Recent Design and Building Physics Posts

Across our research programme, the teams are looking for increasing amounts of monitored building performance data. But what is this monitored data and why do we want it? Let’s take a look at this in a bit more detail, and why it is important in enabling the UK’s transition to net zero.

Several regulations and standards have been developed worldwide in order to deal with the energy performance of buildings. But do these push things forward enough to make sure we will hit our national net zero target by 2050? According to industry experts, the answer is “no” and the lack of clarity is hindering our transition to a net zero future.

As we try to progress towards net-zero, there is something that stands out rather clearly: buildings matter. Their current energy and carbon footprint are tremendous, yet they have such a potential to become a positive force for change that there can be no net-zero by 2050 without their decarbonisation. How could we then support delivering positive impact?

As building performance data becomes more pervasive, there are opportunities to improve how we design the net-zero carbon buildings of the future. At Loughborough University, we are utilising real-world data to create a new model that will improve how buildings and, more importantly, communities of buildings, can be designed.

As the UK’s built environment evolves, could a new building code that can standardise the design and development of Active Buildings accelerate their impact on carbon reduction targets? Our Active Building Code aims to give an answer, providing guidance on shaping the next generation of buildings.