He Kainga Oranga/Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, Wellington, New Zealand.
Int J Public Health. 2011 Dec;56(6):583-8. doi: 10.1007/s00038-011-0287-z. Epub 2011 Aug 20.
Houses designed for one climate and cultural group may not be appropriate for other places and people. Our aim is to find cost-effective ways to improve the characteristics of older homes, ill-fitted for New Zealand's climate, in order to improve the occupants' health.
We have carried out two community randomised trials, in partnership with local communities, which have focused on retrofitted insulation and more effective heating and have two other studies under way, one which focuses on electricity vouchers and the other on housing hazard remediation.
The Housing, Insulation and Health Study showed that insulating 1,350 houses, built before insulation was required, improved the occupants' health and well being as well as household energy efficiency. In the Housing, Heating and Health Study we investigated the impact of installing more effective heating in insulated houses for 409 households, where there was a child with doctor-diagnosed asthma. Again, the study showed significant results in the intervention group; indoor temperatures increased and levels of NO(2) were halved. Children reported less poor health, lower levels of asthma symptoms and sleep disturbances by wheeze and dry cough. Children also had fewer days off school.
Improving the energy efficiency of older housing leads to health improvements and energy efficiency improvements. Multidisciplinary studies of housing interventions can create compelling evidence to support policies for sustainable housing developments which improve health.
专为一种气候和文化群体设计的房屋可能不适合其他地方和人群。我们的目的是找到具有成本效益的方法来改善不适应新西兰气候的旧房的特点，以改善居住者的健康。
我们与当地社区合作开展了两项社区随机试验，重点是改造隔热材料和更有效的供暖，并正在进行另外两项研究，一项侧重于电费券，另一项侧重于住房危害修复。
住房、隔热和健康研究表明，对 1350 所建于隔热要求之前的房屋进行隔热，可以改善居住者的健康和福祉以及家庭能源效率。在住房、供暖和健康研究中，我们调查了为 409 户有经医生诊断患有哮喘的儿童的隔热房屋安装更有效的供暖的影响。同样，该研究在干预组中显示出显著的结果；室内温度升高，NO(2)水平减半。报告健康状况较差、哮喘症状和因哮喘而导致的睡眠障碍（哮鸣和干咳）的儿童减少。儿童的缺课天数也减少了。
提高旧房的能源效率可改善健康状况和能源效率。住房干预措施的多学科研究可以为支持改善健康的可持续住房发展政策提供有力证据。
