Refresh: Remodeling Building Design Sustainability from a Human Centered Approach
Lead Research Organisation:
University of Reading
Department Name: Meteorology
Abstract
More than two thirds of the worlds population will be living in cities by 2050, which made sustainable cities a key theme at the Rio+20 Summit. Over 40% of the UK population live their working lives carrying out knowledge work in offices - enclosed spaces in the built environment. Over 40% of the UK's GDP is driven by the knowledge work carried out in these buildings. While these buildings must meet basic environmental and safety standards, building codes are primarily defined around the performance of the physical infrastructure rather than capturing the performance of a person in a building in a city. Indeed, the energy agenda has recently focused on making these work environments as air tight and thus as energy efficient as possible. But what if this energy efficiency is costing our wellbeing, and thus our performance and capacity to contribute to environmental, economic and social sustainability? We are all familiar with working in buildings that are overhot, stuffy and have seemingly no air flow, and how our performance seems to suffer as a result. Yet such environments may be well within building specifications for environmental quality. There is a clear need to be able to quantify the impact of indoor air on human performance and determine what is optimal for quality performance.
We hypothesize that poor indoor environments are the result of approaching building performance on the basis of (1) what is easy to measure (e.g. energy/carbon) and (2) without properly considering effects of the environment on human cognitive performance. Poor design may have such a critical impact on the creativity and innovation required for knowledge work that we need a radical shift in design focus. That radical reconsideration may show that even small changes not just to design, but to the way information about both the building and the person is presented, may significantly improve performance.
The goals of the Refresh project are to put the human at the centre of building performance and to develop new measures and models that better capture the complexity of these interactions. We plan to measure the *dynamic* changes in and around the local environment on human performance in that environment. These measures will give us ways to create new models of building environments that in turn will be available to help inform policy for building quality that takes human wellbeing in these environments into account. These models will also help us to design new kinds of environmental interaction tools. For instance, much current attention is focused on smart meters to encourage us to change our behaviour around energy use. This is a very one-way view of our interaction with a buiding; it's all building to human. What if the building, however, knew something about our state and tasks? Would we be able to present a co-interaction meter that might suggest opening a window or going for a walk to get some air in order to complete a task when we're apparently becoming sluggish?
Our proposal brings together a novel mix of ICT and engineering sciences. As such, our results will affect a range of disciplines. Overall, our research explicitly aims to develop a methodology for assessing indoor climate for human performance as the outdoor microclimate is altered due to a changing neighbourhood. We will discover how dynamic changes may enable us to create not just a sustainable indoor environment, but an indoor environment which sustains. We will enhance the present energy-dominated portfolio of built environment research by taking a holistic view and integrating explicit feedbacks between urban microclimate, ventilation and human performance. Our approach will provide guidance on how to meet energy efficiency targets without compromising productivity.
We hypothesize that poor indoor environments are the result of approaching building performance on the basis of (1) what is easy to measure (e.g. energy/carbon) and (2) without properly considering effects of the environment on human cognitive performance. Poor design may have such a critical impact on the creativity and innovation required for knowledge work that we need a radical shift in design focus. That radical reconsideration may show that even small changes not just to design, but to the way information about both the building and the person is presented, may significantly improve performance.
The goals of the Refresh project are to put the human at the centre of building performance and to develop new measures and models that better capture the complexity of these interactions. We plan to measure the *dynamic* changes in and around the local environment on human performance in that environment. These measures will give us ways to create new models of building environments that in turn will be available to help inform policy for building quality that takes human wellbeing in these environments into account. These models will also help us to design new kinds of environmental interaction tools. For instance, much current attention is focused on smart meters to encourage us to change our behaviour around energy use. This is a very one-way view of our interaction with a buiding; it's all building to human. What if the building, however, knew something about our state and tasks? Would we be able to present a co-interaction meter that might suggest opening a window or going for a walk to get some air in order to complete a task when we're apparently becoming sluggish?
