IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v16y2019i13p2373-d245491.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Building Vulnerability in a Changing Climate: Indoor Temperature Exposures and Health Outcomes in Older Adults Living in Public Housing during an Extreme Heat Event in Cambridge, MA

Author

Listed:
  • Augusta A. Williams

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • John D. Spengler

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Paul Catalano

    (Department of Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Joseph G. Allen

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

  • Jose G. Cedeno-Laurent

    (Department of Environmental Health, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, Boston, MA 02115, USA)

Abstract

In the Northeastern U.S., future heatwaves will increase in frequency, duration, and intensity due to climate change. A great deal of the research about the health impacts from extreme heat has used ambient meteorological measurements, which can result in exposure misclassification because buildings alter indoor temperatures and ambient temperatures are not uniform across cities. To characterize indoor temperature exposures during an extreme heat event in buildings with and without central air conditioning (AC), personal monitoring was conducted with 51 (central AC, n = 24; non-central AC, n = 27) low-income senior residents of public housing in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2015, to comprehensively assess indoor temperatures, sleep, and physiological outcomes of galvanic skin response (GSR) and heart rate (HR), along with daily surveys of adaptive behaviors and health symptoms. As expected, non-central AC units (T mean = 25.6 °C) were significantly warmer than those with central AC (T mean = 23.2 °C, p < 0.001). With higher indoor temperatures, sleep was more disrupted and GSR and HR both increased ( p < 0.001). However, there were no changes in hydration behaviors between residents of different buildings over time and few moderate/several health symptoms were reported. This suggests both a lack of behavioral adaptation and thermal decompensation beginning, highlighting the need to improve building cooling strategies and heat education to low-income senior residents, especially in historically cooler climates.

