Anna Mavrogianni
Dr Anna Mavrogianni is a Lecturer in Environmental Design and Engineering at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, UCL, with several years experience in architectural design, environmental design consultancy and built environment research. She holds a Diploma in Architectural Engineering from the School of Architecture in the National Technical University of Athens, an MSc with distinction in Environmental Design and Engineering and a PhD in Built Environment Science, both from the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, UCL. Within the context of her PhD, she developed a methodological framework that explores the impact of the London urban heat island on domestic space heating demand, indoor overheating and heat-related health risk, as part of the EPSRC-funded 'the development of a Local Urban Climate model and its application to the Intelligent Development of cities' (LUCID) project. The project findings have informed the Greater London Authority Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and the DEFRA Climate Change Risk Assessment: Built Environment Sector Report. Anna has advised DCLG, DECC, the Greater London Authority and individual Local Authorities on ways to improve the climate resilience of urban environments.
Anna's research interests include low carbon building and urban design; energy efficient retrofit technologies; building stock energy use modelling; the adaptation of the built environment to a warming climate; indoor environment exposure and associated health risks; the impact of urban heat islands and climate change on energy use, thermal comfort and health. Anna is currently involved in the following research projects:
- 'Air Pollution and WEather-related Health Impacts: Methodological Study based On spatio-temporally disaggregated Multi-pollutant models for present day and futurE' (AWESOME) project funded by NERC, which aims to develop multi-pollutant and climate models at a high spatial and temporal resolution to assess the adverse effects of exposure to air pollution, cold and heat and the modifying effect of the indoor environment;
- 'Air PermeAbility | Cities Health Energy' (APACHE) project funded by the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities Small Grant;
- 'Social (Re)Connection: Choreographing Architectural Gestures in Urban Spaces' project funded by the UCL Grand Challenge of Human Wellbeing Research Prize following winning participation in the 2013 UCL Behaviour Change Month Workshop;
- 'Climate Resilience Islington South Project' (CRISP) follow-up monitoring study funded by DEFRA; and
- 'Urban Heat Risk Mapping and 3D Visualisation' project funded by Arup.
Anna is a module tutor for MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering: Methods of Environmental Analysis at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. This multidisciplinary module aims to introduce MSc students to the principles, methods and practice of built environment research and the skill set required to complete a research project, as well as to provide practical engagement in research and enhanced critical judgement. In the past, Anna has also contributed to the design project tutorials of MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings, a module aiming to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration between built environment professionals and the application of dynamic thermal modelling as a design tool.
Further to teaching at the MSc level, Anna supervises a number of students at postgraduate level across the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. This includes dissertation supervision for the MSc Environmental Design and Engineering at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, Year 5 thesis supervision for the MArch Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture and EngD thesis supervision for the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisations (VEIV) at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. She has also acted as an examiner for a number of MRes theses at the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Energy Demand Reduction at the UCL Energy Institute.
Phone: 020 3108 5903
Address: G.07
Central House
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, UCL
14 Upper Woburn Place
London WC1H 0NN
Anna's research interests include low carbon building and urban design; energy efficient retrofit technologies; building stock energy use modelling; the adaptation of the built environment to a warming climate; indoor environment exposure and associated health risks; the impact of urban heat islands and climate change on energy use, thermal comfort and health. Anna is currently involved in the following research projects:
- 'Air Pollution and WEather-related Health Impacts: Methodological Study based On spatio-temporally disaggregated Multi-pollutant models for present day and futurE' (AWESOME) project funded by NERC, which aims to develop multi-pollutant and climate models at a high spatial and temporal resolution to assess the adverse effects of exposure to air pollution, cold and heat and the modifying effect of the indoor environment;
- 'Air PermeAbility | Cities Health Energy' (APACHE) project funded by the UCL Grand Challenge of Sustainable Cities Small Grant;
- 'Social (Re)Connection: Choreographing Architectural Gestures in Urban Spaces' project funded by the UCL Grand Challenge of Human Wellbeing Research Prize following winning participation in the 2013 UCL Behaviour Change Month Workshop;
- 'Climate Resilience Islington South Project' (CRISP) follow-up monitoring study funded by DEFRA; and
- 'Urban Heat Risk Mapping and 3D Visualisation' project funded by Arup.
Anna is a module tutor for MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering: Methods of Environmental Analysis at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. This multidisciplinary module aims to introduce MSc students to the principles, methods and practice of built environment research and the skill set required to complete a research project, as well as to provide practical engagement in research and enhanced critical judgement. In the past, Anna has also contributed to the design project tutorials of MSc in Environmental Design and Engineering: Natural and Mechanical Ventilation of Buildings, a module aiming to encourage cross-disciplinary collaboration between built environment professionals and the application of dynamic thermal modelling as a design tool.
Further to teaching at the MSc level, Anna supervises a number of students at postgraduate level across the Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment. This includes dissertation supervision for the MSc Environmental Design and Engineering at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, Year 5 thesis supervision for the MArch Architecture at the Bartlett School of Architecture and EngD thesis supervision for the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Virtual Environments, Imaging and Visualisations (VEIV) at the Bartlett School of Graduate Studies. She has also acted as an examiner for a number of MRes theses at the Centre for Doctoral Training (CDT) in Energy Demand Reduction at the UCL Energy Institute.