Our proposal brings together a novel mix of ICT and engineering sciences. As such, our results will affect a range of disciplines. Overall, our research explicitly aims to develop a methodology for assessing indoor climate for human performance as the outdoor microclimate is altered due to a changing neighbourhood. We will discover how dynamic changes may enable us to create not just a sustainable indoor environment, but an indoor environment which sustains. We will enhance the present energy-dominated portfolio of built environment research by taking a holistic view and integrating explicit feedbacks between urban microclimate, ventilation and human performance. Our approach will provide guidance on how to meet energy efficiency targets without compromising productivity.
Planned Impact
IMPACT ON KNOWLEDGE includes quantitative evidence for the inter-relationships between people, their buildings and the urban microclimate, a new sustainability framework for buildings, and advances in methods for measuring and modelling physical and human interactions, particularly in dynamic conditions. Impact on People includes but is not limited to the research team and their wider network of collaborations. Investigators will establish a long term research partnerships; PDRA's will gain cross-disciplinary expertise and associated PhD students will be trained in a vibrant new research environment.
IMPACT ON SOCIETY arises through outputs enabling new citizen participation in environment/self-performance interaction and evaluation; it will run through policy and guidance at city and building level, each of which leads to improved workplace environments and long term health and quality of life benefits.
IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY arises through efficiency and innovation. Improvements in productivity benefit individual employers and the wider economy. Outcomes will stimulate technological advancements in areas such as ventilation design, building control and user focused smart devices.
1. Dissemination & collaboration: Impact starts with awareness. Papers in leading journals and conferences (discipline specific and broad challenge areas) will validate our evidence. We will use and build our international research networks to develop methods and build on results; visits to leading groups (e.g. Denmark's National Research Centre for the Working Environment) are in the project plan. Our Advisory Forum offers a route to academic, industry and policy impact as well as building new collaborations; the Forum will be formed at an early stage and participate in the first strategy meeting. Invited national (yr 2) and international workshops (yr 4) will enable targeted dissemination and definition of key future needs.
2. Initiating change: We will conduct our "in-the-wild" studies at the offices of organizations who can themselves act on the research findings both in their own work environment and in what they design for others. Through engagement throughout the project with industry stakeholders who are already established partners (e.g. Arup, Breathing Buildings, Microsoft Research) our work will inform development of key technologies in the green economy: natural ventilation systems, novel mechanical ventilation systems, retrofit services for human performance optimization and innovative IT design to support these interactions for performance. We will use linked PhD and EngD projects to initiate potential technological advances. We will use our networks and our advisory forum to connect to policy/guidance at society (DCLG, DECC) and building specific (CIBSE, BRE, BSRIA) level to set a roadmap for integrating evidence.
3. Advocacy: Through our academic, industry and citizen outreach events, we will inspire researchers and innovators in industry and the public. PhD students will be "fast-tracked" to a research career through training via this high-profile project; UG students will support project work to gain experience of cutting-edge research. We will develop web-based "citizen science" resources to support individuals, students and organizations to test their own environment (i.e. through the International Association for Urban Climate). We will collaborate on material aimed at schools (i.e. through STEMNET) to raise understanding of building/person interaction as well as deploy a highly publicized and innovative on-line national survey of the "state of the nations workplaces". Our final measurement stage will include "open experiments" where we will invite academic groups and workplaces of the nation to participate.
IMPACT ON SOCIETY arises through outputs enabling new citizen participation in environment/self-performance interaction and evaluation; it will run through policy and guidance at city and building level, each of which leads to improved workplace environments and long term health and quality of life benefits.
IMPACT ON THE ECONOMY arises through efficiency and innovation. Improvements in productivity benefit individual employers and the wider economy. Outcomes will stimulate technological advancements in areas such as ventilation design, building control and user focused smart devices.
1. Dissemination & collaboration: Impact starts with awareness. Papers in leading journals and conferences (discipline specific and broad challenge areas) will validate our evidence. We will use and build our international research networks to develop methods and build on results; visits to leading groups (e.g. Denmark's National Research Centre for the Working Environment) are in the project plan. Our Advisory Forum offers a route to academic, industry and policy impact as well as building new collaborations; the Forum will be formed at an early stage and participate in the first strategy meeting. Invited national (yr 2) and international workshops (yr 4) will enable targeted dissemination and definition of key future needs.
