Toxic houses are killing us

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Toxic houses are killing us

Page 1 of 4 View as a single page 4:00AM Sunday Nov 30, 2008

Cliff

New Zealand Herald - New Zealand

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/health/news/article.cfm?

c_id=204 & objectid=10545713

In an ambulance rushing her sick baby son to hospital,

Cosgrove realised for certain the false economy of saving money by

buying a home without insulation.

Earache, throat infection, bronchitis, flu - it reads like a litany

of illnesses you might expect to find

in a public works camp during the Great Depression.

But for thousands of New Zealanders, like and Neill

Cosgrove and their two small children, chronic sickness, sleepless

nights and hospital visits are an everyday consequence of living in

cold and damp homes.

" The house gets very cold in winter, " says the Morrinsville mum, the

faint rasp of asthma clearly audible in her breath.

" It's very old, 1930s, concrete, no insulation. It's three bedrooms

but we don't live down one end of the house. We're constantly

attacking the mould on the walls and windows. We have to have the

fire going 24/7 in the winter and we get a lot of colds. "

Two-year-old daughter suffers from " continuous " ear and

throat infections. Son , 5 months, has bronchiolitis and has

been in and out of hospital for the past three months.

" We wanted to buy a house, " says , her voice loaded with

resignation. " This was the cheapest option for us - but probably not

the healthiest.

" If we had known about the lack of insulation in the house and the

effect it can have on the kids, we probably would have looked around

longer and saved a bit more money to buy a better home. "

If you think this sounds unusually grim, think again.

A major survey published today indicates this level of ill health is

routinely experienced by thousands of people around the country.

More than one million homes are thought to be inadequately

insulated, and more than a quarter of homes could be making their

occupants as sick as the Cosgroves.

As many as 50 people a day are believed to be seeking hospital

treatment due to respiratory problems caused by poor housing

conditions.

And the country's top specialist in housing-related ill health,

Professor Philippa Howden-Chapman, says " excessive " numbers of

people are dying every winter, because of problems with their homes.

This reaches far beyond the election campaign debate about how much

money the major parties would spend on retrofitting insulation to

people's homes.

While old homes without insulation are the biggest problem, property

surveyors and homeowners' interest groups say new houses are still

being fitted with insufficient insulation, and there is no legal

requirement to install heating or ensure adequate ventilation.

Our understandable fascination with New Zealand's beautiful views

means we build houses with lots of glass - but rarely double-glazed.

The survey of more than 3500 people was commissioned by the New

Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The council's chief executive, Neilson, says the scale of

needless suffering and lost opportunity revealed is " immense " . " Most

people will be staggered to learn of the poorly performing state of

the nation's housing stock. "

But the total bill to properly insulate the country's homes could

top $20 billion. Critically, Neilson says, we need to persuade

landlords they can increase the value of their rental properties by

building in proper insulation, double-glazing, energy-efficient

heating and ventilation.

Reading between the lines? Landlords are too willing to invest money

in superficial improvements such as nice paint jobs, rather than in

insulation that is hidden away in walls and roof cavities.

Last year, University professor Vale described the

average New Zealand house as " scarily cold, badly insulated, has

huge expanses of single-glazed glass and is a nightmare to heat " .

The survey of more than 3500 people was commissioned by the New

Zealand Business Council for Sustainable Development.

The council's chief executive, Neilson, says the scale of

needless suffering and lost opportunity revealed is " immense " . " Most

people will be staggered to learn of the poorly performing state of

the nation's housing stock. "

But the total bill to properly insulate the country's homes could

top $20 billion. Critically, Neilson says, we need to persuade

landlords they can increase the value of their rental properties by

building in proper insulation, double-glazing, energy-efficient

heating and ventilation.

Reading between the lines? Landlords are too willing to invest money

in superficial improvements such as nice paint jobs, rather than in

insulation that is hidden away in walls and roof cavities.

Last year, University professor Vale described the

average New Zealand house as " scarily cold, badly insulated, has

huge expanses of single-glazed glass and is a nightmare to heat " .

Respondents to the Business Council survey appear to share that

view. Only 31 per cent said their home was warmer and more

comfortable than their workplace. More seriously, 26 per cent said

their home had caused a health problem - with half of Pacific

Islanders and Maori falling into this category.

A staggering four-fifths of respondents in Opotiki said their homes

were causing them illness, followed closely by Otorohanga. Even in

the well-heeled Queenstown-Lakes district, three-fifths of people

believed their homes were making them sick.

But respondents' accompanying comments paint a sadder and more

desperate picture than the statistics.

" Black mould in back bedrooms is causing respiratory problems in

younger children, " says one.

One speaks of a child sleeping in a room so damp that a dehumidifier

extracts six litres of water from the air every day: " She has the

flu a lot. "

One person simply made this stark observation: " Two relatives died

here. "

These may sound like tales from the Depression, but Howden-Chapman,

of the University of Otago in Wellington, has no doubt about their

veracity.

