In 2010 as an outcome of MEARU’s 3 year EPSRC funded project titled ‘The Environmental Impact of domestic laundering’ a design guide was produced. This A4 published guide was distributed to Housing Associations across Scotland by the SFHA Scottish Federation of Housing Associations (SFHA) and to housing designers by the Royal Incorporation of Architects (Scotland) RIAS. The project also gained significant expose in the UK media outlets including BBC news.

The design guide is still in use as a best practice guide to ensuring new homes have a provision to remove humidity caused by drying clothes by passive methods. This poster highlights key recommendations from the report and illustrates methods by which housing designers have subsequently integrated these into their new home layouts. The guide aims to improve indoor air quality in dwellings by providing dedicated drying cupboards which are independently heated and ventilated to remove moisture from living spaces (a frequently used location for drying clothes on radiators). In addition to moisture removal a dedicated drying space allows potential VOC’s from laundry detergents and fabric softeners to be isolated from the home too. Options to integrate ventilation in these spaces with new MVHR systems in new air tight homes is also investigated.