How Bath research is helping design the future of architecture and the built environment
Research from our internationally recognised architects and civil engineers at the University of Bath specialises in sustainability within the built environment.
Our work is influencing a better future through innovation, including using drones to 3D print structures for disaster relief, developing innovative floor designs to reduce concrete usage, and future-proofing our built environment against climate change by predicting extreme weather. Bath research is informing national and European guidelines for structural assessment, and we’re engaging with planning policymakers to reduce carbon emissions in construction.
Our research is tackling global challenges to help shape a sustainable future.
Developing the world's first flying robots to build and repair structures for disaster relief
3D printing is gaining momentum in the construction industry. Both on-site and in the factory, static and mobile robots can print materials for use in construction projects, such as steel and concrete structures.
Researchers at the University of Bath have helped to create a fleet of flying 3D printers for building and repairing structures for disaster relief. The drones use an Additive Building Manufacturing (ABM) system to reach remote and disaster areas and 3D print structures such as shelters and buildings.
Dr Wenbin Li, Department of Computer Science, has worked on developing the autonomy of the drones, so they can carry the materials and control their movements precisely to accurately 3D print objects. The flying drones could fly to a disaster zone, scan and model the landscape using Building Information Management (BIM) systems, design temporary shelters, and print them on the spot. This could give those in need a place to live until emergency services personnel can reach them.
Meanwhile, Bath investigators Professor Richard Ball and Professor Paul Shepherd, along with researchers Dr Barrie Dams, Dr Chris Williams and Dr Shamsiah Awang Ngah, from the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, worked on the cement-like materials used by the drones to repair or build structures.
"We have developed new cutting-edge materials which are optimised for the unique properties required for aerial additive manufacturing, such as being low-viscosity, lightweight and quick-setting.”
The research has been detailed in the paper Aerial Additive Manufacturing with Multiple Autonomous Robots, which features in Nature.
Dr Wenbin Li
Dr Wenbin Li
Changing the shape of floors to cut concrete usage by 75 percent
A new vaulted style of floor, developed at the University, uses 75% less concrete than a traditional flat slab floor and could help the construction industry reduce its carbon footprint.
Now, an interdisciplinary team of structural engineers, mathematicians and manufacturing experts led by Professor Paul Shepherd, with the universities of Cambridge and Dundee, has unveiled a full-scale demonstration of a thin-shell floor, which uses 60% less carbon in its construction than an equivalent flat slab that could carry the same load.
Created by the UKRI-funded ACORN (Automating Concrete Construction) research project, the innovative vault-shaped floor design takes advantage of concrete’s inherent natural properties and strengths. The team has demonstrated that the new process could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of our built environment.
Professor Paul Shepherd of the ACORN team shows off the prototype thin-shell floor
Professor Paul Shepherd of the ACORN team shows off the prototype thin-shell floor
"Achieving the net-zero targets will require significant change by the construction industry, which is responsible for about half of the UK’s total emissions. Since concrete is the world’s most widely consumed material after water, and its production contributes more than 7% of global CO₂ emissions, the easiest way for construction to begin its journey to net-zero is to use less concrete.”
Innovations in robotics, automated design and off-site fabrication are key. Currently most building floors use thick flat slabs of solid concrete, which are inefficient since they rely on the bending strength of concrete to support loads. Concrete isn’t very good at resisting the tension induced by bending, so these floors also need lots of steel reinforcement. Instead, ACORN’s approach is to use concrete for what it is good at – resisting compression.
By putting the material only where it is needed, and making sure it works in compression, the ACORN design uses far less concrete. The new shape might prove impractical to make using traditional temporary formwork, so the ACORN team has in parallel developed an automated adaptable mould and a robotic concrete spraying system that can be used in an off-site factory setting.
Early results suggest that ACORN’s approach can already deliver significant carbon savings, with future research likely to lead to even more as processes are optimised. Despite being the first of its kind, each piece took only half an hour to make, and the whole floor took a week to assemble. Future commercial versions could be manufactured in dedicated industrial facilities much more quickly, and site erection times much reduced.
Adam Locke, Programme Leader of the Europe Hub Technology & Innovation at Laing O'Rourke, one of the ACORN partners, said: “The ACORN Demonstrator is a very useful stepping-stone in the progressive pathway to decarbonising our solutions and complements very well our own work in this area.”
ACORN has received funding from UK Research and Innovation under the ISCF Transforming Construction programme.
The Centre for Regenerative Design & Engineering for a Net Positive World
The Centre for Regenerative Design & Engineering for a Net Positive World is an interdisciplinary team of academics and researchers developing engineering and design solutions to environmental, societal and economic challenges.
Dr Juliana Calabria-Holley is the RENEW Co-Director. The aim of the Centre, she says, is to benefit culture, society and health. "Our approach is embedded within a human-centric approach," she says.
RENEW research centre Directors Dr Juliana Calabria-Holley, Prof Sukumar Natarajan and Dr Emma Emanuelsson with the manifesto
RENEW research centre Directors Dr Juliana Calabria-Holley, Prof Sukumar Natarajan and Dr Emma Emanuelsson with the manifesto
One of the three main themes of the centre is to focus on placemaking, which include:
- low-carbon, low-energy building design and resource efficiency
- urban design, conservation and heritage
- architecture history and theory
Dr Calabria-Holley, a Lecturer in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, researches how nanotechnology can be applied to innovative sustainable construction materials. She is currently working with Historic England to explore how the degradation of buildings can be reduced through different paint systems and coatings.
