North East Climate Change Adaptation Study - Adaptation Overview

Here you will learn about the adaptation approaches that can be used to reduce the impacts expected from climate change by the 2050s on the public services sector.

This includes the following topics:

Schools;
Hospitals and Health Care;
Emergency Services;
Emergency Planning;
Council Offices and Public Buildings;
Retail Outlets;
Places of Worship;
Vulnerable Populations;
Residential Housing;
Parkland Management;
Cemeteries and Crematoria.

The assessment is reported at Regional and Sub-regional scales only since further information would be needed regarding each individual building or service to enable local detail reporting.

Schools
Rainfall has been identified as having the potential to cause the most problems in public buildings. When undergoing the regular maintenance that is conducted on public buildings, funding should be made available to repair and/replace roofs to the best possible standard to minimise any problems due to water ingress such as damp and any associated loss in building use as a result. The cost to break up and relay an asphalt roof is in the region of £55 per square metre, with the cost of breaking up and relaying a 3 layer built-up felt roof £10 more at £65 per square metre.

The increased rainfall may mean that gutters and surface drainage may be undersized with the upgrading gutters and fascias costs roughly £50 per square metre. A good starting point would be regular inspections of gutters near trees and others sources of debris to ensure that blockages are identified early. If a problem with gutter size is experienced then that can be considered on a case by case basis. If surface drainage needs upsizing then sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS) should be considered due to the environmental benefits they offer.

As with roofs, any weaknesses identified in the outer skin of buildings such as spalling brickwork or especially concrete should be suitably repaired. Any current problems that have been identified in any public building can be expected to get worse; for instance corrosion of reinforcement steel. One option could be the application of surface treatments to buildings to waterproof the surfaces and prevent water ingress.

The problems of cooling buildings in summer were brought to the forefront of public thought throughout the recent heatwaves in the UK. This issue should be considered at the design stage of any new buildings with the inclusion of new technology to try and negate the use of air conditioners to reduce energy consumption. Vertical stack ventilation is one option where the movement of planned air paths through the building as a result of internal and external temperature differences and wind induced pressure differences. One problem with vertical stack ventilation may be that wet rooms such as kitchens and bathrooms are needed to initiate this movement of air throughout the building and such areas may be insufficient in a school building. Reflective glazing of the use of shading of the windows, either by the use of structures and slats placed strategically on the outside of the building or else from planting of suitable trees and shrubbery close to the building.

Incorporating ventilation into new builds is still something that is not being fully addressed and it has been noted that many new builds in the region, including numerous Private Finance initiatives (e.g. Building Schools for the Future), few have mechanical ventilation (such as ducting) build in due to the low cost focus of procurement.

The key issue is the need for regular inspection of buildings and suitable repairs. An authority wide log of problems could be compiled, if not already the case, to try and identify any trends in problems throughout the region, possibly identifying building types or geographical areas especially at risk.

These buildings are also generally built in reinforced concrete or featuring reinforced pre-cast concrete panels on steel or concrete frames. There is a risk from the spalling of concrete and the corrosion of reinforcement steel. Panels may also be at risk from problems due to thermal expansion but this will have been assumed to be sufficiently accommodated for in the initial design, however early signs of a problem such as bowing or cracking of panels should be identified as a possible problem driving inspections of the structure.

Hospitals and Healthcare
Health service providers should be identifying the likely illness and diseases that may accompany a changing climate (e.g. increased incidences of sunburn, skin cancer, heatstroke, Lymes Disease, and food poisoning) and planning adequate responses, in terms of both preventative messages and resources needed for treatments.

With the rising temperatures, consideration should be given to internal temperatures in hospitals, care homes and hospices for both patients and staff. Suitable adaptation measures may include the planting of vegetation of fitting with tinted windows to offer increased protection against the sun. Also, ‘cool rooms’ where patients can get some reprieve would be a useful inclusion in new builds and air conditioning or other similar ventilation methods will be needed to regulate the temperature of entire buildings., placing further demand on the electricity demand, and therefore energy costs for the hospital trusts.

Emergency Services
The projected climate changes and their consequences in terms of flooding, wild fires and heatwaves, means that emergency services are going to be increasingly needed to deal with these events, leaving them understaffed to carry out their normal duties. As the emergency services become increasingly used better working relationships and role outlying may need to be made with all parties involved, such as the Environment Agency, Local Health Authorities, local councils etc. and this will mean an ever increasing role for the emergency planning units.

This increasing use of the emergency services outside of there current duties will mean than increased funding will be needed to allow not only for the increased man power and overtime but also to fund training courses in how to deal with these new threats or use new equipment.

Emergency Planning
The effect of climate change on emergency planning is most likely to be in the frequency and magnitude of events that require the implementation of incident plans. This is likely due to possible weather induced changes such as:

increased flooding frequency and extents
increase frequency of heatwaves

The weather changes will have the effect of causing greater demand on current resources either by increased frequency of use or by increased numbers of people requiring assistance during a response.

