Healthy energy-efficient housing: using a one-touch approach to maximize public health, energy, and housing programs and policies.

Housing conditions such as leaky roofs, peeling paint, structural problems, chronic dampness, improperly vented combustion appliances, and poor ventilation can cause injury, illness, and increased energy consumption. Homes with moderate and severe housing hazards are more likely to be occupied by families with limited incomes because of the lack of affordable housing choices. As a result, children and older adults in these communities face disproportionate impacts from these housing hazards, including higher asthma and injury rates, greater prevalence of lead poisoning, and higher household energy burdens. Programs and policies addressing home health and energy issues have historically operated in categorical silos, which in turn cause fragmented service delivery and inefficient use of scarce resources by the agencies providing these services. A "one-touch" approach for home interventions that strategically integrates public health and energy efficiency has many potential direct and indirect benefits. Also, this approach plays an important role in housing policy due to the increasing support for green housing and residential energy efficiency.