Buildings & Sustainability group
Group Coordinator: Professor Malcolm Bell, Head of CeBE
About the research group
In pursuing the sustainability agenda, the group has maintained a broad intellectual front. This has ranged from theoretical and strategic explorations of climate change targets and their implications for the design and management of the built environment, to detailed empirical work on the potential for carbon emission reductions in new and existing housing and the practical policies that would be required to achieve such potential. The group has developed considerable expertise in the assessment of the design and construction of housing at a highly detailed and forensic level. They have developed graphic database approaches to gathering, storing and analysing qualitative data during design and construction processes. The techniques they have developed are very powerful and help us to understand the impact of design and construction on carbon performance. In addition, the group are continuing to develop test methodologies that enable them to relate performance testing and monitoring to design and construction as well as use. The forensic approach adopted has enabled the group not only to measure performance but also provide a detailed analysis of those factors that have contributed to the performance pattern observed. In short, the research of the group is focused on understanding carbon emissions from built environment systems and how those systems work in reality at all levels from the strategic to the detailed. Ultimately, it will be how buildings actually perform that will determine whether the built environment becomes sustainable. In pursuing its objectives the group has developed a number of research themes, which are summarised below.
Theme 1 explores the wide range of issues raised by the long-term constraints placed on the built environment by the need to contain climate change, with particular reference to meeting the demands for an 80% reduction in carbon emissions by 2050 and the specific challenges of meeting the Government targets for zero carbon housing by 2016 and other buildings by 2019.
Theme 2 deals with theoretical and empirical research on energy and environmental performance standards for housing and other building types. Much of this has revolved around work, funded by the Department for Communities and Local Government, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation (JRF), Local Government and other social housing providers and the building industry. The findings of much of the research in this theme have been influential in the current Government review Part L of the Building Regulations (2010 and 2013) and work is continuing with a number of important field trials funded by the JRF and industry. The results of the group’s work, in general and the Stamford Brook field trial, in particular, are shaping the agenda for future Building Regulations and policies aimed at the development of zero carbon housing by 2016.
Theme 3 focuses on strategies for the development of higher energy and environmental performance within the existing housing stock. Work in this area has included housing refurbishment field trials and policy-orientated work on housing energy efficiency strategies in Local Authorities. A recently approved £2M EPSRC/EoN project to be undertaken in collaboration with 6 other Universities will explore the interactions between carbon emissions in existing dwellings, the technology (fabric and services), the requirements of occupants for comfort and the extent to which users can both meet their comfort needs and reduce their carbon emissions.
Much of the work in themes 2 and 3 involves the adoption of action research approaches that seek to ensure as closer a relationship as possible between research and practice. This relationship is considered to be crucial since it ensures that the work is grounded in what happens in practice and enables a direct root for knowledge exchange between academics and practitioners.
The profile of the Buildings, Energy & Sustainability cluster has risen sharply in recent years, as evidenced by requests from industry for research, invitations to cluster members to serve on government review groups, lead seminars, participate in workshops and appraise national and international research proposals and publications.The group’s research into the thermal bypass process evident in cavity party walls and other construction elements earned a runner-up position in the 2007 Carbon Trust Innovation Awards (Academic Institutions Category). This work is also influencing the approach to modelling heat loss from dwellings and associated design guidance.
The group have a strategic partnership with the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, University College London through a memorandum of collaboration and also work with other university research groups.
Projects & Publications
Current Projects
CCC – Carbon, Control and Comfort
User-centred control systems for comfort, carbon-saving and energy management.
Temple Avenue Project
Evaluation of design & construction process and measurement of fabric performance of 2 prototype dwellings and the refurbishment of 1 existing dwelling.
Elm Tree Mews
The Elm Tree Mews field trial - Joseph Rowntree Foundation Project Ref No. 805319
Low Carbon Housing Learning Zone
The development of a Low Carbon Housing Learning Zone residing within Leeds Metropolitan University’s Virtual Site
Harrogate Heat Pumps
Evaluation of Heat Pump Installations: Extracting Meaning from Existing Data Sets
Eurisol Study
Study to investigate Solutions to the Cavity Party Wall Thermal Bypass
Stamford Brook Retrospective
The Stamford Brook Energy Performance Project
Completed Projects
Low Carb 4 Real
Developing Low Carbon Housing; Lessons from the field - UrbanBuzz Project
Stamford Brook
Evaluating the Impact of an Enhanced Energy Performance Standard on Load-bearing Masonry Domestic Construction Partners in Innovation CI 39/3/663 - BD2324
Review of the implementation of Part L 2006
A retrospective view of the working of Part L 2006 to inform the 2010 edition. BD 2702
Air Tightness of Buildings - Towards Higher Performance
Domestic sector airtightness (C1 61/6/16 BD2429)
Fabric Insulation – (Project L1)
Ways of further raising performance standards for all types of building fabric. (CI 71/6/15 BD2428)
Flood Resilient Construction
Improving the Flood Resilience of Buildings through Improved Materials Methods and Details
Condensation Risk
Impact of Improvement to Part L & Robust Details on Part C. (CI 71/6/1 BD2414)
St. Nicholas Court
A Trial of Dwelling Energy Performance Standards for 2008
Derwentside
A Field Trial of Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery in Local Authority, Low Rise Housing
York Energy Demonstration Project
Energy Efficient Modernisation of Housing: A UK Case Study
Project Posters
Other Publications
| Lowe R & Bell M (1998) Towards Sustainable Housing: building regulation for the 21st century. A report prepared for the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. Leeds Metropolitan University. This report identified a range of technical, regulatory and policy developments to be pursued to secure a significant reduction in energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions from dwellings as part of the 2000 & 2005 Building Regulations reviews.Many of the issues raised are just as relevant now as they were when this was published, 10 years ago. |
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Bell M & Lowe R (1999)
Sustainability and the Development of an Energy Efficient Housing Stock: a review of some theoretical issues. In The Challenge of Change: Construction and Building for the new Millennium. Edited by D Baldry and L Ruddock. Proceedings of the Construction and Building Research Conference. University of Salford Sept 1999. London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Bell M & Overend P (2001)
Building regulation and energy efficiency in timber frame housing. In COBRA 2001 Proc. Of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference. Edited by John Kelly and Kirsty Hunter, Glasgow Caledonian University, 3-5 September 2001, London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors
Bell M (2004)
Energy Efficiency in Existing Building: The Role of Building Regulations. In COBRA 2004 Proc. Of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference. Edited by Robert Ellis and Malcolm Bell, London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Gardner A & Bell M (2004)
Andrew Gardner and Malcolm Bell (2004) Energy Efficiency in Housing: An Evaluation of the importance of increased wall thickness on housing developments. In COBRA 2004 Proc. Of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference. Edited by Robert Ellis and Malcolm Bell, London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Johnston D, Miles Shenton D, Wingfield J & Bell M (2004)
Airtightness of UK Dwellings: some recent measurements. In COBRA 2004 Proc. Of the RICS Foundation Construction and Building Research Conference. Edited by Robert Ellis and Malcolm Bell, London, Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.
Bell M (2005)
Learning to Tango: Sustainable Development and the Multidisciplinary Dream. In the conference proceedings of The 2005 World Sustainable Building Conference, Tokyo, 27-29 September 2005. http://www.sb05.com
Wingfield J, Johnston D, Miles-Shenton D & Bell M (2010)
Whole House Heat Loss Test Method (Coheating). Centre for the Built Environment, Leeds Metropolitan University