2022
January. Denis Jahic presented at the 5th SuRBe seminar of the 2021/22 academic year on his Knowledge Economy Skills Scholarship II funded PhD research project entitled ‘Developing guidance for the management of Government funded dwelling retrofit programs, for improved occupant quality of life’, in collaboration with Melin Homes.
Dr Joanna Clarke was awarded her Professional Doctorate in Sustainable Built Environment entitled ‘Investigating and Developing Tools to Enable Adoption of the Active Building Concept for Low-Energy, Low-Carbon Buildings’, funded by and for SPECIFIC, Swansea University.
2021
July. A number of our research students have had papers accepted for presentation at two conferences in 2021: SEB21 and SEEDS21. Research students undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Sustainable Built Environment (DSBE) and Engineering (DEng) include Adam West, Phil Grant, Evan Owen-Powell, and Rahma Adan-Hagi, and research students undertaking a PhD include Francesco Zaccaro, Tansy Duncan, and Uthayan Thurairajah. Adam’s paper is entitled ‘An Introduction to The Development of an Organisational sustainability Strategy for a Housing Association in Wales, UK’, for his DSBE project undertaken/co-funded with and by Coastal Housing Group. Phil’s paper is entitled ‘An Exploration of the Relationships Between Architectural Delight and Human Senses’ for his DSBE project undertaken/co-funded with and by Stride Treglown Architecture & Design Practice. Evan’s paper is entitled ‘Using local and traditional building techniques to develop, implement and test a new Building Code protocol for the Caribbean, enabling resilience from the challenges of climate change reality’, for his DSBE project undertaken/co-funded with and by Owen-Powell Ltd . Rahm’s paper is entitled ‘A methodology for assessing the impact of enhanced energy performance standards on the thermal performance of masonry construction dwellings, in the United Arab Emirates’, for her DEng project undertaken as part of her role as a Lecturer and Researcher for United Emirates University. Francesco’s paper is entitled ‘A Numerical Investigation of Repeating Thermal Bridges from Metal Fasteners in Offsite Manufactured Timber Frame Closed Panels, for Exterior Walls’ for his PhD project undertaken/co-funded with and by Woodknowledge Wales and KESS2. Tansy’s paper is entitled ‘A methodology for assessing satisfaction levels in affordable housing in Wales’ for her PhD project undertaken/co-funded with and by Wates Residential, Cardiff Council and KESS2 for the Cardiff Living project. Uthayan paper is entitled ‘A Proposed Method to Pre-qualify Aa Wireless Moni-toring And Control System for Outdoor Lighting to Re-duce Energy Use, Light Pollution, and Carbon Emissions’ for his PhD project undertaken/co-funded with and by WSP Canada.
June. Joanna Clarke who is undertaking a Professional Doctorate in Sustainable Built Environment has written her 59th Active Architecture Blog, celebrating 10 years of SPECIFIC.
Professor Lloyd Scott, Head Knowledge in Sustainable Construction Research Group at The Technological University of Dublin gave a presentation entitled ‘Addressing Sustainability: The Case for Higher Rise Construction in Ireland’ at the 14th SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Lloyd is also Professor of Practice in the College of Architecture at the University of Oklahoma, USA; Professor (Adjunct) at Nelson Mandela University, South Africa; and Professor in the Sustainable Design School, Université Côte D’Azur.
Joanna Clarke, SPECIFIC’s Design Manager at Swansea University gave a presentation entitled ‘Development and Testing of a Protocol and Toolkit to aid the Design of Low-Energy Active Buildings: Project Summary’, at the 13th SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Joanna is undertaking a DSBE research project and supervised by staff from the SuRBe group entitled ‘Development and Testing of an Active Building Protocol and Toolkit to aid the Design of Low Energy Active Buildings’. Joanna has developed and tested the Active Building Toolkit as part of her DSBE project.
May. Professor Bob Howlett Executive Chair of KES International gave a presentation entitled ‘Smart microgrids and integrated energy systems’, at the 12th SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Prof Howlett is one of the supervisors for Assistant Trevor Butler’s PhD entitled ‘How effective are earth to air heat exchangers in tempering outdoor air in the climate zone of interior British Columbia, Canada, to reduce energy use for heating and cooling’, at Athabasca University, Canada, and Adam West DSBE entitled ‘strategies and sustainability – devising and implementing a strategy to support waste reduction, greenhouse gas reduction and biodiversity promotion at a Welsh housing association’ at Coastal Housing Group.
