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 School's sustainability research theme 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.
People
Prof. D'Maris Coffman
D'Maris's profile
d.coffman@ucl.ac.uk
Prof. Priti Parikh
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.
- and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Farming in South African Low-Income Settlements: A Case Study in Durban.
Priti's profile.
priti.parikh@ucl.ac.uk
Prof. Zhifu Mi
Zhifu’s research focuses on climate change economics, energy policy and input-output analysis.
Dr Niamh Murtagh
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.
Niamh's profile
n.murtagh@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Aeli Roberts
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.
Aeli's profile
a.roberts@ucl.ac.uk
Angeliki (Marilina) Toli
Angeliki is a PhD candidate at the School of Construction and Project Management. Her research focuses on exploring the shared intentionality of smart city actors by using the service ecosystems framework.
Angeliki's profile
angeliki.toli.15@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Jing Meng
Dr 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.
Jing's profile.
jing.j.meng@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Lusi Morhayim
Relevant publications
- Communicating Sustainability: A Post-Occupancy Evaluation of the David Brower Center.
- From Counterpublics to Counterspaces: Bicyclists’ Efforts to Reshape the Cities.
- Sick Building Syndrome in a University Building – An Educational Survey.
Dr Nikodem Szumilo
Relevant publications
Nikodem's profile
n.szumilo@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Carlos Galera-Zarco
Dr Carlos Galera-Zarco is currently working in projects around the interplay of technology and sustainability, green practices and green services.
Relevant publications
- Exploring Servitization in Industrial Construction: A Sustainable Approach.
- Unleashing the potential of digital twin in offering green services.
View Carlos's profile.
c.galerazarco@ucl.ac.uk
Dr Heran Zheng
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.
Dr Natalya Sergeeva
Relevant publications
- Sustainability: inclusive storytelling to aid sustainable development goals
- The contested privileging of zero carbon: plausibility, persuasiveness and professionalism.
- Narratives of innovation that address climate change agenda in the construction sector.
Natalya's profile.
n.sergeeva@ucl.ac.uk
Yiming Xiang
Yiming Xiang is a PhD candidate at the Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction. His research focuses on carbon optimisation in the prefabricated constructions.
Relevant publications
- 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.
Yiming's profile.
yiming.xiang.20@ucl.ac.uk
Resources
Introducing The Bartlett School of Sustainable Construction (Video)
