Support for Contact Energy Healthy Homes pays off

2 May 2007

Support for Contact Energy Healthy HomesTM research pays off

Contact Energy’s three year funding for a study into the health impacts of effective home heating choices is paying off, with early results of the world-leading study showing major health improvements for children with asthma.

A study of 412 New Zealand homes has found the health of asthmatic children improves significantly when ineffective heaters are replaced with cleaner, more cost-effective heating sources.

The Housing, Heating and Health Study – led by University of Otago Wellington researcher Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman – was carried out over the 2005 and 2006 winters. Households in the Hutt Valley, Porirua, Christchurch, Dunedin and Bluff took part in the study. Each household had asthmatic children aged six to 12 years and the existing main form of heating was a plug-in electric heater or unflued gas heater.

Contact Energy funded the installation of modern, energy-efficient heating in the homes of the families in the study, which was primarily funded by the Health Research Council.

“At $200,000 a year for the last three years, this has been Contact’s largest single sponsorship and a key element in our award-winning Contact Energy Healthy HomesTM programme,” said Contact’s Chief Executive, David Baldwin.

“The preliminary results confirm the value of helping fund new knowledge that will help combat New Zealand’s very high rates of asthma and other respiratory illnesses.”

The release of the results coincides with the annual fundraising Balloon Day by the Asthma and Respiratory Foundation of New Zealand, of which Contact is the primary sponsor.

These latest findings follow an internationally-acclaimed study released by Professor Howden-Chapman’s Housing and Health Research Programme earlier this year, which revealed the savings in health costs as a result of insulation outweighed the cost of the insulation by two to one.

Contact has also helped insulate more than 3,000 low income and elderly New Zealanders’ homes since 2005, as part of the Contact Energy Healthy HomesTM programme.

Professor Howden-Chapman said the latest results are significant.

“We found that the positive changes recorded in the health of these children were equivalent to a significant pharmaceutical intervention. These children experienced health benefits, which had a major impact on their lives and the lives of their families.

“Coughing and wheezing was reduced and they experienced fewer colds and ‘flu during the winter. This resulted in fewer GP visits and less days off school.”

During the 2005 winter, part of the funding was used to insulate the 65 per cent of homes that were not already insulated, before collecting baseline data. This included average temperatures, condensation levels, the amount of mould and levels of nitrogen dioxide – in addition to the data around children’s health.

The heating in half the houses was then upgraded before the 2006 winter. Households had the choice of installing a heat pump, wood-pellet burner or a flued gas heater. A year later, new heaters were also installed in the remaining houses.

Professor Howden-Chapman says the average daily temperature increased between 1ºC and 2ºC and more than 40 per cent of the participants never felt cold during the winter months, compared to five per cent before.

“Condensation was reduced and, as you would expect, there was also less mould and unpleasant damp smells in the homes. We also saw levels of nitrogen dioxide halved.”

The information around child health and household temperatures was the first of several results expected out of the study. Researchers are processing the massive amount of data collected over the two years and further findings will be released as they come to light. Analysis around the households’ fuel bills will be available later this year.

The study was a collaboration between the Universities of Otago, Massey, Victoria and Auckland and BRANZ Ltd.

The study was supported with funding from the Health Research Council of New Zealand, Contact Energy, the Ministry for the Environment, the Hutt Valley District Health Board, EECA, Housing New Zealand Corporation, Capital and Coast District Health Board, the LPG Association, University of Otago, Massey University, Building Research.

ENDS

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