If you are a social landlord and want to ensure you are maximising profits and protecting your investment, we can help. As we strive to make our properties more energy efficient by keeping in the heat, we are losing fresh air and ventilation in our homes. Poor ventilation coupled with condensation and moisture can mean mould and damp problems, creating issues that could affect the health of your tenants and the value of your property. In this post, we look at why it is so important for social landlords to continually review the ventilation and energy systems in their properties, in order to maximise their profits, and minimise their problems.

Damp and mould can be harmful to your health and for students living in privately rented accommodation, they can find themselves readily exposed to it. It’s important to check your accommodation for damp and mould and to understand the implications it can have for your health and well-being. It’s also important to understand the steps you can take to prevent and to remedy damp and mould in your student accommodation.

When it comes to ventilation, many landlords have no strategy at all. This is strange because damp is a widespread problem. It not only affects tenants, who have to put up with the musty odour and unsightly black patches, it affects the landlords who will have to repaint, refurbish, or even re-plaster the walls where it is particularly bad. Without proper ventilation, you are inviting damp into your property. During the winter, the temperature difference between the interior and exterior causes water to condense. This is why damp is most often found surrounding windows and doors – these areas are where warm, humid air meets a cold surface, causing pools of water to collect. By creating a strategy, you can overcome the tendency of homes to become muggy and stale smelling during the winter. For the best results, start early, and try thinking long-term.

Thinking about the winter months leaves most landlords cold. Many do not think to plan ahead. Others trust that circumstances will resolve themselves. To most, the months of blazing summer heat do not lend themselves to thinking ahead to burst boilers, faulty thermostats, and permafrost pipes. Yet, by thinking now, landlords can leap the savings curve and increase the returns on their properties by reducing energy costs over winter. Landlords can make their properties more energy-efficient – and therefore economical – by starting in the summer. The services of plumbers, contractors, and even the price of fixtures will be cheaper when there is less demand, i.e. during the summer. Furthermore, by starting now, they have more time to brainstorm and get truly creative about their solutions.

When the phrase ‘air pollution’ is mentioned, most people immediately think of traffic fumes, smoke from incinerators, or emissions from industrial plants or factories. Indoor air pollution in your own home doesn’t immediately spring to mind. There are various reasons for poor air quality in the home, but many people have no idea that this can be a factor that if left unchecked, can, sometimes severely, affect the health of the occupants.

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are contained within many of the products and items we are surrounded by day to day, and are carbon-based chemicals which evaporate at room temperature. The list of products which contain VOCs is extensive, but among some of the most common household items to contain these potentially harmful chemicals are carpet adhesives, paints, upholstery fabrics, air fresheners, disinfectants and cosmetics. With so many household products containing VOCs, the Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risk estimates that there are up to 900 chemicals in the indoor air we breathe. Staggeringly, that means that the air in our homes may in fact be up to 70% more polluted than the air outside, with airborne irritants significantly impacting our overall health and physical wellbeing.

Energy efficiency matters now more than ever. Despite a global recession and public spending cuts across the board, global warming remains one of the biggest threats to the planet and those who dwell on it. Put simply, energy efficiency is the attempt to reduce the amount of energy used to provide everyday products and services by making improvements to technology and buildings.

Most home owners don’t think about the quality of air in their home. While pollution from traffic and high pollen counts is often in the news, the fact that the air in your home can be just as bad for your health and wellbeing isn't as widely reported. Indoor air quality (IAQ) is defined as the absence of air pollutants which could affect the comfort or health of the building residents. Nowadays, we spend a lot of time insulating our homes - adding cavity wall insulation, double glazing and loft insulation to make them more energy-efficient and to save on our utility bills.

It's that time of year again, when the weather’s gorgeous and you’d love to be out in it and having fun, but the wheezes and the sneezes and the irritation of hay fever hit, and can easily ruin your summer. EnviroVent gives their top tips to reduce hay fever effects for you this summer.