Helen Viggers

PhD, B.E.(Hons), DPH, GradDipApplStat
Research Fellow, University of Otago, Wellington

Helen is a Research Fellow at the NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities. She has recently completed her PhD. Helen's research has been mainly focused on three areas: the effect of home warmth interventions on health, household fuel use and temperature and fuel poverty and the factors associated with household transience. She has also done some work on homelessness.

Helen trained originally in engineering, and enjoys applying her quantitative skills to public health research. She has worked on the Housing, Insulation and Health study, the Housing, Heating and Health study and the Warm Homes for Elder New Zealanders study.

She is currently working in the Energy strand of the Public Housing and Urban Regeneration Programme.

Key publications

  1. Chapman, R.
    Apperley, M.
    Taptiklis, P.
    Viggers, H.
    Shearer, I.
    Penny, G.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Submission to the Electricity Authority on changes to electricity payment rules
    NZ Centre for Sustainable Cities
    Download document
    Submission to Electricity Authority on electricity payment rules.pdf
  2. Apperley, M.
    Viggers, H.
    Walmsley, M.
    Chapman, R.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Penny, G.
    Shearer, I.
    Taptiklis, P.
    The role of smart community microgrids in Aotearoa’s energy future
    Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand,
    Published online: 27 Jan 2025.
    The role of smart community microgrids in Aotearoa’s energy future
    Apperley et al Jan25 Micro grids JRSNZ 051224.pdf
  3. Howden-Chapman, P.
    Crane, J.
    Keall, M.
    Pierse, N.
    Baker. M. Cunningham, C Amore, K
    Aspinall, C
    Bennett, J.
    Bierre, S.
    Boulic, M
    Chisholm, E.
    Davies, C.
    Fougere, G.
    Fraser, B.
    Fyfe, C.
    Grant, L.
    Grimes, A.
    Halley, C
    Logan, A.
    Nathan, K
    Olin, C.
    Ombler, J.
    O’Sullivan, K.
    Pehi, T.
    Penny, G.
    Phipps, R
    Plagmann, M.
    Randal, E.
    Riggs, L.
    Robson, B.
    Ruru, J Shaw, Caroline
    Teariki, M.
    Telfar-Barnard, L.
    Tiatia, R.
    Toy-Cronin, B Tupara, H
    Viggers, H.
    Wall, T.
    Wilkie, M
    Woodward, A.
    Zhang, W
    He Kāinga Oranga: reflections on 25 years of measuring the improved health, wellbeing and sustainability of healthier housing.
    Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand,
    Online.
  4. Viggers, H.
    Keall, M.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Towards dwelling energy certification for New Zealand: normalisation issues.
    Kōtuitui: New Zealand Journal of Social Sciences Online
    .
  5. Grant, L.
    Viggers, H.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Improving Buildings, Cutting Carbon.
    Wellington, New Zealand: Steele Roberts, Aotearoa
  6. Viggers, H.
    Kate Amore
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Housing that lacks basic amenities in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2018 A supplement to the 2018 Census Estimate of Severe Housing Deprivation
    He Kāinga Oranga - Housing and Health Research Programme, University of Otago, Wellington
    Download document
    Housing-that-Lacks-Basic-Amenities-in-Aotearoa-New-Zealand-2018.pdf
  7. Viggers, H.
    Six ways to help fix energy hardship in New Zealand.
    Policy Quarterly,
    17, 4.
  8. Viggers, H.
    Keall, M.
    Wickens, K.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Ingham, T.
    Davies, C.
    Crane, J.
    Effect of an electricity voucher on electricity use.
    Energy Policy,
    134, 110985
  9. Ingham, T.
    Keall, M.
    Jones, B. Aldridge, D. Latimer, M. Dowell, A.
    Davies, C.
    Crane, J.
    Draper, J. Bailey, L.
    Viggers, H.
    Stanley, T. Leadbitter, P.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Damp mouldy housing and early childhood hospital admissions for acute respiratory infection: a case control study.
    Thorax
    74, 849-857.
  10. Rangiwhetu, L.
    Pierse, N.
    Viggers, H.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Cold New Zealand Council Housing Getting an Upgrade.
    Policy Quarterly
    14, 2, 65-73.
  11. Viggers, H.
    Keall, M.
    Wickens, K.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Increased house size can cancel out the effect of improved insulation on overall heating energy requirements.
    Energy Policy,
    107, 248-257.
  12. O’Sullivan, K.
    Viggers, H.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    The value of experience: Including young people in energy poverty research.
    In N. Simcock, H. Thomson, S. Petrova & S. Bouzarovski (Eds.), Energy poverty and vulnerability: A global perspective.
    (pp 188-201). Abingdon, UK: Routledge.
  13. O’Sullivan, K.
    Telfar-Barnard, L.
    Viggers, H.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    Child and youth fuel poverty: assessing the known and unknown.
    People, Place, and Policy, Special issue on International Perspectives on Fuel Poverty
    10(1), 77-87
  14. O’Sullivan, K.
    Viggers, H.
    Howden-Chapman, P.
    The influence of electricity prepayment meter use on household energy behaviour.
    Sustainable Cities & Society
    13, 182-191.

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