Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-05-09DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100099
Kathleen K.M. Glover, Sunday S. Nunayon, Lexuan Zhong
{"title":"Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation: Advances in viral inactivation and vaccine development","authors":"Kathleen K.M. Glover, Sunday S. Nunayon, Lexuan Zhong","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100099","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100099","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) has gained global attention for preventing disease transmission. While UVGI technology’s utility in sterilization is well-established, there is growing interest in exploring its potential applications in vaccine development. Relevant studies are reviewed to provide a comprehensive perspective on the current state and future potential of UVGI in this domain. Specifically, this review investigates the effectiveness of UVGI in inactivating various pathogens and details the mechanisms through which different research groups have demonstrated their ability to prevent the transmission of these microbes. To the best of our knowledge, this review is the first to critically examine the feasibility of UVGI technology for vaccine development, with a focus on its potential to produce inactivated vaccines, its immunogenicity profile, and scalability. The study also identifies existing research gaps, especially in developing novel vaccines using UVGI. By doing so, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of how UVGI can contribute to future strategies for preventing infectious diseases.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100099"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144070633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-17DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100095
Matthias Richter, Florian Schühle
{"title":"Experimental determination of 7-day uptake rates for diffusive sampling of 86 volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds relevant for indoor air monitoring and investigation on their sensitivity to exposure time and indoor climate","authors":"Matthias Richter, Florian Schühle","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100095","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100095","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study aimed to experimentally determine uptake rates for 86 indoor relevant volatile and semi-volatile organic compounds (VOC, SVOC) for the passive sampler type Perkin Elmer/Markes™ with Tenax® TA as sorbent, which was used in the German Environmental Survey on Health (GerES VI) carried out by the German Environmental Agency (UBA) in the years 2023–2024. For this purpose, single reference gas atmospheres of 76 pure VOCs (liquid at room temperature) and a group of 10 SVOCs and VOCs (solid at room temperature) were generated using two generation procedures. By exposing the samplers to individual components, it was ruled out that interactions in a mixture have an influence on the uptake rate. Another aspect was to precisely describe the methodology and the resulting uncertainties, as there are gaps in the literature in this regard. The selection of the compounds was based on the findings of the preceding GerES V study for which data was missing or needed to be verified. In each experiment, a number of six passive samplers was exposed to the test gas atmospheres in dynamically operated exposure chambers for seven days. The sensitivity of the uptake rates of a group of 10 selected VOCs to variations in exposure time, ambient temperature, and air humidity in a multi-component reference gas atmosphere was investigated. Here, a decrease in the uptake rate with the exposure time could be observed stabilising from the fifth day of exposure onwards. A significant effect of temperature and humidity on the uptake rate was not apparent. The determined uptake rates exhibit uncertainties of < 20 % for 71 substances, and < 10 % for 51 substances which are also in good agreement with the literature, if already published elsewhere. The quantity of investigated substances, the detailed description of the methodology used to determine the uptake rates complemented by the respective uncertainties, as well as the compilation of comparative data, contribute to a better assessment of the quality and relevance of such data, which had not been published before.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100095"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143869661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-21DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100084
Sherry WeMott , Grace Kuiper , Sheena E. Martenies , Matthew D. Koslovsky , William B. Allshouse , John L. Adgate , Anne P. Starling , Dana Dabelea , Sheryl Magzamen
{"title":"Evaluating statistical methods to predict indoor black carbon in an urban birth cohort","authors":"Sherry WeMott , Grace Kuiper , Sheena E. Martenies , Matthew D. Koslovsky , William B. Allshouse , John L. Adgate , Anne P. Starling , Dana Dabelea , Sheryl Magzamen","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100084","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100084","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Most air pollution epidemiology studies rely on outdoor exposure data from various sources, such as reference monitors, low-cost monitors, models, or Earth observations. However, people spend 90 % of their time indoors, with 70 % of that time spent at home, which may result in misclassification of air pollution exposure when using data reflecting ambient concentrations. In this study, we evaluated methods to predict residential indoor black carbon (BC) from outdoor BC, PM2.5, and housing characteristics to support future efforts in estimating personal air pollution exposure. Households from the Healthy Start cohort in Denver, CO hosted paired indoor/outdoor low-cost air samplers for one-week periods during spring 2018, summer 2018, and winter 2019. Participants completed questionnaires about housing characteristics like building type, flooring, and heating and cooling methods. Filters were analyzed for BC