With an increase in extreme weather events which culminated in some of the most severe flooding seen in various part of the country last year, the BRE Trust (The largest UK charity dedicated specifically to the built environment research) has announced funding for five PhDs in the School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University.  This collaborative research programme between BRE and the university aims to advance built environment knowledge at a time of significant development in the UK.

The research covers three core strands that align with BRE Trust’s priorities and build on existing areas of strength within the university:

• High performing buildings: including building information modelling and design, energy demand reduction, ventilation, thermal and daylight simulation, monitoring and post-occupancy evaluation.
• Sustainable construction: including sustainability management, assessment and informatics, responsible and ethical sourcing of materials, sustainable procurement and supply chains, waste minimisation and resource efficiency.
• Resilient buildings and communities: including disaster risk reduction, community resilience, flooding research, condition monitoring and assessment of buildings and civil infrastructure.

Professor Jacqui Glass, Professor of Architecture and Construction at Loughborough University said ‘We are delighted to be collaborating with BRE in these important areas.  Support from the BRE Trust enables the researchers to leverage BRE’s wealth of experience and achieve wide reaching impact via BRE’s standards such as BREEAM.  This significant support from BRE Trust builds upon our Royal Academy of Engineering Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Building Design status, and will extend the internationally leading research undertaken in our School in this area.’

Dr Deborah Pullen, BRE Group Research Director, reiterated BRE’s support for the initiative ‘Working with Loughborough allows us to build on our own research capabilities through alignment with the extensive work being carried out at the university.  Loughborough is one of the foremost universities with regards to built environment research and working together enables us to significantly advance knowledge and innovation in these core areas.’

Applications for the studentships which cover various topics are open until 22nd May.

BRE Trust

The BRE Trust was set up to advance knowledge, innovation and communication for public benefit. The Trust uses all profits made by the BRE Group to fund new research and education programmes and to promote its charitable objectives.www.bretrust.org

Code For Sustainable Homes, BRE Environmental Assessment Method and Eco homes:

Environmental codes and assessments aim to protect the environment by ensuring development is sustainable. Development is encouraged in low flood risk areas, or measures are required to reduce the impact of flooding. Flood risk is a material consideration of sustainability and a Flood Risk Assessment is required as part of BREEAM (BRE Environmental Assessment Method), Eco homes or the Code for Sustainable Homes (CfSH).

A FRA can be required as a mandatory component or to achieve additional credits as part of BREEAM or the CfSH even where it is not required under the core planning legislation (NPPF, TAN15 or SPP).

Loughborough University

The School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University is one of the largest of its type in the UK. We aim to develop and nurture the skill required to face the challenges of our increasingly complex built environment. www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/civil-building/