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Rodger, D, Callaghan, N and Thomson, C (2018) Are Retrofitted Social Houses Sufficiently Reflecting the Holistic Health and Wellbeing Requirements of Older People?. In: Gorse, C and Neilson, C J (Eds.), Proceedings 34th Annual ARCOM Conference, 3-5 September 2018, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK. Association of Researchers in Construction Management, 219–228.
- Type: Conference Proceedings
- Keywords: Ageing population, decision-making, energy efficiency, social housing, strategic collaboration
- ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-9955463-2-5
- URL: http://www.arcom.ac.uk/-docs/proceedings/79ff9a623d93fd4229277ac72ca30b25.pdf
- Abstract:
With 27% of the UK’s CO2 emissions attributed to domestic energy use during operation, there is a major role for housing to meet UK climate change targets with a large proportion being met through the retrofit of existing buildings. With prolonged longevity, there is a particular challenge facing social housing providers to protect and empower the health and wellbeing of the elderly. To date, there has been a predominant focus in contemporary research on health impacts arising from domestic energy efficiency improvements such as respiratory problems, thermal discomfort and mental stress but it is becoming apparent that little is known about those associated with the wider retrofit agenda. Energy efficiency improvements require robust decision-making processes due to their complex and demanding interconnections, and the associated impacts to health and wellbeing. This is particularly imperative to the elderly population with regards to the requirement for integration within the social care agenda and the known vulnerabilities to their immediate and surrounding environment. The complexity of delivering this agenda through a social housing focused strategy requires holistic integration across a range of service providers on a multitude of complex factors. A need is emerging to examine the relationships between design and implementation within real-world practice to determine and understand the appraisal procedures in social housing and the unintended consequences that can arise. This research presents the findings of a preliminary study through a series of in-depth interviews conducted with key stakeholders, exploring the extent to which the requirements of an older person’s health and wellbeing are holistically being addressed during the retrofit of social housing. The study concludes by posing a series of research questions which provides an agenda for future research and presents a synthesis of insights on practical and policy implications originated from the analysis on decision-making and management.