Monitored environmental conditions in new energy efficient housing in Scotland – effects by and on occupants

The need to improve building performance to meet the challenges of climate change has led to increasing numbers of low energy houses being constructed and occupied. Given the drivers for rapid change and use of new materials and technologies, it is vitally important that we understand how these buildings are working to ensure that they meet expectations, both in terms of energy use but also liveability, comfort and health from the occupants' perspective. However, unlike other disciplines, construction rarely evaluates the performance of completed buildings. It is crucial that industry adopts these processes. These buildings are in effect a series of experiments, and the occupants are the subjects of these. There is therefore both a practical and ethical need to review the results and to apply this knowledge in future design. This paper presents findings emerging from a two-year Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) study, funded by Innovate UK, of 26 new build low energy houses in Scotland, UK. The programme aimed to develop capacity for undertaking BPE and this research undertook detailed monitoring of energy consumption and internal environmental conditions, as well has gathering information from users about how they use their houses. Although it is clear that housing standards are improving, the study has found evidence of performance gaps between design expectations and actual performance, both in terms of energy and also the quality of the internal environment. This paper will present data from four case study houses, which illustrates both the effects of occupancy on performance, but also how the building performance can affect the occupants’ experience

Building Performance Evaluation – A design approach for refurbishment of a small traditional building in Scotland

The drive for carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions has, in recent years, seen thermal improvements being made to the fabric of historic buildings. This paper discusses, through a case study, the use of Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) to inform refurbishment design of the community owned Land Sea and Islands Centre, located in Arisaig, Scottish Highlands. This is a 19th century stone building with high heat losses, inefficient heating and lighting systems, resulting in occupant discomfort and high running costs. Funding was awarded in 2014 to improve its energy performance. Pre-refurbishment BPE results identified areas of significant heat loss, low internal surface temperatures, discrepancies between predicted and measured U-values, thermal bridges and excessive air infiltration. Refurbishment was completed in June 2015 and post-refurbishment BPE utilised to quantify improvements in building fabric, energy consumption and comfort levels, advocating pre-refurbishment BPE as a beneficial tool for informing traditional building refurbishment

The PRECISE (PREgnancy Care Integrating translational Science, Everywhere) Network’s first protocol: deep phenotyping in three sub-Saharan African countries

Background: The PRECISE (PREgnancy Care Integrating translational Science, Everywhere) Network is a new and broadly-based group of research scientists and health advocates based in the UK, Africa and North America. Methods: This paper describes the protocol that underpins the clinical research activity of the Network, so that the investigators, and broader global health community, can have access to ‘deep phenotyping’ (social determinants of health, demographic and clinical parameters, placental biology and agnostic discovery biology) of women as they advance through pregnancy to the end of the puerperium, whether those pregnancies have normal outcomes or are complicated by one/more of the placental disorders of pregnancy (pregnancy hypertension, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth). Our clinical sites are in The Gambia (Farafenni), Kenya (Kilifi County), and Mozambique (Maputo Province). In each country, 50 non-pregnant women of reproductive age will be recruited each month for 1 year, to provide a final national sample size of 600; these women will provide culturally-, ethnically-, seasonallyand spatially-relevant control data with which to compare women with normal and complicated pregnancies. Between the three countries we will recruit ≈10,000 unselected pregnant women over 2 years. An estimated 1500 women will experience one/more placental complications over the same epoch. Importantly, as we will have accurate gestational age dating using the TraCer device, we will be able to discriminate between fetal growth restriction and preterm birth. Recruitment and follow-up will be primarily facility-based and will include women booking for antenatal care, subsequent visits in the third trimester, at time-of-disease, when relevant, during/ immediately after birth and 6 weeks after birth. Conclusions: To accelerate progress towards the women’s and children’s health-relevant Sustainable Development Goals, we need to understand how a variety of social, chronic disease, biomarker and pregnancy-specific determinants health interact to result in either a resilient or a compromised pregnancy for either mother or fetus/ newborn, or both. This protocol has been designed to create such a depth of understanding. We are seeking funding to maintain the cohort to better understand the implications of pregnancy complications for both maternal and child health

