Welcome to the
UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG)

Background: Our Aims and Objectives

The UK Indoor Environments Group (UKIEG) was launched in 2003, with the aim to co-ordinate and provide a focus for UK activity concerned with improving indoor environments for people.

The fact that people spend the vast majority of their time inside buildings – at home, at work, in vehicles, shops, etc. – is widely acknowledged, yet while the outdoor environment has received much attention, the importance of the quality of the indoor environment in relation to human health and wellbeing is often unrecognised and under-researched. Moreover, addressing problems relating to the indoor environment, which might include issues as diverse as indoor air quality, lighting, ventilation and thermal comfort, requires a highly multidisciplinary approach and involves numerous different stakeholders. Based on these considerations, our objectives are:

• To promote the health and well being of people in indoor environments
• To promote research and research collaboration in all aspects of the indoor environment
• To increase awareness of current activity and knowledge gaps in areas concerned with indoor environments and people
• To disseminate knowledge concerned with indoor environments and people
• To promote the effective and efficient design and operation of indoor environments
• To communicate, integrate and network activity concerned with indoor environments and people
• To communicate and liaise with other relevant groups within the UK and abroad
• To promote good practice

Our Members

We currently have approximately 150 registered members with a wide range of expertise from medics to toxicologists, architects, designers, appliance manufacturers, academics, regulators, researchers, chemists, modellers, engineers, building managers, environmental health professionals, social scientists - and others working in fields connected with the built environment. Our members can choose to receive regular updates on the Group’s activities and relevant news and events.

Membership

Membership is free of charge. If you would like to join the Group or ask for further information, please contact our Secretary: Isabella Myers, Isabella.Myers@hpa.org.uk.

Activities

Providing appropriate indoor environments for the whole range of human activities is a major issue as not only should these environments allow the occupiers to carry out their activities in a comfortable and healthy way, but also ensure that their health is not compromised through being exposed to pollutants. The main function of the UKIEG is to provide a platform for members to discuss issues of common interest. An annual conference is organised by the group which in the past has covered areas such as energy efficiency and human behaviour and indoor environments and children’s health (see link), the members having a significant input into deciding the theme for each meeting .

The UKIEG has also won funding for a Collaborative Development Network grant from the Lifelong Health and Wellbeing programme managed by the MRC. The project, led by the UKIEG Chair Prof Jon Ayres, is entitled WELLINE: Wellbeing and the Indoor Environment, and aims to set up a multidisciplinary expert Network. This will examine the interactions between indoor environmental factors and key chronic diseases affecting the older population - thereby identifying effective interventions on the indoor environment which could alleviate existing cardiopulmonary, musculoskeletal or neurological conditions in older people, and/or prevent the onset and/or mitigate progression of such conditions during the life course. Click here for further information.