using transmissometry. Ridge, LASSO and ordinary least squares regression (OLS) techniques were used to build predictive models of indoor BC given the available set of covariates. Leave-one-out cross-validation was used to assess the predictive accuracy of each model. We hypothesized that Ridge and LASSO will obtain improved predictive performance over the OLS model due to regularization. A total of 27 households participated, with 39 paired measurements available after data cleaning. All winter data were excluded due to high variability and incomplete sampling times for outdoor measurements. Performance issues suggested insufficient weatherproofing of monitors for low temperatures. The Ridge regression showed the best predictive performance. The final inference model included outdoor PM<sub>2.5</sub>, hard floors, and the presence of pets in the home, accounting for approximately 28 % of the variability in indoor BC concentrations measured in participant homes. In the absence of indoor monitoring, household characteristics like flooring and the presence of pets can help predict indoor levels of BC.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100084"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143739152","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-23DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100089
Frédéric Thevenet , Florent Caron , Vincent Gaudion , Mélanie Nicolas , Marie Verriele
{"title":"Indoor laundry drying: Full-scale determination of water emission rate and impact on thermal comfort","authors":"Frédéric Thevenet , Florent Caron , Vincent Gaudion , Mélanie Nicolas , Marie Verriele","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100089","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100089","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>To save energy, passive drying is encouraged by environmental agencies. Depending on seasons, climates and dwellings, laundry drying is performed indoors. Passive laundry drying is an indoor practice with high cultural variability. This work provides real-scale experimental data on water transfer to indoor environment and thermal impacts of laundry drying on rack. Representative laundries and drying practices are defined to validate a full-scale experimental methodology. Laundry and drying scenarios are explored using the 40-m<sup>3</sup> experimental room IRINA. Among typical cotton and polyester laundries, cotton is selected as clothing of interest, with ca. 2000 g of water to be evaporated for specific laundry scenario. The simultaneous monitoring of water mass loss from laundry rack and humidity over the drying period allows for determination of water emission rate from laundry. During the first 2-hours of drying, water emission rate exceeds 100 g h<sup>−1</sup> (maximum 360 g h<sup>−1</sup>.) Three different emission regimes over time are discussed in terms of water concentration gradient at the air and laundry interface. Consequences on indoor temperature are quantitated over drying. Initial relative humidity of indoor environment impacts the kinetics of water transfer and drives the thermal impacts: temperature drops from 0.5 to 3.8 °C are recorded. Based on these full-scale hygrothermal data, the impact of laundry drying on indoor thermal comfort is discussed. Two indoor comfort scenarios allow for assessing the magnitude of the impact of laundry drying. This work provides full-scale methodology with hygrothermal experimental datasets and a new insight on an impactful indoor practice.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100089"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143698061","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-23DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100094
Iiris Hörhammer , Jukka Pappinen , Olli Halminen , Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy , Anne M. Karvonen , Jukka Lahdensivu , Virpi Leivo , Paulus Torkki , Martin Täubel , Juha Pekkanen
{"title":"Remediating moisture- and mould-damaged residential buildings in Finland – Costs and benefits for health and climate","authors":"Iiris Hörhammer , Jukka Pappinen , Olli Halminen , Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy , Anne M. Karvonen , Jukka Lahdensivu , Virpi Leivo , Paulus Torkki , Martin Täubel , Juha Pekkanen","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100094","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100094","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Mould and moisture damage in residential buildings increase the risk of new-onset asthma and of respiratory symptoms. Alternatives for remediating the damage in external wall structures vary in co-benefits for climate and economy. Integrated assessment of the costs, and health and environmental benefits, of different remediation alternatives is needed for sustainable decisions. We compared two commonly used remediation alternatives of damage in external wall structures in the whole Finnish residential building stock: an immediate replacement of the damaged materials (material replacement, MR) with up-to-date energy-efficient materials and a delayed MR (DMR) preceded by improvement of airtightness. MR yielded a somewhat better discounted net cost benefit (−€5.9 bn) than DMR (−€6.4 bn) over service-life (50 and 60 years, respectively). Benefits for health (€1.2 bn and €1.2 bn for MR and DMR, respectively) and savings in heating (€0.6 bn and €0.5 bn, respectively) could not offset the remediation costs (−€7.7 bn and −€8.0 bn, respectively). The service-life climate impact of both alternatives was negligible. In the sensitivity analysis, variation ( ± 20 %) in remediation costs had the most significant impact on net cost benefit (−€2.7 bn to −€7.3 bn). The assessment did not include all effects of remediations, like future value of the building, which could have a major effect on the estimated net cost benefit. However, the present study presents, to our knowledge for the first time, an integrated approach that can help in identifying sustainable remediation alternatives when societies adapt to and mitigate climate change.