The studentship is with University of Salford and B4Box Ltd
Academic Supervisor: Professor Will Swan
Academic Co-Supervisor: Professor Richard Fitton
Industrial Supervisors: Michael Dickinson
Final date for applications: June 9th
Interviews will be held on: June 23rd
The candidate must be in a position to register by: September 2023
Description:
Energy House Laboratories (EHL) at the University of Salford is a leading research facility dedicated to delivering net zero homes. EHL is home to the award-winning research facilities, Energy House 1 and Energy House 2.0, allowing controlled experimentation with whole houses under controlled conditions. The team have expertise in building physics, building performance, systems, and digital solutions to address net zero, fuel poverty, and healthy homes.
These unique research facilities have given the University of Salford an internationally competitive, high-impact research centre that has worked with major industry partners and policy makers in the UK and internationally.
B4Box is a private commercial construction company with a track-record of crafting and executing pioneering capabilities that can be honed for expanded retrofit delivery, including: Speed and flexibility of whole-house refurbishment; Profitable productivity development of new entrant trainees; Integrated on-and-off-site training in practical, craft-based, multi-skills; Maximisation of social and economic value through building works.
About the Project:
The UK's 28 million homes must be retrofitted to high levels of energy performance within 27 years to deliver the UK’s 2050 legal commitment to zero emissions. Locally, there are only 15 years remaining to meet Greater Manchester’s ambitious target year of 2038. However, delivery of retrofitting has, to date, been constrained through:
- A lack of supply chain capacity and practical technical skills.
- Small-scale, one-off construction projects, piecemeal activities, and single measures.
- High project costs, including up to the value of houses retrofitted, and therefore proving economically unviable.
- Long time frames to complete works.
- Inconsistent quality of works that have frequently created defects requiring rectification.
The delivery of retrofitting is therefore ready for innovation to scale-up capacity, reduce retrofit production costs, increase speed of project completion, and ensure quality. Most retrofit R&D and innovation activity has focused on retrofit materials and technologies to date. However, such product innovations will not be deployed at a significant scale unless they are complemented by innovation in related domains, including business strategy, workforce development, site practices, and the process of retrofit. The design and integration of innovative approaches across these mutually dependent domains is vital to delivering retrofit projects successfully and at scale.
The goal of the PhD is to scale-up and speed-up B4Box’s delivery of high-quality retrofit, through the following objectives:
- Design and testing of new materials and processes to deliver retrofit with greater efficiency and quality. This includes scope to consider property pipelines, retrofit assessment, design, construction, handover, and post-works monitoring phases.
- Design and testing of novel combinations of new and existing retrofit materials to expedite B4Box’s retrofit delivery.
- Design and testing of new site practices and installation processes for retrofit materials, with attention to building system interfaces and whole-home effects to ensure quality.
- Technical verification of B4Box’s retrofit delivery including evaluation of outcomes post-works to enable proof-of-principle and continuous improvement of B4Box’s innovative market offer.
- Development of data systems for the long-term monitoring of retrofitted dwellings that generates a feedback loop into B4Box’s continuous improvement and creates new routes to market for ongoing maintenance and improvement works.
Candidates:
The iPhD with B4Box is focused on the problem of scaling up the delivery of retrofit. It will involve working with multiple external stakeholders, including designers, site personnel, academics and the B4Box management team. We will need a candidate who demonstrates excellent academic skills as well as a capacity to work with construction teams and industry partners.
- Candidates should have a degree qualification, or equivalent, and will have to demonstrate technical competence in their chosen field, such as construction management, sustainable construction or architectural design technology. Experience working in energy and buildings-related projects will be desirable.
- Candidates should demonstrate high-quality writing and communication skills, and an ability to work well with people inside and outside the university.
- Candidates should have good project management skills and be able to manage the different aspects of the project.
The candidate has an exciting opportunity to learn new skills, engage with world-leading research and build networks in both academia and industry in a unique research environment. The FoEH2 Scholarship represents an opportunity for an individual to start their research career in a high impact environment.
Enquiries: Informal enquiries may be made to Professor Will Swan by email: [Email Address Removed]
Curriculum vitae and supporting statement explaining their interest should be sent to: [Email Address Removed]
Note to applicant: In addition to applying for this role the successful candidate will also be required to complete the University application process which applies to all students wishing to study at The University of Salford. How to apply for research studies can be found here: https://www.salford.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/applying/applying-for-research