Overheating Problems? We Make Them Disappear.
New Building Regulations
Are You Compliant?
RETIREMENT HOMES
Protect Residents from Dangerous Heat
Older adults are more vulnerable to extreme heat, making overheating in retirement homes a serious health risk. Poor ventilation and lack of cooling strategies can lead to discomfort, dehydration, and potential medical emergencies.
Our expert team takes care of everything—assessing risks, ensuring compliance, and implementing practical solutions to keep residents safe and comfortable. We handle the stress so you can focus on providing the best care for those who need it most.
Property Developers
Ensure Compliance & Future-Proof Your Projects
With stricter building regulations like Part L and Part O, property developers face growing challenges in meeting overheating compliance. Poor planning can lead to costly retrofits, delays, and unhappy buyers.
Our overheating assessments help you stay ahead of regulations and avoid future headaches. We provide expert guidance to design energy-efficient, compliant spaces—ensuring your developments are not just legal, but comfortable and desirable for buyers.
Residential Homes
Keep Your Home Cool & Comfortable
Modern homes are built to be energy-efficient, but this can trap heat, making living spaces unbearably hot in the summer. Overheating can disrupt sleep, impact well-being, and increase energy costs with excessive air conditioning use.
Our stress-free overheating assessment identifies problem areas in your home and provides practical, cost-effective solutions. Whether it’s improved ventilation, shading, or insulation tweaks, we help you create a cool, comfortable living space without the hassle.
Schools
Keep Students & Staff Comfortable Year-Round
Overheating in classrooms leads to reduced concentration, discomfort, and even health risks for students and teachers. With rising temperatures and new regulations, schools must take action to ensure a safe learning environment.
We provide hassle-free overheating assessments to help schools stay compliant with regulations while creating a comfortable and productive space. Our expert team identifies problem areas and delivers tailored solutions—so you can focus on education, not temperature control.
"Working with James is a pleasure and an education. His enthusiasm and expertise in the field of acoustics and overheating mitigation is infectious and a pragmatic and practical approach, driven by a desire to arrive at cost-effective solutions shines through.
As a consultant, he also has a good commercial understanding and that business acumen adds to his credibility and reliability. James is my ‘go to’ guy when it comes to overheating and acoustics."
Alex Naraian
Churchill Retirement Living
The team is professional, knowledgeable, and easy to work with. Highly recommend their services for any development facing overheating challenges."
Meet James
James is a founding partner of UK Overheating and is an expert in acoustics and overheating. He is a principal author of the Acoustics, Ventilation and Overheating: Residential Design Guide and of the Guide to Demonstrating Compliance with the Noise Requirements of Approved Document O.
He is also a contributor to the Future Homes Hub document Part O 2021 (England) Technical Guidance. James further advances his contribution to industry as Chairman of the Institute of Acoustics specialist Building Acoustics Group.
FAQs
Overheating occurs when the local indoor thermal environment presents conditions in excess of those acceptable for human thermal comfort or those that may adversely affect human health.
The main causes of a property overheating are:
- Solar heat gain
- Internal heat gains
- Poor removal of excess heat
Overheating in buildings has been highlighted as a key risk for the health and productivity of people and businesses in the UK. It is estimated that there are about 2,000 heat-related deaths each year in England and Wales. The government’s stated ambition is to build 300,000 homes per year. Most of these properties will be inhabited by 2080 when temperatures are projected to have risen by a range of 1.2 – 8.1 degrees in England under the medium emissions scenario and, if no action is taken, by 2050, an estimated 7,000 people will die prematurely from heat-related causes (though not all in homes) annually (CCC 2015).
We use various methods including temperature modeling, thermal imaging, and an evaluation of factors like insulation, window placement, and ventilation to determine the risk of overheating in a home.
Overheating is often caused by factors like inadequate ventilation, excessive glazing (large windows), poor insulation, and a lack of shading. Building orientation and building design can also play significant roles.
Yes, the UK government and building codes are increasingly addressing overheating risks as part of new construction standards. This is especially relevant for builders and architects to ensure compliance with modern energy efficiency and comfort standards.