Application of mobile construction as an innovative strategy for building retrofit alteration and addition across the UK

Building sector in the UK contributes to nearly half of the UK energy use and about 30% of the national Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. According to Committee on Climate Change (CCC), to meet the UK zero emission target by 2050, 29 million of existing homes in this country must be made low carbon, and resilient to the future climate change [1]. This highlights the need for a more focused attention to optimise retrofit strategies across the UK. Additionally, given the carbon-intensive process of constructing new buildings [2], retrofit plans can also provide the opportunity for alteration and addition of the existing buildings rather than constructing new buildings.

Nevertheless, reports and statistics show that UK building stock is relatively old, 50% of which accounts for residential buildings built before 1970. Retrofit and alteration of such old properties tends to be challenging in the UK as they indicate early mass urban living in this country and, consequently, have strong cultural and architectural value [3]. Thus, more considerations are required to sustainably renovate and alter the function of these buildings whilst maintaining their aesthetic and cultural value. This requires using technologies and innovative solutions to minimize GHG emissions whilst improve amenities for the buildings’ occupants in a cost-efficient way.

This project aims to investigate the application of nearly zero-emission mobile constructions as enablers of building retrofit and alteration across the UK. This project will address various aspects of such mobile constructions including energy consumption, environmental impact, cost-efficiency and occupants’ comfort and wellbeing.

This study will be carried out through a combination of building performance monitoring (simulation and actual measurement) and field experiment. After a thorough literature review, this includes 1) data collection on the environmental and energy performance of some (selected) existing buildings; 2) propose and finalize the method of construction of the mobile building; 3) modelling, validation and simulation of the indoor environment and energy performance of the spaces including the mobile construction 4) laboratory examination of the optimum scenarios resulted from simulation; 6) final simulation and laboratory examinations to evaluate the performance of the retrofit strategies using the mobile construction.

Academic qualifications

A first-class honours degree, or a distinction at master level, or equivalent achievements in Built Environment, Architectural Engineering, civil engineering or other relevant subjects.

English language requirement

If your first language is not English, comply with the University requirements for research degree programmes in terms of English language.

Application process

Prospective applicants are encouraged to contact the supervisor, Dr. Mina Jowkar ([Email Address Removed]) to discuss the content of the project and the fit with their qualifications and skills before preparing an application. 

The application must include: 

Research project outline of 2 pages (list of references excluded). The outline may provide details about

• Background and motivation, explaining the importance of the project, should be supported also by relevant literature. You can also discuss the applications you expect for the project results.
• Research questions or
• Methodology: types of data to be used, approach to data collection, and data analysis methods.
• List of references

The outline must be created solely by the applicant. Supervisors can only offer general discussions about the project idea without providing any additional support.

• Statement no longer than 1 page describing your motivations and fit with the project.
• Recent and complete curriculum vitae. The curriculum must include a declaration regarding the English language qualifications of the candidate.
• Supporting documents will have to be submitted by successful candidates.
• Two academic references (but if you have been out of education for more than three years, you may submit one academic and one professional reference), on the form can be downloaded here.

Applications can be submitted here.

Download a copy of the project details here.