2. Initiating change: We will conduct our "in-the-wild" studies at the offices of organizations who can themselves act on the research findings both in their own work environment and in what they design for others. Through engagement throughout the project with industry stakeholders who are already established partners (e.g. Arup, Breathing Buildings, Microsoft Research) our work will inform development of key technologies in the green economy: natural ventilation systems, novel mechanical ventilation systems, retrofit services for human performance optimization and innovative IT design to support these interactions for performance. We will use linked PhD and EngD projects to initiate potential technological advances. We will use our networks and our advisory forum to connect to policy/guidance at society (DCLG, DECC) and building specific (CIBSE, BRE, BSRIA) level to set a roadmap for integrating evidence.
3. Advocacy: Through our academic, industry and citizen outreach events, we will inspire researchers and innovators in industry and the public. PhD students will be "fast-tracked" to a research career through training via this high-profile project; UG students will support project work to gain experience of cutting-edge research. We will develop web-based "citizen science" resources to support individuals, students and organizations to test their own environment (i.e. through the International Association for Urban Climate). We will collaborate on material aimed at schools (i.e. through STEMNET) to raise understanding of building/person interaction as well as deploy a highly publicized and innovative on-line national survey of the "state of the nations workplaces". Our final measurement stage will include "open experiments" where we will invite academic groups and workplaces of the nation to participate.
People |
ORCID iD |
Janet Barlow (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Gough H
(2019)
Assessment of Overheating Risk in Gynaecology Scanning Rooms during Near-Heatwave Conditions: A Case Study of the Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK.
in International journal of environmental research and public health
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Barlow J
(2017)
Developing a Research Strategy to Better Understand, Observe, and Simulate Urban Atmospheric Processes at Kilometer to Subkilometer Scales
in Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Gough H
(2018)
Effects of variability of local winds on cross ventilation for a simplified building within a full-scale asymmetric array: Overview of the Silsoe field campaign
in Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Gough H
(2020)
Evaluating single-sided natural ventilation models against full-scale idealised measurements: Impact of wind direction and turbulence
in Building and Environment
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Snow S
(2019)
Exploring the physiological, neurophysiological and cognitive performance effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentrations indoors
in Building and Environment
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Schraefel M
(2015)
From field to office translating brain-body benefits from sport to knowledge work
in Interactions
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Schraefel M
(2017)
Inbodied Interaction
![publication icon](/resources/img/placeholder-60x60.png)
Gough H
(2019)
Influence of neighbouring structures on building façade pressures: Comparison between full-scale, wind-tunnel, CFD and practitioner guidelines
in Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics
Description | The Refresh project (Universities of Reading, Leeds and Southampton) explores the impact of urban microclimate on building ventilation for optimal performance of occupants. We have used a range of methods (measurements, wind-tunnel modelling, CFD, qualitative interviews, controlled EEG tests) across idealised and realistic buildings to understand better how we respond to poor air quality, and how natural ventilation can help to improve it. 1) Building-microclimate interactions University of Reading researchers completed the Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) at Silsoe, UK, in collaboration with the University of Birmingham. It was the first field study of natural ventilation for an idealised array of cubical "buildings" under realistic weather conditions. Engineering standards often include design data for isolated cubical buildings, which motivated the experiment. The 9 month-long experiment used haybales stacked as cubes to represent buildings surrounding an instrumented test building where ventilation was measured. Pressure coefficients on the buildings were also modelled at the EnFlo wind tunnel laboratory at the University of Surrey. The University of Leeds developed and validated different CFD models against the RCC data for both internal and external flow, and investigated flow around the buildings and its effect on ventilation. Findings were: On ventilation, models and engineering standards: * Cross ventilation rate for the array case was reduced by 50-90% compared to the isolated building when the wind was within ± 50° of being perpendicular to the window. * Single-sided ventilation models, commonly used for design, underestimate the RCC field data by a factor of 10-20. Levels of turbulence are much higher for the RCC experiments than previous work - results suggest that turbulence can enhance