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Why it is important?

Almost every major disease in the developed world – Alzheimer’s, cancer, obesity and diabetes– shows a causal link to lack of sleep. Sleep disruption degrades mental health, reduces work-place productivity and increases absenteeism, and increases the burden on health and social care systems. Homes that remain comfortable at night enable quality sleep which enhances health and well-being and supports continued independent living.

Sleep is eroded by numerous personal factors such as stress and ill-health, but environmental factors are important, especially bedroom temperatures. As the climate warms, summertime temperatures are increasing and heat waves are becoming more frequent. In cities, like London, the urban heat island effect makes temperatures even higher, especially during the night. Bedroom temperatures in flats, especially those on the upper floors, tend to be higher than in houses.

To keep homes cool, people might turn to air-conditioning. This is expensive to run, accentuating societal inequalities. Air-conditioning will also place additional loads on electricity supply networks.

Government recommendations on staying cool in the summer are generic, and their applicability for many households is unknown. New building regulations will improve the bedroom environment in new homes, but there is no guidance, and no regulation, related to existing homes. Guidance on physical and behavioural adaptations to keep bedrooms cool in summer is needed.

How the project is being conducted?

This project aims to find out how the bedroom environment affects how we sleep, what the consequences of this is on everyday life, and what we can do about improving our homes to cope with the summertime temperatures.  

Our multidisciplinary team is conducting the research with healthy adults aged 25 to 75 living in flats in London to seek the answers to the following three questions.

1. What environmental factors lead to degradation of sleep quality in different people? 
2. How might people achieve better quality sleep? Can bedroom adaptations or simple behavioural changes before and during sleep improve sleep quality and by how much, for which people, living in which sort of flats?
3. Can existing flats be refurbished to both reduce energy demand and improve summertime comfort?

To answer these questions, we are measuring sleep quality and summertime temperatures in bedrooms; using sleep diaries, questionnaires, and interviews to gather data about how poor quality sleep impacts everyday life, health and wellbeing.