Retrofitting Homes Without Harming Health
09/10/2025
Jenny Danson
Making the invisible visible
Retrofitting homes to meet net zero goals has long been seen as a straightforward win: warmer homes, lower bills, and reduced carbon emissions. But as Dr. Kay Rogage, Associate Professor at Northumbria University, warns, “rather than just installing technologies that we know are going to make homes energy efficient, we need a more intelligent, data-driven approach.”
The In2Air study, led by Northumbria University in partnership with Newcastle City Council, Newcastle University and the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, is doing just that. Its central question: what happens to indoor air quality and resident wellbeing when we make homes more airtight and energy efficient?
The answer matters. Poorly managed retrofits risk creating homes that trap pollutants, increase damp and mould, and negatively affect health — the very issues retrofit was supposed to help solve.
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