ventilation rate when window size is relatively small (1% of wall area). This is a typical situation for buildings in dense urban areas. * CFD simulation using OpenFoam (LES) and Fluent (RANS) compared reasonably well with RCC data and CIBSE standards in terms of pressure coefficients. Ventilation rates agreed within the spread of the RCC data, with cross ventilation easier to predict than single-sided. * When comparing traditional methods of ventilation measurements, tracer gas results underestimate compared to pressure-based results. This is more the case for single-sided ventilation than cross ventilation and is dependent on wind direction. * Pressure coefficients from wind-tunnel, CFD data and engineering standards data tended to underestimate the full-scale RCC test cube data. For the array case, RCC results did not agree with the standard data for individual building facets as the building layout is asymmetrical. However, the data for the pressure drop across the building agreed better. On microclimate and flow: * Flow patterns around a building surrounded by buildings (the "array case") can switch between different states for the same background wind direction. This is due to complex interactions between building wakes and can lead to errors in predicted ventilation rates. * Unsteady CFD simulations showed that an internal jet appeared for most wind angles for cross ventilation for the isolated building. For the array case, the internal jet was very weak; however, internal mixing seemed to be improved by the influence of unsteady flow outside the window. * CFD simulation using a lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) running on a GPU showed good agreement with Fluent simulations and RCC data. As LBM simulations are almost 10,000 times quicker, this shows promise for real-time flow simulation in the future which will aid building design. 2) Human-building interactions Work was led by the University of Southampton on how people respond to poor indoor air quality (IAQ), and how technology could help them. A study was done to understand the social determinants of Indoor Environmental Quality in offices by conducting semi-structured interviews with occupants. * Office environments were identified by occupants as being poor sometimes (ie too hot/cold, stuffy). Adjustments to windows, thermostats, radiators were made through negotiation with others, especially those who "owned" windows by sitting next to them. Other "gate-keepers" included building managers who adjusted the environment heating or ventilation. A controlled experiment, testing the effect of "fresh" (low CO2 concentrations) and "stale" air (high CO2 concentrations) on cognitive performance, was done at the University of Southampton. EEG was used to monitor brain state and was as an objective measure of sleepiness. Other physiological, psychological and Sick Building Syndrome factors were also monitored. * Cognitive performance was affected even after short exposures (<40 minutes) to high CO2, more so in people who were already sleepy. As there was no other measurable effect on participants, this suggests that poor indoor air quality can impact cognitive performance of office-workers prior to them being aware of it. IAQ feedback displays could assist people in changing their work environment for the better. Understanding and optimising the measurement of indoor environments, and linking these with models and human data was carried out by all three partners. A device recording and displaying CO2 and relative humidity levels ("The Aether") was designed at the University of Southampton and trialled in offices. Based on the finding that IEQ is partly socially negotiated, the device needed to be visible to all - a "situated technology", like a clock on the wall. Through the EEG experiments the University of Reading evaluated the performance of IAQ sensors in an office environment and used this data together with external weather data to analyse the local flow and ventilation characteristics inside and around the test office. A wireless sensor network to map CO2 in real-time at multiple locations in a room was developed at the University of Leeds, and is now being used in a follow on project. * A simple IAQ feedback device achieved straightforward sense-making, where participants understood the relationship between its readings, air quality, and the need to ventilate the room. Positive design features were its focus on only one indoor pollutant (CO2) and its minimal cues (simple traffic light display colours). |
Exploitation Route | Ventilation results are of potential interest to engineering consultants, architects and building service engineers who design ventilation systems for buildings or building layout/design in city redevelopment plans. Results will also be of interest to emergency responders in the case of contaminant ingress in buildings. Human-Building Interaction results are of interest to Human Computer Interaction practitioners and occupants and building managers making the most of existing buildings. Another aspect of the project has been to contribute to a new area of Human Computer Interaction, becoming known as "Inbodied Interaction" where fundamental research about how the state of the body affects cognitive performance is contributing not only foundations for interaction but to our understandings of human performance. This work has informed the development of several international workshops in leading computer science venues (cited in publications) like ACH SIGCHI (2019, 2019) and UIST 2019 |
