Architecture researchStrathclyde Environmental Architecture Research Centre

Funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) this project will create a new socially smart computational system to equitably and dynamically communicate household energy demand at a neighbourhood scale.

The project develops experimental and innovative interdisciplinary methods fusing architecture, engineering, computation, biomimetics and behavioural science approaches.

Drawing on new social, spatial and visual insights from Glasgow and Bristol residents’ approaches to managing energy in their homes, the computational system will be shaped by this first of a kind of evidence base that transforms how local government, utilities, housing providers and designers consider energy management in planning for electrification, climate change and polycrisis scenarios.

The project is led by Professor Sonja Oliveira, Department of Architecture, University of Strathclyde in collaboration with academic partners:

• University of Bath
• University of the West of England
• University of Bristol
• Community Infrastructure Group
• SNUG, Bristol Housing Festival
• Stride Treglown
• Oxford Brookes University
• University of Texas at Arlington

Funding: £586,000

The Carbon Artifacts project is funded by ESRC and led by University of Reading and University of Strathclyde. Professor Sonja Oliveira leads on delivery of the project at the University of Strathclyde.

The project focuses specifically on the role of artifacts – including the output of building performance simulation exercises, documents with specific carbon reduction and energy targets, virtual and physical models and the physical building – in the negotiation of specific building features and in professional understandings of Net zero carbon delivery and design. This approach draws attention to the sociomaterial dimension of design and how it varies across disciplines and organizations. Architects and Engineers are trained to see the world differently; this research asks how these differences impact on the delivery of net-zero carbon.

Carbon Artifacts project website

Radical Architecture Practice for Sustainability (RAPS) is a network project supported by the European Architectural Research Network (ARENA) aimed at assembling, provoking and exploring the role of architecture and architects in practising design for and through experimental and radical sustainability. The network is founded and led by Prof. Oliveira in collaboration with partners in Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Austria, Portugal and Serbia.

Healthy Organisations in a Place-based Ecosystem, Scotland (HOPES) has been awarded one of four £4.625M Green Transition Ecosystem (GTE) investments from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), part of UK Research and Innovation which is funded by the UK Government. Professor Oliveira is Theme lead for Sustainable Buildings and Land and together with Prof. Sharpe and Mr Campbell will deliver three projects examining impacts of the built environment on ways energy use, indoor air quality and use of PPE shape people's lives and health.

Identify effective ventilation guidance and practice to mitigate airborne viruses in new build non-domestic buildings. Scottish Government Building Standards Division.

Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Anderson Bell Christie Architects.

SBRI Innovation Funding, Smarter Home Indoor Air Quality Monitoring System, SBRI: phase 2, Filament Ltd

Funding: £298,338+

SBRI Innovation Funding, Smarter Home Indoor Air Quality Monitoring System, SBRI: Applied Nanodetectors

Funding: £297,594+

SBRI Monitor and visualise domestic pollution to safeguard health, Phase 2, arbnco

Funding: £299,257+

Research to identify if changes to guidance in Standard 3.14 Ventilation in 2015 have been effective in improving ventilation and indoor air quality, Scottish Government Building Standards Division

Funding: £35,000+

NERC NE/V002082/1 £499k Sharpe CI

Niddrie Road. Evaluating Options and Outcomes in The Retrofit of pre-1919 Glasgow Tenement Housing: A Demonstration Project, SFC £250k, UoG lead (£95k UoS).

The project 'Adaptive Housing - Solutions for Adaptive and Resilient Low-Energy Housing under Climate Change Scenarios' is a research project that addresses the issue of decarbonization of the built environment while dealing with adapting to climate change. The overarching aim of this project is to improve the design of low-energy housing and make it able to sustainably cope with the overheating associated to ongoing climate change.

This project is purported to improve designers' ability to tackle requirements of energy efficiency while securing healthy and comfortable homes, both in the present climate and in future climate change. By so, this project acts as a specific contribution towards the integration of the principle of climate resilience of buildings into the implementation of EU Green Deal initiatives, such as the New European Bauhaus and the Climate Adaptation Strategy, and to the overall just transition towards carbon neutrality.

This individual fellowship is financed by the Autonomous Province of Bolzano-Bozen through the Seal of Excellence funding scheme (Decree 13190/2022) for a total of Euro 183473.

Theme 2, WP 2.3 – Environmental monitoring. Health and Safety Executive Phase 3 £116046 total Phase 1 - 3 £465232

The PROTECT COVID-19 National Core Study on transmission and environment is a UK-wide research programme improving our understanding of how SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19) is transmitted from person to person, and how this varies in different settings and environments. This improved understanding will enable more effective measures to stop transmission, saving lives and getting society back towards ‘normal’.

