures and air quality in shelter design, previous research has often neglected their role.
In this study, we propose a new approach to measure the impact of the indoor shelter environment on health, involving both thermal and air quality simulation. Through the construction of validated simulation models of shelters in Bangladesh, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Jordan and Peru, we suggest the importance of thermal and air quality modelling to measure the impact of indoor shelter environment on health.