Sustainability in the built environment
Our research on sustainability addresses aspects of environmental, social and economic sustainability – from the psychology of pro-environmental behaviour to smart cities to sustainable development.
Overview
The sustainability research theme at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction (BSSC) cuts across all areas of our research. The term ‘sustainability’ encompasses a broad range of topics relating to environmental, social and economic objectives.
Research interests within this theme are similarly broad, and include sustainable behaviour, climate change economics, building information modelling (BIM), sustainable cities and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. We apply a variety of disciplinary perspectives to sustainability-related questions including environmental psychology, management, economics and construction research.
Introducing BSSC (Video)
Watch the video below to find out more about us.
Projects
At the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction we lead on a broad range of projects, all furthering academic research in sustainability in the built environment. Current and previous projects include:
This project examines how resilience can be fostered in almshouse communities.
This project explores how front gardens help make a city more liveable.
Resources
Explore our resources on sustainability in the built environment, ranging from accessible summaries of our research projects to in depth peer-reviewed research papers published in academic journals.
Sustainability resources
Our resources on sustainability in the built environment.
See our resourcesPro-Environmental Behaviour Change
The handbook on Pro-Environmental Behaviour Change. Edited collection by Birgitta Gatersleben and Niamh Murtagh.
Explore the handbookPeople
See who is involved in sustainability research across BSSC below.
Relevant projects
- Sanitation and SDGs – Global Mapping
- ToolSanDurban
- WaterAid SDG's
- Climate justice and carbon footprinting - COP27
Relevant publications
- Localisation of links between sanitation and the Sustainable Development Goals to inform municipal policy in eThekwini Municipality, South Africa
- Accelerating progress towards the SDGs: Collaborative policymaking in sanitation for integrated benefits in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Electricity access in Uganda’s slums: multi-stakeholder perspectives from Kampala
- Synergies and trade-offs between sanitation and the sustainable development goals
- Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban
Zhifu’s research focuses on climate change economics, energy policy and input-output analysis.
Niamh's current research is examining change towards sustainability in the construction industry. Focusing on the people associated with production of the built environment, from architects in small practices, small builders, building control surveyors to householders, she has investigated the role of intrinsic motivations, professional identity, social power and personal strengths in engagement with sustainability.
Aeli's current research interests are in how changing attitudes may impact on the amount of carbon generated by buildings in use. She is also involved in research looking at the provision of basic eco design training to construction manufacturing SMEs.
Angeliki was a PhD candidate at the School of Construction and Project Management. Her research focused on exploring the shared intentionality of smart city actors by using the service ecosystems framework.
Professor Jing Meng is on a mission to enable decarbonisation and sustainable development in emerging economies with newly built inventories, models and trackable policies. Her research projects include building emission inventories at regional level (especially emerging economies) and plant level, developing cost-effective decarbonisation pathways and evaluating the co-benefits of climate change mitigation.
Dr Carlos Galera-Zarco is currently working in projects around the interplay of technology and sustainability, green practices and green services.
Relevant publications
Dr Heran Zheng's research focuses on city-level supply chain modelling, carbon footprint accounting, low carbon transition for cities, and sustainable production and consumption.
Relevant publications
- Large inter-city inequality in consumption-based CO2 emissions for China's pearl river basin cities
- Entropy-based Chinese city-level MRIO table framework
- Ageing society in developed countries challenges carbon mitigation
- Estimating CO2 emissions for 108 000 European cities
- Mapping Carbon and Water Networks in the North China Urban Agglomeration
Yiming Xiang was a PhD candidate at The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. His research focused on carbon optimisation in the prefabricated constructions.
Relevant publications
- Carbon emissions optimisation in prefabrication construction: A review of current design integrated approaches
- Active–passive combined energy-efficient retrofit of rural residence with non-benchmarked construction: A case study in Shandong province, China.
- Embodied carbon determination in the transportation stage of prefabricated constructions: A micro-level model using the bin-packing algorithm and modal analysis model.
Research projects
At The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction, we have a range of research projects. Explore our current projects and project areas.
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