The impact of regulations on overheating risk in dwellings

Many new and emerging regulations and standards for buildings focus on climate change mitigation through energy and carbon reduction. In cool climates, such reductions are achieved by optimizing the building for heat retention. It is increasingly recognized, however, that some degree of climate change is now inevitable. New and existing buildings need to consider this to ensure resilience and an ability to adapt over time. In this context, the current approach to regulation that largely remains focused on the ‘point of handover’ may not be fit for purpose. This paper focuses on a ‘typical’ dwelling designed to a range of standards, representing current or emerging approaches to minimizing energy use, using a range of construction methods, where a number of adaptations are available to occupants. It considers, through the use of building performance simulation, how each configuration is likely to perform thermally over time given current climate change predictions. It is demonstrated that the current approach to assessing overheating risk in dwellings, coupled with the regulatory focus on reducing energy consumption, could result in significant levels of overheating. This overheating could, in the near future, present a risk to health and result in the need for significant interventions.

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