Enhancing Net-Zero Carbon Cities with Photovoltaic and Green Roof Integration for Adaptation to Extreme Climate Events
Project ID: 2531ad1479
(You will need this ID for your application)
Research Theme: Energy and Decarbonisation
UCL Lead department: Bartlett School of Environment, Energy and Resources (BSEER)
Lead Supervisor: Nahid Mohajeri
Project Summary:
Why this research is important: To combat climate change, the UK has set a 2050 target for achieving net-zero carbon emissions, requiring all buildings to meet net-zero carbons by this date. The goal of net zero carbon buildings can be reached through a complete switchover of the UK building stock to green energy technologies for power generation and heating, primarily through a major expansion in the use of renewables.
What you will be doing. There have been several studies evaluating the energy and thermal performance of roof-integrated solar photovoltaic and green roofs as stand-alone systems. However, the optimal integration of both systems, particularly at urban scale, remains largely unexplored. The main tasks are as follows:
• Develop and integrate Building Energy Simulation (BES) and urban climate models to evaluate energy performance at building and community scales. • Contribute to the creation of an advanced geospatial machine learning framework to scale energy generation and thermal performance for diverse building types. • Assess the effectiveness of integrated photovoltaic and green roof systems under both current and future climate scenarios to support the UK’s 2050 net-zero carbon targets.
Who we are looking for. We are seeking a highly motivated PhD researcher with interest in building energy modelling, urban climate analysis, and geospatial data science to join the project. The ideal candidate will have a background in environmental engineering, mechanical engineering, renewable energy, or a related field and experience with tools such as Building Energy Simulation and urban climate models as well as data analytics.
Who you will be working with. You will join a dynamic and multidisciplinary team of experts dedicated to advancing sustainable building technologies for net-zero carbon cities. The core team includes specialists in building/urban energy modelling, urban climate science, renewable energy, and geospatial data analytics.