Applications are invited for a PhD studentship funded by the University and industrial sponsor, the Building Research Establishment (BRE), to start in October 2015. The project will be based principally in the School of Civil and Building Engineering at Loughborough University. It is associated with the prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Centre of Excellence for Sustainable Building Design, also based at Loughborough.

Discrepancies between design software tool estimations and actual monitored energy usage have led to a ‘performance gap’. Inaccuracies and the simplification/simplicity in software methodologies that assess the energy performance of buildings are significant factors, but other issues, such as quality of construction, design vs. as-built specifications, and user behaviour, are also pertinent. Research is required to address the need for repeatability in analysis, application and delivery. This project will focus on overcoming issues of a residual performance gap and repeatability in estimating that gap – the successful candidate will be expected to draft a more detailed PhD research proposal on appointment.

This studentship will be supervised by Dr Christina Hopfe and Dr Chris Goodier at Loughborough.

The studentship is for three years and is intended to start in October 2015. The studentship provides a tax-free stipend of £18,057 per annum (which includes an additional top-up of £4k per annum from the industry sponsor), plus tuition fees at the UK/EU rate for up to three years. International (non EU) students may apply but will need to find the difference in fees between those for a ‘UK/EU’ and ‘international’ student themselves.

Students will normally need to hold, or expect to gain, at least a 2:1 degree (or equivalent) in a relevant engineering discipline, building energy, ICT, physics or mathematics. A relevant Master’s degree and/or experience in one or more of the following will be an advantage: building or mechanical systems engineering, building performance (simulation), uncertainty/ sensitivity analysis. Experience in energy modelling and/or building simulation would be desirable.

The successful candidate will be joining a lively community of research students and staff at Loughborough, where doctoral students are given great academic and administrative support and are an integral part of the University's research culture. General information about the School of Civil and Building Engineering can be found at: http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/civil-building/

The student will also be expected to spend time at the BRE campus, just outside of Watford; please visitwww.bre.co.uk for details of the organisation and its location. The successful candidate will have regular contact with a nominated supervisor within BRE, plus access to an annual travel, training and conference budget of £3,000 (this includes an allowance for travel to and from BRE).

For informal enquiries about this project and the application process, please contact our Research Administrator, Jackie Overton, on 01509 228547, email j.overton<στο>lboro.ac.uk.

To apply, please complete the online application using the following link:https://lucas.lboro.ac.uk/web_apx/f?p=100:1

The closing date for applications is Friday 22 May 2015. Interviews will take place week commencing Monday 8 June 2015.

Please quote the following reference when applying: GS15CBE1/M2