Healthy buildings, healthy homes, healthy lives
About this Event
This lunchtime event will explore how housing and indoor environments shape health and wellbeing.
Drawing on research spanning housing conditions, indoor air quality, mould, overcrowding and health inequalities, the speakers will discuss how evidence can inform policy, practice and design.
The discussion will be chaired by Professor Marcella Ucci.
Sustainable and healthy environments: from nice to have to must have
During this presentation, Prof Candido will provide an overview of her program of applied and interdisciplinary research aimed at leveraging end-user experiences and perceptions to improve design and performance of spaces across building typologies. She will explore how research findings have been harnessed to demonstrate the value add of high-performing environments whilst challenging current accepted baselines unable to deliver fit-for-purpose buildings.
directs the SHE (Sustainable and Healthy Environments) Lab at the University of Melbourne Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning. An expert in Post-Occupancy Evaluation (POE), findings from her work have been used to inform changes in design and operational practices around the world. She is a member of the International WELL Building Institute Global Commission - Healthy Indoor Air, Global Research Advisory Board and WELL Faculty. Her contributions to research and education in healthy buildings have been recognised with the Educator of the Year (2024), Changemaker (2023) and WELL Faculty (2021) awards from the International WELL Building Institute.
Mould in homes as a population health problem
There are many ways in which housing can harm health. It can be too cold which has an impact on respiratory and mental health or too hot which impacts respiratory and cardiovascular health. Poor indoor air quality affects respiratory health and perhaps even increases dementia risk. I argue amongst these problems, in-home mould exposure is one of the biggest challenges to public health. The prevalence of exposure is high, and the costs of treating health conditions associated with exposure are high. This adds up to a significant cost of doing nothing. Tackling the problem of mould in homes requires a large-scale interdisciplinary response, careful intervention design and dedicated data collection. I will discuss how we can sharpen our public health response.
(BBSc (Hons) PhD) is a social epidemiologist conducting research at the intersection of housing, the built environment, health, and epidemiology. She is Director of the National Health and Medical Research Council Centre for Research Excellence in Healthy Housing and member of the Global Commission for Healthy Indoor Air. Bentley's scholarship has been recognised by the National Health and Medical Research Council Fiona Stanley Research Excellence award and a Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship recognising her as a leading researcher in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne.
Connections between housing and health: Evidence, data and action
In this talk, Jessica will explore the relationship between housing and health, drawing on research developed in partnership with colleagues from UCL's Faculty of the Built Environment, local health services and local authorities and experts by experience. She will present findings from LE-HOMe, an NIHR-funded study examining how overcrowded housing affects family wellbeing and how households experiencing overcrowding can be identified more effectively. She will also share emerging insights from DASHH (Data Sharing between Housing and Health), a programme of research investigating how better use of data across housing and health sectors can support action on health inequalities.
is a Principal Research Fellow, NIHR Population Health Career Scientist Fellow, and Head of the Public Health Determinants and Inequalities Research Group at UCL. Her research focuses on how housing, communities and public services shape health and health inequalities, particularly for children and young people. Working across academic, local government and public health settings, she evaluates interventions and policies designed to improve population health and reduce inequalities. She is also committed to strengthening public health research capacity and collaboration.
Panel chair
is Professor in Healthy and Sustainable Buildings at the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment, where she is Director of the UCL Institute for Environmental Design and Engineering. She researches how buildings should be designed, upgraded and managed in order to support health and wellbeing, tackle inequalities and reduce environmental impacts. Her expertise includes building performance monitoring and modelling, evaluation of indoor air quality, active design, and community engagement. Dr Ucci has an established and sustained track record in partnership-working with interdisciplinary research projects. Prof Ucci was Chair (2012-2017) and is now Vice-Chair of the UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG), and co-chairs the 'Health and Wellbeing' Working Group in the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE). She is an Advisory Group member of the All Party Parliamentary Group "Healthy Homes and Buildings". She is on the Editorial Board of 'Frontiers in Environmental Health', and of 'Indoor and Built Environment' (previously Deputy Editor).
Agenda
🕑: 12:00 PM
Refreshments and light lunch
🕑: 12:20 PM
Welcome
Host: Professor Marcella Ucci
🕑: 12:30 PM
Sustainable and healthy environments: from nice to have to must have
Host: Professor Chris Candido
🕑: 12:55 PM
Mould in homes as a population health problem
Host: Professor Rebecca Bentley
🕑: 01:20 PM
Connections between housing and health: Evidence, data and action
Host: Dr Jessica Sheringham
🕑: 01:45 PM
Q&A
Where is it happening?
Event Location & Nearby Stays:
GBP 0.00