Sectors | Aerospace, Defence and Marine,Construction,Energy,Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
URL | http://www.refresh-project.org.uk/ |
Description | A number of activities have happened to facilitate impact from the project. Outcomes from the Refresh Cube Campaign at Silsoe on natural ventilation and associated wind tunnel and CFD modelling have been shared with a range of academics, practitioners and policy makers including: · Croucher Advanced Study Institute on Urban Climate (Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dec 2015, Barlow). Urban ventilation has been of great concern in HK since the 2003 SARS outbreak, when it was discovered that it had an airborne pathway, and therefore design and layout of buildings should promote access for all to fresh air. Collaboration with CUHK is ongoing, and a pathway to impact is via the Air Ventilation Assessment policy in place in HK, one of only two cities world-wide to directly take into account urban ventilation in the planning process. · In the UK contact has been made with Public Health England, BRE, the Chartered Institute for Building Services Engineers, the UK Wind Engineering Society, and a number of consultancy and architectural companies (including Arup, Fosters and Partners) who are all interested in the project. Through this engagement we have identified that the research findings may be relevant in future natural ventilation guidance (e.g. CIBSE), and we are actively exploring this. The Refresh project was a key driver in the establishment of the Low Energy Ventilation Network, a UK Fluids Network SIG, which brings together researchers and practitioners with an interest in the fluid dynamics aspects of ventilation. The network co-lead is Noakes and Barlow is on the management committee. Barlow is also a committee member for the UK Fluids Network Urban Flows SIG, and has been instrumental in setting up a new database for sharing urban flow data sets, which will include outputs from the Silsoe field campaign (Barlow). Noakes is PI and Barlow is co-I on the new NERC funded "Future Urban Ventilation Network" (2020-2023) which focuses on ventilation of buildings and how it impacts indoor air quality. The network's prime goal is to engage academics, practitioners and policy-makers. Since April 2020 Noakes has served on the UK Government Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), and has given key advice on building ventilation for infection control during the Covid-19 pandemic. Work on both the natural ventilation analysis and sensors have enabled collaboration with the EPSRC Grand Challenge MAGIC project (lead Prof Paul Linden, Cambridge). This includes researcher forum meetings to share expertise on modelling and measurement techniques, participation in wind tunnel experiments and full scale urban flow measurements of the MAGIC test site in London, and collaboration on measurement of CO2 distributions in ventilated rooms and comparison of sensors. A wireless sensor network developed through Refresh is being using in this later collaboration, and is now being developed for application in hospital environments through the HECOIRA project (EP/P023312/1) |
First Year Of Impact | 2014 |
Sector | Environment,Government, Democracy and Justice |
Impact Types | Policy & public services |
Description | Consultation for overheating in buildings for local maternity department |
Geographic Reach | Local/Municipal/Regional |
Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
Impact | Executive summary High internal temperatures (24-30 oC) during the summer months within the Maternity and Gynaecology Building ultrasound scanning rooms are a risk to both patients and staff, with both reporting feeling unwell and/or fainting as a result. Throphon EPR disinfectant units also come with manufacturer advice as to not to operate the units over 27 oC. Tristel wipes are also heat-sensitive, with manufacturers stating that they should not be heated (no specific temperatures given) as they may release fumes, which have been reported by staff to make them feel ill, with their use being discontinued as a result. Current actions through the heatwave plan (NHS Royal Berkshire Foundation Trusts Ad- verse weather guidelines) are not adequate to keep the areas at comfortable temperature levels and mean that the area should not be considered a refuge to vulnerable patients as per heatwave guidelines. This is only likely to continue with climate change unless long-term mitigating ac- tions are taken. The area itself is uncomfortably warm for staff and patients outside of declared heatwaves, suggesting that mitigating actions should be undertaken across the entire summer period and not just under heatwave conditions. Temperatures within scanning rooms peak at 15:00 due to higher external temperatures and the inability to rid the room of waste heat, due to patient privacy. Temperatures of 24- 28 oC (max 30 oC) frequently occur in the scanning rooms without air-conditioning, in some cases being higher than the outdoor temperature, leaving patients at risk of dehydration and heat-stroke, especially if extended waits occur due to overrunning or emergency situations. Whilst low-carbon and low-energy solutions would be ideal, natural ventilation cannot be implemented within the scanning rooms due to the central location within the