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100094"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143902446","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Indoor potted plants have little effect on office dust fungal communities","authors":"Abigail Leslie , Muhtashim Rafiq Chowdhury , Martin Täubel , Bridget Hegarty","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100092","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100092","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Reflecting the predominance of time we spend indoors, there is increasing interest in understanding and achieving healthy indoor microbiomes. Introducing more plants into urban environments, e.g., through living architecture, is one possible way to increase indoor microbial diversity. However, more research is needed to establish how and the degree to which indoor plants affect the indoor microbiome, particularly indoor fungal communities. In this study, we explore whether plant and indoor air microbiomes interact with each other. We hypothesized that fungi found in the plants’ soil would be detected in the settled dust samples and that rooms with plants will have more diverse fungal communities. We conducted a longitudinal study of single-occupancy offices with and without plants, (1) quantifying total fungal and bacterial levels in airborne settled dust and (2) comparing the fungal composition. We found that the fungal community composition and total abundance was consistent over time and across the offices that we measured, suggesting a strong building-specific effect. Both relative humidity and dewpoint in the rooms had a statistically significant correlation with the fungal community composition. Plant status had no effect on the alpha or beta diversity, nor the network structure, of the office’s fungal community. A small fraction of the highly abundant soil ASVs were found in the dust samples (0.6 ± 1.5 %), while a larger fraction of the highly abundant dust ASVs were found in the soil samples (27.1 ± 17.4 %), suggesting a small degree of bidirectional exchange between their fungal communities. Future studies with more plants are necessary to evaluate whether this trend persists with more plant material. Overall, our study suggests that typical numbers of office house plants are unlikely to modify indoor air quality by changing the indoor fungal community.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100092"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143843222","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100091
Onkangi Ruth , Kazuki Kuga , U. Yanagi , Pawel Wargocki , Kazuhide Ito
{"title":"Modeling of inhalation exposure to transmitted droplets at different interpersonal distances and postures in indoor environments","authors":"Onkangi Ruth , Kazuki Kuga , U. Yanagi , Pawel Wargocki , Kazuhide Ito","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100091","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100091","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Understanding droplet dispersion in indoor environments, subsequent inhalation, and dermal deposition is the basis for controlling airborne transmission. In this study, we investigated the risk of inhalation and dermal exposure to droplets exhaled from infected persons at different interpersonal distances (IPDs), close-contact postures, and face orientations, using a realistic human model with a respiratory tract. We modeled the droplet and its nuclei dispersions under stagnant indoor airflow conditions (0.05 m/s). Our results corroborate the analytical findings that short-range inhalation dominates exposure at an IPD ≥ 0.3 m. In the examined close contact postures and IPDs, there was greater inhalation exposure during coughing than during speaking in the standing–standing posture (4.8 % and 2.9 %, respectively). The face-to-side (cheek) orientation reduced inhalation exposure during speaking but not during coughing. The inhalation and deposition fractions varied inversely with an increase in IPD. Inhalation exposure was higher in the standing-standing close contact posture than that in the standing-sitting posture at the same IPD due to high velocity magnitude at the nose. During the speaking scenario, higher fraction of inhaled particles with a wider diameter of ≥ 15 µm before evaporation were deposited in the nasal cavity. For the coughing scenario, most inhaled droplets of pre-evaporation sizes < 10 µm passed through the pharyngeal end, with minimal deposition in the nasal cavity. The aspiration efficiency is dependent on the timing of the inhalation period and droplet concentration in the breathing zone. This study can inform the unsettled discourse on safe IPDs and other novel measures for infection control.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100091"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143785584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-06-01Epub Date: 2025-03-27DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100090
Amanda M. Wilson , Ashley A. Lowe , Nana Adwoa A. Amoh-Asante , Yang Zhan , Ahamed Ashraf , Lynn B. Gerald
{"title":"School-informed risk calculator tool for reducing the spread of respiratory viral infection among school-aged children","authors":"Amanda M. Wilson , Ashley A. Lowe , Nana Adwoa A. Amoh-Asante , Yang Zhan , Ahamed Ashraf , Lynn B. Gerald","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100090","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100090","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>School health staff need decision support for responding to respiratory viral outbreaks. Quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) tools are an inexpensive and fast resource. Our objectives were to engage school districts to inform the development of a risk-based calculator tool, test the tool across hypothetical cases, and elicit feedback among school health staff. We administered an online survey for Kindergarten (K) - Grade 5 teachers, school health professionals, and other school staff to gather data about respiratory viral disease interventions and model parameters. A risk calculator tool was developed in which users choose hypothetical scenarios to estimate infection risk per individual and