Foams for living architecture

The principal investigator will be Professor AJ Ryan who is currently the Pro Vice Chancellor for the Faculty of Science and was until recently the ICI Professor of Physical Chemistry and Director of the Sheffield Polymer Centre. He has published over 250 papers in refereed journals, 1 co-authored book, 2 edited books, 6 book chapters, 6 review articles, 60 conference proceedings and 10 patents. His international standing is recognised by more than 20 invited talks at international conferences and 34 papers that have received more than 50 citations each. He was awarded prizes in 1990 by the Plastics and Rubber Institute, 1999 from the Polymer Processing Society, in 1992, 1999 and 2003 from the Royal Society of Chemistry and in 2008 from the Society of Dyers & Colourists and The Royal Medical Society. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE for services to science . He runs a substantial research group and has been PI on 16 and Co-I on 19 EPSRC grants as well as holding grants from BBSRC, NESTA and the EU. His current EPSRC portfolio includes PI on a Feasibility Account, PI on a Nanotechnology Grant Challenge for Energy, Co-I on a Nanotechnology Grant Challenge for Health and Co-I on two Platform grants. He has received substantial funding from a wide range of industry and currently has 4 PhD students from Akzo-Nobel and Dow Chemicals.The individual group members each possess a long track record of innovative research and commercial development that has yielded outcomes with a high impact value. Although each group member currently enjoys individual success, they all firmly believe that the major challenges that society currently faces can only be addressed through a process of inter-disciplinary working. Herein we describe a multi-disciplinary project that seeks to develop a novel technology that would form the basis of a lightweight, modular green roof or wall. This three layer system will contain a waterproof base that will provide support whilst also preventing root penetration into the underlying building. A lightweight, porous polyurethane polymer will sit atop the base. This will provide a network of channels that will support root growth whilst also retaining the nutrients that are required for plant growth. The final layer will take the form of a vegetative mat that will be seeded with plant species that will be carefully selected to ensure optimal growth either in the wall or roof scenario. The whole system will take the form of a module that could be easily transported and combined with other modules to cover large areas. The weight saving of the polymer foam over traditional substrates will also allow retrofitting of this technology to buildings that cannot support current heavier green roof systems. The proposed system would represent a significant advancement in the area of Green Roof/Wall technology.The project will see contributions from a group of senior academics that are drawn from the Faculties of Science and Engineering at the University of Sheffield (as the lead institution) who will work alongside colleagues from Farapack Polymers Limited, Europolymers (GB) Limited and Lindum Seeded Turf Limited. This group has formed during the previous 3 years following a series of highly successful collaborations. The combination of partners means the group possesses both the technical knowledge to perform the fundamental research whilst also being ideally placed to produce a technology that is commercially viable.

In the UK, buildings are responsible for 44% of CO2 emissions. A high proportion of these emissions are from heating and cooling the internal environment. Reducing the energy consumption of the UK's buildings will reduce their contribution to climate change. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change have stated that buildings provide some of the greatest, most cost effective and fastest opportunities to tackle climate change. Green roofs can significantly reduce the cooling load of a building, resulting in reduced air cooling requirements and therefore reduced energy consumption and associated output of atmospheric carbon dioxide. An estimated 24,000 UK citizens die every year from air pollution. Moreover, air quality is substantially worse in densely populated urban areas. Green roofs can improve local air quality through mitigating the urban heat island effect, thereby reducing the production of ozone. Having a living roof can also help to remove airborne particles, heavy metals and volatile organic compounds from the local atmosphere. These contaminants are retained by the green roof itself and so their infiltration into the water system through surface runoff is reduced, improving local water quality As urbanisation increases, ensuring that biodiversity is retained is a key requirement for local councils and public bodies under the Biodiversity Duty which is a requirement of The Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act. It requires all public bodies to have regard to biodiversity conservation when carrying out their functions. This is commonly referred to as the 'biodiversity duty'. (Natural England) Whilst green roofs do not directly replace ground-based habitats and are not part of a ground level 'green corridor', they can be thought of as green 'stepping stones' for wildlife, and, if well planned, can cater for a variety of flora and fauna unattainable on traditional roofs. Green roof installation in Germany saw activity worth 245m last year, accounting for around half of European green roof sales. A simple comparison of overall construction activity between the UK and Germany implies a potential market in the UK worth 150m. In the US, the market has grown by more than 30% in each of the last two years (www.greenroofs.org), demonstrating how rapidly such potential can be achieved. However, it is important to note that the widespread introduction of current technologies is hindered by their weight. This challenge would be addressed by the successful development of the proposed technology, thereby creating additional market opportunities. The introduction of the proposed technology would therefore strengthen the economic performance of the manufacturing sector within the United Kingdom and provide a competitive advantage in the emerging Green Roof/Wall market. The group members, both individually and in the form of various partnerships, have a wealth of experience in the engagement of major stakeholder groups. These experiences vary from a diverse portfolio of Public Engagement activities through to the development of novel technologies that have subsequently reached the market place. Several of these technologies are currently undergoing the process of commercialisation under the guidance of our colleagues at Fusion IP. It is the intention of the group that the technology proposed within this project would follow a similar trajectory. The importance of end-user engagement in the development of commercially viable technologies is acknowledged in the composition of the group itself. We believe the combination of academic and commercial partners will dramatically reduce the time required to convert the fundamental research into a commercially viable product. The success of this project would highlight the benefits of engaging in knowledge transfer activities to colleagues in both sectors.