Housing condition and occupant wellbeing: Findings from the Pilot Housing Survey and General Social Survey 2018/19

A survey of ventilation and moisture in new homes showed that 30% of new homes failed to reach World Health standards for ventilation. Moisture problems were evident in most of these. Indoor moisture problems are also prominent in building failure investigations, making up approximately 15% of cases. The effectiveness of ventilating a residential home is largely dependent on the behaviour of the occupants. However, little is known about how people behave in their homes and the impact that this can have on internal moisture. In order to get a better idea about why homes have moisture issues, occupant behaviour? in particular the opening/closing of doors and windows - needs to be understood. For example, internal doors determine how many ventilation zones exist in a house at any given time. Currently it is assumed that there is only one zone. If this assumption is not true then the home ventilation solutions for New Zealand homes won’t be effective. This project helped reverse the growth in indoor moisture and associated health and building deterioration costs. It also ensured that ventilation solutions for New Zealand homes are more in tune with occupant expectations and habits. The project provides new insight in to how people behave in their homes. On the back of this information better approaches to ventilation can be developed. In turn, this will mean dryer, healthier homes.