" There is an increasing awareness this is a major problem. We have

an excessive winter mortality rate, which we think is related to the

housing stock. It's a classic public policy issue - we all pick up

the tab when people get ill and have to go to hospital. "

Howden-Chapman says Kiwi homes are now notorious among immigrants

for being cold and badly insulated. " It's a lifestyle risk factor -

Australia has snakes, we have cold and damp homes. "

She points to demographic reasons for this previously invisible

problem is emerging now. The population is ageing, with many older

people more susceptible to the cold and unable to afford to upgrade

their homes. Also, with higher electricity prices and busier lives,

especially for women, the old ideal of " keeping the home fires

burning " has fallen by the wayside.

Homes are erratically heated, with temperatures often plummeting

overnight. " When mums were at home most of the time during the day,

houses were kept warm. Now people are out of the house more. "

So, does she blame anyone for the crisis? " I would point the finger

at the fact we are inclined to short-term thinking. It's a no-

brainer that it's nicer to be living in a warm house. Those of us

who have brought up babies in cold, mouldy houses know that. "

Why then, she asks, are some old people still using all their hot

water and electricity they can't afford on hot baths in the morning

just to recover from a night sleeping in damp, freezing bedrooms?

MEI FOSTER is no academic, but she has first-hand experience of what

it's like to live in a sick house. With husband Erueti, she had been

raising their four children in a cold, uninsulated weatherboard home

in Rotorua.

In winter the family would move their mattresses into the lounge to

sleep by the fire. Even so, the children were continually ill with

respiratory problems, including bronchitis and asthma.

Eventually had to give up work to care for her two youngest

children, who were constantly in and out of hospital. During one of

those hospital visits she heard about the government-funded

Energywise home insulation scheme.

" When the first lot of insulation went in, within a week the house

was warmer, " says. " We weren't getting as sick as we were

before. "

says the difference in her children is remarkable. " Even

their education has improved. They're more settled at school,

they're not getting left behind any more by having time off.

Socially and physically they are just much better. "

The Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority (EECA) has

insulated 50,000 homes since 1996.

Funding comes from the Government, local businesses, energy trusts,

district health boards and Maori groups. Free insulation

retrofitting is often available for low-income families. About 2,500

Auckland homes have been retrofitted in the past year.

But there are thousands more people, like the Cosgroves, who either

don't qualify for the schemes or don't know about them, and who

endure Third World living conditions.

The reason for the state of our housing stock is mostly historical -

before 1978 it was not mandatory for homes to be insulated, so most

people didn't bother, preferring to profligately heat their houses

using free firewood or cheap electricity, and allowing most of that

heat to escape through windows.

" One problem in New Zealand is we have a lot of glass, " says Greg

O'Sullivan from property surveyors Prendos. " This is not a silly

statement... New Zealand is a country of views.

" Through to the late 80s the insulation was incorrect, using things

such as gib foil which we now know not to use. Even now the level of

Batts put into walls is probably at a level down from what they

should have. "

Neilson agrees the problem has an historical legacy. " You might say

it's bad design. Building materials were relatively cheap. You had

cavities in walls and people didn't worry about filling them. Wood

and other fuel was also relatively cheap. It's what we have been

used to. People didn't understand the health effects. "

Gray, president of the Homeowners and Buyers Association, says

there is a growing awareness of the effect poor housing conditions

can have. " We're living in potentially toxic environments. It's a

serious health risk and an energy risk as well. "

Gray says the problem is placing a huge burden on the health system.

Stachybotrys, or black mould, is prevalent in many damp homes and

has been linked overseas to ill health and infant deaths.

People should look at the insulation levels and energy efficiency of

prospective new homes, he says. And there is no requirement to

install a means of heating - Gray says the Government should grit

its teeth against an inevitable backlash, and make adequate heating

and ventilation compulsory.

At the Business Council, Neilson wants to tackle failings and

barriers in governance and the building sector. " It's easy to play

the blame game. Anybody can do a bit of the solution, but it's going

to take central government and local government, the private sector

and building sector, and the consumer. "

The lack of involvement of landlords is a " major concern " and

Neilson believes the council's proposals will bring them on board by

showing there is added property value to be achieved through

insulation.

ENVIRONMENT MINISTER Nick says work is under way to launch a

home performance rating mark, and he offers an assurance EECA

insulation programmes will continue - although the new Government

has made clear it does not support Labour's pre-election pledge to

spend $1 billion on home insulation in the next 15 years.

says: " There is no provision for it from the previous

Government. "

The new Government plans to spend $15 million a year insulating

state houses (Housing NZ manages nearly one-in-20 of the country's

rental properties) but private homeowners are on their own.

Housing Minister Phil Heatley says he plans Residential Tenancies

Act changes to ensure lodging houses are of a decent standard but

won't be introducing a warrant of fitness for rental properties, and

won't fund the upgrade of private property.

" I'm not going to ask a struggling taxpayer to do up their

neighbour's private house, " he states.

For and Neill Cosgrove, a solution can't come quick enough.

Their dream of home ownership has been blighted by illness and they

have considered selling their house and starting again, although

they know they can't afford it.

The next step will be to see if they are eligible for free

insulation. Until then, they are praying for an end to this cold and

damp Waikato winter. " Roll on summer, " sighs.