Overheating inside buildings can reach levels associated with health impacts during heat wave episodes, and is more likely in older buildings despite trade-offs made to achieve energy efficiency in newer buildings. Researchers at the University of Arizona simulated power-failure conditions in residential buildings in Houston and Phoenix, based on models from the Energy Efficiency & Read More
Tag: temperature
Factors in PM2.5 mortality
Numerous factors affect the association between PM2.5 and mortality, including individual and neighborhood socioeconomic status, PM composition and temperature. In a study of 13 million Medicare beneficiaries (older than 65) conducted in the SouthEastern US, researchers at the Harvard ACE Center examined exposures using a hybrid spatio-temporal model that represented more accurately rural populations and Read More
Heat waves and social media
Social media activity can be used to examine exposure to heat waves in US cities, based on a study at Florida State University. Although a variety of weather metrics have been used in association with health outcomes, such heat exposure metrics do not account for distance from weather station, the effects of ventilation and air Read More
Indoor air and “smart homes”
Human behavior inside a home strongly affects indoor air quality, based on a study in sensors-rich “smart homes” environments. Researchers at Washington State University measured air pollutants (PM, ozone, CO2, and 13 organic compounds) inside two home fitted with a variety of sensors to detect human presence and activities, such as motion, ambient light, window Read More
Temperatures at home and risk of cardiac arrhythmia
High or low temperatures at home were associated with higher risk of heart arrhythmia in elderly men, in a recent study from the Harvard Air Climate & Energy Center. Researchers analyzed electrocardiograms from 2000 to 2010 for 701 men from the Normative Aging cohort around Boston. Temperature at individual residences was obtained from satellite measurements Read More