ABSTRACT
A social housing policy aimed at building the highest possible number of dwellings has prevailed in Chile, in spite of compromising quality standards. Some of the main parameters to measure the impacts of air pollution on health are the number of healthcare deliveries under acute respiratory diseases (ARD) and the infant mortality form of ARD. Facing the question of where to start in implementing an energy refurbishment programme, the approach should be to arrange priorities simply according to climatic loads, starting from colder regions. The mechanism could be based on the existing mortgage loans which security exceeds the capital debt, that is, with a homeowner's equity enough to allow an additional loan to finance the refurbishment. The energy saving would result in a significant reduction in the amounts of fossil fuel burned and carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas, spewed into the atmosphere.
