New research: Insulation can help safeguard the elderly during summer heatwaves
17/Jan/2007
Installing home insulation can help reduce mortality among the elderly during heat waves, according to new medical research from the French Institute of Public Health Surveillance[i].
Researchers investigated the causes of thousands of excess deaths during a severe heat wave that hit France in August 2003. They found that 35% of the sample died of heat related factors. They identified that a lack of thermal building insulation was a main risk factor associated with the deaths of elderly people.
A recommendation of the report was to provide insulation to older buildings and better vegetation shading.
In their report, published in the European Journal of Public Health, the researchers said: "Housing characteristics associated with death were lack of thermal insulation and sleeping on the top floor, right under the roof".
Dennis D'Arcy, President of the Insulation Council of Australia & New Zealand (ICANZ), said the research highlights the additional and often overlooked important health benefits of living in well-insulated, energy efficient homes.
"Building insulation's contribution to the health and well-being of household occupants should be factored in by designers along with its role in reducing household energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Insulation’s potential to reduce serious health risks during weather extremes is a vital benefit for householders", Mr D'Arcy said.
Mr D'Arcy, said that with 39 per cent of Australian homes uninsulated and many others very poorly insulated the implications of the research into the French heatwave of 2003 should be noted by Australians. "Australia can be a very hot country in summer and it has some of the least energy efficient homes in the developed world, certainly well below the standards of Western Europe and the US.
Installing air-conditioners into these homes can help improve summer comfort levels, but it is a very energy inefficient solution and will only provide protection while power is available. Occupants of poorly insulated or uninsulated air conditioned homes quickly become exposed to the distressing effects of a heat wave when power blackouts occur.
"Recent years have seen a rising incidence of power failures, particularly during heat waves when overall energy demand exceeds generation capacity. Insulation uses no electricity to do its job of helping to keep homes cool in summer, and it also helps flatten the spikes in energy demand when heat waves occur," he said.
Footnote:
[i] S. Vandentorren et al., Department of Environmental Health, French Institute of Public Health Surveillance, 'August 2003 Heat Wave in France: Risk Factors for Death of Elderly People Living at Home', in European Journal of Public Health (2006 16(6):583-591). (Abstract available at: http://eurpub.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/16/6/583 ).
