Professor Gupta contributed to the National Retrofit Hub's first national summit, "Retrofit, Obviously!", held in London (24 September 2026), under the theme "A Shared Vision for a Strong Retrofit System." Rajat delivered a presentation and took part in the panel discussion. The one-day event brought together policymakers, community organisations, local authorities, housing providers, industry, finance, health, and academia to explore how a shared retrofit system can unlock

Lizzy Curtis from the Oxfordshire County Council (OCC) team presented key research insights from HEARTH, ARCADE, and THERM-UK programmes, alongside work led by Dale Hoyland at the Local Government Association’s webinar, Turning Ambition into Action: Decarbonising Health and Social Care Locally, on 16 September 2026. The session explored key opportunities, challenges, and current activities surrounding the decarbonisation of local health and social care infrastructure. The OC

Professor Rajat Gupta delivered a keynote on Indoor air quality, overheating and health at the Building Pathology Conference 2026 (BP26), hosted by H+R SOCOTEC Building Pathology and Heritage in partnership with Oxford Brookes University, Oxford (10-11 September 2026), under the theme "Solving tomorrow's problems today." The two-day programme brought together researchers, practitioners, and industry leaders, with sessions on property flood resilience, heritage retrofit, overh

Building Heat Resilience: From Evidence to Action HEARTH International Symposium 2026 Last week, we brought together researchers, policymakers, public health and healthcare professionals, built-environment practitioners and international experts at Oxford Brookes University for the HEARTH Annual Assembly 2026. Across 7–9 September, the Assembly provided an important opportunity to reflect on progress across the National Hub on Net Zero, Health and Extreme Heat (HEARTH), share

The WS1 team from the University of Leeds, Professor Cathryn Birch and Dr Carly Reddington, presented a poster on their analysis of past and future UK humid heatwaves at the National Climate Impacts, Risk and Adaptation Meeting in Leeds (8–9 September 2026). The presentation showcased an assessment of UK humid heatwave events from 1980 to 2026, featuring detailed case studies of the July 2022 and June 2026 heatwaves alongside preliminary projections of future humid heatwave r

Rajat Gupta contributed to an expert interview with the UK Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST), highlighting the need to better align net-zero policy with passive cooling, indoor environmental monitoring and equity-sensitive climate adaptation. The discussion focused on three key principles: Moving beyond mapping outdoor climate hazards to understanding people’s actual exposure to heat within buildings. Recognising how care settings, housing quality and tenu

Professor Rajat Gupta was featured in an iNews article on 31 July 2026, exploring how cool roofs can help buildings cope with severe heatwaves. Key points cover: Passive heat reduction: Reflective coatings reduce solar absorption and lower indoor temperatures, offering a simple, low-carbon cooling strategy for exposed top-floor homes. Whole-building approach: Reflective surfaces are most effective when paired with external shading, insulation, and effective ventilation. Redu

Professor Rajat Gupta delivered a keynote on HEARTH at the 38th International Passive and Low Energy Architecture Conference (PLEA 2026) on Sustainable Architecture and Urban Design, hosted by the University of Costa Rica in San José (27-31 July 2026), under the theme "Common Sense Architecture: Harnessing Local Wisdom for Sustainable Futures." Bringing together researchers, practitioners, and policymakers from over 40 countries, the conference explored passive design, local

A major milestone has been reached with the publication of the flagship HEARTH hub-level paper in the ECEEE 2026 Summer Study Proceedings, titled: Extreme Heat, Health Inequalities, and the Net Zero Transition: Future Directions. Led by HEARTH Director Professor Rajat Gupta, this publication represents a major collaborative achievement, bringing together the expertise of 33 co-authors from across universities, the NHS, local government, and research organisations within the H

The second Hospital Working Group (HWG) meeting, chaired by Professor Shakoor Hajat, held on 16 July 2026. The meeting brought together over 25 participants from the HEARTH team and external stakeholders across NHS Trusts, sustainability organisations, and academic institutions. Key topics covered: Progress updates across the HEARTH programme related to hospitals, alongside insights from PPIE activities with patients and hospital staff. Cooling interventions in hospital sett