Phone: 020 3108 5903
Address: G.07
Central House
The Bartlett School of Graduate Studies, UCL
14 Upper Woburn Place
London WC1H 0NN
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Papers by Anna Mavrogianni
surrounding rural areas – a phenomenon referred to as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). The
impact of the UHI on comfort in naturally ventilated buildings is the main focus of this
article. The overheating risk in urban buildings is likely to be exacerbated in the future as a
result of the combined effect of the UHI and climate change.
In the design of such buildings in London, the usual current practice is to view the use of
one generic weather file as being adequate to represent external temperatures. However,
the work reported here demonstrates that there is a considerable difference between the
overheating performance of a standard building at different sites within London. This
implies, for example, that a building may wrongly pass or fail criteria used to demonstrate
compliance with building regulations as a result of an inappropriate generic weather file
being used. The work thus has important policy implications.
Practical application: The Greater London Authority has recently developed, with the
Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, guidance for developers to address the risk
of overheating in buildings via the provision of weather files for London relating to three zones.
While such an initiative is welcomed, it may be that a weather file tailored to the building
location would be preferable. Of course, this would add further complexity to the process and
a view would have to be taken as the viability of such an approach. The work presented in this
article, however, suggests that serious consideration should be given to the use of tailored
weather data for regulatory purposes.
important in world megacities. Overheating in such cities is expected to be exacerbated in
the future as a result of further urban growth and climate change. Demonstrating and
quantifying the impact of individual design interventions on the UHI is currently difficult
using available software tools. The tools developed in the LUCID (‘The Development of a
Local Urban Climate Model and its Application to the Intelligent Design of Cities’) research
project will enable the related impacts to be better understood, quantified and addressed.
This article summarises the relevant literature and reports on the ongoing work of the
project.
Practical applications: There is a complex relationship between built form, urban
processes, local temperature, comfort, energy use and health. The UHI effect is significant
and there is a growing recognition of this issue. Developers and planners are seeking advice
on design decisions at a variety of scales based on scientifically robust, quantitative
methods. The LUCID project has thus developed a series of tools that (1) quantify the effect
of urbanisation processes on local environmental conditions, and (2) quantify the impact of
such conditions on comfort, energy use and health. The use of such tools is vital, both to
inform policy but also to be able to demonstrate compliance with it.
This paper aims to assess the magnitude of such risks following the energy retrofit of a typical Edwardian mid-terraced house. The physics-based indoor environment simulation tool EnergyPlus was utilised for the assessment of indoor air quality and thermal conditions. The summertime thermal performance of the dwelling was simulated for different levels of fabric efficiency: a) ‘Base case’, b) ‘2010 Building Regulations insulation levels’ and c) ‘Deep retrofit’. The indoor overheating assessment was undertaken using a wide range of PROMETHEUS probabilistic weather data for the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) Medium (A1B) and High (A1FI) Emissions scenarios for three time slices (2030s, 2050s and 2080s) and two locations (London and Manchester).
An overall increase in indoor temperatures was observed in the modelled dwelling under the projected climate change scenarios. Overheating risk was found to vary as a function of the wall insulation positioning with externally applied wall insulation generally leading to a reduction of overheating risk. Increased air tightness appears to reduce the ingress of outdoor air pollutants but the magnitude of internally generated pollutants will also need to be considered. The work raises interesting questions about the way indoor air quality and overheating may be related in retrofitted properties."
Indoor temperatures during periods of hot weather were modelled using the EnergyPlus simulation programme, taking as input data the building characteristics of 15 notional dwelling archetypes broadly representative of the London housing stock, and assessed under warm future weather conditions at two locations within London. Data on dwelling types and characteristics were determined from Geographic Information System databases, national level domestic building surveys and other sources. External weather data were derived from the London Site-Specific Air Temperature model under the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) 2002 2050s Medium–High emissions scenario.
There was substantial variation in indoor temperatures across built forms. The thermal quality of a dwelling has an appreciably greater effect on indoor temperatures during the ‘hot’ period studied than the UHI itself.
The effects of built form and other dwelling characteristics appear to be more important determinants of variation in high indoor temperatures than the location of a dwelling within London’s UHI. This observation suggests that policies aimed at protection against the adverse effects of high summer temperatures may need to focus more on dwelling design and construction than on the amelioration of the UHI.
In the design of such buildings in London, the usual current practice is to view the use of one generic weather file as being adequate to represent external temperatures. However, the work reported here demonstrates that there is a considerable difference between the overheating performance of a standard building at different sites within London. This implies, for example, that a building may wrongly pass or fail criteria used to demonstrate compliance with building regulations as a result of an inappropriate generic weather file being used. The work thus has important policy implications.