building. Short- term solutions are to allow the area purchase portable air-conditioning units to allow specific areas of high heat to be tackled on demand. The use of in-situ air-conditioning within one of the scanning rooms highlights the long-term effectiveness of the installation of air-conditioning, though this requires significant investment and an investment in maintenance is critical. A cool room set up throughout the summer period and not just during PHE declared heatwaves would also improve conditions. Other solutions include: the use of desk fans to increase air circulation, improved patient awareness of the effects of the heatwave and ensuring that patients are advised to bring water and fans to appointments. A more rapid response to changing weather conditions from central estates services or installed provision for localised occupant control would be invaluable to improving patient and staff safety during heatwave conditions. |
Description | Croucher Advanced Study Institute, Dec 2015, Hong Kong |
Geographic Reach | Asia |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
URL | http://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/asi2015/en/Home/news.htm |
Description | Urban Physics summer school (2013, 2014, 2015) |
Geographic Reach | Multiple continents/international |
Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
Impact | Training that I provided through the Urban Physics summer school, based on data and results from the ACTUAL project, has led to contact with a member of the Singapore Institute for High Performance Computing, a government laboratory. This has led to an invitation to speak at a subsequent workshop in Singapore in April 2016 at which government scientists, policy makers and academics will be present. The focus is a project to improve national weather forecasts for Singapore and improved modelling of urban climate for climate change adaptation purposes. |
URL | http://sts.bwk.tue.nl/windengineering/Urban_Physics_2013.htm |
Description | Breathing City: Future Urban Ventilation Network |
Amount | £507,945 (GBP) |
Funding ID | NE/V002082/1 |
Organisation | Natural Environment Research Council |
Sector | Public |
Country | United Kingdom |
Start | 09/2020 |
End | 08/2023 |
Title | 30 minute averaged overview data from the Silsoe Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) |
Description | All 30 minute averaged data taken during the Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) at Silsoe using the 6 m^3 test structure at the site and eight other 6 m^3 straw cubes undertaken as part of the PhD work of Gough (2017) and forms the full-scale experiments of the REFRESH project. The data-set is split into two sections: an isolated cube and the array case with three different opening set-ups being undertaken for both array and isolated. The array was in place October 2014 to April 2015, and the cube was isolated from May 2015 to July 2015. Details of the experimental set-ups are available in publications. The data contained within this document are 30 minute averaged and quality controlled using code previously used for the ACTUAL project. The data set contains wind speeds, wind directions, internal and external temperatures, surface pressures, CO_2 concentrations and ventilation rates calculated from the pressure difference methods. Internal and external measurements are included for the flow. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | 30 minute averaged overview data from the Silsoe Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) |
Description | All 30 minute averaged data taken during the Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) at Silsoe using the 6 m^3 test structure at the site and eight other 6 m^3 straw cubes undertaken as part of the PhD work of Gough (2017) and forms the full-scale experiments of the REFRESH project. The data-set is split into two sections: an isolated cube and the array case with three different opening set-ups being undertaken for both array and isolated. The array was in place October 2014 to April 2015, and the cube was isolated from May 2015 to July 2015. Details of the experimental set-ups are available in publications. The data contained within this document are 30 minute averaged and quality controlled using code previously used for the ACTUAL project. The data set contains wind speeds, wind directions, internal and external temperatures, surface pressures, CO_2 concentrations and ventilation rates calculated from the pressure difference methods. Internal and external measurements are included for the flow. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | All metadata for ventilation measurements undertaken during the Refresh cube campaign (RCC) at Silsoe, UK |
Description | The dataset consists of metadata for the Refresh cube campaign (RCC) undertaken at Silsoe using the 6 m^3 test structure at the site and eight other 6 m^3 straw cubes. The campaign was undertaken as part of the PhD work of Gough (2017) and forms the full-scale experiments of the REFRESH project. The dataset is split into two sections: an isolated cube and the array case with three different opening set-ups being undertaken for both array and isolated. The array was in place October 2014 to April 2015, and the cube was isolated from May 2015 to July 2015. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | CEDA |
