The conditions in Greece’s “households” due to increased temperatures especially during the summer are analyzed by the Greek office of Greenpeace.

At the same time, it announces the launch of primary field research in collaboration with the Hellenic Institute of Passive Building to record the vulnerability of households in a large part of the country due to high summer temperatures.

Furthermore, the research will highlight the need for solutions that emphasize the effective energy saving in the household sector as a prerequisite for a fair, socially sustainable and climate transition.

At the center of this analysis there are questions such as whether houses in Greece can protect their residents against the ever -aggravated conditions, how exposed they are to these temperatures, which are at greater risk as well as what are the most important factors that determine them.

Greenpeace initially refers to the “new climate reality” facing the planet, emphasizing the summer of 2024 and stressing that the July heatwave was the longest ever -recorded, while areas of Southern Greece showed the largest increase in “tropical nights” in Europe.

Housing Conditions in high temperatures

As Greenpeace points out, public data recorded the situation exclusively in the capital’s homes, but there is a significant time discontinuity as the first two studies were carried out before 2010, and the next after 15 years, in 2024. The most recent record was made in the summer of 2024 at 45. The average internal recorded temperature was at 31.4 ° C, the highest recorded temperature at 37.6 ° C, while in most the temperature was between 28 and 34 ° C. Co₂ concentration was also alarming, which in some cases was twice as high as the maximum hygiene of 1000 ppm.

The need for cooling pushes household requirements for energy

In addition, the analysis refers to the need for cooling by noting, inter alia, that although it is still only 1% of the final energy consumption for the whole of the European Union and 5% in Greece, the effect of rising temperatures on electricity demand is evident, with studies to estimate that for each increase in external temperature by 1 ° C, 5% is increased. Indeed, data is listed that it is found that since 2000, there has been a constant increasing tendency in the EU with Italy, Spain and Greece being cumulatively responsible for 70% of total energy cooling energy consumption.

For Greece, the energy consumption of the average Greek household due to increasing cooling needs according to the European funded project ODYSEE-MURE, between 2000 and 2022, increased by 265%. According to Greenpeace’s analysis, Eurostat data show a corresponding picture, though with a significantly smaller increase, as between 2015 and 2023 they record an increase of 38% of the final energy consumption of households in the country for cooling needs.

At the same time, the increase in energy consumption for cooling recorded, as Greenpeace points out, in recent decades has been inextricably linked to the rapid spread of air conditioners in the country. A typical example is that in 2023 the annual demand for air conditioners reached 400,000 points, recording an increase of 57% compared to 2019.

“This mass use also creates the corresponding pressures on the country’s electrical system,” he stresses.

Thermal comfort limits and challenges of “adaptation”

As the burden of households in Greece at high temperatures rises, the question emerges, which temperatures within home cease to be tolerated and endanger the health and prosperity of residents. As Greenpeace points out, there are two basic approaches to determining the limits of overheating of a space: static and adaptive. Therefore, as he explains, the limit is not absolute, but is moving dynamically depending on the conditions and exposure to high temperatures.

“For example, according to the Technical Chamber of Greece (2014), the desired summer temperature for houses is set at 26 ° C. Correspondingly, the Passivhaus standard defines as over -heating the exceeding 25 ° C for over 10% of the year, while the CIBSE recommends temperatures between 23–25 ° C and places a maximum permissible limit of 28 ° C for just 1% of the time. Ashrae defines a wider range of 23–28 ° C, depending on relative humidity and costume conditions.

However, internationally, even the World Health Organization recognizes that there is no fixed or universally “safe” temperature limit for all populations, “the analysis points out.

According to a report by the organism, as Greenpeace notes, the ability of the human body to effectively regulate its temperature without significant stress is limited to a narrow range of external temperatures, between 15 ° C and 25 ° C ..

The organization itself, however, points out that the question “which temperature in home is causing health risks?” does not have a definitive answer. The optimal temperature, he notes, depends on both the local climatic conditions and the individual characteristics that determine the vulnerability of each social group, such as age, health or social isolation.

“This position leads us back to the adaptive approach: people, either out of necessity or habit, often say comfort in temperatures that, based on technical standards, are considered precarious. The empirical recording of living conditions enhances the validity of this adaptive reality, “Greenpeace stresses.

