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130399 - Is-new-housing-a-health-hazard.pdf (1.13 MB)

Is new housing a health hazard?

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conference contribution
posted on 2023-05-23, 13:53 authored by Shruti NathShruti Nath, Mark DewsburyMark Dewsbury, Orr, K
The National Construction Code has been regularly enhanced since 2002 with an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Many aging, and very young Australians spend most of their time within their homes. Coincidently, in Australia, asthma is the leading cause of disease in children aged 0 – 14 years, accounting for 17.9% of the total burden in boys and 18.6% in girls. Many researchers have supported a connection between damp housing and sensitivity to dust mites and other childhood respiratory symptoms. Within Australia’s temperate and cool temperate climates, the commensurate change in energy efficiency requirements in the national building regulations may have inadvertently created ideal interior environments that promote mould growth. If the built environment is promoting mould growth, leading to sick building syndrome, it is a matter of serious concern that could be resulting from design or technical flaws in the building fabric. This concern, which has been raised by medical scientists, requires the action of architects to provide guidance on methods to passively, or actively, manage air-borne moisture within homes and workplaces. This paper attempts to bridge the gap between architectural and medical science perspectives in this area of study.

Funding

Department of Justice Tasmania

History

Publication title

Engaging Architectural Science: Meeting the Challenges of Higher Density, 52nd International Conference of the Architectural Science Association 2018

Editors

P Rajagopalan and MM Andamon

Pagination

71-78

ISBN

978-0-9923835-5-8

Department/School

School of Architecture and Design

Publisher

The Architectural Science Association

Place of publication

Melbourne, Australia

Event title

52nd International Conference of the Architectural Science Association 2018

Event Venue

RMIT University

Date of Event (Start Date)

2018-11-28

Date of Event (End Date)

2018-12-01

Rights statement

Copyright 2018 The Architectural Science Association and RMIT University, Australia.

Repository Status

  • Open

Socio-economic Objectives

Residential construction design; Residential energy efficiency

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