April. Dr Horatiu-Cristian Cojan Founder of Urban Ascension in Romania, gave a presentation entitled ‘The factors that affect the success of North-West European cohousing’, at the 11th SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Dr Cojan undertook his PhD at Cardiff Metropolitan University and was supervised by staff from the SuRBe group and Housing, entitled ‘Urban Design; Cohousing; Community Development; Environmental Design’, graduating in 2017.
Professor Andy Walters Director of the Human Centred Design Global Academy and Director of Research at PDR, gave a presentation entitled ‘The Human Centred Design Global Academy’, at the 10th SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year.
March. Prof George Karani and Dr John Littlewood gave a joint keynote presentation entitled ‘Addressing Challenges and Opportunities through Partnership, to Mitigate against Infection, Pandemics, Climate Change Resulting in Increased Human Resilience and Quality of Life’, at the KES International Covid19 Challenge Virtual Summit.
Kirsten Stevens-Wood, Lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University gave a presentation entitled ‘A Housing Association Led Carbon Sequestration Strategy for a Post Covid19 Resilient and Globally Responsible Wales’ co-authored with Dr John Littlewood and Dr Fausto Sanna from the SuRBe and Intentional Communities research groups. The presentation was to disseminate research from a Get Started research project commenced in 2021, funded by Cardiff Metropolitan University and in collaboration with Cynon Taf Community Housing Group.
Uthayan Thurairajah, Project Manager in Electrical Systems for WSP Canada gave a presentation entitled ‘The Development of a Smart and Sustainable Full-Spectrum LED Lighting Technology to Prevent and Treat Covid-19 Infections, for Society’s Resilience and Quality of Life’ at the KES International Covid19 Challenge Virtual Summit.
Dr John Littlewood Co-Chaired the KES International Covid19 Challenge Virtual Summit, where 24 presentations were given and the extended abstracts published as a Digest. Selected presenters were invited to develop their extended abstracts into book chapters for a volume of Springer’s Advances in Sustainability Science and Technology book series entitled ‘Smart and Sustainable Technology for Resilient Cities and Communities’, to be published in 2022.
Uthayan Thurairajah, Project Manager in Electrical Systems for WSP Canada gave a presentation entitled ‘Light Pollution and Human Health in the Built Environment’, at the ninth SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Uthayan is undertaking a PhD research project and supervised by staff from the SuRBe group entitled ‘A Novel Approach to Controlling Outdoor Light Pollution by Adopting Smart Science and Technology to Improve Residents Quality of Life in the Built Environment’.
Conor Shaw, PhD student at University College Dublin, Ireland, gave a presentation entitled ‘digital design meets bio-based construction techniques, a Finnish case study’, at the eight SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Conor’s PhD is entitled ‘Data fusion for operational optimisation and facility management’ as part of a H2020 project on BIM.
Verity Moorhouse, Design and Manufacturing Engineer and Associate undertaking a KTP with Sevenoaks Modular joined Charlotte Hale, Operations Director at SOM and Dr John Littlewood to give a presentation on the KTP project, at the Chambers Wales ‘Injecting Innovation into your Business’ event; which was attended by 70 people from organisations across Wales.
February. Luke Smith, Managing Director of BuildTest Solutions gave a presentation entitled: ‘The role of building performance measurement in the journey to a net zero built environment’, at the seventh SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. BuildTest Solutions have developed lots of innovative products for measuring the performance of buildings.
Prof George Karani gave a presentation entitled ‘Research partnership case studies, on environmental public health, to improve quality of life’, at the sixth SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Since the start of the Covid19 pandemic Prof Karani has hosted five free online webinars and one international conference for his partners, to share COVID-19 approaches in Qatar, UAE, Nigeria, Kenya and Gambia. Attendees at the events have exceeded 500 people, joining through Zoom.
January. Kirsten Stevens-Wood, whom is undertaking a part-time PhD entitled ‘Experimentality in Intentional Communities’, at Cardiff Metropolitan University gave a presentation entitled ‘An Evaluation of Intentional Communities’, at the fifth SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year.
Dr Gavin Jenkins, Director of Quality and Curriculum at Lincoln College International, gave a presentation entitled ‘Jenkins’ (2018) Collaborative Understanding Theory (CUT), and how it relates to professional practice change in the 21st century’, at the fourth SuRBe Seminar Series of the 2020/21 academic year. Dr Jenkins completed his EdD research project entitled ‘An exploration of the impact a new quality system has on the experiences and academic staff at a Saudi Higher Education Institute’ in 2021, supervised by Dr John Littlewood and Dr Sue Davis.