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Short

Summary of the impact

Research conducted by Professor Short in the use of natural ventilation and passive cooling in non-domestic buildings is altering policies and plans in the refurbishment of existing healthcare buildings and in new-build for acute and primary care, both within and outside the UK. Moreover, the massive demolition and replacement of healthcare building stock, presumed to be required to simultaneously adapt to the increased ambient temperatures due to climate change and mitigate carbon emissions through improved energy efficiency, has been shown to be unnecessary.

Submitting Institution

University of Cambridge

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Interdisciplinary Engineering
Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Built Environment and Design: Building

Health, Cold Weather and Fuel Poverty

Summary of the impact

This case study presents the impact of the Health and Temperature Research Group (HTRG) at Sheffield Hallam University, led by Professor Tod. The group generates novel, collaborative, translational, interdisciplinary (e.g. health, housing and environment, energy and welfare) research with a focus on cold related ill health. The research impact is illustrated here by The Keeping Warm in Later Life Project (KWILLT). KWILLT findings provide a unique understanding of the complex environment and multiple factors influencing older people keeping warm and well in winter. Beneficiaries include NHS, local and national policy makers, and practice organisations.

Submitting Institution

Sheffield Hallam University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Health

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

The impact of the organic waste industry from research on workers' exposure to bioaerosols: Adoption of technical guidance.

Summary of the impact

This case study is an illustrative example of the immediate and interim impact of our research with and for the organic waste industry. Specifically, it deals with effective management of the risk to the health of workers from exposure to bioaerosols. Led by Sykes, since 2006 a portfolio of research (both publicly available academic studies and confidential industrial reports) has been developed which led the Association for Organics Recycling (AfOR) to commission a technical guidance document for the composting industry in 2012. High-risk work activities and potential for harm to workers' health were identified, and recommendations on risk reduction strategies and good practice were made which have been endorsed by the Health and Safety Executive.

[Throughout this Impact Case Study, references to the underpinning research are numbered 1 to 6; sources to corroborate the impact are numbered 7 to 16.]

Submitting Institution

Cardiff Metropolitan University

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Fuel poverty modelling

Summary of the impact

This report discusses the impact of the work by Rudge and Gilchrist on the relationship between fuel poverty and poor health.This work has been used as evidence on the health effects of fuel poverty by consumer and advisory groups, NHS groups, UK central and local government and various overseas organisations.

Submitting Institution

London Metropolitan University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Economics: Applied Economics

4. Radically improving built assets through reduced CO2 emissions

Summary of the impact

Alliance researchers have demonstrated that it is possible to refurbish existing buildings, which make up over 90% of our stock of over 26m buildings, to achieve a reduction in CO2 emissions of up to 80% (domestic properties) and 50% (non-domestic). The research has underpinned a shift of emphasis by UK government from new to existing buildings and the formulation of incentives to encourage building owners to make energy-saving improvements. In partnership with not-for-profit, public and private stakeholders, it has been used by national and local agencies to highlight the potential of improving the energy performance of traditionally constructed, timber-framed and residential mobile homes and incorporated into practical guidance by the Chartered Institution of Building Services Engineers. It is also the technical foundation for an educational software package developed with 100 school children and teachers and praised as exemplary by Education Scotland.

Submitting Institutions

University of Edinburgh,Heriot-Watt University

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Building, Other Built Environment and Design

Reduced bioaerosol emissions and dispersion from composting

Summary of the impact

Cranfield University has been a key contributor to development of policy and regulatory guidance for industrial composting in collaboration with the UK environmental regulators, Government departments and with in-kind and financial support from the waste management industry. The growth of the industry in the UK has needed applied research to support the evolving policy.

Cranfield has characterised and quantified the nature and magnitude of airborne bioaerosol emissions and dispersion from composting for the first time. This research has fed into policy development on the regulation of facilities, and the practices of bioaerosol monitoring and site-specific bioaerosol risk assessment.

Submitting Institution

Cranfield University

Unit of Assessment

Aeronautical, Mechanical, Chemical and Manufacturing Engineering

Summary Impact Type

Environmental

Research Subject Area(s)

Environmental Sciences: Environmental Science and Management
Engineering: Environmental Engineering

Creative Energy Homes: Low-Energy and Zero-Carbon Housing

Summary of the impact

A development of six Creative Energy Homes (CEH) on the University of Nottingham campus provides a living test-site for leading firms, including E.ON, David Wilson Homes, BASF, Tarmac, Roger Bullivant and Igloo Blueprint to work with the University of Nottingham to investigate the integration of energy efficient technologies into houses. As a result of this work, Lovell homes has won a number of sustainable housing contracts, Roger Bullivant have developed and installed 30 SystemFirst™ foundation systems and Igloo Blueprint have built £7M worth of new homes. The research findings have informed the UK Government's "Green Deal" strategy, the Nottingham Community Climate Change Strategy and received widespread acclaim through a number of public engagement activities reaching out to over 5 million people.

Submitting Institution

University of Nottingham

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Building

Climate Change Mitigation in the Built Environment

Summary of the impact

Research carried out at the University of Greenwich has explored issues surrounding sustainable living and climate change mitigation in existing buildings. The research identified the relationships between people and the built environment and developed a series of behavioural interventions to inform building users of the energy they were consuming and provide guidance on how this could be reduced. The socio-technical relationships were used in a public engagement programme to promote debate amongst the over-65s and the interventions by Registered Social Landlords to support behaviour change and reduce energy consumption in domestic buildings. The outputs have also been used to inform Social Housing policy development.

Submitting Institution

University of Greenwich

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Built Environment and Design: Architecture, Building, Other Built Environment and Design

Building performance simulation with computational modelling software enables practitioners to realise a low carbon built environment.

Summary of the impact

Research by staff of the Energy Systems Research Unit (ESRU) at Strathclyde has resulted in advances in the state-of-the-art in dynamic building energy modelling as encapsulated within the Open Source ESP-r program. This new capability enabled practitioners to analyse phenomena and technologies hitherto not capable of being modelled in building simulation tools. The impact stems from the embedding of ESP-r within companies resulting in service improvement and job creation, and applications of ESP-r resulting in energy demand reduction, low carbon energy systems integration and environmental impact mitigation.

Submitting Institution

University of Strathclyde

Unit of Assessment

Architecture, Built Environment and Planning

Summary Impact Type

Technological

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Interdisciplinary Engineering
Built Environment and Design: Building, Other Built Environment and Design

4. Environmental assessment of domestic laundering

Summary of the impact

The impacts of this study by the Mackintosh Environmental Architecture Research Unit (MEARU) with two other research units arise from auditing and analysing domestic laundering (100 homes surveyed), and positing solutions to mitigating `fuel poverty' (energy cost >10% disposable income) and improving health-linked aspects of indoor air quality — identifying direct and indirect energy usage attributable to laundering, and the detrimental environmental consequences of added humidity. Impacts since completion in 2012 relate to public engagement — meetings with a key regulatory body, dissemination events and a successful publicity campaign at regional, national and international level, marking the launch of a Design Guide.

Submitting Institution

Glasgow School of Art

Unit of Assessment

Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory

Summary Impact Type

Societal

Research Subject Area(s)

Engineering: Environmental Engineering, Interdisciplinary Engineering
Built Environment and Design: Building

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