ABSTRACT
The words ‘unhealthy housing’ tend to provoke an image of old, ill-maintained homes, but there are important issues to be addressed in relation to new homes. New homes, like any new buildings, have an impact on the global environment, the local environment, use of natural resources and the indoor environment. This has health implications not only for the future (e.g. the possible effects of depletion of the ozone layer), but also for the more immediate present and relating to the environment in which we now live. This chapter describes an assessment method developed by the Building Research Establishment to promote the design of new homes which are more ‘environmentally friendly’, and concentrates on those issues which have the greatest immediate implications for health.
