Health performance indicators of housing

Healthy housing strategies tend to focus on good comfort and on avoiding specific health riskagents. These agents are generated by building features and occupancy and may come fromboth indoor and outdoor environments. This research project focuses on building features andthe impact they have on the indoor environment. The interaction between the building andoccupancy patterns is studied. This paper describes the selection of the smallest set ofindicators that allows a simple but effective evaluation procedure of the health performance ofhousing. The indicators are the markers of the main health risk agents in the house: mould,house dust mite, radiation, Legionella pneumophila, aerosols, noise and injuries. A healthperformance evaluation tool is being designed on the basis of these indicators. The tool cansupport the design of housing retrofits and maintenance policy in the housing stock. Theresearch connects health risk and building quality assessment and is situated in the field ofsustainable building.