Suggested Citation

  • Augusta A. Williams & John D. Spengler & Paul Catalano & Joseph G. Allen & Jose G. Cedeno-Laurent, 2019. "Building Vulnerability in a Changing Climate: Indoor Temperature Exposures and Health Outcomes in Older Adults Living in Public Housing during an Extreme Heat Event in Cambridge, MA," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(13), pages 1-15, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:13:p:2373-:d:245491
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/13/2373/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/13/2373/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Noriko Takahashi & Rieko Nakao & Kayo Ueda & Masaji Ono & Masahide Kondo & Yasushi Honda & Masahiro Hashizume, 2015. "Community Trial on Heat Related-Illness Prevention Behaviors and Knowledge for the Elderly," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-27, March.
    2. Ramakrishnan, Sayanthan & Wang, Xiaoming & Sanjayan, Jay & Wilson, John, 2017. "Thermal performance of buildings integrated with phase change materials to reduce heat stress risks during extreme heatwave events," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 410-421.
    3. Elisaveta P. Petkova & Radley M. Horton & Daniel A. Bader & Patrick L. Kinney, 2013. "Projected Heat-Related Mortality in the U.S. Urban Northeast," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-14, December.
    4. Monika Nitschke & Alana Hansen & Peng Bi & Dino Pisaniello & Jonathan Newbury & Alison Kitson & Graeme Tucker & Jodie Avery & Eleonora Dal Grande, 2013. "Risk Factors, Health Effects and Behaviour in Older People during Extreme Heat: A Survey in South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-13, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ming Hu & Kai Zhang & Quynh Camthi Nguyen & Tolga Tasdizen & Krupali Uplekar Krusche, 2022. "A Multistate Study on Housing Factors Influential to Heat-Related Illness in the United States," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-16, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Monika Nitschke & Antoinette Krackowizer & Alana L. Hansen & Peng Bi & Graeme R. Tucker, 2017. "Heat Health Messages: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Preventative Messages Tool in the Older Population of South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-10, August.
    2. An Vu & Shannon Rutherford & Dung Phung, 2019. "Heat Health Prevention Measures and Adaptation in Older Populations—A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(22), pages 1-22, November.
    3. Jan C. Semenza, 2014. "Climate Change and Human Health," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-7, July.
    4. Jae Young Lee & Martin Röösli & Martina S. Ragettli, 2021. "Estimation of Heat-Attributable Mortality Using the Cross-Validated Best Temperature Metric in Switzerland and South Korea," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(12), pages 1-9, June.
    5. Nie, Binjian & She, Xiaohui & Du, Zheng & Xie, Chunping & Li, Yongliang & He, Zhubing & Ding, Yulong, 2019. "System performance and economic assessment of a thermal energy storage based air-conditioning unit for transport applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Bimaganbetova, Madina & Memon, Shazim Ali & Sheriyev, Almas, 2020. "Performance evaluation of phase change materials suitable for cities representing the whole tropical savanna climate region," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 402-416.
    7. Abraham Nathan Zoure & Paolo Vincenzo Genovese, 2023. "Comparative Study of the Impact of Bio-Sourced and Recycled Insulation Materials on Energy Efficiency in Office Buildings in Burkina Faso," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-26, January.
    8. Juliane Kemen & Silvia Schäffer-Gemein & Johanna Grünewald & Thomas Kistemann, 2021. "Heat Perception and Coping Strategies: A Structured Interview-Based Study of Elderly People in Cologne, Germany," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-19, July.
    9. Fariha Hasan & Shayan Marsia & Kajal Patel & Priyanka Agrawal & Junaid Abdul Razzak, 2021. "Effective Community-Based Interventions for the Prevention and Management of Heat-Related Illnesses: A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(16), pages 1-14, August.
    10. Saafi, Khawla & Daouas, Naouel, 2019. "Energy and cost efficiency of phase change materials integrated in building envelopes under Tunisia Mediterranean climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    11. Zhang, Long & Zhou, Kechao & Wei, Quiping & Ma, Li & Ye, Wentao & Li, Haichao & Zhou, Bo & Yu, Zhiming & Lin, Cheng-Te & Luo, Jingting & Gan, Xueping, 2019. "Thermal conductivity enhancement of phase change materials with 3D porous diamond foam for thermal energy storage," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 233, pages 208-219.
    12. Kijin Seong & Junfeng Jiao & Akhil Mandalapu, 2023. "Evaluating the effects of heat vulnerability on heat-related emergency medical service incidents: Lessons from Austin, Texas," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 50(3), pages 776-795, March.
    13. Kaddour Mehiriz & Pierre Gosselin & Isabelle Tardif & Marc-André Lemieux, 2018. "The Effect of an Automated Phone Warning and Health Advisory System on Adaptation to High Heat Episodes and Health Services Use in Vulnerable Groups—Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-13, July.
    14. Ait Laasri, Imad & Es-sakali, Niima & Charai, Mouatassim & Mghazli, Mohamed Oualid & Outzourhit, Abdelkader, 2024. "Recent progress, limitations, and future directions of macro-encapsulated phase change materials for building applications," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 199(C).
    15. Lizana, Jesús & Chacartegui, Ricardo & Barrios-Padura, Angela & Ortiz, Carlos, 2018. "Advanced low-carbon energy measures based on thermal energy storage in buildings: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 82(P3), pages 3705-3749.
    16. Yuanzheng Li & Wenjing Wang & Yating Wang & Yashu Xin & Tian He & Guosong Zhao, 2020. "A Review of Studies Involving the Effects of Climate Change on the Energy Consumption for Building Heating and Cooling," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(1), pages 1-18, December.
    17. Staszczuk, Anna & Kuczyński, Tadeusz, 2021. "The impact of wall and roof material on the summer thermal performance of building in a temperate climate," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 228(C).
    18. Kathryn Glass & Peter W. Tait & Elizabeth G. Hanna & Keith Dear, 2015. "Estimating Risks of Heat Strain by Age and Sex: A Population-Level Simulation Model," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-15, May.
    19. Lei Cheng & Chunlong Zhuang & Shengbo Li & Guangqin Huang & Hongyu Zhang & Fei Gan & Ningge Xu & Shanshan Hou, 2023. "Thermal Performance Optimization Simulation Study of a Passive Solar House with a Light Steel Structure and Phase Change Walls," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-15, April.
    20. Piotr Michalak, 2021. "Selected Aspects of Indoor Climate in a Passive Office Building with a Thermally Activated Building System: A Case Study from Poland," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-22, February.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:16:y:2019:i:13:p:2373-:d:245491. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.