2025 Report

Emerging Public Health Needs for Climate Smart Technology in Connecticut Affordable Housing

Thank You to Our Partners

Yale School of Medicine, Yale School of Public Health, Clean Energy Group, Connecticut Insurance Department, Connecticut Green Bank; funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Energy Storage Solutions program, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Building Technologies Office.

About this Report

This research study aimed to identify the needs of home medical device (HMD) users living in affordable housing and understand their energy dependence in the context of climate resilience. Throughout this project, focus groups and individual interviews with tenants, housing staff, and medical professionals were conducted across the state to gather information about residents’ lived experiences. The report’s findings highlight the vital need for climate smart technology and other support systems in vulnerable communities throughout Connecticut. Recommendations were also made to guide future investment in these technologies and priorities for public health and energy resilience. 

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The report reveals how power outages affect residents’ mental health and access to home medical devices, highlighting the socioeconomic barriers contributing to health and energy-related stress. With 10 key recommendations, the report aims to guide future building codes and planning, ensuring residents’ needs and reliance on electricity are prioritized.

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Key Recommendations

  1. Expand the definition of HMDs to include devices related to monitoring health conditions and communicating with care providers, mobility, and devices that maintain air flow and quality. 
  2. Ensure that residents are signed up for utility alerts in case of impending bad weather. 
  3. Utilize expertise of home health aides and nurses, who understand both medical issues that arise during power outages, and socioeconomic and other barriers faced by HMD users when seeking help.
  4. Consider the financial burden on emergency services and healthcare facilities related to supporting HMD users during power outages when conducting cost-benefit analyses of installing backup power. 
  5. Ensure that procedures for assisting HMD users during power outages consider and accommodate the high anxiety and stress that they experience at those times.  
  6. Require housing providers to have emergency plans that meet the specific needs of each resident and must improve communications with residents about emergency plans. 
  7. Require housing providers to establish accessible and safe common spaces that can be easily used by HMD users as short-term solutions during power outages. 
  8. Facilitate learning between different housing providers. 
  9. Access state and federal incentives and financing. 
  10. Support public-private partnerships for investment.

Read More of Our Research

Engaging Residents from Affordable Housing Properties in Building Code Development

Gain insights from the valuable feedback we gathered from residents of multifamily affordable housing—helping to shape and inform the building code development process.

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Too often, research studies with worthy goals fail to translate into action given the disconnect between the researchers and the community most impacted by the issue being studied, people working on the ground to support these communities, and policy makers. Working with [GPCT] connects us with all these groups, and as a result our research is bringing about real change!  DR. ANNIE HARPER, ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, YALE SCHOOL OF MEDICINE