Looking at the findings of the Municipality of Athens in 2024, 56% of participants described the thermal condition inside its home as “comfortable”, even when the temperature exceeded 28 ° C.

“Scientific literature now recognizes that adaptation to thermal conditions is not just a matter of biological endurance. On the contrary, it is the result of complex interactions between environmental, social and cultural factors. The climate of the area, seasonality, social standards, lifestyles, home typology, income, information level, personal expectations, and access to relief means (such as air conditioning, natural ventilation or thermal insulation) have a decisive influence on how each person perceives. However, although ultimately the phenomenon of “thermal tolerance” can be perceived as a result of the diversity of human experience and as a sign of adaptability, it also raises a difficult question: Does the acceptance of thermal discomfort normalize precision? “The analysis notes.

Multilevel effects of overheating indoors

Increasing temperatures brings to the forefront thermal precision, highlighting how it affects the lives of households, especially those who do not have access to proper cooling conditions. It is a phenomenon with serious consequences for physical and mental health, quality of life, social cohesion and everyday life.

In Greece, the lack of thermal protection pushes many households, mainly low -income, to high cost energy austerity. According to surveys, 34% of citizens say they do not feel comfortable in the summer at home, 19% does not have air conditioner, 51% limit the use of a cost of costs, 66% even cut basic costs to meet energy needs, while 36% even cuts basic needs. “These options clearly show the transfer of precision from the energy field to daily survival,” Greenpeace notes.

In terms of health, exposure to high temperatures has multiple effects especially on the elderly, people with mobility problems or chronic diseases. According to data from related studies, as Greenpeace argues, high temperatures can cause thermal exhaustion, dehydration and worsen cardiopulmonary problems, and are also associated with increased levels of stress or even with increased suicide rates. At a pan-European level, 86-91% of deaths from extreme weather events are attributed to heat, representing 77,000-129,000 deaths between 1980-2020. Indeed, as it is noted, as the findings of the investigations show, increased mortality is also related to the accumulation of heat exposure in continuous days, while stressing that Greece is one of the most vulnerable countries.

At the same time, emphasis is placed on the thermal islet in urban areas where temperatures are maintained high even at night, preventing the body from recovering from daily thermal stress. As international organizations point out elderly, children, pregnant women, patients with chronic diseases, socially isolated, homeless, immigrants and low -wageers are the most exposed and at the same time, less protected by prevention and relief policies.

In addition, overheating of spaces also disrupts sleep, at the same time that poor quality of sleep is related, according to research, with increased cardiovascular risk, cognitive impairment and reduced efficiency, affecting children with a great impact on learning and behavior.

The impact reaches work and education. The International Labor Organization, as noted, records a decrease in productivity by up to 50% at temperatures above 33 ° C. In the field of training, an increase of 1 ° C in the classrooms between 20 and 25 ° C is linked to a 0.6% performance decrease, while temperatures above 32 ° C reduce the chance of success by 10%. Finally, in severe manual work, the risk of heat stroke is particularly inhabited.

In conclusion, Greenpeace in its analysis stresses that forecasts for the future are alarming. “By 2050, the heat days in Athens are expected to double, according to the Municipality of Athens” while the average summer temperature will rise to 4 ° C by the end of the century. Similar changes are foreseen for many other cities in Greece with the strongest being located in Thessaloniki and Larissa.

Still, as the intensity and duration of thermal burden rise, high temperatures are expected to extend to periods of outside summer, such as October, where it is expected to doubt the days that require air conditioning, and even mountainous areas will experience significant increases.

Overall, as Greenpeace points out, the electricity demand for air conditioning is projected to increase by up to 83% in the period 2041-2050 compared to 2011 levels and up to 248% at the end of the century.

“In fact, based on the CO2 intermediate scenario, the in -house temperature in 2050 will exceed 32 ° C during 50% of the Dodecanese summer season, 45% of the summer period in Attica, and even areas such as the Ionian, the North Aegean and the Cyclades are expected to record 30%.” And he adds that the effects will not be distributed equally. “High temperatures in Greece is expected to rise by 27% even in the ‘mild’ overheating scenario by 1.5 ° C, while in the 4 ° C scenario the increase is fired at 364%. The most extreme impacts will again affect the same groups of the population, namely the elderly, patients, children and people without protection, “he says, noting that the need to understand who is being affected is a prerequisite for claiming policies that provide real solutions: