Profile

Dr Ben Roberts

Lecturer in Building Energy
ERBE PhD Supervisor
Loughborough University
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Research and expertise

I am currently researching ways to improve thermal comfort, indoor air quality, and health in buildings.

My work centres on the measurement and modelling of extreme heat in informal settlements in the tropics, and indoor air quality in tropical hospitals and large mass-gathering event venues in the UK.
I run experiments in test houses in the UK and Ghana, manage large international field trials, and co-ordinate dynamic thermal model validation exercises. Alongside my work on thermal comfort and indoor air quality, I recently completed the first evaluation of SMETER technologies (here).
My expertise lies in the field of building science, specifically building performance measurement and modelling. I am experienced in building measurement: co-heating, fan pressurisation, tracer gas, IR thermography, thermal comfort, synthetic occupancy; and building modelling: dynamic thermal simulation and validation.
During my PhD I characterised and synthetically-occupied a matched pair of test houses to compare thermal comfort and ventilation rates for different occupant behaviours to prevent overheating in homes. Data gathered in the side-by-side tests was used to identify effective overheating interventions and further used in a collaborative model validation study involving four industry modellers. I was awarded the CIBSE Carter Bronze Medal 2020 for the work.

Current research activity

  • Reducing the Impact of Extreme Heat to Improve Wellbeing in Cities (REFIT), British Academy (2020-2022), Research Associate.
  • Airborne Infection Reduction through Building Operation and Design for SARS-CoV-2 (AIRBODS), EPSRC (2021-2022), Research Associate.
  • Improving the Predictions of Overheating (IMPROVE), Tyrens (2021-2023), Principal Investigator.
  • Doctoral Prize Fellowship, EPSRC (2022-2024), Principal Investigator.

Recently completed research projects

  • Technical Evaluation of SMETER Technologies (TEST), BEIS (2019-2022), Research Associate.