Beyond Energy

Efficiency: Healthy Homes

and CommunitiesRebecca Morley

Executive Director, NCHH

Costs of environmental illness:

• All diseases: 76.6 billion – Lead poisoning: $50.9 billion

– Autism: $7.9 billion

– Intellectual disability: $5.4 billion

– Exposure to mercury (methyl mercury): $5.1 billion

– Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder: $5.0 billion

– Asthma: $2.2 billion

– Childhood cancer cost: $95.0 million

• 3.5% of health care expendituresSource: Trasande L, Liu Y. Reducing the staggering costs of environmental

disease in children. Health Aff. 2011 May;30(5):863-70.

• Health consequences of inadequate housing are substantial.– Indoor dampness/mold

– Home injury

– Crowding

– Indoor cold

– Traffic noise

– Second-hand smoke

– Radon

– Lead

– CO

– Formaldehyde

– Indoor smoke from solid fuel

– Housing quality

•www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0003/142077/e95004.pdf

Benefits of Housing Upgrades

Environmental health

• For every $1 spent to

reduce lead hazards

there is a benefit of $17-

$220

• For every $1 spent on

asthma interventions

there is a benefit of $36.

Vaccines

• For every $1 spent there

is a benefit of $5.30-

$16.50

Green and Healthy Renovationof Affordable Housing

Source: Public Health Reports / 2011

Supplement 1 / Volume 126

Common Green and HealthyRehab Elements

• Low-VOC adhesives, paints & coatings

• Ventilation: ASHRAE 62.2

• Integrated pest management

• No carpet in wet areas

• Energy Star fans exhausted to exterior

Adult Health ChangesMN Green DC Green

General Health Status

Injury

MN Green DC Green

Pre Post Pre Post

General Health Status• Very good or excellent• Good• Fair or poor

33%48%19%

62%24%14%

31%35%32%

41%30%30%

Injury 9% 9% 14% 4%

Child Health ChangesMN Green DC Green

Pre Post Pre Post

General Health Status• Very good or excellent• Good• Fair or poor

53%35%12%

65%35%0%

58%31%9.5%

61%39%0%

Injury 0% 18% 3% 0%

# ER Visits due to Asthma NA NA 14 0

Specific Housing Condition Changes

MN Green DC Green

% Pre % Post P-value % Pre % Post

Water/dampness 33% 7% p<0.102 84% 16%

Mildew odor/musty smell 25% 0% p<0.046 60% 0%

Dehumdifier use 25% 0% p<0.046 11% 0%

Cockroaches 25% 13% p<0.414 57% 8%

Mice/rats 25% 0% p<0.046 66% 12%

Smoke inside home 60% 47% p<0.157 93% 72%

Stove exhaust fan 85% 100% p<0.046 0% 100%

Environmental Testing-MN Green

Min Mean Max Comparison Value

CO2 (ppm)Pre-RenovationPost-Renovation

NA253

NA982

NA2499

10001000

Radon (pCi/L):Pre-RenovationPost-Renovation

(post-mitigation)

10.3

3.10.7

6.72.2

44

FRAMEWORKS

‘‘Livable Communities Act of 2011’’

• Introduced by Senator Robert Menendez(D-NJ)

• Promotes livable communities through sustainable infrastructure for transportation, affordable housing, healthy housing, land use and economic development

• Authorizes the HUD Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities

• Authorizes Regional Planning and Community Challenge grants

• Adds a new Healthy Homes section

Tools for Incorporating Healthinto Housing and Community Development

• EPA Indoor Environment Protocols

• Healthy Development Measurement Tool

• Health Impact Assessment

• Intended for voluntary adoption by:

– Weatherization assistance programs,

– Federally funded housing programs

– Private sector home performance contracting organizations

– Others working on residential retrofit or remodeling efforts

www.epa.gov/iaq/pdfs/epa_retrofit_protocols_draft_110910.pdf

Healthy Development Measurement Tool

•100+ community-level measures

• Menus of policy and best practices

• Criteria for development projects

•Supporting public health evidence

www.thehdmt.org

Source: San Francisco

Department of Public Health

Health Impact Assessment

• A combination of procedures, methods and tools that systematically judges the potential, and sometimes unintended, effects of a policy, plan, program or project on the health of a population and the distribution of those effects within the population.

– A Health Impact Assessment Toolkit: www.humanimpact.org

Conclusion

• Housing related disease and injuries are costly

• The return on investment for building healthier homes and communities is considerable

• Practical tools are available to housing and community development professionals to make communities more livable, healthy and sustainable.

“For many years, I have lived uncomfortably with the belief that most planning and architectural design suffers for lack of real and basic purpose. The ultimate purpose, it seems to me, must be the improvement of mankind.”--- Jim Rouse

Rebecca Morley

National Center for Healthy Housingin Columbia, MD and Washington DC

rmorley@nchh.org

www.nchh.org

(t) 443.539.4159