Council Offices and Public Buildings
The adaptation techniques that could be employed to counteract impacts on council offices and public buildings are similar to those previously described for schools.

Retail
The adaptation techniques that could be employed to counteract impacts to retail premises are similar to those previously described for schools.

Vulnerable Populations
The first action that should be undertaken is to reduce the effect heatwaves have upon the vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. This can be done by reducing the effects of heatwaves to limit the occurrence of heat exhaustion and therefore heatstroke.

In urban areas, the introduction of more green open spaces and the introduction of green roofs on new buildings will have the effect of reducing any urban heat island. Green roofs could be fitted to many new buildings with others possibly retro fitted to existing structures. Green roof systems cost in the region of £45 per square metre for residential dwellings and offer rainfall attenuation and reduced rainfall runoff as an additional benefit as well as promoting green roofs future building design and planning regulations could be changed to reduce the heating of buildings and promote a cool environment.

Many of the vulnerable groups such as the elderly live in their own homes with others living in sheltered accommodation or care homes. Air conditioning units could be supplied to the most vulnerable individuals for use in their homes with air conditioning systems installed in care homes. Some allowance may be needed to assist these people with the added expense of running such devices and systems. Much of the region is very rural and particular attention will need to be made during periods of high temperatures to ensure they are visited regularly to check on their condition as swift transportation of any potential patients may be more problematic due to their rural position.

Greater funding will be needed by the Primary Care Trusts to ensure that staff and material resources are available for the increased monitoring of vulnerable groups in combination with expected increase in elderly as a proportion of the population. Hospitals will need to plan for greater admittances during periods of hot weather than they experience currently. Another factor is that morgues may also need to plan for sharp increases in deaths during periods of hot weather.

If not already in place systems could be initiated or periodically improved to ensure that all members of the public are aware when periods of extended high temperatures or heat waves are likely. This is most likely to be an extension of the current Met Office Heat-Health Watch service involving local and even national radio and TV.

Residential Housing
The availably of funds for maintenance investment and, if needed, replacement of housing stock is the key concern with regard to residential housing. As the weather becomes increasingly extreme, with increased winter rainfall and a possible increase in extreme winds in some locations, buildings currently affected by weather will see increased damage and fresh problems may occur in previously unaffected housing stock. As already experienced by the Gentoo Group, the amount of funding needed for maintenance is increasingly annually and additional funds will be needed for the whole scale replacement of housing when maintenance is no longer financially viable. Intelligent ventilations systems have been installed in some elderly homes by the Gentoo Group.

It may be found that more robust solutions, although more expensive, may provide long term savings and best value. If new housing stock is being planned then the expected changes in weather should be taken into account at the design stage. The increase in rainfall and the increase in temperature should be at the forefront of these considerations. As many council houses home vulnerable people such as the elderly, then the cooling of any new houses would be advantageous in aiding in the protection of this population group from heatwaves.

The solution of these problems may not be solely the responsibility of the council or housing association. Problems with drainage and flood defences for example, will also be the responsibility of the stakeholders such as Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency and solutions may need to be found through a partnership approach

Parkland Management
Either greater funding will need to be made available to facilitate increased maintenance of parkland areas or the existing maintenance regime will allowed vegetation to grow for an extended period before being trimmed or cut.

With spring arriving earlier and potential problems of disturbing wildlife during activities such as hedge cutting, greater manpower may be needed to allow the duration of tasks to be reduced.

Cemeteries and Crematoriums
Previous heatwaves have not caused capacity issues, and if a massive increase in deaths were to occur measures are included in sub-regional emergency plans to deal with this.

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Schools
The methods of adaptation available to school buildings will be the same as those identified at a regional level.

Hospitals and Healthcare
The methods of adaptation available to hospitals and other healthcare premises will be the same as those identified at a regional level.

In addition additional beds may need to be provided for during heatwaves and periods of severe temperature if elderly patients from rural communities need increased supervision and care that cannot be administered in their own home.

Emergency Services
The adaptations highlighted for emergency services will be the same as those identified at a regional level.

Emergency Planning
The adaptations highlighted for emergency planning professionals will be the same as those identified at a regional level.

Council Offices and Public Buildings
The adaptation techniques that could be employed to counteract impacts on council offices and public buildings are the same as those that apply to schools at the regional assessment level.

Retail
The adaptation techniques that could be employed to counteract impacts to retail premises are the same as those that apply to schools.

Vulnerable Populations
The adaptation techniques that could be employed to counteract impacts to vulnerable populations are the same as those that apply to at a regional level of assessment.

Parkland Management
Either greater funding will need to be made available to facilitate increased maintenance of parkland areas or else the maintenance regime will have to be relaxed with vegetation allowed to grow for an extended period before being trimmed or cut.

With spring coming earlier and potential problems of disturbing wildlife during activities such as hedge cutting, greater manpower may be needed to allow the duration of tasks to be reduced.

Cemeteries and Crematoriums
Previous heatwaves have not caused capacity issues, and if a massive increase in deaths were to occur then measures are included in sub-regional emergency plans to deal with this.

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