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 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

The second Care Settings Working Group (CSWG) meeting, chaired by Professor Mike Davies, held on 8 June 2026. The meeting convened to review the latest Well-Adapted UK report alongside HEARTH’s ongoing research into care settings, specifically focusing on data surrounding excess summer deaths in care homes, followed by a collaborative discussion on integrating these insights into future policy. The meeting had 20 participants from academia, public sector, housing organisatio

Professor Rajat Gupta presented the HEARTH poster on "Extreme Heat, Health Inequalities, and the Net Zero Transition: Future directions" at the European Council for an Energy Efficient Economy Summer Study, ECEEE 2026, in France, Center Parcs, Lac d'Ailette in the Hauts-de-France region (1-6 June 2026), which received very positive feedback from the audience.

The newly released A Well-Adapted UK report has issued a stark warning that heat resilience cannot continue to be treated as an afterthought. With heat identified as a serious and growing threat to the UK, the HEARTH team lies at the absolute forefront of this national agenda: Rising mortality projections: Heat-related deaths could rise to more than 10,000 in an average year. Health and productivity impacts: Overheating leads to an increased risk of death and illness, alongsi

A housing development in East London Environmental monitoring sensors have now been installed in 20 participating homes, with deployment continuing across the remaining recruited households. An extra care housing development in Wallingford, Oxfordshire 35 flats have been recruited so far, with indoor environmental monitoring sensors installed across the recruited homes. A care home in Oxford Environmental monitoring sensors have been installed across a range of locations, in

Professor Anna Mavrogianni was interviewed by London Centric on 27 May 2026 as part of an article entitled "London's air con era is here", in response to the recent May heatwave.

Hot Brain 4 conference hosted by the UCL Faculty of Brain Sciences on 12 May 2026, where she chaired the afternoon sessions and panel discussion. This year's conference focused on understanding the mechanisms through which climate change affects human and brain health. Health Determinants Research Collaborations (HDRC) and the Local Authority Public Health Research Network (LAPHRN): Making Research Stronger Together conference at London South Bank University on 6 May 2026, w

The first Hospital Working Group (HWG), chaired by Professor Shakoor Hajat, held on 11 May 2026. The HWG provides strategic oversight, and expert input into Hub activities. The meeting had 30 attendees from HEARTH team members and external partners, representing a broad range of organisations across academia, the public sector, healthcare, and industry, including: Academic institutions: Oxford Brookes University (OBU), London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), Uni