Context: The indoor environment is one of the main pathways through which housing impacts on health and wellbeing, especially among underserved and vulnerable groups. Addressing indoor environment risks, such as damp and mould, is currently high on the housing sector’s agenda. Sensor systems offer significant potential to help address the problem.

About Sensor Systems: Indoor environment sensor systems collect data on a home’s temperature, humidity, CO2, air quality, and customer’s utilities usage. Sensor systems can provide social housing managers with the real-time capacity to remotely monitor a home environment, identify health risks, make evidence based decisions, and provide proactive services.

Research Background: This project builds on the University of Exeter’s highly impactful  research and innovation project. Core to Smartline was the development, testing, and evaluation of an indoor environment sensor system to improve homes and health in social housing.

Smartline demonstrated that sensor systems are a useful and feasible innovation to improve homes and health in social housing. Indoor environment sensor systems are useful for:

• Identifying and prioritising at risk and vulnerable customers;
• Enabling early intervention to support customer health and wellbeing;
• Clearly and pro-actively identifying building maintenance issues;
• Reducing long-term maintenance costs;
• Reducing staff stress;
• Insight to meet Carbon Net Zero targets.

The Problem: Despite the potential of sensor systems, and their decreasing cost, adoption remains low across housing sectors and the “smart social homes remain mainly on the drawing board” (HACT 2021). This is problematic if such technology is to deliver health benefits in social housing. One barrier to adoption is the lack of understanding about the broader value gained from such systems, and the feasibility of adoption in practice.

Project Aim: Addressing this knowledge gap, the University of Exeter have partnered with HomeLINK, HACT, and Coastline Housing to evaluate the Social Return on Investment (SROI) of adopting an indoor environment sensor system. The aim of the project is to co-create a toolkit to enable Housing Associations to assess the feasibility and social return on investment of adopting an indoor environment sensor system.

Project Dates: 01/05/2023 until 01/05/2024.

Project Objectives:

1. Develop new partnerships. This project will strengthen existing and foster new partnerships between University of Exeter, the social housing sector, and the sensor industry. These partnerships will increase knowledge exchange and form opportunities for collaboration.
2. Co-create a logic model. A logic model sets out the inputs (required resources and system costs) and outcomes (social value) of the sensor system, as an intervention to create healthier homes. The project will draw from Aico-HomeLINK expertise to map out the inputs and HACT’s expertise to map out the outcomes. Co-creation of the logic model will also involve other HA’s with experienced of sensor systems and housing tenants as end-users and beneficiaries.
3. Conduct a sensor system SROI. Using the logic model and HACT’s industry-leading (specifically designed for social housing), a SROI forecast for a sensor system will be conducted.
4. Co-create a sensor system adoption guide. The guide will provide information on sensor specifications for procurement, sensor functions, which environmental measures are useful in which contexts, the risks and limitations of sensor adoption, and practical recommendations for how an organisation can adopt a system seamlessly into existing operations.

Project Funders: Aico-HomeLINK and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) and Impact Accelerator Account (IAA) fund the project.

Project Team: Researchers at the University of Exeter are leading the project. The team includes Associate Professor Emma Bland, Dr Tim Walker, Professor Catherine Leyshon, and Dr Tamaryn Menneer.

If you are interested in hearing more about the project or being involved, please contact Tim Walker t.w.walker@exeter.ac.uk

Publications and Resources:

A_cluster_analysis_approach_to_sampling_domestic_properties_for_sensor_deployment

Changes_in_utilities_and_water_usage_during_lockdown

Developing_participant_personas_in_social_housing

Exposure_to_mouldy_odour_risk_in_social_housing

Factors_affecting_internal_air_quality_in_social_housing

Fuel_poverty_and_health_in_social_housing

Improving_homes_and_health_with_sensor systems

Indoor_PM2.5_VOCs_and_asthma_outcomes_systematic_review

Integrating_public_health_and_housing

Modelling_mould_growth Mould_insight_brief

Smartline_conference_2022_slides

Smartline_summary_report

User_perspectives_on_sensor_technology_adoption