Maternal and Paternal Body Mass Index and Offspring Obesity: A Systematic Review

Background/Aims: It has been hypothesized that the intrauterineenvironment is an independent factor in obesity development. If so, thematernal effect is likely to be a stronger influencing factor (’fetalovernutrition hypothesis’). We aimed to systematically evaluate theassociations of offspring body mass index (BMI, or adiposity) withpre-pregnancy BMI (or adiposity) of the mother and the father. Methods:The Medline, Embase and Cochrane Library databases were searched inMarch 2012. Results: Seven cohort studies were eligible for theanalysis. Among these, 2 groups of trials presented different data fromthe same parent-offspring cohorts (the Avon Longitudinal Study ofParents and Children, ALSPAC, and the Mater-University Study ofPregnancy, MUSP). In total, 3 large birth cohorts and 1 additional smallstudy were identified. Three studies provided a direct comparison ofparent-offspring associations, with a statistically stronger maternalinfluence found only in the MUSP cohort. Equivocal results were obtainedfrom all studies describing the ALSPAC cohort. The parental effect(indirectly estimated based on the presented odds ratio) was similar inthe Finnish cohort. In 1 additional small study, maternal BMI was foundto be a strong predictor of childhood obesity. Conclusions: There isonly limited evidence to support the ‘fetal overnutrition hypothesis’

SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence in pregnant women in Kilifi, Kenya from March 2020 to March 2022

BackgroundSeroprevalence studies are an alternative approach to estimating the extent of transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and the evolution of the pandemic in different geographical settings. We aimed to determine the SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence from March 2020 to March 2022 in a rural and urban setting in Kilifi County, Kenya.MethodsWe obtained representative random samples of stored serum from a pregnancy cohort study for the period March 2020 to March 2022 and tested for antibodies against the spike protein using a qualitative SARS-CoV-2 ELISA kit (Wantai, total antibodies). All positive samples were retested for anti-SARS-CoV-2 anti-nucleocapsid antibodies (Euroimmun, ELISA kits, NCP, qualitative, IgG) and anti-spike protein antibodies (Euroimmun, ELISA kits, QuantiVac; quantitative, IgG).ResultsA total of 2,495 (of 4,703 available) samples were tested. There was an overall trend of increasing seropositivity from a low of 0% [95% CI 0–0.06] in March 2020 to a high of 89.4% [95% CI 83.36–93.82] in Feb 2022. Of the Wantai test-positive samples, 59.7% [95% CI 57.06–62.34] tested positive by the Euroimmun anti-SARS-CoV-2 NCP test and 37.4% [95% CI 34.83–40.04] tested positive by the Euroimmun anti-SARS-CoV-2 QuantiVac test. No differences were observed between the urban and rural hospital but villages adjacent to the major highway traversing the study area had a higher seroprevalence.ConclusionAnti-SARS-CoV-2 seroprevalence rose rapidly, with most of the population exposed to SARS-CoV-2 within 23 months of the first cases. The high cumulative seroprevalence suggests greater population exposure to SARS-CoV-2 than that reported from surveillance data

Building Performance Evaluation – A design approach for refurbishment of a small traditional building in Scotland

In recent years, thermal performance improvements have been applied to an increasing number of historic buildings towards the achievement of the legally binding Scottish carbon dioxide (CO2) emission reductions. Over 20% of the built environment in Scotland was constructed pre 1919 and the targeting of fabric improvements in these buildings can pose a performance risk if inappropriate measures are applied. This paper discusses through a case study a Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) approach used in conjunction with the design process for refurbishment of a community owned historic building, located in Arisaig, Scotland. The community received funding to improve the energy performance of this 19th century stone building and committed to a 75% reduction in CO2 emissions. BPE was conducted in 2014 as part of the design process and repeated post-refurbishment in 2015 to validate the design. The initial BPE identified high heat losses, inefficient heating and lighting systems that resulted in occupant discomfort, high running costs and consequently the loss of a community facility during the winter months. The resulting BPE quantified improvements to the building fabric, occupant comfort and reduced energy consumption, which advocated this design approach as a beneficial tool for informing historic building refurbishment

Scottish Passive House: Insights into Environmental Conditions in Monitored Passive Houses

Climate change and sustainability legislation in recent years has led to significant changes in construction approaches in the UK housing sector. This has resulted in the adoption of new building typologies, including the German Passivhaus (Passive House) standard. This standard aims to improve occupant comfort and energy efficiency, potentially changing the ways in which homes operate and how occupants interact with them. With increasing construction of low energy dwellings, there is an emerging gap in knowledge in relation to occupant health and wellbeing, thermal comfort, and indoor air quality (IAQ). Using data collected from a two year Building Performance Evaluation (BPE) study funded by Innovate UK, the environmental data (temperature, relative humidity and carbon dioxide concentrations) from five Certified Passive House homes in Scotland was compared. The results demonstrate problems with overheating with peak temperatures exceeding 30 °C. Imbalanced mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (MVHR) systems were identified in 80% of the dwellings and inadequate IAQ was found due to poor ventilation. Only one of the Passive Houses studied exhibited thermal conditions and IAQ which were, on the whole within Passive House parameters. This paper outlines the insights and the main issues of Scottish Passive House in the broader context of sustainability