Care provision fit for a warming climate

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe impact of a warming climate has serious implications for the elderly as they are especially vulnerable to negative health effects of excessive heat. This paper uses a building simulation approach to examine the current and future risk of summertime overheating and potential adaptive response of four care and extra-care settings representing different construction, technical design and built ages across the UK. Insights from semi-structured interviews with design teams of case studies reveal their awareness and attitudes towards future-proofing design of care settings against climate change and overheating. Modelling results demonstrate the magnitude of projected summertime overheating, yet there appears to be little awareness among designers about the risk of overheating and implementation of long-term adaptation approaches such as external shading and provision of cross-ventilation. Findings demonstrate that designers need to focus on long-term planning rather than near future, to anticipate the effects of climate change on care settings.