Since the appearance of SARS-CoV-2, researchers have been attempting to identify the most important routes of transmission for the virus. This information is critical to enable the development of effective strategies to block these routes and enable a return to a more normal routine in all aspects of life. The PROTECT project was set during the COVID-19 Pandemic to gather data of transmission risk.

Our engagement in Theme 2.3 undertook measurement and collation of real-world datasets on ventilation and environmental parameters to characterise flow and environmental conditions in a number of different workplace settings, in relation to transmission risk.  Outputs include

• Protocols for sensor placement and interpretation, criteria for contextual data collection and collation
• Longitudinal monitoring in workplace settings to capture variations including by season and the impact of behaviour (e.g window opening, occupancy, system settings)
• Short duration monitoring in workplace and outbreak settings to assess environmental conditions
• Analysis tools to create maps of parameters and correlations
• Identification and collation of data sources and information from other relevant ongoing projects

Scottish Research Alliance for Energy, Homes and Livelihoods (SRAEHL), ARCS SFC/AN/09/2022

Sustainable Households website

An integrated typology-based approach to guide the future development of European historic buildings towards a clean energy transition.  HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01 €3,896,051.25 (€244147.5 UoS) EURAC Lead 1/1/24 48 Months

The process of future proofing the built heritage faces the paradox of needing standardised approaches but having a heterogeneous stock with very specific needs. FUTURHIST will rely on the identification and characterisation of local uniform building typologies, as a lowest common denominator, to develop tailored intervention approaches that can be standardised and replicated in all buildings of that category with minor modifications. The standardised approach will then serve as a basis for the adaptation to other typologies in the same context (climate, regulations, etc.) or even similar typologies (in terms of materials, configuration, etc.) in different contexts. Although considerable progress has been done in recent years in terms of development of materials and solutions compatible with conservation of historic buildings, several challenges remain still open. FUTURHIST will develop both passive and active solutions with a focus on an efficient use of energy and resources, improved wellbeing, enhanced durability, revalorization of existing materials and techniques, integration of renewable energy systems, and smart solutions for decarbonising heating, cooling, and ventilation. Mentioned here, just as examples, be a clay-biochar-insulation, self-healing lime plaster and hybrid original-vacuum glazing. Demonstration is at the core of the project. The solutions developed as well as the approach will be implemented and tested in four cases in Spain, Poland, Sweden, and the UK. The diversity and geographical distribution of the demo cases will ensure the validation under different climates, construction typologies and socio-economic environments. The demo case owners, as members of the consortium, will facilitate a rapid uptake of the results to be implemented in their large portfolios immediately after the completion of the project. Moreover, the involvement of heritage authorities and partnership with ICOMOS and INTBAU will ensure trust and widespread replication.

There are strong links between urban sustainability and public health, with citizens’ understanding of them growing and policy makers increasingly focused on their connections. Air quality is a principal example of this and one for which better measurement can support both advocacy by citizens themselves and test out interventions to protect and improve health.

Outdoor air quality is getting better in Glasgow, but there are still challenges in some parts of the city. Detailed information on air quality across the city is provided in annual reports by the Council, which can be accessed here, and real-time updates on air quality are provided on the Scottish Air Quality website. This project will generate both new data and new insights for the Council and its partners, which will help to:

• Inform policy and practice
• Further enhance local understanding of air quality for citizens and organisations
• Shape interventions and measure their effectiveness – particularly across place and transport planning.

The Council acknowledges that its awareness of indoor air quality issues needs improvement and the data on which it could base policy decisions is currently lacking. This project will provide a significant improvement to that situation. Glasgow’s housing stock varies across the city in age, building type and thermal efficiency. This project will help to explore how indoor air quality can inform multiple policy fields, especially in relation to public health, placemaking and emissions reductions. It will be the first time that an integrated approach to both indoor and outdoor air quality has been taken by the city and therefore offers residents and policy-makers a significant opportunity to improve urban quality of life.

NHS Scotland Assure, £377783 (£127,581.97 UoS) 1/3/24 24 Months.

Project aims

The SENSE-HEALTH project’s primary objective is to evaluate and make accessible real-time monitoring of longitudinal indicators of ventilation in hospitals (e.g. CO2) in order to heighten awareness, inform decision making and support action to improve indoor air quality (IAQ), and thus indirectly reduce risk of infections to staff and patients.

Research questions

1. Environmental IAQ sensing: How may CO2, temperature, humidity be reliably and effectively monitored in naturally ventilated spaces in hospital environments? How does CO2 vary over time in clinical and non-clinical areas of a hospital and how does this relate to ventilation?
2. Co-designing an intervention using sensing data: How can this data be used to identify areas of concern, interventions to improve ventilation, decision making, and implement these interventions amongst different stakeholder groups based on CO2 sensor data?
3. Implementing and testing an intervention using sensing data: Are the identified interventions effective at improving IAQ? How may this inform a programme of CO2 monitoring and protocol for action in improving indoor air quality?