Building Performance

Specialist subject areas within this field include:

Fire risk engineering

The team’s research activity focuses on the interrelationship between complex and/or innovative building design, the application of predictive fire modelling technologies in performance-based analysis, and alternative approaches to fire safety regulation. Current projects include: development of fire risk assessment tools for healthcare and higher educational occupancies, evaluation of smoke modelling tools, analysis of performance based design and regulatory systems and the impact of fire engineering on project risk.

The team has strong links with the Scottish Fire Brigades, building control departments, the Property & Environment Forum for NHS Scotland and construction industry professionals. They are involved with the development of national legislation and standards through membership of the Building Standards Advisory Committee, The Fire Safety Advisory Board and The Building Standards Fire Group for NHS Scotland.

Building performance

The research team has diverse activities including investigating:

• Moisture performance of materials and structures
• Health, social and economic consequences of dampness and condensation
• The application of computer simulation models, acoustic and lighting

Construction technology and materials

Among this team’s interests are the research investigation of high performance cementitious composites subjected to extreme environmental and loading conditions and multi-criterion optimisation.