Energy poverty, the inability of a household to access essential energy services at a basic and dignified standard of living, remains a pressing issue in Portugal, which ranks among the worst-performing EU countries on several related indicators, including the share of the population unable to keep their home adequately warm in winter and the share living in structurally poor housing with damp, mould or rot. These conditions are strongly linked to respiratory and cardiovascular illness and to excess winter and summer mortality, with cold indoor temperatures associated with pulmonary disease and poor sleep, and elevated indoor temperatures worsening existing health conditions. Building renovation has been shown in the literature to improve indoor environmental quality and thermal comfort, and several studies link energy-efficiency interventions to measurable health benefits, including reduced hospitalisations and improved respiratory outcomes.
Against this backdrop, the project aims to renovate approximately 60 homes across four regions, targeting households that are both energy-poor and affected by relevant health conditions. Impact is assessed through a holistic, multi-parameter methodology combining quantitative and qualitative methods: health survey, non-invasive monitoring of indoor temperature, CO2 and humidity, energy performance certification before and after intervention, electricity consumption data drawn from smart meters, and household surveys covering consumption habits and comfort perceptions. Data are collected in two phases: a pre-intervention baseline four to eight weeks before renovation and a post-intervention follow-up two to six months after, allowing both immediate and delayed effects to be captured. The resulting indicators, including thermal comfort, general wellbeing, indoor temperature stability, air quality and investment cost per degree of temperature improvement, are intended to demonstrate the extent to which energy-efficiency renovation can serve as a vehicle for improving both housing quality and cardiovascular health outcomes among vulnerable households.

The project will be developed together with EDP and Just a Change. CENSE; NOVA FCT does the impact monitoring.