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Details of Award

NERC Reference : NE/V002082/1

Breathing City: Future Urban Ventilation Network

Grant Award

Principal Investigator:
Professor C Noakes, University of Leeds, Civil Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Professor M van Reeuwijk, Imperial College London, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Mr J Stewart-Evans, Public Health England, Centre for Radiation, Chemical & Env Haz
Co-Investigator:
Professor PF Linden, University of Cambridge, Applied Maths and Theoretical Physics
Co-Investigator:
Professor AS Tomlin, University of Leeds, Chemical and Process Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Dr A Timmis, Loughborough University, Architecture, Building and Civil Eng
Co-Investigator:
Dr M Carpentieri, University of Surrey, Mechanical Engineering Sciences
Co-Investigator:
Dr M Davies Wykes, University of Cambridge, Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Professor C Vanderwel, University of Southampton, Sch of Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Professor Z Xie, University of Southampton, Sch of Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Dr H C Burridge, Imperial College London, Civil & Environmental Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Professor MJ Cook, Loughborough University, Architecture, Building and Civil Eng
Co-Investigator:
Professor T Sharpe, University of Strathclyde, Architecture
Co-Investigator:
Dr O Coceal, University of Reading, Meteorology
Co-Investigator:
Dr EA Hathway, University of Sheffield, Civil and Structural Engineering
Co-Investigator:
Professor J Barlow, University of Reading, Meteorology
Science Area:
Atmospheric
Earth
Freshwater
Marine
Terrestrial
Overall Classification:
Unknown
ENRIs:
Biodiversity
Environmental Risks and Hazards
Global Change
Natural Resource Management
Pollution and Waste
Science Topics:
Computational fluid dynamics
Boundary Layer Meteorology
Ventilation in Buildings
Air Quality (indoors)
Building Ops & Management
Urban Air Quality
Urban & Land Management
Air quality
Environment & Health
Air quality
Survey & Monitoring
Abstract:
Poor air quality is widely recognised to affect human health and wellbeing. Cumulative exposure to pollutants throughout the life course is a determinant for numerous long term health conditions including dementia, heart disease and diabetes, Short term high exposures are shown to exacerbate conditions such as asthma and COPD, increase risks of heart attacks and stroke and influence respiratory infections. The very young, very old and those with pre-existing conditions are most at risk and inequality further increases this; the poorest in society often live in the lowest quality housing in the most polluted areas. Human exposure to air pollutants occurs in both indoor and outdoor environments. Urban air pollution results from a combination of local outdoor sources (e.g. transport, combustion, industry) and regional and large scale atmospheric transport of pollutants. We spend up to 90% of our time indoors and indoor air quality is therefore a significant part of human exposure. Indoor air quality is influenced by the climate, weather and air quality in the external environment in addition to local indoor sources (e.g. microorganisms, chemicals cleaning and personal care, cooking, industry processes, emissions from building materials, heating and mechanical systems) and the building design and operation. In all cases it is the airflows within and between indoor and outdoor locations that enables the transport of pollutants and ultimately determines human exposures. Understanding airflows is therefore at the heart developing effective mitigating actions, particularly in cases where there is limited ability to remove a pollutant source. Being able to predict the influence of airflows enables understanding of how pollutants are likely to move within and between buildings in a city, both under normal day-to-day conditions and in response to emergencies such as heatwaves or wildfires. With the right computational and measurement tools it is then possible to change the design or management of city neighbourhoods enabling better urban flows to reduce exposure to pollutants and also to innovate new ventilation solutions to control the indoor environment in buildings. While there are a number of approaches that already enable assessment of urban flows and indoor flows, these aspects are not currently considered together in an integrated way or focused on optimising environments for health. The Future Urban Ventilation Network (FUVN) aims to address this by defining a new holistic methodology - the Breathing City. This will define a new integrated assessment approach that considers coupled indoor-outdoor flows together to minimise exposure for people within a neighbourhood who are most at risk from the effects of poor air quality. The network will bring together people from a range of disciplines and areas of application with a common interest in improving urban and indoor airflows to improve health. Through small scale research and workshop activities we will advance the understanding of the fluid dynamics that determines the physics of this indoor-outdoor exchange. The network will develop a research programme to address technical gaps in modelling and measuring pollutant transport and how we can use this to determine long and short term exposures to a range of pollutants. We will work collaboratively with industry, policy makers and the public to understand how this approach could change city planning, building design guidance and community actions to enable health based future urban ventilation design and to "design out" health risks for people who are most vulnerable.
Period of Award:
1 Sep 2020 - 31 Aug 2024
Value:
£507,945
Authorised funds only
NERC Reference:
NE/V002082/1
Grant Stage:
Awaiting Completion
Scheme:
Directed (Research Programmes)
Grant Status:
Active
Programme:
Clean Air

This grant award has a total value of £507,945  

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FDAB - Financial Details (Award breakdown by headings)

DI - Other CostsIndirect - Indirect CostsDA - InvestigatorsDA - Estate CostsDI - StaffDI - T&SDA - Other Directly Allocated
£112,198£141,121£76,566£28,484£91,098£55,286£3,191

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