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Approximately 70% of the existing building stock will still be in use in 2050. A series of projects funded by EPSRC, FP7, Historic Scotland and English Heritage has changed the level of awareness on the impact of climate change on the thermal and moisture performance of traditional and historic buildings when considering improvements to their energy efficiency. This has helped set the agenda for the refurbishment of traditional buildings, for example advice on for the Green Deal has resulted in DECC commissioning further work, including a Responsible Retrofit Guidance Tool developed by the Sustainable Traditional Buildings Alliance.
Over the past 13 years the University of Bath has been leading research into low-impact bio-based construction materials, including the construction and testing of two full-scale prototype buildings: BaleHaus (2009) and HemPod (2010) built on campus. The research has directly promoted: the development and wider market acceptance of award winning low carbon construction products (ModCell® and Hemcrete®); successful delivery of award winning buildings; and the wider sector uptake of these technologies, including in a new school building in Bath. The work has directly benefited industry partners working to meet UK Government policy requirements to deliver low carbon infrastructure and benefited society through the delivery of affordable sustainable buildings.
The Environmental Building Group (EBG) is making an internationally-recognised impact on industry practice using building performance simulation research to look at the relationship between building use scenarios and building performance. In particular, research in building energy data analysis and the prediction of the impacts of climate change on UK building stock has enabled: C3Resources to increase turnover by 28%, double its workforce and win new international clients; Cornish Lime to develop a new product; RTP Surveyors to increase service provision; and Lend Lease and Wates Construction to change their strategies in relation to what/how they may build in the future.
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.
Ground-breaking research in the field of Dynamic Insulation (DI) at Aberdeen University has contributed to international efforts to combat climate change through the reduction of the carbon emissions associated with the heating, ventilation and air conditioning of buildings. Through the establishment of a spin-out company and the development of the world's first modular DI product, jobs have been created and developers have been able to use the first commercially available DI products and systems to meet strict new environmental targets. The success of such projects has led to greater public awareness of the issues around global warming.
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.
It is widely acknowledged that conventional approaches to planning and development exacerbate environmental problems with consequential negative social and economic impacts. This award winning research proposes alternatives by examining the systems and techniques used in the design of autonomous eco-building in order to identify best practice in the procurement of low carbon buildings. The research findings were first tested and subsequently validated, through the design and construction of a community building in Lincolnshire. This building has won multiple awards for innovations in sustainability and the underpinning research has impacted at regional, national and international level through direct application to design, changes to professional practice and through enhanced public awareness
The Thermal Comfort Unit at Oxford Brookes University has, since its formation in 1992, been a world-leader in developing, applying and promoting the adaptive approach to thermal comfort and energy saving in buildings. Developed by Professor Humphreys and Professor Nicol, the adaptive model treats thermal comfort as a self-regulating system, placing human thermal behaviour at the centre of the system. The Unit, now part of the Low Carbon Building Group, has had a profound influence internationally on the way of thinking about comfort, and its research findings have been embodied in national professional guidance for building services engineers, influenced international standards bodies as well as developing global networks.
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.
The group's forensic research into housing energy and carbon performance has established the existence of "performance gap" between designed energy performance and that achieved in completed dwellings. This seminal work has led to revisions in Building Regulations, shaped Government policy on zero carbon housing standards and is enabling the house building industry, including its supply chain, to re-evaluate technology and processes. Considerable benefit will flow from government and industry actions to close the gap, leading to the realisation of significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, improved processes & technology, improved skills & knowledge, lower energy bills and more comfortable homes.