We spend some 90% of our time inside buildings where we control the quality of the environment for health, thermal comfort, security and productivity. The quality of the indoor environment is affected by many factors, including design of buildings, ventilation, thermal insulation and energy provision and use. Maintaining the quality of the environment in buildings can have considerable consequences on both local and global environment and on human health. In recent years, the air-tightness of buildings has become an issue, as part of a drive to provide thermal comfort and reduce energy consumption. However, as dwellings are made more airtight, internal pollution sources can have a greater impact on the indoor air quality and occupants may experience adverse health effects unless ventilation is effective. On the other hand, ventilation can lead to ingress of outdoor air pollution; it also reduces energy efficiency of buildings, accounting for 25-30% of the total building energy use. Conversely, efforts aimed at the improvement of energy efficiency through better thermal insulation may affect adversely indoor air quality, e.g. through reduced ventilation and increased moisture content. The latter is the main cause of mould, the exposure to which is being increasingly linked to respiratory and other health problems. Further, burning fuels in micro-generation domestic appliances such as gas boilers and cookers can potentially be hazardous to the health of those in the dwelling or further afield. However, switching to other sources of energy such as biomass, photovoltaics, fuel cells etc., while reducing the impact on the indoor environment can, on a life cycle basis, cause environmental and health impacts elsewhere. Nevertheless, several Government reports have highlighted the importance of household micro-generation options as well as energy efficiency, given the imperatives for reducing greenhouse gas emissions and widespread fuel poverty. The latter has been linked to Britain's large burden of cold-/winter-related deaths, which often exceed 30,000 per year. Poor indoor environmental quality in residential buildings, offices and schools has been related to increases in sick building syndrome symptoms, respiratory illnesses, sick leave and losses in productivity. Health effects can be immediate (e.g. irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, headaches, dizziness and fatigue) or can occur over a longer period of exposure to indoor pollutants (e.g. respiratory diseases, heart disease and cancer). A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that the air within homes and other buildings can be more seriously polluted than the outdoor air in even the largest and most industrialised cities. Given that most people spend approximately 90% of their time indoors, their exposure to air pollutants is determined primarily by exposure indoors, particularly in their home. In order to contribute towards achieving a better quality of the indoor environment, this project proposes to study the environmental and health effects related to the generation, conservation and use of energy in buildings, with a particular focus on residential buildings. The main outputs from the project will be an integrated decision-support methodology and software tool for more sustainable management of indoor pollution. The framework will be applied to a number of case studies that will compare environmental, health and economic implications of the principal options for future home energy provision as an aid to policy development. Using a life cycle approach, the project will examine a range of sustainability issues, including environmental impacts (e.g. resource depletion, global warming, acidification, eco-toxicity etc.) and social issues (e.g. human health, comfort and well-being). The economic implications of different options will also be examined.

Along the well-to-wake value chain from upstream processes associated with fuels production and supply, components manufacture, and ships construction to the operation of ports and vessels, the UK domestic and international shipping produced 5.9 Mt CO2eq and 13.8 Mt CO2eq, respectively in 2017, totalling 3.4% of the UK's overall greenhouse gas emissions. The sector contributes significantly to air pollution challenges with emissions of nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide and particulate matters, harming human health and the environment particularly in coastal areas. The annual global market for maritime emission reduction technologies could reach $15 billion by 2050. This provides substantial economic opportunities for the UK. The Department for Transport's Clean Maritime Plan provides a route map for action on infrastructure, economics, regulation, and innovation that covers high technology readiness level (TRL 3-7). There is a genuine opportunity to explore fundamental research and go beyond conventional marine engineering and naval architecture and exploit the UK's world-leading cross-sectoral fundamental research expertise on hydrodynamics, fuels, combustion, electric machines and power electronics, batteries and fuel cells, energy systems, digitization, management, finance, logistics, safety engineering, etc. The proposed UK-MaRes Hub is a multidisciplinary research consortium and will conduct interdisciplinary research focussed on delivering disruptive solutions which have tangible potential to transform existing practice and reach a zero-carbon future by 2050. The challenges faced by UK maritime activity and their solutions are generally common but when deployed locally, they are bespoke due to the specifics of the port, the vessels they support, and the dependencies on their supply chains. Implementation will be heavily dependent on the local community, existing infrastructure, as well as opportunities and constraints related to the supply, distribution, storage and bunkering of alternative fuels, in decarbonising port handling facilities and cold-ironing, with the integration of renewable energy, reducing air pollution, to land-use and increased capacity and capability, and the local development of skills. The types of vessels and the cargoes handled through UK ports varies and are related to several factors, such as geographical location, regional industrial and business activity and wider transport links. Therefore, UK-MaRes Hub aims to feed into a clean maritime strategy that can adapt to place-based challenges and provide targeted technical and socio-economic interventions through a novel Co-innovation Methodology. This will bring together Research Exploration themes/work packages and Responsive Research Fund project activity into focus on port-centric scenarios and assess possibilities to innovate and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 2030, 2040 and 2050 timeframes, sharing best practice across the whole maritime ecosystem. A diverse, and inclusive Clean Maritime Network+ will ensure wider dissemination and knowledge take-up to achieve greater impact across UK ports and other maritime activity. The Network+ will have coordinated regional activity in South-West, Southern, London, Yorkshire & Lincolnshire, Midlands, North-West, North-East, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. An already established Clean Maritime Research Partnership has vibrant academic, industrial, and civic stakeholder members from across the UK. UK-MaRes Hub will establish a Clean Maritime Policy Unit to provide expert advice and quantitative evidence to enable rapid decarbonisation of the maritime sector. It will ensure that the UK-MaRes Hub is engaging with policymakers at all stages of the hub activities.