The second London Working Group (LWG) meeting, chaired by Professor Anna Mavrogianni, held on 6 July 2026. The meeting brought together 24 participants from the HEARTH team and external stakeholders across national government, public organisations, the third sector, industry, and academia. Key topics covered: Progress updates across the HEARTH programme, with a particular focus on London. An overview of the Greater London Authority’s (GLA) Heat Ready London initiative. Reflec

The Healthy Buildings Network (HBN) hosted its annual Showcase Event on 2 July 2026 at University House, University of Leeds. Centred on the theme "Showcasing Interdisciplinary Research for Healthier Buildings," the event brought together leading researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to celebrate funded project outcomes and shape the future direction of healthy building science. Professor Rajat Gupta represented the HEARTH Hub across two major sessions: Hub lightning

HEARTH contributes to Age UK London’s submission to the London Assembly via the Planning and Regeneration Committee. Age UK London’s submission to the London Assembly This document contains the written evidence received by the Committee in response to its Call for Evidence, which formed part of its investigation into whether London’s homes are ready for a heatwave. In March 2026 the Committee published a number of questions related to its investigation, which can be found on

HEARTH is featured as part of the London Heat delivery plan, advising the authors of London Heat Plan. Characterise the scale and extent of overheating in London's healthcare estate: Utilise these findings to develop a standardised approach to assessing heat vulnerability across healthcare estates. Collate evidence from NHS EPRR (Emergency Preparedness, Resilience, and Response) Core Standards reports to inform a comprehensive assessment of system-wide heat risks.

The HEARTH team made wide-ranging contributions across London Climate Action Week 2026, driving critical discussions on climate adaptation, built environment risks, and public health. This included Professor Anna Mavrogianni joined an expert panel at the Sidara Collaborative HQ on "Designing for 2050 climates: Are we missing the real risks?" during an actual London heatwave, which highlighted low industry confidence in future building performance and the urgent need to addres

The HEARTH team’s expert analysis of climate adaptation and public health has dominated high-profile news broadcasts and international publications during recent extreme weather events. The widespread media appearances highlight how the team is leading the global narrative on urban heat mitigation, public health equity, and built environment infrastructure. These media contributions collectively showcase the HEARTH team's profound impact on shaping public policy and public a

Professor Rajat Gupta presented "Building Heat Resilience in Older People’s Housing: Understanding Heat Exposure, Lived Experiences and Health Outcomes" at the British Society of Gerontology (BSG) Annual Conference 2026 (24-26 June) on behalf of HEARTH team. Held at Oxford Brookes University, the session highlighted on how indoor heat exposure directly impacts older residents' health and lived experiences. Professor Rajat Gupta presenting the "HEARTH Building Heat Resilience

Professor Rajat Gupta, delivered the closing keynote presentation at the Healthy Homes Hub Summer Ideas Exchange in London on 22 June 2026. Reflecting on the 3,000+ excess deaths during the UK's 2022 heatwaves, he highlighted how extreme heat has emerged as a critical, unequal health and housing risk. His presentation detailed the work of HEARTH, which uses climate modelling, occupant surveys, and health impact analyses to evaluate overheating risks from "region to room." He

On 22 June 2026, the ARCHI and HEARTH teams hosted NHS staff workshop to gather frontline experiences of working in healthcare environments during extreme heat events and to evaluate potential cooling strategies. This workshop highlighted a clear consensus that the NHS must transition from reactive emergency cooling measures, such as scrambling for portable air conditioning units, towards proactive, long-term estate planning that integrates overheating mitigation directly in

The HEARTH team is working with Oxfordshire County Council on the Heat Safe Project, which aims to develop and distribute Cool Packs to vulnerable households and provide training for professionals delivering the packs during summer 2026. The programme will be accompanied by an evaluation of its implementation and impacts. Heat Safe Homes Cool Pack Workshop (17 June 2026) co-chaired by Anna Mavrogianni and Rajat Gupta brought together 28 cross-sector participants to co-design