Developing indoor heat-health warning systems for vulnerable populations
With respect to the changing environmental conditions and extreme heat events associated with climate change, this article presents a review of existing heat-health warning systems* and discusses how such systems can be further augmented to account for indoor environmental conditions. The developmen...
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| Main Authors: | , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Institut Veolia Environnement
2025-01-01
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| Series: | Field Actions Science Reports |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/factsreports/7803 |
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| Summary: | With respect to the changing environmental conditions and extreme heat events associated with climate change, this article presents a review of existing heat-health warning systems* and discusses how such systems can be further augmented to account for indoor environmental conditions. The development of indoor heat-health warning systems is urgently needed to enhance the health and social care for vulnerable populations who spend long hours indoors. As a proof-of-principle study, we first introduce an indoor heat-health warning system developed for the general population in the UK, demonstrating its use case based on the 2013 heatwave event. Focusing on older people living in residential care — one of the most vulnerable populations worldwide — we illustrate the capabilities of an indoor heat-health warning system through a modelling framework which evaluates the impact of climate (change) on a building’s heat and energy performance, from neighbourhood to city scales. An indoor heat-health warning system deployed at care homes should be able to foretell residents’ indoor heat exposures given forecasts of impending heatwave events.*. Heat health warning systems (HHWSs) are weather-(forecast)-based alert system designed to notify decision-makers and the public about upcoming heat events. They provide guidance on preventing heat-related health effects when forecasts predict that temperatures (and/or humidity) will reach or exceed thresholds at which significant health impacts are likely. |
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| ISSN: | 1867-139X 1867-8521 |