Shade the UK founder Andy Love with colleague Shreya Kapur

NOBODY needs reminding that summer 2022 was the hottest on record with the UK smashing through the 40 degree celsius ceiling for the first time.

And nobody knows it better than those living in buildings defenceless against the punishing heat. One man, however, is making it his mission to help those most at risk.

Andy Love, the mathematician turned sustainability expert behind a two-year-old not-for-profit venture called Shade the UK, said these were often poorer families in tower blocks, the elderly living in care homes, and children who spend their days in schools that are unfit for purpose.

He warned stifling heat could also affect the homeless, those in ground-
floor flats who cannot open their windows and those with severe illness such as lung cancer or ­respiratory problems.

The 33-year-old, operating from a co-working space in Farringdon Road, has launched a competition among all of Islington’s secondary schools.

As part of the project, called Shade Islington, every class that takes part will be asked to identify ways to keep their schools cool.

Calling on the government to act now on shading people’s homes, he said: “Billions of pounds are being pumped into social upgrades of homes in the social housing sphere, and other areas. While we’re doing that we should also be thinking about making sure they don’t overheat. So when you’re putting in insulation, yes, it’s great for winter bills – and there are more deaths associated with winter – but there’s an opportunity there to actually also think about the facade, the window treatment, how we ventilate those spaces as well.”

He argued that for those most at risk, retrofitting their homes now is essential – and not when the government and local councils get around to it.

Mr Love said: “A frustration of mine is that we have all this knowledge about how to help cool down buildings but we’re not doing enough in our industry and planning system to support vulnerable people. There’s complete inertia.

“Setting up this company is my way of trying to get something done now that is meaningful for those people. If we don’t make a change to our buildings and communal spaces now people just won’t enjoy their summers, but more than that, vulnerable people will continue to die from heat stress. And that’s not fair.”

He said his company would work with councils and housing associations and private individuals to offer a free consultancy service around how to reduce the temperature in homes – a temperature which, as summers get hotter and hotter, will continue to kill.

“Our most vulnerable are in existing buildings,” Mr Love said. “The building regulation around overheating is based on new buildings, not existing buildings. So there’s a real grey area where you’re not doing anything about it. And if we can focus on adapting our green spaces, our existing buildings, that’s the place to start. It’s going to be over 7,000 people dying from heat stress around the summer heatwave. That’s only going to get worse and worse over the years.”

He also called for planning laws to be simplified so people do not need to jump through so many hoops to retrofit external shade to their homes such as external shutters and blinds or living walls and green roofs that would see their outside walls covered in plants.

“Anything that stops that sun from coming in,”  he added.