Description | Centre for Environmental Data Archival (CEDA), including data generated during the EPSRC-funded ACTUAL project, the NERC-funded Clearflo project. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2013 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Data has been used during collaboration with UK Met Office to test forecast output/model performance |
URL | http://www.ceda.ac.uk/ |
Title | Comparison of Silsoe Refresh Cube Campaign (RCC) Full-scale, Wind tunnel and CFD methodologies |
Description | The information provided below is an overview of some of the key components. More information is included within the files stored into the database. Other data sets are also linked to. Full-scale: Measurements undertaken at Silsoe, UK, on a pressure tapped cube. Wind, temperature, surface pressure, and concentration measurements were undertaken. Most equipment measured at 10Hz aside from concentration measurements and meteorological measurements. The cube was isolated and surrounded by eight other cubes of similar size during the experiment to monitor the effects of sheltering. Wind-tunnel: Experiments were conducted in the Environmental Flow Research Centre (EnFlo), University of Surrey 'A' wind tunnel (low speed open circuit). The test section is 0.6 m high, 0.9 m wide and 4.5 m long and is constructed of wood and metal with glass side panels. Computer fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation: A transient Navier-Stokes finite-volume simulation k-? sheer stress transport (SST) scale adaptive simulation (SAS) turbulence model was used to model the isolated cube and array at full-scale in Ansys Fluent 17.1 (Ansys Canonsburg, PA, USA). The k-? SST SAS model is a hybrid RANS-LES model that has shown superior results to steady state RANS and has been detailed for this purpose in King et al. (2017). For more details see: Gough et al (2019), Gough et al (2018a), Gough et al (2018b) and Gough 2017 (reference list included in files). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Royal Berkshire Hospital Maternity building temperature measurements (July-August 2018). |
Description | This dataset contains raw temperature measurements of the internal temperatures measured during pre-heatwave conditions around the Maternity and Gynaecology building of the Royal Berkshire Hospital. The work was a pilot scheme to understand the overheating occurring within the department and what could be done to prevent it and to improve patient safety. Sensors were deployed for 2 months (July-Aug 2018). Full details can be found in Gough et al, in review: 'Assessment of overheating risk in gynaecology scanning rooms during near-heatwave conditions: a case study of Royal Berkshire Hospital in the UK', in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. This data collection would not have been possible without the help of the Royal Berkshire Hospital and its staff. |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2019 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Title | Silsoe dataset |
Description | Database of the full-scale data from the Silsoe experiment. Will be used for comparison to CFD and Wind Tunnel models |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2015 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Allows for comparison between different models and other data. Allow analysis over a range of wind directions and array and isolated cases. |
Title | Silsoe dataset wind tunnel model |
Description | Pressure coefficient measurements for the Silsoe array and isolated cube within a wind tunnel. A staggered array is expanded to include large symmetrical arrays to look at the effects of array size on the pressure coefficient results. 1:300 scale of the full-scale. Atmospheric boundary layer, wind tunnel set to 10 m s^{-1} |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2017 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Effect of row size in array and row lengths interact. |
Title | Urban Fluid Mechanics Data Portal |
Description | The Urban Fluid Dynamics Data portal is a searchable database of datasets relevant to research and design of indoor and outdoor built environments. It was set up as part of the EPSRC-funded UK Fluids Network Special Interest Group on Urban Fluid Dynamics. Work to establish the beta version was done by Zheng-tong Xie (Southampton Uni), Ivo Suter and Maarten Van Reeuvijk (Imperial College) and Janet Barlow (Reading Uni). |
Type Of Material | Database/Collection of data |
Year Produced | 2018 |
Provided To Others? | Yes |
Impact | Too early to capture impact (launched Dec 2018) |
URL | https://dataportal.urbanfluidmechanics.org/data-portal |
Description | MAGIC project collaboration |
Organisation | University of Cambridge |
Country | United Kingdom |
Sector | Academic/University |
PI Contribution | MAGIC is an EPSRC-funded Grand Challenge project (http://www.magic-air.uk/) - Prof Barlow is a Project Partner on the MAGIC project. Refresh researchers ran a workshop with MAGIC researchers on the findings of our natural ventilation measurements and CFD modelling approaches in summer 2017. Intercomparison of CFD codes integrating indoor and outdoor flows is currently being done. Refresh researchers are also engaging in a MAGIC fieldwork campaign in spring-summer 2019, to measure meteorological conditions influencing ventilation. |
Collaborator Contribution | MAGIC researchers have done simulations of the Refresh field study at Silsoe (RCC) and have helped to deploy equipment for the field campaign. |