Practical application: The Greater London Authority has recently developed, with the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, guidance for developers to address the risk of overheating in buildings via the provision of weather files for London relating to three zones. While such an initiative is welcomed, it may be that a weather file tailored to the building location would be preferable. Of course, this would add further complexity to the process and a view would have to be taken as the viability of such an approach. The work presented in this article, however, suggests that serious consideration should be given to the use of tailored weather data for regulatory purposes.
surrounding rural areas – a phenomenon referred to as the Urban Heat Island (UHI). The
impact of the UHI on comfort in naturally ventilated buildings is the main focus of this
article. The overheating risk in urban buildings is likely to be exacerbated in the future as a
result of the combined effect of the UHI and climate change.
In the design of such buildings in London, the usual current practice is to view the use of
one generic weather file as being adequate to represent external temperatures. However,
the work reported here demonstrates that there is a considerable difference between the
overheating performance of a standard building at different sites within London. This
implies, for example, that a building may wrongly pass or fail criteria used to demonstrate
compliance with building regulations as a result of an inappropriate generic weather file
being used. The work thus has important policy implications.
Practical application: The Greater London Authority has recently developed, with the
Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, guidance for developers to address the risk
of overheating in buildings via the provision of weather files for London relating to three zones.
While such an initiative is welcomed, it may be that a weather file tailored to the building
location would be preferable. Of course, this would add further complexity to the process and
a view would have to be taken as the viability of such an approach. The work presented in this
article, however, suggests that serious consideration should be given to the use of tailored
weather data for regulatory purposes.
important in world megacities. Overheating in such cities is expected to be exacerbated in
the future as a result of further urban growth and climate change. Demonstrating and
quantifying the impact of individual design interventions on the UHI is currently difficult
using available software tools. The tools developed in the LUCID (‘The Development of a
Local Urban Climate Model and its Application to the Intelligent Design of Cities’) research
project will enable the related impacts to be better understood, quantified and addressed.
This article summarises the relevant literature and reports on the ongoing work of the
project.
Practical applications: There is a complex relationship between built form, urban
processes, local temperature, comfort, energy use and health. The UHI effect is significant
and there is a growing recognition of this issue. Developers and planners are seeking advice
on design decisions at a variety of scales based on scientifically robust, quantitative
methods. The LUCID project has thus developed a series of tools that (1) quantify the effect
of urbanisation processes on local environmental conditions, and (2) quantify the impact of
such conditions on comfort, energy use and health. The use of such tools is vital, both to
inform policy but also to be able to demonstrate compliance with it.
This paper aims to assess the magnitude of such risks following the energy retrofit of a typical Edwardian mid-terraced house. The physics-based indoor environment simulation tool EnergyPlus was utilised for the assessment of indoor air quality and thermal conditions. The summertime thermal performance of the dwelling was simulated for different levels of fabric efficiency: a) ‘Base case’, b) ‘2010 Building Regulations insulation levels’ and c) ‘Deep retrofit’. The indoor overheating assessment was undertaken using a wide range of PROMETHEUS probabilistic weather data for the UK Climate Projections (UKCP09) Medium (A1B) and High (A1FI) Emissions scenarios for three time slices (2030s, 2050s and 2080s) and two locations (London and Manchester).
An overall increase in indoor temperatures was observed in the modelled dwelling under the projected climate change scenarios. Overheating risk was found to vary as a function of the wall insulation positioning with externally applied wall insulation generally leading to a reduction of overheating risk. Increased air tightness appears to reduce the ingress of outdoor air pollutants but the magnitude of internally generated pollutants will also need to be considered. The work raises interesting questions about the way indoor air quality and overheating may be related in retrofitted properties."
Indoor temperatures during periods of hot weather were modelled using the EnergyPlus simulation programme, taking as input data the building characteristics of 15 notional dwelling archetypes broadly representative of the London housing stock, and assessed under warm future weather conditions at two locations within London. Data on dwelling types and characteristics were determined from Geographic Information System databases, national level domestic building surveys and other sources. External weather data were derived from the London Site-Specific Air Temperature model under the UK Climate Impacts Programme (UKCIP) 2002 2050s Medium–High emissions scenario.
There was substantial variation in indoor temperatures across built forms. The thermal quality of a dwelling has an appreciably greater effect on indoor temperatures during the ‘hot’ period studied than the UHI itself.
The effects of built form and other dwelling characteristics appear to be more important determinants of variation in high indoor temperatures than the location of a dwelling within London’s UHI. This observation suggests that policies aimed at protection against the adverse effects of high summer temperatures may need to focus more on dwelling design and construction than on the amelioration of the UHI.
In the design of such buildings in London, the usual current practice is to view the use of one generic weather file as being adequate to represent external temperatures. However, the work reported here demonstrates that there is a considerable difference between the overheating performance of a standard building at different sites within London. This implies, for example, that a building may wrongly pass or fail criteria used to demonstrate compliance with building regulations as a result of an inappropriate generic weather file being used. The work thus has important policy implications.
Practical application: The Greater London Authority has recently developed, with the Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers, guidance for developers to address the risk of overheating in buildings via the provision of weather files for London relating to three zones. While such an initiative is welcomed, it may be that a weather file tailored to the building location would be preferable. Of course, this would add further complexity to the process and a view would have to be taken as the viability of such an approach. The work presented in this article, however, suggests that serious consideration should be given to the use of tailored weather data for regulatory purposes.