BALANCE - Sustainable and healthy buildings in the changing climate: balancing costs and benefits

BALANCE

One of the most impactful ways to fight climate change in Northern countries is to reduce building-associated carbon dioxide emissions by adding insulation and optimizing ventilation. On the other hand, poorly managed energy retrofit interventions can negatively impact the indoor environment and increase the risk of moisture damage.

Project information

Project duration

-

Funded by

Research Council of Finland - Academy Project

Project coordinator

Other university or unit

Unit and faculty

Civil Engineering
Faculty of Technology

Contact information

Contact person

Other persons

Researchers

Project description

The aim of this project is to develop an integrated economic model to balance the effects on carbon footprint, indoor environment, health and costs, and to identify the most cost-efficient interventions in the Finnish building stock for climate change mitigation and adaptation. To make this happen, research groups from the University of Helsinki, Tampere University, University of Oulu and The Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare formed a multidisciplinary, tightly intertwined research collaboration including diverse disciplines from life sciences and medicine to engineering and economics.

The healthy buildings research group at the University of Oulu is responsible for estimating the long-term effects of different energy efficiency interventions on operational carbon dioxide emissions, indoor air quality, thermal conditions, and occupant behavior. We are for example studying the long-term effects of energy efficiency interventions (INSULATE follow up -study) and collecting up-to-date reference data from the Finnish housing stock (The national housing and health survey ALTTI).

Research groups

Good Indoor Air and Building Health