Decision-Making Tools for District Energy System Planning (ABCE18/R752/District)

Application details:
Reference number: ABCE18/R752/District
PhD start date: 1 October 2018
Advert closing date: 31 July 2018
Interview date: 13 August 2018

Supervisors:
Primary supervisor: Dr Bianca Howard
Secondary supervisor: Professor Jonathan Wright

Loughborough University
In the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, the School was ranked first for research environment in Architecture, Built Environment and Planning, with 95% of research rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally excellent’ for its influence on society, the economy and policy. The School boasts world class facilities, with £1.4m recently invested in the 3,000m2 laboratory facilities and a £1.24m High Performance Computing facility – one of the UK’s fastest clusters.

A key part of the School’s ethos is the extensive links with industry. Many research projects are sponsored and applied by organisations in the civil engineering, construction and transport sectors, and Loughborough graduates are extremely sought after by industry and commerce world-wide.

Project Detail:
Applications are invited for PhD research into the robust design and control optimization of buildings, this research being based in the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering at Loughborough University.

The research will develop optimisation and visualisation techniques for the co-design of building and district energy systems, considering traditional, low, and ultra-low temperature heat networks for existing and green field applications. The work seeks to develop a tool to aid designers through visualisation of pareto front solutions enabling selection of the “best” building heating systems and network layout considering cost, energy consumption, peak energy demand, various planning horizons and future uncertainty.

This project is one of four studentships focused on the design and operation of buildings on an individual and community scale. All four projects make use of building performance modelling and numerical search methods, with the students in the cohort collaborating to accelerate their individual understanding and to explore research questions that lie across the boundaries of their individual topics.

Find out more:
www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/abce/pg-research/

Entry requirements:
Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in a relevant discipline. A relevant Master’s degree and/or employment experience will be an advantage. Applicants having a background in subjects relating to building energy use, mechanical or control engineering, and computing science are particularly welcomed.

Contact details:
For information about the research project, please contact:

Name: Dr Bianca Howard
Email address: [Email Address Removed]
Telephone number: (01509) 228745

For information about the application process, please contact:

Name: Mr Berkeley Young
Email address: [Email Address Removed]
Telephone number: (01509) 222611

How to apply:
All applications should be made online at www.lboro.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/apply/research-applications/. Under programme name, please select Civil and Building Engineering (Built Environment).

Please quote reference number: ABCE18/R752/District