Predicting extreme weather to futureproof our built environment against climate change
Bath researchers have found a way to produce downloadable localised weather data that will accurately predict how hot the UK could be in 2080.
Climate change is the biggest threat facing our planet and will have a significant impact on building design and energy use. Having this critical information will enable designers to assess energy performance and the risk of overheating in buildings under climate change. And this will lead to buildings better designed and constructed to deal with the more frequent extreme weather we expect to encounter in the future.
"This is a transformed world compared to the one many of us grew up in and our buildings were designed to cope with, and a very worrying one too. It is clear we need a battle plan."
For human survival, one of the most worrying aspects of climate change is the expected progression in extreme temperatures. Heatwaves are predicted to become more common as our atmosphere warms. Ensuring that buildings and systems have been tested with future weather predictions is an important strategy in reducing morbidity.
Overheating is a problem in the UK because, unlike in other countries, its homes and buildings are not designed to keep people cool. Around 20% of homes in England already overheat in normal summer conditions, and 80% of the UK’s housing stock will still be in use in 2050 when we can expect more extreme weather.
The greatest impact of exposure to high indoor temperatures will be felt in those over 65 years, or with disabilities or pre-existing medical conditions. In the last twenty years there has been a 53.7% increase in heat-related mortality in people over 65 years, reaching 296,000 deaths in 2018 worldwide.
Professor David Coley, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Professor David Coley, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering
Professor David Coley and Professor Sukumar Natarajan, whose research enables us to know what extreme weather events might look like in the UK, India and elsewhere in 2080.
Professor David Coley and Professor Sukumar Natarajan, whose research enables us to know what extreme weather events might look like in the UK, India and elsewhere in 2080.
Professor Sukumar Natarajan, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
Professor Sukumar Natarajan, Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering.
The construction industry and building scientists use weather files for thermal modelling of buildings. But the files currently used only represent average weather and cannot indicate extremes like heatwaves or cold snaps.
At Bath, Professor David Coley and Professor Sukumar Natarajan are addressing this through an EPSRC-funded project: 'The creation of localised current and future weather for the built environment' (COLBE). They have created a time series of weather in 2080 for 11,000 postcode locations in the UK for public download. By simply entering a postcode, individuals can download a graph of a possible future heatwave in their location and compare this with what an equivalent heatwave might have looked like in the past.
Alongside these location-specific seven-day heatwave graphs, the COLBE website also contains complete weather postcode‑centred files for whole years for use by architects and engineers when assessing how their designs might be impacted by rising temperatures. These files are compatible with all major building simulation software.
“This project stresses the high priority we should give to better weather data and resilient building design, adaptation and future-proofing of homes in an ever-changing climate.”
Research into action: putting COLBE to work
Dr Sukumar Natarajan
Dr Sukumar Natarajan
The impact of the COLBE project is already making itself clear. The research is being taken out of the University for use in the real world with Bath & Northeast Somerset Council. In recent planning guidance, the council has stated that the weather files will be used to design buildings for future performance.
The mathematical framework that predicts future weather on a localised scale is now also being applied to a new project focusing on the Global South. The Zero peak energy building design for India (ZED-i) project aims to end peak energy demand in buildings in India. It will do this through a new science of zero peak energy building design for warm climates. This will provide scientists, engineers, and the public with weather files for both average and extreme weather at the unprecedented resolution of 25km across India.
“This innovative research brings about a new science of climate change-resilient building design for warm climates to produce buildings that are comfortable and require less energy‑intensive thermal regulation.”
Informing the national and European guidelines for civil engineering structural assessment
Research from the University of Bath is prolonging the longevity of civil engineering structures following an evidence-based update to structural assessment and strengthening guidelines.
New assessment guidance, based on research from Professor Antony Darby in the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering showed structures like bridges often have significantly more capacity than previous assessment guidelines suggested.
“In concrete beams you have steel reinforcement to help resist the loads on the bridge and which is anchored at the ends of the beams. A lot of older bridges don’t have sufficient anchorage or are corroded. Quite often bridges fail their assessment loads due to this defective anchorage.”
During the research, Professor Darby tested 75 beams with various anchorage defects and found that, in many cases, the current standards dramatically underestimate the capacity of these beams, sometimes by as much as a factor of two or three. The research was incorporated into the UK’s National Highways standards for assessing strength of concrete bridges.
Related research from Professor Darby has also informed guidance at a European level. Structural Eurocodes provide a unified set of standards for the design of structures. The second-generation Structural Eurocodes have recently been introduced and will become mandatory by 2028. These standards include, for the first time, annexes on structural appraisal of existing constructions and strengthening of these structures using advanced composite materials, like carbon fibre. The new annex on strengthening has used Bath’s research on strengthening concrete structures to help calibrate new design methods which can be used to quickly and easily reinstate or increase the load capacity of ageing bridges and structures.
“As a result of our research, not only can we more accurately assess the capacity of our ageing concrete infrastructures but, when required, we have developed methods to strengthen them and increase their lifespan, preventing them being unnecessarily knocked down or repaired," he said.
"The scale of the impact is phenomenal, not just to the cost and resourcing of structural repair or demolition and rebuilding of a bridge, but to the huge disruption of unnecessary road closures in doing so.”
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