Event Description

As we recover from the pandemic and look towards meeting the UK’s net zero emissions target by 2050, a ‘green recovery’ and the need to retrofit and decarbonise existing homes is high up the political agenda. Given most of us spend over 90% of our time indoors, and now considerably more due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the seismic shift to working remotely, our homes and buildings need to positively contribute to our physical and mental health and wellbeing and not diminish it.

There are a spectrum of health risks suffered by the population living and working in poor accommodation and we must ensure that a holistic approach is taken to retrofit to ensure that when improving energy efficiency, health and wellbeing is also considered. Successive governments have failed to make the connection between the nation’s health and wellbeing and housing and place healthy homes at the heart of Government.

We know that unhealthy housing impacts on economic growth, business performance, educational attainment, life chances and the nation’s health and wellbeing therefore it makes sense for Government to join-up policy thinking and ensure that by delivering zero carbon homes we do not cause or exacerbate poor health and wellbeing. The HHB White Paper clearly states the need to “Make renovation of current housing stock and infrastructure a Government priority and develop plans for retrofitting that takes a holistic approach to maximising health and wellbeing”.

This Healthy Homes and Buildings Green Retrofit Session will bring together parliamentarians, government departments, industry leaders and academics to discuss how we can seize the opportunity and ensure that all retrofit measure improve health and wellbeing at the same time.