Impact | Outcomes still pending - publications expected. |
Start Year | 2017 |
Description | "Towards a Healthy City" workshop (Jan 2014, Chinese University of Hong Kong) |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | One day workshop co-organised between CUHK and HK Green Building Council included speakers on public health, planning and research underpinning policy-making in Hong Kong. This and other later visits to workshops in Hong Kong are leading to a partnership with the Chinese University of Hong Kong (and other HK Universities) in research activities that feed into their Air Ventilation Assessment planning policy. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
URL | http://www.arch.cuhk.edu.hk/server1/staff2/szewai/KT_web/en/KT%20sources/2013/Poster_workshop.pdf |
Description | 2015 Annual review meeting on indoor and outdoor air pollution, organised by Public Health England |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Well-attended review of air pollution, including policymakers covering not just outdoor but indoor - reported first results from Refresh project and made a good link made to Public Health England (Claire Heaviside). Flagged up future measurements in London 2017 to be an "Open Experiment", got interest from potential partners, eg UCL. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2015 |
URL | http://iaqm.co.uk/event/2015-annual-uk-review-meeting-on-outdoor-and-indoor-air-pollution-research-i... |
Description | Barlow JF Boundary Layer Meteorology, Prestige lecture, 6th European and African Conference on Wind Engineering, 7-11 July 2013 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Other academic audiences (collaborators, peers etc.) |
Results and Impact | Keynote lecture, led to book chapter, increased engagement in wind engineering community Led to invitation to join COST action TU1304, international panel assessing wind power resources in urban areas; invite to join UK Wind Engineering Society Steering Group |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
URL | http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/eacwe/index.aspx |
Description | International workshop |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Invited speaker at workshop in Singapore on "Urban microclimate - opportunities and challenges", led to discussions around using microclimate data for building design |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2016 |
Description | Invited talk at CIBSE Building Simulation/Natural Ventilation groups joint seminar, Modelling Air Movement: CFD Simulation vs. Experimental Methods, 30th April 2014 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | talk led to discussion, network widening invitations to visit commercial stakeholders for further talks, interest in generating guidelines from data |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014 |
Description | JF Barlow, AF Brocklehurst, S Upton, The effect of urban flows on pollutant ingress into buildings - results from experiments in central London, Atmospheric Dispersion Modelling Liaison Committee Annual Forum, Harwell, 17 Sep 2013 |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Talk sparked discussion, network widening Talk led to invited talk at Uni of Cambridge, better links to Building Research Establishment |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013 |
Description | MOOC: Our Changing Climate |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
Results and Impact | Massive Open Online Course (MOOC), one week focused on Cities, and we included material drawn from the ACTUAL project on urban climate and adaptation policy in London. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2014,2015 |
URL | https://www.futurelearn.com/courses/our-changing-climate |
Description | National workshop on natural ventilation |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
Results and Impact | A workshop was run on "Tackling the challenge of indoor-outdoor interactions in urban environments" at Cambridge University, 17-18 Dec 2018. The audience (>100) were drawn from academica, industry, professional bodies (CIBSE, DSTL etc) in the built environment concerned with healthy indoor environments and building services. |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
URL | https://www.urbanfluidmechanics.org/meetings/cambridge-december-17-18-2018 |
Description | News articles |
Form Of Engagement Activity | A magazine, newsletter or online publication |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | National |
Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
Results and Impact | 2013, 20th April - contribution to New Scientist article "Oases of Cool" 2015, 23rd Feb - article in Weatherwatch column, The Guardian |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2015 |
URL | http://www.theguardian.com/news/2015/feb/23/weatherwatchuk-environment |
Description | Urban Physics International Summer School |
Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
Geographic Reach | International |
Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
Results and Impact | Over 100 participants each year, taught them about urban microclimate, much discussion and subsequent invitation to participate in workshop in Singapore, April 2016 hosted by Building and Research Institute/Institute for High Performance Computing |
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2013,2015,2016 |
URL | http://www.urbanphysics.org/ |