compare interventions. Three case studies (CS) were explored: CS1 – Rhinovirus transmission in a general education classroom with \"poor\" vs. \"great\" air quality, CS2 – Influenza A virus transmission in a music classroom with vs. without a portable air purifier, CS3 – SARS-CoV-2 transmission in a special education classroom with vs. without open doors/windows. The prototype tool was presented at a national school nursing meeting, and attendees were surveyed on (dis)likes and anticipated tool uses. For the initial survey of Arizona school personnel (n = 132), the top respiratory viral outbreak strategies reported by teachers were hand (94 %) and surface hygiene (85.1 %). For all case studies, infection risks were above thresholds used in other contexts but were comparable to published student respiratory illness incidence data. At the national meeting, school nurses (n = 12) identified potential uses including advocating for interventions to administrators. This work reflects a unique application of community partnership and QMRA to address school health decision support.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 2","pages":"Article 100090"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143768062","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-03-01Epub Date: 2024-12-19DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2024.100070
Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy , Marzenna R. Dudzinska , Samy Clinchard , Sani Dimitroulopoulou , Xiaojun Fan , Piet Jacobs , Henna Maula , Amelia Staszowska , Oluyemi Toyinbo , Ju-Hyeong Park
{"title":"Towards equitable and sustainable indoor air quality guidelines − A perspective on mandating indoor air quality for public buildings","authors":"Ulla Haverinen-Shaughnessy , Marzenna R. Dudzinska , Samy Clinchard , Sani Dimitroulopoulou , Xiaojun Fan , Piet Jacobs , Henna Maula , Amelia Staszowska , Oluyemi Toyinbo , Ju-Hyeong Park","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2024.100070","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2024.100070","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>A recent article published in Science urges mandatory indoor air quality (IAQ) standards in public spaces, focusing on protecting public health, especially against diseases such as COVID-19, but also IAQ in general (<em>1</em>). Given the significance of this topic to our society, this short communication aims to provide commentary on the article and further discuss the importance of establishing IAQ standards. Citing a lack of legislated standards globally, the authors (<em>1</em>) propose numerical limits for four IAQ parameters: particulate matter (PM<sub>2.5</sub>), carbon dioxide (CO<sub>2</sub>), carbon monoxide (CO), and ventilation rate (VR). While recognizing that most of the countries do not have any mandatory IAQ standards, it is also noteworthy that IAQ regulations or guidelines exist in more than 40 countries. We like to emphasize that successful IAQ management requires recognizing, sharing, and reviewing openly available, existing regulations and guidelines, while adapting them to regional characteristics.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 1","pages":"Article 100070"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155766","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Indoor EnvironmentsPub Date : 2025-03-01Epub Date: 2025-01-10DOI: 10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100072
M. Mulville , S. Harrington , C. Li , K. Raushan , E. Essien-Thompson , C. Ahern
{"title":"Dwelling overheating in risk in cool climates: Assessing the risk in the context of retrofit and climate change in Ireland","authors":"M. Mulville , S. Harrington , C. Li , K. Raushan , E. Essien-Thompson , C. Ahern","doi":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100072","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.indenv.2025.100072","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>In the context of large-scale retrofit and the predicted impacts of climate change, overheating risk in dwellings in cool climates is an increasing cause for concern. This review-based paper, supported by Dynamic Simulation Modelling, explores the magnitude of overheating risk in dwellings in a cool climate, identifying and quantifying dwelling typologies most at risk. Key contributory factors to overheating, including typology and characteristics, specification and design (including the role of retrofit), internal factors and occupant activities and external conditions are reviewed and existing regulatory frameworks assessed, to highlight potential limitations. Building upon this, the paper makes the case for the use of robust Dynamic Simulation Modelling supported by localised weather files accounting for the Urban Heat Island effect and occupant behaviour. In addition, the paper, for the first time, reviews the future building simulation weather files from Ireland’s National Meteorological service highlighting the potential impact of climate change on overheating projections. The files predict increased ambient temperatures and solar radiation along with a shift in the peak design month (from July to August), with reductions in mean wind speeds over time. Unlike other climate locations, the diurnal temperature swing into the future is not predicted to reduce, supporting the use of thermal mass to mitigate overheating. Middle, top-floor apartments and compact dwellings are at increased overheating risk as are more modern (thermally) or deep retrofitted dwellings. For Ireland, up to 10 % of the existing occupied stock may be at risk of overheating, potentially impacting upon 519,200 individuals. This percentage is likely to increase over time. The findings have implications for housing in cool climates where large investments are being made in national retrofit strategies that could exacerbate the problem if not considered alongside overheating mitigation strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":100665,"journal":{"name":"Indoor Environments","volume":"2 1","pages":"Article 100072"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143155767","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}